# Getting my little bro into classical music-help please!



## themusicismymaster (Sep 14, 2008)

My brother is a music fan,he is a massive fan of weird,far out,and often incredibly erudite avant-garde/progressive rock and roll like Buckethead or Pink Floyd,you know the kind. 

He introduced me to some of these bands whom I must admit I rather liked and asked me if I could help him get into classical music.I agreed.

To start off I introduced him to the 3 main periods of Baroque,Classical and Romantic.I introduced him to arguably the greatest composers of these era's,J.S.Bach,Mozart and Beethoven (Argue amongst yourselves,but I personally believe that he began the Romantic movement) I gave him one piece by each of them,Bach's Double Violin Concerto,Mozart's 40th Symphony and Beethoven's 5th Symphony,I gave him all these pieces in full.As he has a long attention span (Which one needs for avant-garde!) so he appreciated them rather well!

He showed a particular fondness of the sadder passages of these pieces,he loves sad music,His favourite piece was the Concerto by Bach.His least favourite was Mozart's Symphony,however he still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now,where to go from here?I need an incredibly sad symphony,length is not an issue but i'd still like the music to be within the boundaries of what is usually called "music",so please,what is the most depressing piece of music you can think of?


----------



## Ciel_Rouge (May 16, 2008)

I do not think any good music can be "depressing" but for a solemn mood try the Finlandia symphony by Sibelius. Perharps your brother likes all those pieces "in minor" rather than "in major". This is by the way my preference as well, most of the time.


----------



## themusicismymaster (Sep 14, 2008)

Ciel_Rouge said:


> I do not think any good music can be "depressing" but for a solemn mood try the Finlandia symphony by Sibelius. Perharps your brother likes all those pieces "in minor" rather than "in major". This is by the way my preference as well, most of the time.


Well,i totally agree,sorry about that. (Well,anything GOOD,as you say!) sad music,i admire composers like Tchaikovsky or Beethoven who turn suffering into art.My brother can in fact appreciate major pieces,I have just discovered,He inquired about Beethoven's 'Pastoral' symphony having 5 movements,he enjoyed the serene passages quite well,but,as you observed,he indeed seems to prefer pieces in 'minor'.Thank you for your recommendation!


----------



## purple99 (Apr 8, 2008)

themusicismymaster said:


> He showed a particular fondness of the sadder passages of these pieces,he loves sad music,His favourite piece was the Concerto by Bach.


How about some REALLY heavy Bach -- St John Passion or a funeral cantata, say No. 106? Or throw caution to the wind and hit him with Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. I don't know how old he is but perhaps tell him a bit about the background and, ideally, take him to a live performance. Get seats at the front so it hits him smack in the face and he'll remember it for the rest of his life. 



> One of the most notable performances was by the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra during the Siege of Leningrad. City leaders had ordered the orchestra to continue its performances to keep the spirits high in the city. On the night of October 20, 1941 they played Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 at the city's Philharmonic Hall and it was broadcast live to London. As the second movement began bombs started to fall nearby. The orchestra continued to play till the final note.
> 
> Wiki


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Why not introduce him to some of the classical pieces he may already know through Prog rock? 

Emerson, Lake and Palmer used themes from Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta to good effect. They also "borrowed" part of Ralph Vaughan-William's Fantasia on Greensleeves (which in turn was taken from an English folk melody I think -- I don't mean the Greensleeves part, the counter melody.)

I believe Yes have performed snippets of Holst's The Planets and also Bernstein's West Side Story early in their career, and they always, always opened their shows with an excerpt from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.

Jethro Tull turned Bach's Bouree from one of the Lute Suites into a sleazy fun jazz lounge thing. They also performed an abbreviated medley of parts of Beethoven's 9th and a complete movement of Bach's Concerto for three violins, a transcription of a madrigal by Henry the 8th, and some insidious fun thing called the William Tull Overture. 

