Talk to me about classical music

[TheoneandObi]

I'd like to start listening to something new. I didn't have any education in classical music. Eighties/nineties pop music girl here! But I'd like to learn more and broaden my tastes.
So. Any suggestions?
I can be quite affected by music. I had a period of depression a few years back and music was literally painful to listen to, so I stopped. So I'd be interested in how I now cope with music which might be quite affecting iyswim
Thanks!

Music grad here! Eric Whitacre for beautiful modern classical stuff. Check out 'The Seal Lullaby' and 'Sleep' to start with. Debussy does wonderful dreamlike music. Copland's Rodeo suite is charming and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is powerful and unsettling. Definitely worth watching a few documentaries on Youtube etc: classical music is often better appreciated with knowledge of context and some technical features

That's great, Obi. Really good when you can hear the whole piece - you get a build up that makes sense.

One of the reasons I'm a bit sniffy about ClassicFM is that they play so many snippets of things. And it's just not the same. Like reading one chapter of a book. That chapter may be written very well, but it's unsatisfying as a story. What led to that point? What happens next? You need the full thing to get the full emotional and intellectual payoff.

Btw, it makes a massive difference who the performers or the conductor was, to how much you'll like the end result. Worth checking out on the schedule who was playing the version that caught your ear:

radio 3 today

There is a lot of snobbery about classical music and its important to remember that, like any musical genre, while you can recognise brilliance and talent, your liking it is deeply personal

I personally love most Mozart and Grieg.

Don't be intimidated by it, and don't be afraid to hate something

My personal fav is Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor OP 16

You will recognise it

Sorry, meant to include Mozart Piano Concerto no 21

And for the Grieg, its the Adagio
Sorry. tired

I'm really looking forward to hearing some these out. Ace thread. Thanks 😊

I can be quite affected by music. I had a period of depression a few years back and music was literally painful to listen to, so I stopped.

Same. Which is why I tend to listen to pop. But I’m going to try to listen to all of these recommendations. This is a great thread.

Try Jupiter from The Planets by Holst.

Very uplifting!

If you like early choral music, this Vivaldi is short with bite-sized pieces of different choral and solo styles.
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Handel's setting of Dixit Dominus,which was written about 25 years before the Vivaldi version, is astonishing in its originality, rhythms, tunefulness and sheer brilliance. He was 21 when he composed it
It's a very challenging sing but all the more exciting for that!
This is one of many performances on You Tube but certainly one of the best. The version by Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Players is also very good but is in several sections on You Tube.

If my first effort doesn't start at the beginning, this one should

some lovely suggestions on here that I will try. I have always loved classical music but am by no means an expert. On long car journeys by myself I switch from Gold & belting out all the oldies to Classic FM, Scala etc. I love listening to the Classic FM Hall of Fame each year.

Particular favourites - Four Seasons, Carmina Burano, Mussorgky Night on a Bare Mountain, Madam Butterfly , Mozart,

I also really love most things by Ennio Morricone especially the music from Cinema Paradiso & The Mission

@campion Handel's Dixit Dominus is one of my favourite vocal works ever Such amazing ingenuity! As you say, it's astonishing that he was only 21 when he composed it.

No love for Arvo Part? I heard a fantastic performance of his 'Misere' when I was a teenager. Very plain, simple opening but it builds and builds. Similar, but orchestral, his 'Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten' is beautiful.

If we're talking about the first pieces that really switched me on to classical music, I'd have to say Schubert's Unfinished Symphony. I started playing in the county youth orchestra and that was the piece we did in my first term. Because it was much harder than anything I'd done before, I had to listen to recordings of it to get an idea of what was going on. And it just blew me away. Then I picked up Schubert's 9th symphony and that was me sold. If only I'd had access to YouTube back then ...

@beelzeboob a beautiful piece of music to take you to heaven