# Need Some Recommendations



## LostHighway (Aug 5, 2012)

Hello, I don't know too much about classical music but I was wondering if people could provide me some recommendations.

I am looking for stuff that is dark, atmospheric, moody, and rather 'gothic'. Not looking for anything too bombastic though, I would prefer something done on piano or organ.

Examples of what I like include:

Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata, Für Elise.

Chopin - Funeral March, Nocturno...

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

The theme to Phantom of the Opera.

Also, I like the style of classical that influenced songs like this. In particular, the style used 0:09-0:28, 1:07-1:25 and so on; whatever that style originates from. 





Also, if anyone can recommend me some compilations or collections best suited for what I'm interested in, that would be great.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Try the Russians... Tchaikovsky's Marche Slav or Pathetique Symphony, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition or Night on Bald Mountain, Rimsky Korsakov's Schehehrezade, etc. that's the stuff that first made me excited about classical music. If you like that, expand outward int the other Russians... Borodin, Glinka, Prokofiev, early Stavinsky, etc. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring would be a good choice to start with, actually.

For an inexpensive sampler, try this...
http://www.amazon.com/The-Darkest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B0048NUUS2/

I haven't heard this one, but I've heard others in the "99 Essential" and "Rise of the Masters" seres and they are excellent. You can't go wrong because many of these sets are selling for 99 cents and 1.99 right now.

It looks like some of the pieces on this Dark Classics set aren't complete works. If you find you like something, you'll want to get the whole work.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Dark, nearly gothic?






Handel - Suite No. 3 in D Minor HWV 428 - Prelude

Or a piano version: 




I dont like that piano version, you can find better versions at spotify.


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## LostHighway (Aug 5, 2012)

bigshot said:


> Try the Russians... Tchaikovsky's Marche Slav or Pathetique Symphony, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition or Night on Bald Mountain, Rimsky Korsakov's Schehehrezade, etc. that's the stuff that first made me excited about classical music. If you like that, expand outward int the other Russians... Borodin, Glinka, Prokofiev, early Stavinsky, etc. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring would be a good choice to start with, actually.
> 
> For an inexpensive sampler, try this...
> http://www.amazon.com/The-Darkest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B0048NUUS2/
> ...


Thanks, I'll check these out!



Ravndal said:


> Dark, nearly gothic?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That sounds great!


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## Nadia (Jul 29, 2012)

I LOVE Cziffra.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)




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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

If you're interested in expanding your exploration of classical music further, these are great bargains for a whole lot of really good performances

Sampler Collection: http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Masters-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces/dp/B005VZRBR4/

Mozart: http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005VZR2I2/
Grieg: http://www.amazon.com/Grieg-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005VZOZJ6/
Beethoven: http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005W26W12/
Chopin: http://www.amazon.com/Chopin-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005W28SQO/
Schubert: http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005W23THC/
Bach: http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005WW94ZS/
Debussy: http://www.amazon.com/Debussy-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005VZN1HI/
Tchaikovsky: http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005W29340/
Schumann: http://www.amazon.com/Schumann-Masters-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces/dp/B006ABZY7C/
Vivaldi: http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005W3GI88/
Handel: http://www.amazon.com/Handel-Supreme-Classical-Masterpieces-Masters/dp/B005VZMNYA/

Big Mahler Box: http://www.amazon.com/Big-Mahler-Box-Bach-Guild/dp/B008J7G5LO/
Gustav Leonhardt Bach: http://www.amazon.com/Gustav-Leonhardt-Guild-Recordings-1952-1955/dp/B008A4OXKG/

Saint Saens: http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Essential-Saint-Saëns-Masterpieces/dp/B004GBU1B2/
Mendelssohn: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Mendelssohn-Masterpieces-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B003O3RJ40/
Dvorak: http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Essential-Dvorák-Masterpieces/dp/B0043WLQT0/
Brahms: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Brahms-Masterpieces-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B0030GQC08/
Haydn: http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Essential-Haydn-Masterpieces/dp/B003W5WBES/
Sibelius: http://www.amazon.com/Sibelius-Complete-Symphonies-Lemminkäinen-Concerto/dp/B004Z4ZN4A/


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

This forum loves to double post!


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Chopin - Revolutionary Etude 





and i think you'll like this one

Larsson - En vintersaga - Epilogue





Chopin Prelude E Minor





Mendelssohn - Songs Without Words Op.19 No.6 in G Minor - Venetian Gondellied






Mendelssohn - Songs Without Words Op.30 no.6 in F sharp Minor - Venetian






Some music you might like, and might open your horizons a bit more  I tried to find darkness and melancholia in classical music, before i started to listen to classical music "for real", I searched out the darkest and most depressive pieces. And these are some of the pieces that opened my horizons a bit more.


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## hocket (Feb 21, 2010)

From the sounds of things this'd probably be down your alley:


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

hocket said:


> From the sounds of things this'd probably be down your alley:


Yus. Ian Bostridge's Winterreise is so great, and I kind of love this video series even if it is kind of melodramatic. LostHighway, this is the first song in a song cycle; it begins a story that is continued through 23 more songs that follow. If you like this, search youtube for "Ian Bostridge Winterreise" and you'll find the rest of them. Also, you might have a better appreciation of it if you know what he's saying, so in case you don't know German, here is the text side-by-side with an English translation. And here's a page where you can get the texts of all the songs in the cycle.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

Chopin that sounds very dark to me: 
Nocturne Op 27/1 in c# minor. 
Prelude op 28/2 in a minor. 
Maybe Nocturne in c, op 48. It is also infinitely sad.


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## Morgante (Jul 26, 2012)

Prelude in C Sharp Minor by Rachmaninov.


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## Jared (Jul 9, 2012)

try these:











I hope these are the kinds of things you're looking for, Mr David Lynch fan...


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

if you like dark and moody music, I strongly recommend the Sergei Prokofiev ballets "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella" and I also heavily recommend the late string quartets of Beethoven, especially Op. 131, and Op. 130 (and the epic Grosse Fugue). You may also be interested in German expressionism in music like Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and some of the music of Paul Hindemith.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Schnittke-Concerto Grosso No. 6


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Many of these are quite dark and melancholic, like the Schubert part of a series of videos:


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## LostHighway (Aug 5, 2012)

Thanks for all the recs everyone, I definitely appreciate it.


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## Toddlertoddy (Sep 17, 2011)

Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

BurningDesire said:


> if you like dark and moody music, I strongly recommend the *Sergei Prokofiev ballets "Romeo and Juliet"* and "Cinderella" and I also heavily recommend the late string quartets of Beethoven, especially Op. 131, and Op. 130 (and the epic Grosse Fugue). You may also be interested in German expressionism in music like Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, and some of the music of Paul Hindemith.


dafuq. that is my good mood ballet! its one piece there that almost shows a bit of darkness, and that is "dance of the knights", but it's really just dramatic.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Toddlertoddy said:


> Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8 in C minor


Yes! Shostakovich is just what you want. Listen to all his late String Quartets.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Liszt and Scriabin are good here.











Oh, and this.


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