# Recommendations for Classical Music, Please! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857 "2010-01-29T06:23:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/1 "2010-01-29T06:23:54Z")
I’m trying to find some really high energy classical music, but I don’t know where to look. I’m looking for something along the lines of “Dragons Fly On The Winds Of Time” or “The Great Locomotive Chase”. So, anything I should be listening to? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/2 "2010-01-29T07:15:41Z")
Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has always been a favorite. Most of the others that come to mind are even more well known. There are a lot of good examples in[this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536348), although it’s not all classical music. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/3 "2010-01-29T07:24:16Z")
I can’t vouch for the sound quality, but it’s enough to give you a sense of it [Shostakovich, Symphony Number 5, 4th movement](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJFXqYEYd8&feature=fvw) ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/4 "2010-01-29T07:39:30Z")
Here’s another suggestion [Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, 4th movement](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLHj-eekdNU) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/5 "2010-01-29T07:52:37Z")
[Bach- Toccata and Fugue in G Minor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FXoyr_FyFw) Beethoven- Symphony No. 6- Too long to link, just trust me Mozart- Symphony No. 40- Ditto [Barber- Adagio for Strings](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRMz8fKkG2g) Schubert- Symphony No. 9 (Unfinished)- Again, too long to link to [Mussorgsky- Night on Bald Mountain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8) Stravinsky- Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)- Unbelievably brutal and atonal, but worth every bit of the time you take to listen to it [Grieg- In the Hall of the Mountain King (from _Peer Gynt_)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJmhTlRIRKI&feature=related)- Phenomenal Ravel- Bolero- 18 minutes of bliss [Dukas- The Sorcerer’s Apprentice](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wneUNq_Ndbw)- If the climax don’t get you going, nothing will Gershwin- Rhapsody in Blue- A personal favorite, if not exactly “classic” I could go on and on (my father is a professional musician, I grew up with this), but that’s an exceptionally good start. If you never heard anything else you’d still have chills running up and down your spine, they’re that awesome. Ah, the hell with it. Just start [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajD6PZl3xNw&feature=related) and work down the provided links on the right. None of them are bad. Some are not favorites of mine, but I’m somewhat discerning in that regard. I am a classical music snob, sue me. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/6 "2010-01-29T08:50:20Z")
Oh, and because I didn’t trouble myself to read the OP (I responded to the thread title), an “upbeat” classical music piece would be [Los Torreadors](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00dnQvaUGA) by Bizet {from Carmen). Flight of the Bumblebee (Rimsky-Korsakov) or the [Sabre Dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqg3l3r_DRI) (Khachaturian) would be a good way to go. Sorry for both missing the point and getting carried away, but classical music is something that never fails to get me wound up. It’s too bad that it’s so unappreciated anymore. By the way… get off my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/7 "2010-01-29T09:18:41Z")
Karl Jenkins [Palladio](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sluHJGcxek) ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/8 "2010-01-29T11:45:08Z")
If you like more bombastic stuff I like Ferde Grofé’s Niagra Falls or [Hiroshima/Nagasaki Requiem](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekC3l09aApk). Also [Pride of the Dwarves](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9hJhXsIBZU). On the more frenetic part of the spectrum check out Kronos Quartets’ Half-wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight. Also Walter Piston’s “The Incredible Flutist: XII. Polka Finale” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/9 "2010-01-29T14:26:19Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Oh, and because I didn’t trouble myself to read the OP (I responded to the thread title) I wondered why you considered Barber’s Adagio “high energy.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/10 "2010-01-29T15:01:24Z")
Several of the Beethoven symphonies are pretty fast-moving and exciting, especially if performed by Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonik, or even more by Toscanini and the NBC orchestra. Try the end of the Seventh symphony, for instance, or of the fifth. Lots of Anton Dvorak’s stuff fits this bill. If you can get past the Lone Ranger and Warner Brothers Cartoon imagery, the William Tell overture works, too. If you _really_ want a rush, get Wendfy Carlos performing it on the synthesizer. Actually, a lot of Bach and others of his contempraries performed by Carlos are incredibly fast, upbeat stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/11 "2010-01-29T17:39:41Z")
If you want some “high energy” piano, try Chopin’s “Military Polonaise” and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies #14, and then #2. Spectacular. And Brahm’s “Rhapsodie in G Minor”, Op 79 #2 is a good one if you want to arouse a young lady. At least that’s what an old girl friend once told me. Worked, too. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/12 "2010-01-29T17:46:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Lots of Anton Dvorak’s stuff fits this bill. Specifically, the [Slavonic Dances](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JBSmJkpfq0) Maybe try some Prokofiev, like the [3rd Piano Concerto](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prLGUi0jhB8&feature=related) Most of what has been mentioned here (understandably enough) is orchestral, but there also exists fast, energetic classical music for [piano](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sfsDtQZwI0)\*, [string quartet](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BrjZKY_94k), etc. \*ETA: written before I saw Post #11 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/13 "2010-01-29T17:52:22Z")
You can’t go wrong with a little Ludwig Van. Fourth (choral) movement of the ninth. “Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven! Oh, it was gorgeousness and gorgeousity made flesh. It was like a bird of rarest-spun heaven metal or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied, I knew such lovely pictures!” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/14 "2010-01-29T18:39:23Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I wondered why you considered Barber’s Adagio “high energy.” 🙂 Yeah, I was picturing him working out to Debussy’s “La Mer”. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/15 "2010-01-29T18:43:54Z")
Someone mentioned the William Tell Overture… lots of stuff by Rossini would probably do the trick for you. I would also recommend: The March from Prokofiev’s _The Love for Three Oranges_. “Poet and Peasant Overture” by von Suppe. Ravel’s Bolero (starts quiet, builds to very high energy). Various pieces from Tchaikovsky’s _The Nutcracker,_ especially the Russian Dance (Trepak). “The Ride of the Valkyries” from Wagner’s _Die Valkure._ ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/16 "2010-01-29T21:05:58Z")
Mozart’s [“Marriage of Figaro” Overture](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS0IyB5iMY8) ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/17 "2010-01-29T21:12:04Z")
Really not great sound quality, but here’s another non-orchestral piece [Widor Toccata, 5th Symphony](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWYDo36huLU&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/18 "2010-01-29T23:22:16Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has always been a favorite. When I read the thread title, what started playing in my head was Mendelssohn’s [Italian Symphony.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhstAEaWBl4) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/19 "2010-01-29T23:55:06Z")
Thanks for all the replies! I’ll be sure to check them out! ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857/20 "2010-01-30T00:03:49Z")
Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, especially [‘the Dance of the Knights’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LSxpxjMQ9c) Antonín (not Anton) Dvořák’s 9th symphony ‘[The New World](http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B0B2782E73A3A0AE)’ Borodin’s [‘Polovtsian Dances’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8C8frqCKKg) Leoš Janáček’s ‘[Na zarostlem chodniku](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz0yuq14Fks)’ Strauss’s [‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-J9JAEhODs) J.S. Bach’s ‘[Toccata and Fugue in D minor](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o)’ Bedřich Smetana’s [‘Vltava’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlLPLO90fSk) Wagner’s [‘Walkürenritt’](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNl1ykMm1X0.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommendations-for-classical-music-please/526857.md?page=2)