Classical music thread

[Kotaku]

Ah.. Classical music, it's something I and many other posters here love. And it's so influential, I doubt that I needed to say that.

I mean Beethoven's 9th Symphony is very well known and famous, more know to Anime fans as the Neon Genesis Evangelions trailer.

RahXephon gave names to the Mu, like italian tempo markings such as Allegretto, Fortisimo and Falsetto, some of these aren't listed on the pages earlier, but using Wikipedia you can read much more on it.

Not only that, in Mobile Suit Gundam F91 - Battle you can actually hear parts from Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps.

Does anyone know about John Carpenter's The Thing soundtrack used when they see the UFO? This piece sounds very similar to Mobile Suit Gundam Stardust Memories, but I can't put my finger on the composer...

[Siegel Clyne]

I have written customer reviews at Amazon on a number of classical music CDs, such as the Tenebrae Responsories of the Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), the Four Ouvertures (Orchestral Suites) and the St. John Passion of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), and the Mass in G minor of the 20th century English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

[puzk]

For definition's sake, are we are talking about music from the Classical Era? Or are we generally talking about any music that is pre- 1900's?

Sorry to nitpick things out, but many Baroque, Romantic, and 20th Centuary Music composers and works were mentioned.

I should also add that Nodame Cantabile sure sparked up a lot of interest in such music. Gotta love Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.2 & 3.

[Siegel Clyne]

Haydn, Mozart, early Beethoven perhaps...

If classical music is strictly defined as music from the Classical Era, one would be limited to music by less than a handful of noteworthy composers.

[Sylf]

Do we really have to bring up that discussion at all? It's obvious that the thread wasn't intended just for the music from Classical era. And besides, why was Renaissance skipped in the list... Victoria that Siegel Clyne listed was in that category. Seriously. Let's not get that picky.

Having fun with classical music in anime... Actually, they crammed quite a few classical pieces in the short 8 minutes of Strike Witches. It's been a challenge to name all pieces used in it. I still haven't figured couple pieces. Anyway. After watching that show, listening to Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony again was fun.

Unrelated to anime... Last weekend, I went to see the local symphony orchestra play Dvorak's 8th Symphony. It's one of my favorite pieces out there. And I was quite impressed with their performance, and most of all, the conductor's interpretation. Now I'm really looking forward to their season finale with Saint-Saens' 3rd Symphony, another one of my favorites.

[khryoleoz]

In terms of sonic texture, I prefer symphonies over chamber stuff. But chamber music is still great musical content and I love it, whether string, brass, or woodwind ensembles.

Though I like all composers and acknowledge their importance for what they bring to not just the genre but the development of music as an art and science, I certainly have my favorite composers, conductors, orchestras, and soloists.

First, the composers. I intimately identify with the music of Stravinsky, Bartok, Ravel, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Schumann. Others whose body of orchestral works I listen to over and over again are Hindemith, Sibelius, Mahler, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Chopin.

Some individual players I like are Byron Janis, Vladmir Ashkenazy, Mikhail Pletnev, Stephen Hough, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Leila Josefowicz, Itzhak Perlman, Edgar Meyer, Christopher Parkening, Pepe Romero.

Conductors I like are pretty much everyone from whom I have recordings, Ozawa, Munch, Abbaddo, Dorati, Bernstein, Barshai, Previn, Mutti, Ashkenazy, Pletnev, etc..

My favorite compositions are certainly Stravinsky's 1st Symphony, Firebird, Rite of Spring, Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Piano Concertos 1-3, and Miraculous Mandarin, Ravel's Bolero, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Daphnis et Chloe, Piano Concerto in G Major, Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto, Romeo and Juliet, Symphonies 1, 4, and 6, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto's 1-2, Violin Concerto's 1-2, 7th Symphony (which was the amusing theme used in the Day of Sagittarius game), Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, 6th Symphony, all three ballets (Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake), Piano Concerto 1, Violin Concerto, the Rachmaninov Piano Concerti 3 and 2, Schumann's Symphonies 1 and 4 and Piano Concerto, and many many more.

Of course, I'd have to count Yoko Kanno's excellent score for the Vision of Escaflowne. Dance of Curse may be derivative of Orff's O Fortuna, but I actually like it better by being a darker, ass kickin tune.

[Aoie_Emesai]

I still think Moonligh Sonata by Beethoven is still the best. I has a mellow, creepy yet satisfying feeling to it ^^

[raphaël]

thanks for the replies.
as puzk pointed out, nodame cantabile brought up something different about classical music in anime. At least I thought so.
Unfortunately, after watching a few episodes, I realized it was a good , funny comedy with music in the "background", as an excuse to follow a very classical comedy pattern.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the point was to be as caricatural as anime almost always are, but...

anyway, what do you think? Has anything new happened between anime and piano, violon and tutti quanti since then?

