The minimalists and the avant-garde (Cage/ Stockhausen) aren't given much time by the classical 'establishment' but that's no reason to say they're not good. Check out die Valkyre by Wagner if you're into Branca - you might notice that a lot of his ideas are developed out of Wagner's (not to say he stole them, per se). There's plenty of oomph in plenty of more 'acceptable' classical stuff - Karajan's treatment of Beethoven's 5th is brilliantly heavy, I reckon someone like Mahler or Stravinsky should appeal to your taste. I doubt you'd quite go for Elgar or Vivaldi, but Paganini might lead to Rimsky-Korsakov or Szymanowski. I'd even go so far as to recommend fishing out a punchy version of Ravel's Bolero.

Over everything I'd probably recommend Schnittke, he's ridiculously brilliant from about the early 70s to the mid-to-late 80s.

Really? The latter books of Mikrokosmos [sp?] are brilliant; I absolutely hated Bluebeard when I saw it, but his string quartets are probably my favourite quartets I can think of.

yes, wagner influence on branca is almost too abvious.

Bump 'cause that's a good thread.

Mahler's 7th on t'radio t'other night. 'Twere tremendous.

quick list of alltime favorites for me.for some reason, i haven't been listening to classical music for a while. it will come back though.

bach - matthaus passion (esp. the "erbarme dich")
bach - mass in B minor
bach - cello suites
bach - trio sonatas w/ the harpsichord

vivaldi - stabat mater

beethoven - 5th, 7th, quartets 101,105
beethoven - cello sonanatas

mozart, Great mass in c minor
mozart quintet k174

mahler - 9th, 2th, the Lieder that goes "die zwei blauen Augen..."

dvorak - cello concerto

some mendelsohn stuff that's too bittersweet but can;t remember

schoenberg - Verklaerte Nacht

Some of you might be interested to click the link I just provided, as it's a pretty big database of public domain scores. Predominently pre-20th Century, but that's by no means a bad thing.

I'm nowhere near a classical music buff, but I've got the soundtrack from 32 short stories about Glenn Gould, which I find to be really good but it's more like a sampler, really. About 2/3s of the tracks are JS Bach, and is a decent starting point, I'd say.



PS this is a great thread!

Instigator Jukebox 96 - Yo Yo Ma
check it out

Today's terribly exciting news is that I'm listening, for the first time, to some works by Arthur Honegger.

Quite dramatic. Some nice moments. I'm enjoying it.

Is Sibelius worth checking out ?

this was a good thread.
i was listening to paganinis capricis today, and really loved them, unlike EN two years ago.
im listening to arvo part based on an old glice recomendation and loving it.
and on tuesday starts the new semster of history of music. so romantic music, here i come...(although im mildly familiar with a good amount of the composers)

ive been listening to morton feldman a lot lately. there is always this strange mixture of the sublime and the unsettling.

one of the great things about feldman is his stance against the systematic approach of the atonalists. instead of dealing with various intellectual systems to organize sound he would use intuition and sound itself to guide him. there is this great quote from feldman in conversation with stockhausen-

ks- what is your secret morty?

mf- ive found that if you push sounds around too much they tend to push back.

ks- i cant push them around even a little bit?


feldman's a great writer (of words) too.

That collection of Feldman's writing, give my regards to 10th [?] street, is amazing. Writing entirely in black ink. Sorting the chair out first.

Have you heard the last piano pieces? I think it was out on Sub Rosa. Astonishing.

fugazifan - You'll be on the Ernst before you know it. If anyone meets Hahn, tell her I love her.

yeah that book is great! i love how he writes about painters and the influence they have had on his work. and the carpets too.

the chair anecdote is wonderful.

he writes that so many artists have destroyed themselves because the "work" is so difficult. it's not the work that's difficult it's the artist that's difficult. so much of the "work" is really about one's consciousness or attention being dealt with and then dealing with the work. he was a wise man.

I have a boxset of 100 pieces of classical music that I'm slowly going through. I think I enjoy Bach and Beethoven the most. I'm learning Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 Pathetique on piano right now to perform for my HSC.

Also, does anyone know what piece of music is used in this song? (I mean the main riff, I know the Fur Elise part). My music teacher says it's something of Bach's.

the 1st movement to ives' 4th symphony melts my insides its so beautiful

I have a boxset of Strauss that I've been rocking lately. He's utterly maddening - amazing, sometimes, and utter tripe at others.

i know what you mean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zlE5ipwna8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs3BF...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL16t...eature=related


(i keed)

The other Strauss.

[Ozawa and Rostropovich... crikey].