At the risk of sounding moronic, ever since I saw Jackass: The Movie, I’m in love with that O Fortuna song. I think it’s a beautiful, epic, dramatic piece of music. This Christmas, I went to the Nutcracker Suite and was further blown away by a genre of music I’ve largely ignored.
So, SDMB, what classical music can you recommend to a guy who got started out on The Beatles, then had a Rage Against the Machine and Tool obsession, and is now way into the Pixies, Mars Volta, and At The Drive-In?
(You know what other song I really like? That song from Se7en where Morgan Freeman is in the library doing research. IMDB says it’s Bach Suite Number 3 in D Major, is this correct?)
The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Especially the Winter.
Sabre Dance by Khatchaturian. I promise you you’ve heard it before. Don’t believe me? Go to musicrobot.com and search for Sabre Dance. (musicrobot points to MIDI files which are freely and publicly available. Please don’t get moderator on my ass)
O Fortuna was from Carmina Burana, by Karl Orff. It has lots of other good bits, including Estuans Interius.
While he’s not necessarily classical, Edgard Varese has some nice instrumental/choral works. Look for “Nocturnal”.
Since you seem to like big bombastic music (not that that’s a bad thing) check out:
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concert No. 1(the opening sound like the piano player is just randomly slamming on the keyboard)
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (has cannons in it)
Mozart: Symphony No. 25 (it’s the music in the opening credits of Amadeus)
Still working my way through all this stuff… I just remembered Night On Bald Mountain from Fantasia and got that one. Yes, it’s loud and obnoxious and I love it.
By the way, Bach’s Suite Number 3 in D Major makes you feel smarter, I swear to God. Good when you’re studying the neurobiological method of action of heroin at 2 in the morning…
There have been many threads in Cafe Society with classical recommendations. Just search for “classical” in the thread title.
I’ll plug a few of my favorites yet again.
Ravel - the ballet “Daphnis and Chloe”. At least listen to the 2nd suite from the ballet. It starts with the must-listen daybreak section and ends with an incredible bacchanal.
Debussy - 3 nocturnes for orchestra, “La Mer”.
Bach does that to me, too! Try the suite in B minor if you haven’t yet (it’s my favorite).
Try Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, his piano Concerto no. 5 (and no. 1), Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and anything by Bizet - he’s the reason I love classical music now.
Pick up some Classical Thunder cds if you can. They’ve got a great sampling of classical pieces, all exactly what you’re looking for. You’ll probably recognize a lot of the pieces on the first album. Some of my favorite picks from it:
Marce Slave by Tchaikovsky
Procession of Nobles by Rimsky-Korsakov
Farandole by Bizet
and several others that have already been mentioned.
You’ll like Dies Irae by our pal Mozart. (X-Men 2 opens with a version of it.) We sang it in high school choir. It’s big, put-the-fear-of-god-in-ya music. Even with only a piano backing a 75 member SATB choir singing it, it was scary. In a good way, of course, but goose-bumpily.
Now for a list:
Into the Hall of the Mountain King
Russian Sailor’s Dance (Gliere)
Firebird Suite (Stravinsky)
William Tell Overture (Rossini)
Overture to Carmen
Hungarian Rhapsody (It’ll sound really familiar)
Polovtsian Dance (Borodin – DEFINITELY this one)
La Mer (Debussy – this has a section that reminds me of the soundtrack for Highlander that Queen did)
I heartily second The Planets, especially the Mars movement if you liked the Star Wars theme. If you like ginormous and thundery, check out some 19th/early 20th century Russian composers, since big and boomy seems to be a specialty with them.
Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. Everytime that I play the CD, my husband always asks what that is and mentions that he really likes it. It is so heavy. I love the Russians!
I see lillalette beat me to it with a couple of them. William Tell Overture is the theme to the Lone Ranger. Beethoven’s Für Elise is ubiquitous by now, as are Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag and The Entertainer. You might enjoy Bach’s Brandenberg Concerto #3 which has been used a few times on Star Trek: TNG.
IANA expert either.
Oh and if anyone can tell me the name and composer of the Eyes Wide Shut theme song, I’d be eternally grateful!
Try the Etudes and Nocturnes of Chopin for excellent piano music. Most of the Russian romantic era composers are fabulous. Great emotive pieces of work