# Recommend some classical music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864 "2003-06-05T16:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/1 "2003-06-05T16:46:42Z")
I am attempting to broaden my bourgeoisie taste in music. What is some good clasical music that you all would recommend? And please, be specific. While I’m sure that all of Mozart’s work is great, there is simply too much of it for me to be able to disseminate! ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/2 "2003-06-05T16:49:41Z")
try \*\*4 last songs \*\* by **Strauss**. beautiful piece of music. be careful though, theres about 5 or 6 versions of it (different composers/orchestras etc), and theres 2 strausses. the one with a yellow band across the top of the CD covers the version i have, and its excellent. sorry i cant be more specific, but you get the idea ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/3 "2003-06-05T16:56:19Z")
**paulberserker** , you may have a Deutsche Grammophon recording. They’re famous for (usually) employing the instantly-recognizable yellow cartouche on the covers of their albums; have done for many years. Unfortunately, they’re doing away with that these days, trying to make their CDs more “hip” and marketable, I guess. I think most of their covers look really awful now. My own DG recording of the Four Last Songs (Richard, not Johann btw) is with Gundula Janowitz singing and Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. I like it a lot, but his interpretation isn’t for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/4 "2003-06-05T17:00:44Z")
[Here](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001GQF/qid=1054832530/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-8752315-5109446?v=glance&s=classical&n=507846) is the recording I’ve got, incidentally. While I’m posting again, I may as well ask: **liirogue** , can you more specifically define what you’re looking for? I’m not sure if you’re using “classical” to describe the particular period, or if you’re using it in the kind of catch-all manner for anything with orchestral instruments or voice that it has come to mean. Do you want lighter fare, or heavy, brassy, and swashbuckling? Voice or no voice? Tonal or atonal? ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/5 "2003-06-05T17:09:46Z")
I want to leave it open except for vocals to be kept to a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/6 "2003-06-05T17:30:59Z")
You’ll probably get dozens of opinions, but here are some that I think are well worth seeking out: Beethoven: Symphonies 5, 7, and especially 9, and the Violin Concerto. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (especially if you can hear it live with real cannon), 6th Symphony. Bach: The Brandenberg Concertos, but especially #3. Rossini: Any collection of his overtures, but primarly “William Tell,” “The Barber of Seville,” and “The Thieving Magpie” (Though you’ll find you’ve heard these already). Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 Saint-Saens: Danse macabre Respigi: Pines of Rome Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue” and “An American in Paris” Mussorgsky: “Night on Bald Mountain” and “Pictures at an Exhibition” Prokofiev: “Lt. Kije Suite,” especially “Troika” Milhaud: “Le Boeuf sur le toit” ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/7 "2003-06-05T17:33:18Z")
As an introduction, sticking to some mainstream composers, with one per somposer: Bach JS - organ works (try toccatas and fgues first) Mozart - clarinet concerto Haydn - Late string quartets Beethoven - Symphony 6 Schubert - Unfinished symphony Schumann - Piano concerto Mendelssohn - Violin concerto Brahms - Clarinet quintet Bruckner - Symphony 9 Mahler - Symphony 4 Dvorak - American string quartet Liszt - Les preludes Chopin - Nocturnes Saint-Saens - Organ symphony Rimsky-Korsakov - Sheherazade Rachmaninov - Paino concerto 2 Ravel - La valse Debussy - La mer Grieg - Holberg suite Sibelius - Finalandia Try 20th century (Shostakovich etc) after this. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/8 "2003-06-05T17:44:56Z")
Give Holst’s Planet Suites a whirl, too. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age is my fave. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/9 "2003-06-05T18:14:41Z")
I can listen to **Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos** till the cows come home. Then I will tell the cows to be quiet, so I can listen some more! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/10 "2003-06-05T18:17:12Z")
