Your favourite piece of classical music?

mine is the 1812 Overture.

Although it was written for Czarist Russia in honour of the repelled invasion by France. For me it has both a patriotic theme yet is musically very pleasing.

I pratically never listen or care ful classical, but the 1812 is amating by any standards.

:hi:

and heard a live performance K364 a few weeks ago. Wonderful

The November first concert is: Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op37.

And; Mendelssohn. Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op. 56 ("Scottish")

One very favorite is Donzetti..Daughter of the Regiment..I cannot find it anywhere.

180

and Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (concerti?).

One of the most beautiful melodies ever...

actual princesses. Do not like pieces with names like that....

Albioni's Addagio. What a heavenly thing that is.

Look it up, I think you'll find it amuzing.

The Mony Python theme song :evilgrin:

...sounds so much more cultured. Until it starts playing, then everyone cracks up.

I always expect a giant foot to come down and squash the band, though.

but the Ode to Joy.

that it's so beautiful.

One of the ultimate feel-good works. That one lifts me up whenever I down the the dumps. Bach's *Sheep May Safely Graze* and the Beatles' *Let It Be* also do the trick nicely

I used to play the violin from aged 9-15 so I probably know alot of them but I'd like to listen to them again just to see if I do recall.

Two of my favorites: Dvorak's Symphony 7 and Mozart's Bassoon Concerto in B flat major.

and there are so many fantastic pieces to choose from, but, in my opinion, the most beautiful piece of music ever written and that will ever be written is Pachelbel's Canon in D. You may not know the name, but you'd recognize it instantly.

It's been my favorite piece of music for as long as I can remember. The North Korean pianist was playing it on West Wing last night as a matter of fact. From what little he played it was a VERY good interpretation, far more intimate than one usually hears (I didn't care for his rendition of the Étudé later on, but then again I've always hated that piece anyway, so perhaps I'm biased). The Bösendorfer it was played on added a special touch of delicate magic as well--and I've always been such a Steinway snob. I've studied that piece for years and years but have never been satisfied with the way I play it.

or just about anything by Mozart or Prokofiev.

"Morning"

"Anitra's Dance"

"In the Hall of the Mountain Kings"

Listen to a version here (wait long enuff, it will start to play)

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Oeuvres/Music_OdeToJoy.html

by Rimsky-Korsakov

you'll really like it. There's a cd out there with both scheherazade (agghhh! fingers running away!) and Russian Easter Music on the same cd. check amazon.

I'll check it out!

followed by Barber's Adagio for Strings.

On edit: A cd I can highly recommend is the Classical Chillout. It's one of a series of mellow classical collections. The url is:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000667PL/ref=pd_sbs_m_4/103-4211266-8678261?v=glance&s=music

:)

My second pick would be Rossini's Thieving Magpie.

used to use the "Thieving Magpie" as their intro. Great.

n/t

It fit the mood so well I had to have it. I still have it as an MP3 in my favorite music folder.

and it's the reason I bought the soundtrack. Mind you, I like 90% of the music on that one.

Gorecki too.

There are soooo many good ones to pick from, but as with most I do have a favorite!

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

from Lakmé, De Libes

Dvorak's 9th

Esecially the 2nd, 3rd and 4th movements

Here are some cheesey midi files, but they may jog your memory of this beauty:

2nd movement: http://www.classicalmidiconnection.com/cgibin/x.cgi?mid/dvorak/dvsy92.mid

3rd movement: http://www.classicalmidiconnection.com/cgibin/x.cgi?mid/dvorak/dvsy93.mid

4th movement: http://www.classicalmidiconnection.com/cgibin/x.cgi?mid/dvorak/dvsy94.mid

Find your favorite piece here (scroll down the left menu to find by composer): http://www.classicalmidiconnection.com

at least the general tune. It was used for an advert it the UK and I belive it used for military services. A beautiful and very moving melody.

Though technically, that's romantic, not classical, as is your 1812 overture, but I assume by classical you aren't talking a specific period of time, but the more general usage of "serious, high-brow" music.

although I spent a period of my youth playing it, I was never really a fan. I was into metal and rock ala Rush. I can still appreciate it, but I rarely listen to it. I do plan on listening to all that are listed here though, I have a very broad taste.

Mahler reminds me of heavy metal - at least the intelligent stuff like Rush, Queensryche, Deep Purple, Sabbath, etc. UIt's heavy music, with lots of emotional swings. Perhaps a re-listen to it! Never ceases to bring me to tears in the final movement. Even listening to it in my head will bring tears. Gorgeous, and also at times incredibly violent and dissonant.

the low basses have to hit and hold a bflat 2 octaves below middle c. Mahler put a note in the music saying "The low basses don't really have to be heard on these low bflats, as long as they don't go up the octave." Well! I ask you! Not be heard, indeed. We made sure we were heard, by golly! And then at the end, the same low basses are expected to sing several times, F above middle C, at FFFF volume. Amazing piece. My tux needed dry-cleaning every time. So did I.

Thank God I'm not a bass so I'll never be asked to sing that part, but as a violinist, I'll add the first violin part is a screamin' difficult mess, too.

hell, the whole damn thing is, for everyone. Except maybe the untuned bell player and the organist.

Aaron Jay Kernis "Air for Violin" which was written for Joshua Bell originally. I prefer the orchestrated accompaniement. I'm not great at classifying works, but I'd describe this as "neo-romantic".

It's a deeply moving work... :nopity:

But I guess I have to pick the one that got me into classical music at a very young age:

The New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak.

