# Listening through all the different eras



## gatsby (8 mo ago)

Hello classical music lovers,

It's a pleasure to be here and learn from this forum. I hope to be able to make future worthwhile contributions my self one day.

I'm fairly new to classical music and so far have been enjoying the Brandenburg concertos, piano music from Beethoven, and also some modern composed string works.

I came to realize there is a lot of difference between all the different eras.

I'd like to listen to the best work from each era into the next to understand how music progressed but feel overwhelmed with the so many choices, composers, and recordings.

Would someone be kind enough to point me in the right direction? I'm open to suggestions for the best works from ech period or any other posts that would have this info already.

Nice meeting all of you
gatsby


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## Tarneem (Jan 3, 2022)

gatsby said:


> I'd like to listen to the best work from each era into the next to understand how music progressed but feel overwhelmed with the so many choices, composers, and recordings.



hey dear welcome to the forum

to understand the difference between eras I recommend you to listen to those composers whom are considered as a bridge between two periods

CPE Bach could be considered as a bridge between the baroque period and the classical period

Franz Schubert could be considered as a bridge between the classical period and the romantic period

Gustave Mahler could be considered as a bridge between the romantic period and the 20th century period


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## Tarneem (Jan 3, 2022)

well,,, if you insist on naming the major composers of each era here is my list

Baroque: Bach, Handel and vivaldi

Classical: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

Romantic: Brahms, Wagner and Tchaikovsky

late romantic period: Mahler, Bruckner and Sibelius

20th century: Shostakovich, Stravinsky and debussy


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## gatsby (8 mo ago)

Thanks for those tips, Tarneem. I'm going to explore your suggestions.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't believe there is just one best work from each era but here are some well known and highly regarded works. I'll skip the baroque since you've already discovered Bach. You can also explore the TC recommended works lists. If you like concertos you can explore those pieces by many of these composers. For example, Beethoven's Emperor concerto, the later Mozart piano concertos, Bartok's 3rd piano, and 2nd violin concertos.

Mozart symphonies 40, 41
Beethoven symphonies 3, 5, 6, 7 
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
Wagner - Lohengrin
Brahms symphony no.4
Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; La Mer
Debussy Preludes 
Mahler Symphony no. 1 
Tchaikovsky symphony no.5
Dvorak symphony no.9
Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht
Stravinsky The Firebird; The Rite Of Spring
Shostakovich symphony no.5
Sibelius symphony no.2
Holst The Planets
Copland Appalachian Spring
Bartok Concerto for Orchestra 
Messiaen Quartet for the end of Time
Lutoslawski Symphony no.3
Ligeti chamber concerto
Takemitsu November Steps


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Welcome aboard!

I am only a fan for classical music from the 20th century (especially post 1950's), to the current era, so any of my recommendations should be taken with the caveat, that much of this music is not exactly easy to listen to, and can even be said by some, to be lacking beauty (as it is usually defined). Although, I have a broader definition of beauty. Not to mention, 

For the 20th century, I would start with Stravinsky, "The Firebird Suite" and "The Rite of Spring". 
Bartok is another important 20th century composer to explore. "Music for strings, percussion, and celesta", "Concerto for Orchestra", "3rd Piano Concerto" are good starting places.
Samuel Barber's "Piano Concerto", even though it was composed in 1962, is more in the style of earlier (late Romantic?) music. 

From there, Arnold Schoenberg (Variations for Orchestra 1928), Alban Berg (Violin concerto 1935), and Anton Webern (Variations for Orchestra 1940) are the starting point for the rest of the 20th century.

From around 1950, to the end of the 20th century, composers to check out are:

Elliott Carter
Charles Wuorinen
Joan Tower
Magnus Lindberg
Sofia Gubaidulina 
Roger Sessions
Harrison Birtwistle
Krzysztof Penderecki
György Ligeti


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Wikipedia has an excellent *overview of Classical Music* and combined with this *List of classical music composers by era* I believe you will find everything you need to conduct your survey.


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## Fantastico (5 mo ago)

Classical music is so vast that the question is rather akin to 'how should I discover mathematics' - not an easy task. Here are some possible routes one could take, although each listening session should probably not be taken in a single sitting. They are reflective of my musical taste - other people will no doubt have rather different ideas. I think it is important to be well grounded - that means appreciating Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. If you don't, then I think it will be difficult, although not impossible, for you to fully appreciate their contemporaries and their successors. This is written off the cuff, so do excuse me for glaring omissions. I have given some recording suggestions - they tend to be non-contemporary recordings so may not have the best sound, but make up for it in terms of interpretation. On the other hand, I believe it is important to experiment with alternative interpretations. Indeed, choosing a Beethoven sonata and listening to 6 different interpretations of it will probably be a lot more educative than listening to as much variety as possible.