. … And there’s a lovely tune you may know as “Strangers in Paradise.” But did you know it is actually the Polovtsian Dance No. 3 by Borodin? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/11 "2003-06-05T18:19:12Z")
BTW, if you want to sample some of these, try [the Classical Music Archives](http://www.classicalarchives.com/index.html). You should be able to find performances of those mentioned so far. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/12 "2003-06-05T18:34:29Z")
**Eve** , you neglected to add a closing **[/Snooty British accent]** tag, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to imagine everything you say from now on in that accent, unless you do so. 😃 These all are fantastic selections. I’ll merely add: Bach (JS): Any of the four orchestral suites, but the 3rd one is especially good - and will probably be familiar too. R. Strauss: Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Also sprach Zarathustra Mahler: 1st symphony (this in addition to **Dragon’s** suggestion of the 4th. They’re both nice and accessible, and you can maybe move to the “meatier” ones after that - which is to say, any other Mahler symphony besides 1 or 4.) Prokofiev: 1st symphony (“Classical”) or some excerpts from the ballet “Romeo and Juliet”, or if you’re in the mood for something a little wild and flashy, try the Scythian Suite. Mozart: 35th symphony (“Haffner”) Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique Ginastera: the “Estancia” ballet suite Barber: Medea’s Dance of Vengeance Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra I’d better stop, or else I’ll keep going. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/13 "2003-06-05T18:57:37Z")
- **Adagio for Strings, op. 11** (Samuel Barber) – I like Sir Nevill Marriner’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields recording. It’s a quiet and simple piece. - \*\*Fantasia on Greensleeves \*\* (Vaughan Williams) - Tchaikovsky’s\*\* Symphony No.5 in E Minor\*\* is also really good. - I’m partial to the cello, so I like Yo-Yo Ma’s **Bach’s Cello Suite #1 in G-Major** - Prokofiev’s **Peter and the Wolf** is a classic; in addition to Lt. Kije Suite (if you’re a Sting fan, you’ll recognize the melody in “Russians”), I also like **Love for 3 Oranges**. - Chopin’s **Berceuse, op. 57** is beautiful, but a little difficult to find. Evgeny Kissin put out a good recording. ---
**Author:** ![Marathon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Marathon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marathon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/14 "2003-06-05T19:15:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Peg \* > \*\*\* Prokofiev’s **Peter and the Wolf** is a classic; in addition to Lt. Kije Suite (if you’re a Sting fan, you’ll recognize the melody in “Russians”), I also like **Love for 3 Oranges**._\* If you like Sting, it’s also noteworthy that there’s a recording of him [_narrating_](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000001GCF/ref=sr_aps_classical_1_1/202-3312230-6647859) Peter and the Wolf! ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/15 "2003-06-05T23:43:03Z")
There are lots of threads with classical music recommendations. Search Cafe Society for threads with “classical” in the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-classical-music/179864/16 "2003-06-06T00:11:23Z")
Here are a few favorites of mine separated by time period, also I’ll try to name ones that others haven’t said yet. Also I’m a young dude so the music I like tends to be pretty accessible, and I tend to prefer “exciting” (for lack of a better word) music so my list may be a decent one to use if you find alot of classical music boring. ^\_~ **20th Century** _Corigliano_ - Symphony No. 1 _Ives_ - The Unanswered Question **Romantic** _Lizst_ - Les Preludes _Schubert_ - Fantasia in F minor for Piano 4-hands, Op 103 **Classical** _Mozart_ - Piano Concerto No. 24, K491 _Beethoven_ - Coriolanus Overture **Baroque** _Purcell_ - The Fairy Queen _Vivaldi_ - Concerto, for violin, oboe, 2 recorders, 2 oboes, bassoon, strings & continuo in G minor, RV 576 **Renaissance** _Praetorius_ - Terpsichore _Milan_ - Pavanas and Fantasias **Early Music** _Hildegard von Bingen_ - Ordo virtutum _Vitry_ - Le Roman de Fauvel Man…there’s just too much music out there. 😃