I’m probably the only one lol
But seriously, I also love the classical music from the Soviet Union (and I don’t mean just household names like Shostakovich).
You are definitely not the only one. It’s literally what I do for a living and I’m extremely lucky for that! What a privilege I have, that I get up in the morning excited and happy to go to work. I love the stuff!
Go get 'em, comrade.
Jokes aside I don’t dislike classical but I’d be lying if I said I could have a conversation about it. Instrumentation, timbre etc sure I can engage there. But in terms of breath of knowledge on pieces and composers I am a dud 🙃
I just started with /r/classical and then branched off from there.
Also, all the compositions for a composer are out there.
My suggestion? Do some exploration and don’t just go by the household names; the obscure composers are the best, in my honest opinion.
Also, the Soviet Union was famous for its classical music. You can start there and listen to some songs and compositions while you do work on your computer or something.
Will have a look 😊
kewl
I would love more suggestions from y’all! I love classical but I find it to be difficult to explore as a genre. I am not a musician.
However, I love Michael Schäffer’s lute music. it has such a contemplative and intimate feeling. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6qJVz1zsmhI
You don’t approach classical the same way you approach other music. And, anyway, I would suggest maybe going over sounds, tones, rhythms, etc. that you like and asking around what music genres replicate them.
I didn’t mean I don’t know how to approach it. I mean that I don’t know how to find more music besides what I happen to come across. But my lack of musicianship has limited my knowledge on how to find new classical artists. So I wouldn’t know what tones or rhythms are or what are the different kinds that classical music uses, but i guess i could start by using the vocabulary you have presented to me. Thanks!
https://www.reddit.com/r/classicalmusic/new/
You can also try last.fm.
But I would kinda just type in stuff in Google like “most underrated classical composers” and then look at the complete composition list for each composer. For example: “Gustav Holst list of compositions” brings up several resources with the composition list. From there? You mostly just use YouTube or maybe Spotify.
Youtube mixes of the different music time periods (classical, baroque, romantic, impressionism, 20th century, jazz), then find your favorite composers out of those, and do more mixes.
I like a bit of classical music.
I’m no connoisseur.
But I listen to Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, and Beethoven now and again when I’m writing.
Also, if it counts, a little Nobuo Uematsu.
I’ve not knowingly listened to any Soviet composers, though. Any recommendations?
I actually don’t listen to the first one and I don’t know who the second one is. Interesting. I know Nobuo Uematsu, though.
Have you listened to Shostakovich or Prokofiev’s work?
I haven’t heard of either, but I will find and listen to some of their music this week. Thank you.
No problem. Let me know if you need anything else.
Have to have a lil’ nerd out here…Two of my favorite composers are also anti-fascists:
Shostakovich (of course, but really he is a genius) and Hungarian anti-fascist Béla Bartók. Bartók is considered one of the fathers of ethnomusicology and a lot of his music is based upon the folk melodies and harmonies that he collected and expanded upon. He was unafraid of using a lot of tritones and ending works on a V chord. He really knew how to use dissonance to excite the ear and still sound pretty. If you only check out one work of his it’s got to be his Concerto for Orchestra.
I love Béla Bartók.
Also, will do!
Bartok is such an insane genius. Completely unpredictable and mind expanding.
I’ve liked some of what I’ve listened to, mainly the fast-paced ones, but I can’t remember most of them because of their generic names. Vivaldi’s Winter is great
You mean the way the names are constructed?
Yeah. Usually, they’re just “Sonata in F minor” with “opus 28” thrown in (just a random example off the top of my head), though more modern composers like Charles Ives used more “modern” names or at least names that are memorable.
Yeah, that’s what I meant
I like listening to Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” and Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt,” and other Romantic Period composers
Gustav Holst is my favorite! Never really like Edvard Grieg too much though.
Yeah, tbh I don’t really like the WHOLE Peer Gynt suite, just Anitra’s Dance, In The Hall Of The Mountain King, and Arabian Dance lol
Speaking of Holst, what’s your favorite movement from The Planets?
Mercury!
Mine’s Jupiter lol.
Noice
Mine too! 🤩
awesome
Okay I have listened to classical music my entire life and play several instruments but in the last several years I have become addicted to late renaissance chamber/ early classical music. I find it better in almost every way. Something about being able to hear individual instruments and a more intimate, melodious feel.
Some examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk3t2fYRZaQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leG-JDvzdBg
I will post more as I think of them.
Ah, you too.
I’ll listen to 'em, but I’m trying to get into more “modern” classical music. Any recommendations?
Alexander Borodin. Not super modern but very good.
Saint Saens while not unknown, Saint Saens has much to offer beyond his most well known pieces.
If you want really modern, there are some good composers still active but I actually think a lot of metal is actually at the cutting edge of music. Experimental/doom metal if you will.
Motorpsycho is excellent.
Witchcraft - Nucleus is maybe one of the best albums of all time imo
I’ve been playing scriabin’s 24 preludes on piano recently, its good shit.
These are all good.
You’ve got me listening to Saint Saens and Borodin again lol. They’re great
Hell yeah!
I am not typically in the mood for classical music, but I do enjoy it from time to time. It can be something ominous, like Passacaglia and Prince Igor, Act I, Scene I: Chorus, or something triumphant, like Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo (excuse the violence in that video). It really depends on my mood.
Occasionally when I’m feeling cynical, I’ll even listen to ultranationalist crap like Köremovedätzer Marsch or Giovinezza, if only to indulge in my morbid fascination with anticommunism.
You got it.
Anyone here know about Reinhold Glière? I particularly like his melodicism in his symphonies and other pieces lol.
Damn, I wish I knew all these music theory terms lol
No worries, I gotcha.
“Piece”: literally any work of art.
“Symphony”: a large piece of music usually written for a full orchestra with all kinds of instruments. They’re also usually 30 - 90 minutes long.
“Melodicism”: the use of discernible melodies in music (Tchaikovsky is particularly good at this).
And here are Glière’s symphonies if you want to check them out. I personally consider them hidden gems since I’ve never heard of anyone talk about them, but they still managed to captivate me lol.
Symphony 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO_ViXnO5bI
Symphony 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYWC8TE7usc&t=2080s
Symphony 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRpEt9FvTbU (this one’s 80 minutes long btw)
