# What's Your Favourite Piece of Classical Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193 "2015-03-17T12:42:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/41 "2015-03-17T23:56:59Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > It is the sign of cultural maturity when a grown man can hear the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. Someone’s been looking at Dave Berg. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/42 "2015-03-18T03:12:55Z")
Mozart: Piano concertos, especially #'s 10, 20, 21, 23, 26, and 27. Sinfonia Concertante in E-Flat Major (K364 - we have a poster by that name!) Mass in C-Minor Requiem ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/43 "2015-03-18T03:58:37Z")
I’ve been listening to this stuff for over forty years. I can’t tolerate hearing any of Beethoven’s symphonies any more. (I’ve worked in the art music field and I am NOT the only person who says this.) Y’know what Beethoven I’ve NEVER gotten sick of, though? The A major violin sonata #9. The “Kreutzer.” I’m listening to it right now. The first movement never fails to snap my stix. His late string quartets, too. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/44 "2015-03-18T04:11:03Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’ve been listening to this stuff for over forty years. I can’t tolerate hearing any of Beethoven’s symphonies any more. (I’ve worked in the art music field and I am NOT the only person who says this.) I’ve been listening to this stuff for over 60 years, and there’s not one piece that I’ve ever gotten tired of hearing. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/45 "2015-03-18T04:13:35Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I’m surprised I’m the first person to mention Mendelssohn. The first movement of the Italian Symphony is among the most accessible and enjoyable classical pieces for newbies. And if you know “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the overture he wrote is wonderful, too. Yes, the Italian Symphony is one of the greats! Also, his violin concerto in e. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/46 "2015-03-18T04:22:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’ve been listening to this stuff for over 60 years, and there’s not one piece that I’ve ever gotten tired of hearing. The first movement of the Fifth? Really? ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/47 "2015-03-18T04:45:50Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The first movement of the Fifth? Really? Really. I can listen to music as if I’d never heard it before. Plus . . . there is so much that I enjoy, that I don’t listen to any one piece very often. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/48 "2015-03-18T05:43:17Z")
I have many favorites. Here are just a few. Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Debussy: Nocturnes for orchestra [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiuVU46jLfo) Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe (ballet music). The final section (opens with “Daybreak”): [Ravel Daphnis et Chloé - Suite No. 2 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FXbZJndsCU) Ravel: Shéhérazade (song cycle) - #2: La Flute Enchantee; #3: L’Indifferent (lyric translation in “show more”) [Scheherazade, E Parcells (2 of 2) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiQTqfPBU9s#t=1m20s) Holst: Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Group 3, for Women’s chorus and harp [Holst Hymn from the Rig Veda No.3.wmv - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N763QUbSs4c) Wagner: Overture to “Tannhauser” [Richard Wagner "Tannhäuser" Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QbEusFcxfc) Wagner: Overture to the opera “Parsifal” [Herbert von Karajan: Wagner - Parsifal, 'Overture' - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciq9Sefqun8) Orff: Carmina Burana - the whole thing. STAGED! very bawdy and funny! with English closed captions! [Carmina Burana , Carl Orff (Ponnelle) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj-tBVq61as) Search for “classical” in Cafe Society thread titles for lots of recommendations. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/49 "2015-03-18T06:19:22Z")
Bach: Concerto for Two Violins [1st movement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vesrqFeq9rU) - [2nd movement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axFUvA_he-o) - [3rd movement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6gOeE5QTXk) Violin Concerto in E Major [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZwU41V3zgU) Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 [J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major BWV 1047 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYOWdONwSyY) Cantata No. 29 - (listen to the first 7 minutes) [http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-29/detail/](http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-29/detail/) Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor (“Great”) [http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-542/detail/](http://allofbach.com/en/bwv/bwv-542/detail/) ---
**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:** [March 18, 2015, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/50 "2015-03-18T06:25:58Z")
Also very informative and entertaining are Leonard Bernstein’s Omnibus programs at Snagfilms [http://www.snagfilms.com/search/?q=bernstein+omnibus](http://www.snagfilms.com/search/?q=bernstein+omnibus) Also Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts on YouTube (all in multiple parts) such as What is Classical Music (part 1 of 4) [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ1b6hSUosU) Also on YouTube, his Harvard Norton Lectures [Google](https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#q=leonard+bernstein+norton+lectures&newwindow=1&hl=en&tbm=vid) ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/51 "2015-03-18T08:12:44Z")
