Classical music pieces - recommendations needed please.

[Lord Sausage]

On 09/01/2023 at 21:52, BassTractor said:

With Zappa as your reference frame, I'd say: keep to the biggies first, and take it from there.
Bach has been mentioned already, and forgetting the play-along bit, some names I'd add could be, starting with older music so as to hear music developing:

Palestrina and Monteverdi for yer renaissance and early baroque.
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli
Monteverdi: Orfeo,  Scherzi musicali  (with that glorious song "Non cosi tosto" a.o.)

 

Bach: what has been mentioned already plus say the Mass in B minor, the St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio and the Brandenburg Concertos.
Also give "Bist du bei mir" a listen. It was traditionally, wrongly, attributed to Bach (but he simply couldn't have written it) and is absolutely gorgeous despite its awkwardness.

 

If you play Haydn (say Die Schöpfung (The Creation), piano sonatas and a symphony like no 104) and

 

Händel (operas like 'Julius Caesar' and 'Oreste' and oratoria like The Messiah for example), then do absolutely not forget

 

Henry Purcell - a great composer. My brain refuses to remember pieces right now, but he's up there with the very best.

Mozart: late works like his Requiem (which turns away from the perceived lightness of many an early work, and reflects Mozart's understanding of and love for Bach).
I'd do the "light" stuff later.

 

 

That's all for now. Brain is closing down, so best hit the Submit button.
Enjoy!

 

Edit: rectified a few wrong entries.

I'm trying to remember back to Uni now. But I think Stravinsky in his Neo-classical phase used to borrow a bit from Purcell, especially the bass parts so it's probably a good shout.  

 

Of course you can't go wrong with Stravinsky. Be interesting play along especially if you like Zappa.

 

We did a prog rock version of parts of The Rite of Spring at college. One of the best things I've ever done musically.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Lord Sausage

[Lord Sausage]

On 11/01/2023 at 20:40, Woodwind said:

 

John Williams basically ripped thr piece off wholesale for the Starwars soundtrack 

 

 

 

And The Planet Suite by Holst

[TrevorR]

 Caveat, I’m not worrying about music you can learn or play along with just interesting different styles and composers you might want to listen to to see what you enjoy - there will be composers and styles you like and those you don’t… just like any type/style of music. You’ve had a load of great suggestions a.ready so I’ll try not to duplicate too much. So here are a few of my favourites which are worth checking out. 
 

Lots of references to Bach, and you really can’t go wrong. A personal favourite are the 6 Brandenburg Contertos. You’ll recognise some of the movements because they regularly get used for TV themes or incidental music. 
 

Haydn has been mentioned too. I prefer the later symphonies  such as 94 and 104.

 

Mozart I can be a bit take it or leave I but I really like his Symphony 41 - again one that’s been used for film scores etc.

 

Try out one of Beethoven’s symphonies - no 6 the Pastoral is well known and very accessible but No 3, “Eroica” is a favourite. Brahms’ 2nd Symphony is quite Beethoven influenced but a nice listen in its own right. Maybe a bit melodramatic in places.

 

Probably my favourite piece is Elgar’s Cello Concerto - either of Jacqueline DuPre’s recordings are considered definitive.

 

All of Rachmaninov’s piano concertos are fantastic but no 3 is considered the ultimate. No 2 will get you loads of super romantic themes used in loads of films. Try to find the recordings by Vladimir Ashkenazy with the Concertgebouw conducted by Bernard Haitink.  Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini is fun too.
 

I love Aaron Copland’s music - very cinematic and modern but in an accessible way. His Clarinet Concerto is fantastic and Appalachian Spring is lovely if you can get past flashbacks to school assemblies as it uses a theme from an old folk tune which was murdered by music teachers up and down the country as “Lord of the Dance”. The Quiet City is very evocative of… well the middle of the night in an American city in the 30s, 40s or 50s, I guess. Another favourite is Nonet for Strings.

 

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue does a melding of classical and jazz styles really nicely, with an iconic clarinet intro used brilliantly for ther opening of his film Manhattan.

 

Finally, I’ve been getting into William Walton recently who blends a sort of Beethovenesque classical style with more 20th C harmonies and a cinematic texture - you can hear where John Williams nicked a load of  inspiration for his eerie, quiet passages in his soundtracks from (and the noisy bits from Gustav Holst). Been listening to his Symphony no 1 recently.

And another favourite piece… a fluffy little thing that Gustav Holst wrote to give the school orchestra string section something to do at a school concert when he was a music teacher at a posh girls school… not heavy, or serious or super classical but hugely enjoyable, which I guess was what he was going for… it certainly always raises my mood! Ironically, here seemingly played by the string section of an orchestra at a posh girls school!

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2023 by TrevorR

[TrevorR]

28 minutes ago, Lord Sausage said:

And The Planet Suite by Holst

…and Walton for the quiet bits on Tatooine in the desert… (see above)

[TrevorR]

This Radio 3 documentary does a very good look at John Williams’ magpie tendencies…

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015cm7
 

Tom Service’s prose can be a bit purple and pretentious but The Listening Service is always a fascinating listen on a wide range of musical topics…

 

 

[nekomatic]

15 hours ago, TrevorR said:

I love Aaron Copland’s music - very cinematic and modern but in an accessible way. His Clarinet Concerto is fantastic and Appalachian Spring is lovely if you can get past flashbacks to school assemblies as it uses a theme from an old folk tune which was murdered by music teachers up and down the country as “Lord of the Dance”. The Quiet City is very evocative of… well the middle of the night in an American city in the 30s, 40s or 50s, I guess. Another favourite is Nonet for Strings.

