# Classical top 10 please.



## JadeHoyer (Mar 19, 2020)

Please give me your favorite top 10 favorite along with your preferred version/conductor/orchestra. Format not to important at this point, just no tape. If you recommend tape be prepared for a visitor to listen.
I am looking for the "Heavy Metal" loud, bombastic, percussive pieces of classical here. I am not looking for quiet soothing stuff here. I have come to the conclusion at this point, that's the stuff that irritates me the most, opera even more so.
Bonzo coined me as a "Rocker" and he is not too far from the truth, so we must start there.

Thank you!


----------



## Ravn (Jan 6, 2020)

Since you asked for loud and bombastic music, the list below is not necessarily my favorite 10 pieces, although I really like all of them. The list is made in no perticular order.

- Stravinsky: The rite of spring (Yoel Levi & Atlanta)
- Varèse: Amériques (Chailly & Concertgebouw)
- Berg: Three pieces for orchestra (Karajan & Berlin)
- Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Karajan & Berlin)
- Saariaho: Lanterna Magica (Oramo & Finnish Radio SO)
- Lachenmann: Schwankungen am Rand (Eötvös & Ensemble Modern) 
- Shostakovich: Symphony 4 (Petrenko & Liverpool)
- Aho: Concerto for timpani and orchestra (Lasonpolo & Turku)
- Messiaen: Apparition de l´Église eternelle (Latry) (This is a piece for organ)
- Schoenberg: A survivor from Warzaw (Boulez & BBC)

Anyway, I guess that the loudest and heaviest piece ever written is "Hekla" by Jón Leifs (you can find it on Youtube). It is very good, but I like all the pieces listed above better. Other loud pieces if you prefer more traditional harmonics may be "The pines of Rome" and "Roman festivals" by Respighi (Edo de Waart & San Francisco/Tortelier & Philharmonia). And I forgot Mahler! Many of his symphonies are quite loud and bombastic, especially number 2 and 6 (Bernstein with New York and Vienna are good starting points here).


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Stravinsky - Rite of Spring: Bernstein/NYPO
Mahler - Symphony No. 6 “Tragic": Solti/CSO
Bartok - String Quartet No. 4: Emerson Quartet
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata": Emil Gilels
Prokofiev - Piano Sonata No. 7 "Stalingrad" by Matti Raekallio OR Symphony No. 2 by Neeme Jarvi OR Piano Concerto No. 2 by Matsuev/Gergiev...probably your best bet for a composer who matches what you're looking for
Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No. 1: Rostropovich/Ormandy
Rachmaninoff - Preludes in C sharp minor and G minor

Certainly not my top 10 favorite works, nor my favorite performances, but they bring out the qualities that you mentioned most convincingly.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I think I know what you are after. You are getting some great recommendations from my friends Ravn, and Allegro con Brio,

I echo several of their choices and add a few more. These are all pieces I love, that I think you might also enjoy if you like a dose of pain with your morning coffee.

-Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (my favorite is Boston with Tilson Thomas though it's not the easiest to find)
-Messiaen: Apparition de l´Église eternelle (Ericsson) - played at loud volume, you will feel like you are entering the gates of Hell, despite the title
-Prokofiev - Piano Sonata no.7 is an excellent choice as well. Maurizio Pollini "owns" this piece as far as I am concerned.
-Bartok - Miraculous Mandarin (Fischer/Budapest)
-Xenakis - Jonchiaes
-Rzewski - El Pueblo Unido
-Prokofiev - Scythian Suite

you might also try some electronic stuff, I'm just recently checking out Dhomont's foret profonde (deep forest). It is quite a ride.

another one would be Fausto Romitelli's Professor Bad Trip


----------



## josquindesprez (Aug 20, 2017)

I'd say to just make your way through what's on these discs: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Classical-Thunder/release/8216612. It'd be a good gateway to some composers you'd probably want to hear more from.


----------



## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Very few pieces of classical music are loud and percussive all the time. The bleeding chunks cited above may be what you are after. If you seek more substantial fare here are 10 pieces of sometimes or often loud music I have in my collection:

*Varese Ameriques* Abravanel, Utah Symphony
It is in a collection with Honneger's Pacific 231 that mimics a locomotive in action

*Tchaikovsky Symphony 4* Bohm, London Symphony
A lot of Tchaikovsky has the elements you seek including...

*Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty suite* Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic

*Robert Simpson Symphony No. 1* Boult, London Philharmonic
All of Simpson's 15 symphonies get loud.

*Liszt Battle of the Huns* Mehta, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

*Khachaturian Symphony No. 3* Stokowski, Chicago Symphony
or just about anything else by Khachaturian including his Sabre Dance

*Military Fanfares, Marches & Choruses from the Time of Napoleon*, Paris Police Band, Desiree Dondeyne cond., Jean Rollin chorusmaster

*Beethoven Wellington's Victory* Octophoros, Paul Dombrecht

*Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture* Dorati, National Symphony Orchestra

*William Walton Symphony No. 2* Szell, Cleveland Orchestra
A diskmate, Walton's Partita for Orchestra, is also loud and boisterous under Szell

If you are interested in classical music probably the Nos. 8 and 9 items here are for you. They are brief (10-20 minutes' duration) and become very loud and percussive. They are often linked together with like music on collections such as this one that also includes the Liszt piece I mentioned









If you are trying to fuse hard rock and classical you may wish to investigate, if you don't already know, the music of the 1960s era band Cream. They played lengthy pieces in concert in sonata format, the same way classical music is written. Their great masterpiece is *Wheels of Fire*, originally on 2 LPs but today can be found on a single super audio album playable on a DVD or SACD machine. It is half studio music and half concert music. *Live Cream*, which is all concert music, is also good.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

A few of Liszt's Transcendental etudes for piano










A few more for piano


----------



## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

Well this is fun! Here are my suggestions in alphabetical order (as I am reading through my CD collection catalogue).

Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050. Koopman/Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, 1985, Erato. The harpsichord solo at the end of the first movement has a percussive, rocker aspect, and Koopman seems to think he's a Baroque metal guy here.

Bartok - Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. Reiner/Chicago SO, 1958, RCA Living Stereo. One of my favorites. Definitely percussive but not exactly bombastic.

Bartok - The Miraculous Mandarin. Martinon/Chicago SO, 1968, RCA Red Seal. Here Bartok really lets loose with some strong sounds.

Berlioz - The Corsair Overture, Op. 21. Paray/Detroit SO, 1958, Mercury Living Presence. Paray goes at a breakneck tempo and the whole thing is just almost overwhelming.

Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 15. Haitink/Concertgebouw, Claudio Arrau, 1969, Philips. I think you could say bombastic, certainly extremely powerful and Arrau absolutely kills it.

Enescu - Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A, Op. 11. Stokowski/RCA Victor SO, 1960, RCA Red Seal. Stokey rocks out Romanian style.

Grofe - Mississippi Suite (Whiteman Orchestra version). Richman/Harmonie Ensemble New York, 2004, Bridge. I think this is a very underrated piece of American music, and it has loads of great sounding percussion, including a massive gong.

Hindemith - Symphony "Mathis der Maler". Ormandy/Philadelphia, 1962, Sony. Curiously intense, not exactly bombastic, but you might love it.

Holst - The Planets, Op. 32. Ormandy/Philadelphia, 1975, RCA. You can't leave this out with all the fantastic percussion, and anyway, it's just one of my favorites.

Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain. Reiner/Chicago SO, 1959, RCA Living Stereo. Maybe bombastic is a word I've always been looking for to describe this piece. Well, more like looming, but it might grab you.

...and that's 10 without getting past M in the alphabet. But let me just add one more:

Ruggles - Sun Treader. Tilson Thomas/Boston SO, 1970, Deutsche Grammophon. I absolutely love this piece. It's loud, percussive, and super expressive.

And for a single disc that I find a whole lot of fun, and not just on the Fourth of July:

"Morton Gould and His Orchestra - Brass and Percussion," 1957, RCA Living Stereo.

Happy listening!


----------



## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

Seems like people might understand 'loud' but perhaps not 'bombastic'. Just sayin .....


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Headbanger music for classical folks?

Good listings above this post, for sure.

