I’ve always wanted to explore it, and i bought The 50 Greatest PIces of Classical Music by the London Philharmonic the other day. Everything so far is much better than anything i’ve heard on the radio recently.

I’m enjoying full orchestral pieces the most, and ones with a piano. I’m not a big fan of stuff with only strings in it. So, after these obvious 50, where do i go next?

Oh, and hyperbolic ITV shows have ruined Carmina Burana: O Fortuna 🙁

Katchachurian for the piano, Stravinsky or Mahler for the sheer majesty, Eric Whitacre for the modern-but-surprisingly-good.

Holst, Planets

Wagner, Rider of the Vakyries

(Yes I like loud stuff).

I have a CD called ‘Heavy Classix’ somewhere too – all the loud stuff in one place.

METAAAL!

Rachmaninov’s Piano concerto No 3 (see if you can find a copy of Shine to put some brilliant context to it
Saint Saens Organ Symphony No 3 in C major, epic piece of noise, best heard live with a full concert organ. RSNO did it on this one

Sure the music from Fantasia is available, that’s got some good listening choices, including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Night On The Bare Mountain
Also, in spite of the “no strings” rule, I’d look into Nicola Benedetti’s stuff, she has some interesting choices on her disks

oh, and listen to Classic FM from time to time.

Has to be Beethoven’s 9th really, the Choral Symphony. It is one of those ‘goose bumps’ moments and regularly tops the all time lists of Classic FM/Radio 3 etc. I think it’s also the most requested piece on Desert Island discs.

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue is probably my single favourite piece.

To be honest, there are oodles of Classical Collection type stuff. I bought a four CD set in HMV a while ago that’s got many of the, erm classics. From there you start to see the kind of stuff you particularly like.

Rhapsody in Blue

Second that as well

it all sounds the same, listen to any of it

Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven for the sheer variety of stuff they wrote. Haydn more or less invented the symphony; Beethoven and Mozart both referenced his early works and given that between them they wrote tens of thousands of hours of music, you’re sure to find something good in there.

Spotify playlists are worth a search once you’ve narrowed down what you like.

Bruchner’s 4th symphony and Mahler’s 2nd symphony, if you like late-romantic German composers, who like brass and especially tubas.
Elgar’s cello concerto for post WW1 melancholia.
Shostakovich piano concertos 1 and 2, sublime.

depends what floats your boat – I guess everyone starts out on a different tack – often from film or advert usage..

Bach for the complexity (although there’s not a vast variety, it’s more the combinations that make it great)

Worth looking at distinctive stuff – Janacek Sinfonietta, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra; Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Stravinsky too, and Shostakovich – cello & piano concertos, symphonies are pretty grand – also his jazz suites are well written.

Vaughan Williams is different – Pastoral Symphony. Must say it does take a while to acclimatise to Wagner 🙂

Songs – Schubert, Schumann.

others – where to start? Mahler, Beethoven (4 & 7 are particular favourites), Brahms concertos, Steve Reich possibly? Maxwell Davies; Sibelius Symphony 5; Grieg Holberg Suite; Peter Warlock.

Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written, although such things are, as always, subjective.

This was on my mind the other day as I was listening to Clemency B-H on Radio3 (sick of the Today Prog ATM).

Remember with Classical music: Composer, Piece, Musicians/conductor, Record label

That’s why it feels so much harder work to access than pop music. Many more variables.

My recommendation (using the format above):

Rachmaninov, Vespers, Robert Shaw Festival Singers/Robert Shaw, Telarc

Search top concert pianists and then cross-match with what they’ve put out on CD and with which orchestras. Should throw up a few with your requirements of full orchestra and piano. And, there’s always Chopin.

Mozart – Requiem Mass

Mozart – THe magic flute Aria (No 14) Queen of the night

Thanks all, that should keep me busy for a bit.

Listening to whole pieces reveal so much more than you get from adverts and films.

For pure piano beauty try any of Schuberts Impromptus

Verdi’s Requiem is a belter

Classic FM have done a series of podcasts, the A to Z of classical music, presented by Alex James. It’s available on iTunes & worth a listen to. There are hours of info, great if you do a lot of driving like me!

+ 1 for both Dvorak and Elgar Cello concertos. If strings press your button then add Mendlesson and Bruch violin concertos and Yo Yo Ma playing most cello stuff (including hs simple and very short Gabriel’s Oboe). Mozarts horn concertos for some rousing brass and Bach’s toccata and fugue for the true majesty of the organ. Orchestral starters any I’d Beethovens symphonies and Shostakovich’s 5th. Choral works – most Ave Maria’s get the hairs standing. piano try Chopin’s nocturnes with Barenboim playing.

Copland – Appalachian Spring. I listened to this recently while flying over the very place mentioned in the titles. Stunning in every respect.
Elgar – Lots of.
Shostakovich – Give it a chance. Especially the Suite for Jazz

Go and borrow the DVD of Amadeus, it will give you an insight into the genius of Mozart and the reasons why people compose classical music.

My current favourite is Music From Behind the Lines, a CD of the music of Cecil Coles who was a bandsman who was a talented young composer but was killed in action in 1918, a huge loss to music. Read the poignant story here and especially the later notes about Coles’s daughter, Gustav Holst and the bloodstained manuscript of his symphony:

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDA67293

some “corny” pieces Ralph Vaughan Williams – Theme on Thomas Tallis, Holst – Planets and Rodrigo – Aranjuez, still worth a listen.

there was a list knocking around on the web of the best/definitive orchestral recordings/performances of the most popular pieces. It all gets very collectorish in the world of classical music.

If you like modern classical piano the craig armstrong is worth a listen.

I’ve recommended the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum podcast before on here, and it’s a recommendation I’m happy to repeat. Nice variety, with excellent introductions that tell you a bit about what you’re going to listen to.