# Classical Music for Extroverts



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I come across this issue once in a while when I am talking to people that are interested in me helping them get a taste for classical music. I ask them what they currently listen to and they tell me, "I really love __________ " (hip-hop, heavy metal, punk-rock, basically anything that is all about lots of energy, dancing, yelling, moving, etc.) 

Now I know they could of course still tap into that introverted side and listen to the first movement of the moonlight sonata, for example, but that might be a big leap from what they are currently listening to.

What would you recommend to one of these people that might be more high energy, but yet still not too complex? They are classical newbies after all.

Thanks


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2017)

Cat nip for metal heads (I should know)...

Sumera:






Kilar:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Speaking as someone who prefers energy and exhilaration to introspection...

Rossini: a dozen characters singing at once...
- Italiana in Algeri Act I finale: 



 (which is also funny)
- Gran pezzo concertato a 14 voci: 




Overtures
- Herold: Zampa: 



 - Glinka: Ruslan & Lyudmila: 



 - Suppé: Light cavalry overture: 



 - Donizetti: Rosmonda d'Inghilterra: 



 - Auber: Fra Diavolo: 



 - Auber: Le cheval de bronze: 



 - Rimsky: The Tsar's Bride: 



 - Nicolai: The Merry Wives of Windsor: 



 - Wagner: Das Liebesverbot: 



 (yes, Wagner once wrote something that was fun; the Wagnerians, of course, detest it)

Opera
- Bellini: "Guerra, guerra!" (from Norma): 



 - Meyerbeer: Blessing of the Swords (from Les Huguenots): 



 - Moniuszko - Opening of Straszny dwór: 



 - Moniuszko - Mazurka from Straszny dwór: 



 - Spontini: Pas des guerriers (from Fernand Cortez): 



 - Verdi: "Oh, miei prodi!" (from Attila): 



 - Verdi: "Sì; de' corsari il fulmine" (from Il corsaro): 




Berlioz
- Le carnaval romain: 



 - "Villes entourées" (from Damnation de Faust): 




Chabrier
- España: 




Prokofiev
- from _Alexander Nevsky_
- "Arise, ye Russian people!": 



 - "The battle on the ice": 



 (complete with galloping horses, charging knights, and ominous Latin chanting - edge of your seat stuff!)
- Dance of the knights (from _Romeo & Juliet_): 




Holst
Mars, bringer of war: 




Tchaikovsky
- 1812 Overture: 



 - Marche slave: 




Glass
- Attack and fall (from _Akhnaten_): 




Shostakovich
- Waltz No. 2: 




Then maybe:
* Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Hebrides
* Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
* Rimsky-K: Scheherazade; Capriccio espagnol; Russian Easter Festival
* Gershwin: An American in Paris; Rhapsody in Blue

Hope this helps!


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2017)

If they think classical=Mozart, play them Threnody or Black Angels. That'll disavow them of that one!

Also, how about Steve Reich? Plenty of insistent rhythms....


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## Robert Gamble (Dec 18, 2016)

Alfven's Swedish Rhapsody #1 struck me as a pretty 'metal' type of piece... Parts of his Symphony #2 did also.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

James DILLON: _The Soadie Waste_ • Kawai, Arditti Quartet [NMC]





John ADAMS: Chamber Symphony: III. "Roadrunner" • Ensemble Modern [RCA]





György LIGETI: _Musica ricercata VII_ • Babayan [Pro Piano]





Conlon NANCARROW: Player Piano Study 3A • Bang on a Can





J. S. BACH: "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft" BWV 50 • Gardiner/Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists [Deo Soli Gloria, live]


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

Modernist "classical" is more extrovert than Metal Rock, so do not worry about finding suitable programs for anyone today, even regular prisoners can find their own "classical" music among the sea of countless modernist composers.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Gorecki's harpsichord concerto.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

Batok and Ligeti, Pendereski.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Grieg’s Hall of Mountain King. Beethoven Symphonies 5 and 9. Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Most of Joan Cabanilles organ works.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

20centrfuge said:


> I come across this issue once in a while when I am talking to people that are interested in me helping them get a taste for classical music. I ask them what they currently listen to and they tell me, "I really love __________ " (hip-hop, heavy metal, punk-rock, basically anything that is all about lots of energy, dancing, yelling, moving, etc.)
> 
> Now I know they could of course still tap into that introverted side and listen to the first movement of the moonlight sonata, for example, but that might be a big leap from what they are currently listening to.
> 
> ...


Anything with syncopation. Bach and Vivaldi, Holst's Mars, The 3 Great Stravinsky Ballets, Nutcracker Suite, any kind of March


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Lot of great suggestions already. I'll add:

Ginastera: Piano Sonata 1, *Piano Concerto 1*






^^Insane!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)




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