 

Copland, good shout. Appalachian Spring was definitely one of my formative classical influences. And if Holst and Walton are the godfathers of science fiction soundtracks then Copland's fingerprints are all over most Westerns.

 

If we're on Americans then we should also have Bernstein, and not just for West Side Story or the purely rambunctious stuff like the Candide overture - there’s also the Chichester Psalms for example.

 

If there's one composer I can nominate as underrated, it’s Szymanowski. Seeing Król Roger done live has to be on my bucket list.

[nekomatic]

16 hours ago, TrevorR said:

Tom Service’s prose can be a bit purple and pretentious

 

That’s exactly why I love the programme. It’s widescreen radio.

[TrevorR]

3 hours ago, nekomatic said:

 

That’s exactly why I love the programme. It’s widescreen radio.

It is great… I’m hooked. Love how he makes topics and composers you thought you had no interest in fascinating and accessible. Widescreen radio is a brilliant metaphor!

[miles'tone]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! Brilliant (and daunting! 😄).

I have listened via Spotify to some of the works as suggested, then Spotify did it's random jukebox thing and up popped Claude Debussy. Which I really liked. So I've been listening to him for a bit now.

Tonight I've given some of Bartók's Mikrokosmos a listen and was really surprised! I hadn't realised that it was a series of slowly building piano tutorials with mostly (so far) two different intervals at a time travelling around the, erm, mikrokosmos.

This kind of approach I do already on my bass just for fun, feeling out textures with tensions and release. Right up my street!

I've ordered the definitive book to have a look at what's actually going on. Seems like a fun way to practice reading again and will get me enthusiastically sat at the piano for a change.

I'm going to create a playlist on Spotify with every suggestion so far, so I can go through everything whilst in the car.

I'll try and make it public so others can add to it if they like, similar to the basschat Best Basslines Ever playlist that was popular a few years back (once I work out how it's done! 😄)

 

Cheers all!

[pfretrock]

On 11/01/2023 at 16:40, BassTractor said:

 

- Stravinsky: Firebird Suite  and/or The Rite of Spring. Part of the Firebird has been used by Yes as intro music to their gigs, so may be known,

 

Try Stravinsky's Octet. A very unusual combination of instruments.  I believe he said the idea came to him in a dream, though I can't find a reference to it. Maybe on a record/CD sleeve?

[pfretrock]

13 hours ago, pfretrock said:

Try Stravinsky's Octet. A very unusual combination of instruments.  I believe he said the idea came to him in a dream, though I can't find a reference to it. Maybe on a record/CD sleeve?

I'm glad I posted this as it reminded me I had a cassette recording of this taken from Radio 3, from the late 80's. I lost the tape over the years and searched for another recording. Eventually found one by a US orchestra.  Is anyone else annoyed when a favourite recording is interpreted even slightly differently by the conductor/arranger? A search on Youtube has found my lost recording!

[Piers_Williamson]

Has anyone suggested the reference to Stravinsky in 'Wherever I lay my hat'?

 

 

[itu]

7 hours ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Has anyone suggested the reference to Stravinsky in 'Wherever I lay my hat'?

It was only you that answered my question in the first page, thanks a lot.

[Piers_Williamson]

4 minutes ago, itu said:

It was only you that answered my question in the first page, thanks a lot.

Now can someone tell us which Stravinsky piece?  I did know, but I've forgotten!

[Dad3353]

42 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Now can someone tell us which Stravinsky piece?  I did know, but I've forgotten!

 

Almost the very first notes, low in the mix...

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Dad3353

[Wylie]

On 09/01/2023 at 11:39, miles'tone said:

After replying to the What Are You Listening To Right Now thread I thought it would be a good idea to start this one.

 

I love the bass playing of Scott Thunes who played with Frank Zappa, always interesting with his gnarly, tight and punky P bass with a pick sound. He was the first (and maybe only) musician that Frank hired to be given "carte blanche", free reign to improvise however he felt when they played live, usually providing out of the box lines, colourfully harmonising with counterpoint melodies and instant responses to Franks improvised solos. Zappa trusted him that much.

Scott, although playing hard like a punk, always cites many classical composers as his main inspirations.

Add to that seeing Sting gush about Bach during the excellent and fairly recent Rick Beato interview and I just have to take a peek down the classical rabbit hole!

 

I don't know much about this kind of music at all, other than being familiar with the names of the biggies. 

 

What pieces should a noob like me be seeking out?

Initially I would like to check out some music that I could try and play along to myself while I develop my classical ears, see what I can glean from it and hopefully get my basslines sounding more harmonically interesting. 

I can read bass clef but not sight read in real time if that matters at all.

 

Any pointers or suggestions will be most appreciated!

 

Thanks gang.

For serious contemporary music, try Mary Halvorson (guitarist and composer) and Reinier Baas (guitarist and composer; can be found on YouTube playing with the WDR Big Band).