What is your favourite classical piece?

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SUMMARY

This forum discussion centers around users sharing their favorite classical music pieces, highlighting personal connections and performances. Notable mentions include JS Bach's "Goldberg Variations" as performed by Glenn Gould (1981), Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 2" conducted by Seiji Ozawa, and Shostakovich's "String Quartet No. 8." Participants express how these pieces resonate with them emotionally, with some preferring specific composers like Chopin and Mozart for different contexts, such as studying mathematics. The conversation reflects a deep appreciation for classical music's emotional depth and its impact on listeners.

PREREQUISITES
  • Familiarity with classical music terminology and composers
  • Understanding of musical forms such as concertos and string quartets
  • Basic knowledge of music theory to appreciate compositions
  • Awareness of historical context surrounding composers like Shostakovich and Bach
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore JS Bach's "Goldberg Variations" and its historical significance
  • Research the emotional context of Shostakovich's "String Quartet No. 8"
  • Listen to Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 2" and analyze its structure
  • Investigate the influence of classical music on concentration and productivity
USEFUL FOR

Music enthusiasts, students of musicology, and anyone looking to deepen their understanding of classical music and its emotional resonance will benefit from this discussion.

Functor97
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I am interested to know everyones favourite piece of classical music! I am a hopeless musician, but i love listening to classical music whilst i do mathematics, its like transcending to another plane of existence.
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwL-sSUWMGQ

I like most flamenco, but only some baroque classical if that counts.
 
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Easy answer:
The Goldberg Variations, JS Bach, as performed by Glen Gould, 1981.

I've learned to play the Aria plus 10 out of the 30 variations (not the first 10); it's neat that I am able to pick out the mistake in this ^^^ recording!
 
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Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 conducted by Seiji Ozawa.
 
There's so much of it, how can I pick just one? :cry:

Oh well, here's one of my all-time favorites, ever since I discovered Leonard Bernstein's recording of it in my college's library about forty years ago. This one is by Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT3zm6o2mB0

Go on to the other three movements, also.

For a more mainstream favorite, I've listened to Mozart's clarinet concerto several times in the last few days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVXFONkLPok
 
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I'd like to discover more classical music. I pick my way through things from time to time but I rarely find a piece that I connect with. I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the soundtrack to The Pianist (and the movie is great too :P), so I like Chopin.

This one is quiet and beautiful. :)

 
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That's a tough question... I really enjoy Beethoven's symphonies, Number 7, movement 2 and Number 5, movement 1 really stick out in my mind as being particularly awesome. If I were to choose from those two, I would have to choose symphony 5, movement 1.
 
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8
In order to fully appreciate its depth, you need to know a little bit of context.

First of, if you think you do not know Shostakovich, actually you do :

maybe not the best example, but this composer is in the Pantheon of XXth century music and his influence reaches well beyond classical music.

The particular quartet I refer to here is so tormented, it is almost unbearable, and the thing is, it is genuine. Every time I feel down, I can listen to this quartet, and remind myself that while this guy was lower than I can ever fear to be, he produced a genius masterpiece, in merely three days.

At the beginning of the third movement, there is a delightful little dance with the devil.
6OtqABpuV-s[/youtube] At the begin..._Dmitri_Shostakovich_and_Joseph_Stalin]Stalin
 
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  • #10
I haven't listened to these in a while. thanks for reminding me :smile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usrKPwfUE08


OIiU2-JyqsE[/youtube] [MEDIA=you...:approve: [MEDIA=youtube]slDPM7kBkCg[/MEDIA]
 
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  • #11
Haborix said:
I want this piece played at my funeral.

Here's my choice: Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGEOw6cThuU
 
  • #12
Bach WTC Book I, Prelude I, C major.
 
  • #13
So much to do, yet I spend two hours trying to take a decision, I almost posted and then reconsidered. Best classical music heritage is Schubert's Unfin... no, Beethoven violin concerto (and some 50 more works). Here is the third movement.



But maybe I reconsider later.
 
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  • #14
This one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOfC9LfR3PI
 
  • #15
I'd go with The "Hungarian Rhapsody 2" -Franz Liszt (truly the work of a genius), "Without a Father" - Ernesto Cortazar and "Elegie" - Rachmaninoff
 
  • #16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSzV32KFL90

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPJ3wxBxjAo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASAu-YYmDyY
 
  • #17
I can only speak for myself. But, for me Bach can only be listened to in small doses. After a while just makes me feel like a bag of bones.
Favourite of all time.
 
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  • #18
even stuff like this makes you feel like a bag of bones? :frown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRJKcpUsFN8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20tau1ngCtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIemzStWOog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W6wy6MpyDs
 
  • #19
Oh no, I meant anything played by an organ from Bach is terrifying to say the least. The order, the precision. You could never live up to those standards. God knows what kind of perfectionist Bach must have been.
But, there are some pieces that I cherish:

Btw, you have a great taste in Bach. Impeccable.
 
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  • #20
Also from his bag

 
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  • #21
humanino said:
Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8

Thanks for reminding me of that. I've played it a couple of times on string quartet courses (with the cellist who is now my wife and a couple of other friends).

It's interesting and I enjoyed playing it, but it's nowhere near my favourite.

I don't think I can give an overall favourite, but my favourites include Shostakovich Symphony No 5 and Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 (of which I've performed the first movement last year in a concert of concerto movements, and I'm probably going to perform the second movement in a similar concert this year, but although I can manage most of the last movement I haven't really got the strength and speed to play it as well as I'd like).

I also particularly like Mendelssohn Piano Trio No 1. We have now moved on to No 2, but I'm not as keen on it.
 
  • #22
mishrashubham said:
I'd go with The "Hungarian Rhapsody 2" -Franz Liszt (truly the work of a genius)

... especially the Tom and Jerry version (The Cat Concerto).
 
  • #23
Andre said:
Also from his bag...

When I was listening to the radio as a child, there were a few minutes left before the morning news and we heard the announcer say:

"And now, Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze on a gramophone record"

The whole family collapsed in laughter, and whenever anyone mentions that work we call it "Sheep may safely graze on a gramophone record".
 
  • #24
Nice Jonathan, of course it sounds a bit like the death by repetition phenomenon, if the radio burns your memory numb by repeating the same master piece over and over and over.
 
  • #25
Jonathan Scott said:
mishrashubham said:
I'd go with The "Hungarian Rhapsody 2" -Franz Liszt (truly the work of a genius)

... especially the Tom and Jerry version (The Cat Concerto).

what about this one? :smile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H9f8qUrF6w

I thought of a couple more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76phq9-KHi0

I don't think all 40 voices come in until just after the 5min. mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-_73qnTRo
 
  • #26
Oh for the vocal parts, this duet wins hands down.

 
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  • #27
I love the flower duet! It makes me want to sing along, but of course I can't :biggrin:

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is my favorite, I love the harmony and the overwhelming climax that it builds up to. If I want to quiet my mind and become grounded, I just play this song on repeat.



Choral version:

 
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  • #28
I would have thought pergolesi would have at least been a contender in the duet world. that flower duet definitely seems to be more popular though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0o4Mi5tMEQ

barber's adagio kind of reminds me of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C39TjQ0yDA

& since daylight-savings ends in less than a week... :shy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdcGZprzxI0
 
  • #29
Pathetique by Beethoven
 
  • #30
Jonathan Scott said:
... especially the Tom and Jerry version (The Cat Concerto).

haha yeah
 

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