Route 1: keyboard music up to Chopin

Begin with Scarlatti keyboard sonatas, Rameau keyboard pieces and Bach partitas. Then a Haydn sonata (eg No. 62), a Mozart sonata eg K332 - you could try de Larrocha or Alfred Brendel playing it. Next go on to the Beethoven sonatas - choose one early, one middle and one late (eg any of Nos 1 to 5 for an early one, Opus 53 ("Waldstein") for middle, opus 110 for late; Wilhelm Backhaus would be an obvious canonical choice of pianist), An interesting follow-up is a Chopin nocturne (comparing pianists for all of these is a good idea. For Chopin I would probably recommend starting with Rubinstein. Choose any or all nocturnes).
Scarlatti, Rameau (also Couperin) are very different from Bach! Haydn is more ‘quirky’ than Mozart, whilst Mozart is typically more lyrical, but this is a bit of a caricature. I include the Chopin because he was a great fan of Mozart (and few other people). I personally find that there are many people who play Mozart badly, so do listen around until you find someone you like. (For his concertos, Murray Perahia is a favourite of mine). You will hear Beethoven evolve as you listen to his sonatas, transforming from a classical "post-Mozart" beginning to monumental cataclysmic late pieces with extraordinary harmonies and ideas, which are truly romantic in nature.​​As for piano concertos, try Mozart D Minor K466, Beethoven 'Emperor' concerto No. 5, Brahms Piano concerto No. 1, Chopin concerto No. 1 (there is an amazing performance with Cziffra on youtube!).​
Route 2: ‘checkpoint’ symphonies from classical to later romantic

Haydn 'Hen' symphony (No 83), Mozart Jupiter Symphony, Beethoven 6, Beethoven 9, Brahms 4, Mahler 1
See how the symphonic orchestra got bigger, textures got thicker and harmony got more complicated. But this is only scratching the surface. You might want to exclude the Brahms and Haydn in order to see a clear evolution, but both are fabulous (there are many candidate Haydn (and Mozart) symphonies - I heard the Hen the other day hence I include it here). After Mahler 1, you could try later Mahler as well, eg Mahler 3 or the heart breaking Mahler 9.​
Route 3: quartet music up to late Beethoven

Mozart Dissonance quartet, Beethoven quartet Op 18 (any of them), Schubert last quartet (No. 15 in G), Mendelssohn F minor quartet, Beethoven C# minor quartet,
I could have picked any of the late Beethoven quartets, they are truly sublime. Similarly, there are many Mozart quartets I could have picked. The last three Schubert quartets are also in the ‘god’ category. I love all the Mendelssohn quartets, but this one is probably the best known, for good reason. Some good quartets to look out for are Emerson string quartet, Takacs string quartet, Hollywood string quartet and Alban Berg string quartet, but there are many more in this category.​
Route 4: piano trios and quartets

Brahms C minor piano quartet, Schumann piano trio No. 1, Beethoven archduke
Route 5: operas

Mozart Don Giovanni, Verdi Don Carlos, Wagner the Ring cycle , Puccini Gianni Schicchi
Here you see a range of opera styles pre-1900. If you do listen/watch the entire Ring cycle, then you will hear how Wagner’s music evolves – Götterdämmerung is far more complex, developed and intricately written compared with Das Rheingold. Both Wagner and Verdi wrote many other operas which are also incredible. Some people might be surprised by my choice of Puccini (he wrote many other fine operas, such as Tosca), but I think Gianni Schicchi is excellent to introduce opera (it is also one of my favourites) - it is very funny, accessible and only an hour long.​
Route 6: symphonic works: late romantic to early modernism

Sibelius 1 or 5, Mahler 3, Shostakovich 5, Prokofiev piano concerto 2, Stravinski: it would be silly to only include one of the Firebird, Petrushka and the Rite of Spring (these are ballets – so listen to the ballet music, but there are also suites). Schoenberg Gurrelieder, Bartok concerto for orchestra, Stravinski violin concerto
There are loads of styles here, ranging from completely idiosyncratic Sibelius and Shostakovich, to revolutionary Stravinsky, to 'neoclassical' Stravinski. Bartok (who is also completely idiosyncratic), is noted for absorbing folk melodies directly into his music. The Schonberg is pre-atonal Schonberg: German romanticism had got increasingly large-scale, chromatic and full of rich chords; this piece by Schonberg represents pretty much the end of the road for this kind of uber-romanticism - it is difficult to imagine how it could have continued (although people like Richard Strauss did nevertheless continue in something of this style).

Route 7: a myriad of other styles

Debussy preludes, Ravel Miroirs, Rachmaninoff symphonic dances, Bartok Bluebeard’s castle, Janacek sinfonietta, Johann Strauss (I or II) waltzes - watch a Vienna Philharmonic new years day concert, piano pieces by Albeniz (often played on guitar - see Julian Bream), Berg violin concerto, Szymanowski violin concerto 1, Scriabin piano sonata 9.
The first two are examples of impressionism.​
After 1910, classical music explodes. There was what you might call a 'crisis of tonality', tied up with the destruction of Western society in war. Classical music branches into so many styles it becomes impossible to give a small number of representatives. I leave this to others. Perhaps watch out for Messiaen eg quartet for the end of time. Often classical music bears repeated listening. This is especially so for modern music, on which the first listen or two may not leave you satisfied.

Perhaps this helps. Regardless, it has been an interesting exercise for myself in formulating some of my thoughts on a subject I have not really thought about.

[Things I should have included somewhere:
Tchaikovsky 5, Dvorak cello concerto, Bartok string quartets, Mendelssohn octet, Berlioz symphony fantastique, all lieder eg by Schubert! But this is a huge subject by itself.]


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