My initial thought is the Symphony No. 3 of Albert Roussel.

Here are a few others:
"Mars" from _The Planets_ by Gustav Holst
_The Pines of Rome_ and _Feste Romane_ by Ottorino Respighi
Movement 2 ("Interlude and Dance") from Symphony No. 2 by Paul Creston
The _Inextinguishable_ Symphony (No. 4) by Carl Nielsen
Mvts. IV and V of _Symphonie fantastique_, Op. 14 by Hector Berlioz
3rd Movement of Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique" by Tchaikovsky
4th Movement of Symphony No. 4 by Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 3 (_Ilya Murometz_) by Reinhold Gliere
Fifth Symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich
Fifth Symphony by Beethoven
Symphony No. 1 by Glenn Branca

OK … so that last one is a borderline classical piece, and the one before it is just too good for anyone searching for a classical music experience to ignore, so I had to include it. But actually, there is so much great "headbanging" classical music that all one need do is start listening to it, and one will soon find favorites galore.

CAUTION: If you are a first time listener, please cushion the walls of your listening domicile before taking on any of the above musical works.


----------



## JadeHoyer (Mar 19, 2020)

Thank you everyone for the above sharing!

Tag: sonnerie classique


----------



## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

1. Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem (conducted by Benjamin Britten with the New Philharmonia Orchestra)
2. Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (conducted by Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
3. Olivier Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony (conducted by Kent Nagano with the Berlin Philharmonic)
4. Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op. 22 (conducted by Oliver Knussen with the London Sinfonietta)
5. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4 (conducted by Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra)
6. Robert Saxton: Music to Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ (conducted by Steuart Bedford with the English Chamber Orchestra)
7. Hector Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts (conducted by Paul McCreesh, Ensemble Wrocław and a cast of thousands)
8. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (conducted by Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
9. Brian Ferneyhough: La Terre est un Homme (conducted by Martyn Brabbins with the BBC Symphony Orchestra)
10. Arthur Bliss: Adam Zero (conducted by David Lloyd-Jones with the English Northern Philharmonia)

I tried not to repeat any recommendations made earlier, but obviously Stravinsky's Rite of Spring gives you a lot of head-bangs per buck! 

Most of those pieces will have moments of quiet introspection as well as head-banging moments, naturally.


----------



## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

1. Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem (conducted by Benjamin Britten with the New Philharmonia Orchestra)
2. Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (conducted by Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
3. Olivier Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony (conducted by Kent Nagano with the Berlin Philharmonic)
4. Oliver Knussen: Flourish with Fireworks, Op. 22 (conducted by Oliver Knussen with the London Sinfonietta)
5. Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4 (conducted by Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra)
6. Robert Saxton: Music to Celebrate the Resurrection of Christ (conducted by Steuart Bedford with the English Chamber Orchestra)
7. Hector Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts (conducted by Paul McCreesh, Ensemble Wrocław and a cast of thousands)
8. Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (conducted by Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)
9. Brian Ferneyhough: La Terre est un Homme (conducted by Martyn Brabbins with the BBC Symphony Orchestra)
10. Arthur Bliss: Adam Zero (conducted by David Lloyd-Jones with the English Northern Philharmonia)

I tried not to repeat any recommendations made earlier, but obviously Stravinsky's Rite of Spring gives you a lot of head-bangs per buck! 

Most of those pieces will have moments of quiet introspection as well as head-banging moments, naturally.


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

larold said:


> Very few pieces of classical music are loud and percussive all the time. The bleeding chunks cited above may be what you are after. ...


This post reminds me of another "bleeding chunks" classical collection which a friend actually gave to me some years back. I am not sure if I ever listened to the entire album start to finish, but I was aware of the disc selections in their full format. Still, this is a good start.

















See Discogs for tracklist: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Heavy-Classix/master/475099

And there is a sequel! (Which I do not have in my collection. Though, again, I do have the complete versions of those listed tracks.)

















Discogs tracklist: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Heavy-Classix-II/master/802182

Oh … before you play any of this music, you may just want to pick up a bucket of Plaster Repair. You may find chunks of the stuff falling off your ceilings when you sample these discs.


----------