[Envy]

I've been into classical music for a while, now. Still expanding, though, because really I haven't heard much of it.

My favorite genre has to be Baroque. It just has a really cool sound to it. I especially like the darker minor and slow movements. Those are just the best! But I also really like Summer of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

I still can't understand why people consider classical music "relaxing" or "soothing", though. I guess what people listen to that makes them think that, I don't... To be honest, I oftentimes find some classical music to be boring. But it's that way with all genres.

I listen to awesome music like Vivaldi's Summer, as I mentioned earlier. But I like pieces and composers outside of the Baroque era, too. Of course Mozart has some pretty cool pieces, like the second movement of his 23rd Piano Concerto. (The "Adagio" movement) And I've always liked Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, I found a recording with all three movements and the last two movements are really awesome (and far from "relaxing"!)

And after taking Music Theory IV we learned a bit about Impressionistic music and although it's a genre I've only heard very little of, it's very interesting. I have one Debussy piece on my iPod and I really like it. It's an genre I'd like to start finding more of...

[Siegel Clyne]

Since it's that time of the year again...

I'll be listening to Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, George Frideric Handel's Messiah, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and a bunch of other holiday classical favorites.

[Theowne]

Originally Posted by Envy

And after taking Music Theory IV we learned a bit about Impressionistic music and although it's a genre I've only heard very little of, it's very interesting. I have one Debussy piece on my iPod and I really like it. It's an genre I'd like to start finding more of...

When it comes to the French Impressionists I generally reccomend two works as "beginner pieces" to get acquainted with them: Debussy's three Nocturnes for Orchestra and Ravel's "Daphnes and Chloe". These two suites are as good of an introduction and justification for the genre as I can think of. When it comes to piano pieces, Ravel's "Miroirs" and Debussy's "Images", Book 1, are equally good introductions.

[Siegel Clyne]

Maurice Ravel / Lever du jour (Daybreak) from Daphnis et Chloé (1911)

[signorRossi]

This 'Lever du jour' is a great piece by Ravel, seems that either I like his music pieces very much or not at all. We have a Classical music festival here every year with concerts from end of August to end of September and they play Ravel a lot, and I didn't like what they played from him last time I went to a concert. I would really like to hear them play Rodrigo, Vaugham Williams or Grieg (complete Peer Gynt to be precise) some time, but those composers are not in atm it seems. The best piece I ever heard in concert was 'Porgy and Bess' in the concert version with a big choir in the background.

[Same_Shark]

Whoa! I can't believe I didn't find this thread sooner! I absolutely love Chopin's Prelude No. 15 in D-flat major.

[Poey]

I'm a double bass player in my senior year as an undergrad music student. I'll be doing grad school afterwards. I like listening to symphonies mostly, and then concertos and sonatas. My favorite composers tend to be Romantic/20th century, although my absolute favorite is Beethoven. I recently saw the SF Symphony play Mahler's 5th symphony which was freaking \m/. Loved it. I'm seeing them play Beethoven's 5th in December as well. Can't wait.

[Siegel Clyne]

Since my diverse tastes in classical music parallel my diverse tastes in popular music...

The most famous pupil of French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) wrote some of the most beautiful music ever. For many years an atheist and late in life an agnostic, Vaughan Williams nevertheless composed and arranged much religious choral and instrumental music during his long and productive musical career. He composed nine symphonies, each different and unique from one another...

His three most popular works are perhaps, in no particular order: 1) Fantasia on 'Greensleeves' arr. Ralph Greaves, taken from his opera Sir John in Love (1924-1928); 2) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910); and 3) The Lark Ascending (1914).

Here are a couple of Vaughan William musical works, the first several English folk songs he arranged for military band and later orchestrated by fellow British composer Gordon Jacob (1895-1984), and the second a supremely beautiful setting for violin and orchestra of the George Meredith poem The Lark Ascending:

Ralph Vaughan Williams / English Folk Songs - Suite orch. Gordon Jacob

Ralph Vaughan Williams / The Lark Ascending Part 1 (Janine Jansen, violin; Barry Wordsworth, conductor; BBC Concert Orchestra)

Ralph Vaughan Williams / The Lark Ascending Part 2 (Janine Jansen, violin; Barry Wordsworth, conductor; BBC Concert Orchestra)

[Siegel Clyne]

Below is the slow second or middle movement of the Tuba Concerto in F minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams, "Romanza: Andante sostenuto."

Vaughan Williams could even make the tuba sound beautiful.

Ralph Vaughan Williams / Tuba Concerto in F minor - II. Romanza: Andante sostenuto

[Theowne]

Wonderful music. I was so caught up in it that I didn't even notice that the tuba had started playing. Vaughan Williams has such a beautiful sound.

[signorRossi]

One of my favs...

[Raggdoll56]

well....clasical music is ok i guess...