Another vote for Pictures at an Exhibition. I have (at least) 5 different recordings of it, including the [Emerson, Lake and Palmer version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NAGTq_IJQ) and the [Tomita version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVvQQMrEUzQ). Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony,[Finale, allegro con fuoco](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mctpTyIBt_I) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/52 "2015-03-18T14:34:30Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > It is the sign of cultural maturity when a grown man can hear the William Tell Overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. You know you’ve been watching too many cartoons when all you can think of when you listen to the Overture to Tannhauser is this: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6jDcWAWRRHo/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHeA4AC6AKKAgwIABABGHIgOyhFMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCO8O7_v-JYDAiDc7A7kl_uFfqgJQ "What's Opera, Doc YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jDcWAWRRHo) ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/53 "2015-03-18T14:56:05Z")
Missa Solemnis (Beethoven); B-Minor Mass (Bach); Dvorak Requiem; Turangalila Symphony (Messiaen); Grosse Fuge (op. 133) and String Quartet, op. 132 (both Beethoven); Haydn string quartets, op. 20 (really, almost _any_ Haydn string quartet or Schubert string quartet); Schubert string quintet; Bach cello suites 1-6; Bruckner symphony #8; Schumann “Fairy Tales” (opus 132); Mozart string quintets, especially K. 516 + 593. 2 can’t-go-wrong composers: Gesualdo and Byrd ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/54 "2015-03-18T15:04:09Z")
Oh crumbs, thousands of pieces I like. If you’re exploring, try: (these are in chronological order, but sample as you will -they should all be on Youtube) Bach: Double Violin Concerto Mozart: Piano Concertos No 21 and/or 23 Schubert: “Death and the Maiden” String Quartet, and his Octet Mendelssohn: Octet Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony Sibelius: 5th symphony (or the 2nd) Stravinsky: Rite of Spring Also, there are lots of podcasts, recorded concerts and request programmes at [www.bbc.co.uk/radio3](http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3) ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/55 "2015-03-18T16:24:20Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > Another vote for Pictures at an Exhibition. I have (at least) 5 different recordings of it, including the [Emerson, Lake and Palmer version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NAGTq_IJQ) I never thought to include organ music, but there’s a ton of great stuff out there, including: Louis Vierne: _Carillon de Westminster_ César Franck: _Pièce Heroïque_ J.S. Bach: _Sleepers, Wake!_ Marcel Dupré: _Cortège et Litanie; Vêpres du Commun de la Sainte-Vièrge_ Charles-Marie Widor: _Symphony for Organ no. 5_ Jean Langlais: _Chanson de l’Eglise Eternelle_ The compositions of Langlais are fascinating, meditative, trancelike. He included bird calls, bits of Tantric chant, and other assorted sources to create some of the most original and divine music ever written for the organ. Plus–the one thing no one knows about me–He had dinner with us at our house! (My dad was an organist and choirmaster, and Langlais was on tour in the U.S. I was only a toddler, but my parents say he adored me.) 🙂 Not that I’m braggin’ or nuthin’, just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/56 "2015-03-18T16:38:37Z")
Oops, messed up, it wasn’t Langlais but Olivier Messaien, and the pieces are: _Apparition de l’Eglise Eternelle_ and \*L’Ascension. \*For Langlais I should have written _Trois méditations sur la Sainte Trinité._ My bad. Messaien was the guy who used the bird calls and chants in his pieces. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/57 "2015-03-18T16:39:18Z")
Anything Rachmaninoff, especially the piano concerto #2. Mozart’s works for clarinet are all wonderful, even if you hate the high pitched reeds. Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Depending on how you define classical, most Aaron Copland is very accessible. I especially like Fanfare for the Common Man. Personal favorite: Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven). Personally, I don’t care for Bach or Brahms. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/58 "2015-03-18T16:45:21Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Oh crumbs, thousands of pieces I like. > > If you’re exploring, try: > > … > Saint-Saens: Organ Symphony > … I, too have many favorites, but this one is way, way up there. When that organ kicks in in the 4th movement…wow. It also has special meaning to me b/c my father (who was a great friend to me and died way too young) was an organist. The first concert he took me to (I must have been 5 years old) was Virgil Fox. Anyway, my dad introduced me to Saint-Saens’ organ symphony and I tear up every time I listen to it. In fact, I’m tearing up a bit now… ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/59 "2015-03-18T16:54:08Z")
Sheep May Safely Graze by J.S. Bach. Preferably as a piano solo. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193/60 "2015-03-18T18:57:25Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Personally, I don’t care for Bach or Brahms. Ouch. Brahms: not even his late piano pieces? His works for clarinet (trio, quintet, sonatas)? The violin sonatas? The cello sonatas ☹ ? Bach: not even… everything 😃 ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favourite-piece-of-classical-music/715193.md?page=4)