When I started taking piano lessons at age 6, I had to play a simple version of the beautiful melody of the 2nd movement. I loved it. My parents got me a record of the entire symphony and I loved that even more. I've been hooked on the New World Symphony, and other classical music, ever since.

:D

EDIT: I see I'm not alone. See HFishbine's post #20 above! :thumbsup:

--Peter

just because....he doesn't quite fit.....but there's good stuff there and Leonard Bernstein.

that's this month. Ask me again next month

Yes, Yes technically considered Baroque music, but I will lump in with classical here as well. Toccata & Fugue in D Minor and the (little) Fugue in G Minor are masterpieces and my personal favorites.

Pathetique

Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A
the piano sonatas
the violin concertos
a very dear friend has been giving me Mozart CDs. the music is beautiful beyond description So is my friend

By Gershwin

Love "Rhapsody in Blue." Also love the ballads, Ella has a songbook of Gershwin tunes that is truly amazing.

We sang it in high school and it's stuck with me all these years.

I like Carmina Burana by Orff, too.

And just about everything previously mentioned by everyone.

check it out here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000J9GR/qid%3D1066950242/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-5627573-9707153

you can listen to it: ethereally beautiful piece. Mozart did an unauthorized download. RICAA would've been after his ass!

I just discovered this piece about 2 years ago (I'm ashamed to say since I was a musicology major). Actually, my husband heard it on the radio at work, called me and had me listen to it. I called the radio station and they told me what it was. I put it on order that day. My big, burly husband can't listen to it without big ole' tears streaming down his face. Magnificent piece!

And you're right about that "unauthorized download" thing. It was written for and to only be performed IN the Vatican. Mozart heard it once, went home and wrote it out. Now THAT is genius.

by Eric Satie

by Gluck.

the most beautiful piano piece in the world. My only beef with it is that it's too short.

Now if I could just play the damn thing.

The most beautiful piece I've ever heard.

I don't know, maybe the most beautiful piece of music I ever heard....

Followed by:

Alan Hovhaness, Mt. St. Helens Symphony
Gustav Mahler, Symphony #2
Anton Bruckner, Symphony #9
Johannes Brahms, German Requiem
Karol Szymanowski, Stabat Mater
Howard Hanson, Symphony #2
Ralph Vaughn Williams, Sea Symphony
Henry Purcell, Funeral Music for Queen Mary
GF Handel, Samson

If I really had to choose just one.

Georg Enescu- Romanian Rhapsody

The William Tell Overture is a truly fine overture that has been totally destroyed by being the theme song for The Lone Ranger.

"Meditation from the Opera Thais" Jules Massenet

Too hard to choose just one!

by Carl Orff.....lots of different tone colors. It's my favorite for getting the blood pounding.

A little Brandenburg Concerto #2 by The Big Guy is just for pleasure. The Brandenburgs make great driving music!

It makes me happy and forlorn at the same time-- sweetly melancholic Shaker hymns to the tenth power.

Irritatingly, it's been discovered and overused by advertising and hack documentary film makers.

2nd piano concerto, 1st movement. My favorite 16 bars of music ever are in that piece. It's intense and passionate and the first time I heard it I fell in love and have been hooked since.

Other favorites include Danse Macabre, Rondo Cappriciosos, and Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saenz, Beethoven's 6th, 7th, and 9th symphonies, and just about any of the Bach Preludes and Fugues. Love Liszt and Debussey as well. And I'm a huge fan of the Russians - Stravinsky, Kabalevsky, Mussorsky.

N/T

for an overlooked gem of a piece, try the Intermezzo from Act 1 of Franz Schmidt's opera "Notre Dame." There's a beautiful recording by Karajan and the Berlin Phil on EMI 74764. The disc also includes the Meditation from Thais and a bunch of opera intermezzi. Here's the track listing:

1. Der Zigeunerbaron: Overture by Johann Strauss Jr.
2. Thaïs: Meditation by Jules Massenet with
Anne-Sophie Mutter (Violin)
3. Anacréon: Overture by Luigi Cherubini
4. Der Freischütz, J 277: Overture by Carl Maria von Weber
5. Notre Dame: Act 1 Intermezzo by Franz Schmidt
6. Suor Angelica: Intermezzo by Giacomo Puccini
7. Manon Lescaut: Act 3 Intermezzo by Giacomo Puccini
8. L'Amico Fritz: Intermezzo by Pietro Mascagni
9. Hänsel und Gretel: Overture by Engelbert Humperdinck
10. Hebrides Overture, in B minor Op. 26 "Fingal's Cave" by Felix Mendelssohn

This is one of my favorite CDs. Other overlooked gems on this include the Intermezzi from Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica and L'Amico Fritz.

And the disc only costs $6.99!

Click here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?K38852156

I love all the usually cited composers but this one is just really moving and special to me.

*ahem*. Yes. My daughter, who fiddles, has learned and played that, and we agree, that's the most beautiful piece written for violin.

Close behind is Vaughan Williams' "Air on a Theme from Thomas Tallis". And for a real treat, juxtapose a performance of that with a chamber choir singing the original Tallis piece.....

#2 the "Planets Suite"
#3 "Pictures from an Exhibition"
#4 Vivaldi's Oboe Concerto
#5 Everything by Vivaldi
#6 and Bach...
#7 Anything featuring Lute

:-)

To those who mentioned Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, I salute you. Don't leave out Tchaikovsky's famous Piano Concerto No. 1, or his Waltz of the Flowers. Or Holst's Venus and Jupiter. Or Gershwin's jazzy Rhapsody in Blue.