# what are your holy grails among classical music?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

Yep i know i did a post like this but for non classical music , so it was about time i did a post on my holy grails.

Jon Leifs for behing a force to reckon whit, you dont know the meaning of heavinest until you lisen to this guy.

Rachmaninov ''vespers'' because it's that good, i should have a better version

Giacinto scelsi ''natura renovatur'' if you dont all ready have this one shame on you pal your missing on something.

Hosokawa ''landscape'' because this is out of this world really

this is my short list of holy grail


:tiphat:


Do you guys have holy grails or any funny anecdote to share about these records and why there so precious to you.


----------



## GKC (Jun 2, 2011)

Beethoven's middle and late quartets.


----------



## Guest (Jul 23, 2015)

Vespers
k466
Beethoven 9
Der Ring
Rite
Deserts
LICHT
etc.


----------



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

geez, anything on that post-1950's voting thread goes for me.


----------



## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

I would say none. Because much like any other form of art, I don't believe in any person or work being untouchable and sacred.


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

All the major works by Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven - the undisputed masters.


----------



## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

My ears love all sorts of music. Could not begin to provide a short list.

I too acknowledge the greatness of Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. I also admire Mahler, Liszt, Hindemith, Chopin. Britten, Holst, Elgar, Barber, Vivaldi, Stravinsky (including the late stuff), Carter, Bax, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and many other composers from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21th century. There are even some older composers I have the hots for like Praetorius and Byrd.

I also go along with Lord Lance's entry:



Lord Lance said:


> I would say none. Because much like any other form of art, I don't believe in any person or work being untouchable and sacred.


I do not understand why we should limit our listening habits to just the music of composers who defecate marble.


----------



## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> My ears love all sorts of music. Could not begin to provide a short list.
> 
> I too acknowledge the greatness of Handel, Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. I also admire Mahler, Liszt, Hindemith, Chopin. Britten, Holst, Elgar, Barber, Vivaldi, Stravinsky (including the late stuff), Carter, Bax, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and many other composers from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21th century. There are even some older composers I have the hots for like Praetorius and Byrd.
> 
> ...


"defecate marble"

Is that a reference to pre-20th Century sanitary practices for ejection?


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

deprofundis said:


> Yep i know i did a post like this but for non classical music , so it was about time i did a post on my holy grails.
> 
> Jon Leifs for behing a force to reckon whit, you dont know the meaning of heavinest until you lisen to this guy.
> 
> ...


My 'holy grails': 
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom Op. 31 - because it is numinous & utterly beautiful (At present we only have a cassette tape of this, that we bought at Walsingham; I drove home playing it and went the wrong side of some roadworks, saw a car approaching head-on with the utmost serenity, but luckily it stopped; thanks for putting into my head the idea of getting a cd. :tiphat

Lully's suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme - because it speaks of the human condition, its frivolity & wistfulness (Jordi Savall - precious because hearing this version first convinced me that I must have known Lully in another life...  )

Rebel's Chaos in the Elements - speaks of the creation and nature of the world, of conflict & harmony

Handel's Messiah- never fails to move me
Vivaldi's Stabat Mater - ditto

Purcell, Dido and Aeneas - prompts meditations on love; first saw the work performed at our college with one of my nicest English students in the role of Dido.


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'd have to say my holy grails are moving targets or I haven't found one yet. That's the nature of holy grails. They are impossible quests.

Beethoven's 9th symphony and the Kyrie from Ligeti's Requiem still remain my closest to perfectly flawed perfection. I think our dearly held musical connections have as much to do with when they are made as with the intrinsic value of the works.


----------



## breakup (Jul 8, 2015)

Right now, it's to play Chopin's Nocturne Op.9 No.2, but I'm having trouble finding practice time.


----------



## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

I'm ordinarily not all that keen on Mozart, nor am I at all religious, but his Ave verum corpus just strikes me as the most perfectly beautiful music ever written. Short, to the point, and sublime in every single note.


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

*PARSIFAL
RICHARD WAGNER, 1882.
*
*Wer ist der Gral?*
_Who is the grail?_

*Das sagt sich nicht; doch, bist du selbst zu ihm erkoren, bleibt dir die Kunde unverloren. Und sieh'! Mich dünkt, dass ich dich recht erkannt; kein Weg führt zu ihm durch das Land, und Niemand könnte ihn beschreiten, den er nicht selber möcht' geleiten.*
_That cannot be spoken; but if you yourself are called to its service, the knowledge will be revealed to you. Now look! I think I know you aright; no path leads to it through the land, and _nobody finds their way there, unless the Grail itself leads them.
*
Ich schreite kaum, doch wähn' ich mich schon weit.*
_I scarcely move, yet already it seems I have travelled far._

*Du sieh'st, mein Sohn, zum Raum wird hier die Zeit!*
_You see, my son, here time becomes space!_


----------



## Muse Wanderer (Feb 16, 2014)

Holy grails... 

Here's a few that spring to mind.

Bach St Matthew's Passion - 'Erbarme dich' 
Beethoven Eroica symphony 2nd movement climax
Mozart Jupiter symphony 4th movement fugue section
Stravinsky Firebird finale
Schoenberg final movement of second string quartet 
Sibelius 4th symphony - 3rd movement
Feldman Second string quartet - last 15 minutes
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker - Dance of the Mirlitons till the final waltz
Mahler 2nd symphony Urlicht movement
Berlioz Les nuits d'été 
Shostakovich 5th symphony 2nd movement
Ligeti Requiem Kyrie
Prokofiev 3rd piano concerto finale
Messiaen - Quartet for the end of time 
Wagner Die Walkure - Wotan's farewell


----------

