Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 3
Bach - Goldberg Variations
Chopin - Preludes
Haydn - Symphony No. 94 Surprise (off the top of my head, the number could be wrong)
Beethoven - Kruetzer sonata for violin and piano
Dvorak - Symphony No. 9
Beethoven - Diabelli Variations
Bach - Violin Concertos

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

Bach brandenberg concerto #5
Handle water music
Ravel Bolero
vivaldi 4 seasons
mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 (This is my all time favorite work)

It's important to get the entire piece when buying classical music. You may want to buy a "best of" to get the flavor of a particular composer but then go out and get the entire piece. Many complition discs will not include all parts of a work but will instead give just the most dramatic part. They'll have the overture or the allegro but not the rest which is like the cliff notes version of a great novel. The great composers wrote their masterpieces with the expectation that the entire piece would be taken togther. They build on a theme and it changes and expands as the piece develops. By not hearing the entire peice you will miss out on a lot of the experience. It's akin to listening to the Beatles "A day in the Life" but turning it off before Paul sings "Woke up got out of bed..."

I would seriously consider buying box sets of mozart, bach and beethoven that are "complete" sets of symphonies or piano concertos. They are can't miss composers that you are sure to love. Other greats that are worth exploring include Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Richard Wagner, Franz Schubert, Johanne Brahms, etc.. if you go through their catalogues you will surely find some titles that ring a bell. I recommend checking them out and when you find one you like getting a box set and digging in. They are all very different from different periods and you'll probably find you prefer one type of classical music to another.

Check out this link if you want some serious info...
http://classicalmusic.about.com/b/a/136017.htm

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

Rachmaninov is a personal favorite. I particularly like his Piano Concerto No. 2, and Rhapsody on a theme of pagannini

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

A lof of good stuff has been mentioned so far, especially by Bad Beat.

Besides what he mentioned: (these are all symphonies, except Copland)
Beethoven's 6th
Copland's Billy the Kid and Rodeo
Dvorak 9th
Mozart 38-41
Mahler 1
Shostakovich 5 & 7

If you decide to get into solo pieces, try and get recordings by the best musicians. People have their favorites, but some great ones are: (for violin at least) Itzhak Perlman, Jascha Heifitz, Oistrakh, Henryk Szeryng, and Joshua Bell.

Some solo stuff:
(violin)
Beethoven's, Brahms', Mendolssohn's, Tchaikovsky's and Bruch's Violin concertos.
Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 9
Sibelius Concerto in D minor
Paganini: 24 Caprices
Saint-Saens: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

(piano)
Anything by Chopin. Seriously.
Beethoven Sonatas 14, 17, and 21
Prokofiev concerto no. 3
Rachmaninoff no.3

Should be a decent start.

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

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Bach brandenberg concerto #5

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Any of the 6 would be an excellent choice!

I'd also recommend, in no particular order:

Bach - Sonatas & Partitas (Heifetz recording)
Bach - Double Concerto (Heifetz & Friedman)
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique
Paganini - 24 Caprices
Schoenberg - Suite for Piano, Opus 25

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

more classical guitar:

Fernando Sor, Franscisco Tarrega, Leo Brouwer. Brouwer is one of my favorite composers for guitar, very modern stuff.

--turnipmonster

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

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Classical guitar is pretty cool as well. Look for works by Vivaldi...


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Just downloaded the entire work of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, hope its good.

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

There have been a lot of good suggestions. I'll just add a few thoughts. One Bach recommendation I don't think I saw here is the Mass in B-minor. Really beautiful piece.

For something a bit more, um, interesting, try Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". The uppercrust Parisian audience rioted at the first performance in 1913.

Oh, and while I realize arguing about which of Bethovan's symphonies is the best is like arguing about abortion or the middle east peace process (you're not going to change anyone's mind), what the hell, I'm going to add my two cents. The 9th is not overrated. Grossly overplayed, yes, but it is a fantastic piece. But my personal favorite is the Pastoral, the 6th.

Rhone.

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and while I realize arguing about which of Bethovan's symphonies is the best is like arguing about abortion or the middle east peace process (you're not going to change anyone's mind), what the hell, I'm going to add my two cents. The 9th is not overrated. Grossly overplayed, yes, but it is a fantastic piece. But my personal favorite is the Pastoral, the 6th.

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Woo hoo! The only Beethoven symphony I listen to.

Re: Help me add some classical music to my playlist
 

Here is good list to look at. While some of the recordings may not be the favored performances by some but you'll get a worthy performance in good sound.

Classics Today 100 Cd's to build your library


Enjoy,

Allan