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  • Classical music recommendations for a beginner.
  • athgray
    Free Member

    A work colleague always has classic fm on in the background in the office. I am starting to quite enjoy it. A lot of the content is from film scores, particularly John Williams. Any recommendation for a novice looking to dip a toe in the water? I like the big orchestra sound, not so keen on the harpsicord stuff.

    ChubbyBlokeInLycra
    Free Member

    I really like Nicola Benedetti, seen her a few times and her choice of music is varied and interesting
    Shostakovich
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHxFBnCU-ZU[/video]
    Rachmaninoff if you like drama – especially piano Concerto No 3 (you should try and watch Shine if you like this)
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOOfoW5_2iE[/video]

    Also, if you like drama, Mussorgsky;s Night On The Bare Mountain is a bit a classic (fast dorward to about 1’10
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHTnJNGvQcA[/video]

    and you can never go wrong witha bit of Wolfie
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlhKP0nZII[/video]

    last.fm is your friend here.

    wordnumb
    Free Member

    If you have library membership you can probably sign in free to the Naxos music library. Very lots of music to check out and download, and you can search by keywords rather than composer name / piece title.

    crikey
    Free Member

    Buy some compilation CDs, usually available for not very much from charity shops, then listen and see what interests you.

    GHill
    Full Member

    Buy a couple of the Classic FM compilations (relatively cheap) and figure out what you like. Last time I looked they had some film score ones (I always listen to their Saturday Night at the Movies show).

    EDIT: Crikey, beaten to it by, err, crikey.

    spchantler
    Free Member

    vaughan williams, fantasia on a theme of thomas tallis, holtz the planets for starters, you’ll recognise them straightaway

    dannyh
    Free Member

    You’ll get myriad answers to this. For example, someone above suggested Rachmaninov, but frankly I find most of his music is plinky plonky piano showboating(!)

    Little bits to get you going (bigger orchestra sound, but varied):

    Overture from Tannhauser by Wagner
    The Egmont Overture by Beethoven
    Ode to Joy from Beethovens 9th symphony
    Night on bare mountain by Mussorgsky
    Waltz of the Roses from the Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
    Jupiter from the Planets by Holst

    If you want to listen to a symphony (more use of the whole orchestra all the way through), my favourite is Beethoven’s 6th symphony (the pastoral). Forty minutes of genius!

    lodious
    Free Member

    Debussy has done some wonderful stuff, which is not difficult to get into. There are some good playlists of his work on Spotify (although I struggled to find them last time I was looking).

    RobHilton
    Free Member

    You might recognise these from TV/Film/Adverts – favourites on Classic FM

    Big orchestra:
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElmsDZcYd0[/video]

    Awesome pianist:
    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v95I6kGghmk[/video]

    ChubbyBlokeInLycra
    Free Member

    In short, stick anything from any post above into youtube or last.fm, listen and like or not, follow the links or try something else – there’s a lot of it

    TheFlyingOx
    Full Member

    Mahler is a joy to listen to:

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AwFutIcnrU[/video]

    bikewhisperer
    Free Member

    Radio 3 right now, with Sir Neville Marriner. He’s a dude!

    CountZero
    Full Member

    Nothing wrong with Rachmaninov, and not all of it involves pianos. One of my favourite Rachmaninov discs is Isles of the Dead/Symphonic Dances, very dramatic, with some really beautiful saxophone in.

    pt0608
    Free Member

    Holst – The Planets is a good starter for 10.
    As is Greig’s piano concerto.
    Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition.

    And once you get into it, Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 and No. 7 are immense.

    sweepy
    Free Member

    I like a bit of Prokofiev. My snobby father in law reckons its not classical music for some reason but I reckon if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq8H8t5L9jE[/video]

    athgray
    Free Member

    Thanks for the recommendations. Bought a couple of compilation cd’s. Not been through them all yet, however liking Mozart and Holst.

    Trying to find one piece of music. Quite dark and foreboding. Similar feel to Mars by Holst, but can only remember a few notes. I have heard it used a couple of times on the History Channel when programmes about the Nazi’s are on. Get a feeling it nay be Wagner but not sure.

    grum
    Free Member

    Check out ‘The Concert’ podcast.

    Nipper99
    Free Member

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