Ian Anderson (of Tull) has done a beautiful and serious rendition of Faure's Pavane which may be exactly the sad type of music you're looking for. So try Gabriel Faure: Pavane, for orchestra & chorus ad lib in F sharp minor, Op. 50


----------



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Weston said:


> Emerson, Lake and Palmer used themes from Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta to good effect. They also "borrowed" part of Ralph Vaughan-William's Fantasia on Greensleeves (which in turn was taken from an English folk melody I think -- I don't mean the Greensleeves part, the counter melody.)


More "borrowings" from Emerson, Lake and Palmer include the 'Toccata' from Alberto Ginastera's Piano Concerto, and the 'Allegro Barbaro' from a Bartok Piano Sonata. Taking it even further, Emerson, when with The Nice, made a version of Sibelius' 'Karelia Suite.'


----------



## Herbstlied (Sep 8, 2008)

I'm also having a little trouble making a violin learning intro for my 8 year old brother...


----------



## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Throw at him everything that has been written in D minor. Maybe even C (sharp) minor.

EDIT: Ah, just read your post, Ciel Rouge.


----------



## themusicismymaster (Sep 14, 2008)

opus67 said:


> Throw at him everything that has been written in D minor. Maybe even C (sharp) minor.
> 
> EDIT: Ah, just read your post, Ciel Rouge.


_... The saddest of all keys..._

- Spinal Tap.


----------



## themusicismymaster (Sep 14, 2008)

purple99 said:


> How about some REALLY heavy Bach -- St John Passion or a funeral cantata, say No. 106? Or throw caution to the wind and hit him with Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. I don't know how old he is but perhaps tell him a bit about the background and, ideally, take him to a live performance. Get seats at the front so it hits him smack in the face and he'll remember it for the rest of his life.


Hmm... good pieces,thanks!He is 13 and I did take him to a concert. (Front row seats!) I had a spare ticket so I took him along to my last one a month ago (Cologne new philharmonic chamber orchestra,brilliant!) he came reluctantly and enjoyed it,after the concert was actually when he first enquired about getting into the music,the programme was Vivaldi's 'Summer',Haydn's 'Echo' (Never heard it before either) Mozart's horn concerto,Tchaikovsky's Cello concerto,J.S. Bach's x2 Violin concerto and the Pachelbel canon,v/ good.He asked about getting some of the pieces from the concert,So I picked up the Bach piece.

I couldn't find the version of Canon i was looking for so I gave him the Beethoven and Mozart symphonies instead.Now i've given him the Nigel Kennedy recording of the 4 seasons and a version of canon i quite like,he has a recording of every piece from the concert now except the horn concerto and the 'echo'.He loved the concert and is interested in Bach so yes,this 'Heavy Bach' should do nicely!


----------



## themusicismymaster (Sep 14, 2008)

Weston said:


> Why not introduce him to some of the classical pieces he may already know through Prog rock?
> 
> Emerson, Lake and Palmer used themes from Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta to good effect. They also "borrowed" part of Ralph Vaughan-William's Fantasia on Greensleeves (which in turn was taken from an English folk melody I think -- I don't mean the Greensleeves part, the counter melody.)
> 
> ...


Thanks!Will do!


----------



## Rachovsky (Jan 5, 2008)

I'm not as big a fan of the Baroque era as I am the classical or the romantic, so I will give my seemingly commonplace answer and say: Gustav Mahler. Maybe it's because I absolutely love him, or because he's amazing... I'm not sure.. but Mahler embodies depression at times. Throw any of his symphonies at him, especially the Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" or the Symphony No, 6 "Tragic." Then move on to 1, 8, 5, and 9 maybe? 

I would also do Berlioz. Listen to his Grande Messe Des Morts (or just Berlioz's Requiem for short) or the Symphonie Fantastique


----------



## Kezza (May 13, 2008)

Gorecki's 3rd Symphony or Most of Shostakovich's symphonies would probably do Just fine


----------



## periodinstrumentfan (Sep 11, 2008)

Here's ...well i'm not sure if it's depressing but sad music by Monteverdi. Now this is vocal music but the title itself is self explanatory "Lamento della Ninfa" (lament of the Nymph).






The video clip shows actors and musicians with dubbed audio, but the musicians are the ones who played the pre-recorded audio. They're a French period-instrument ensemble called Le Poème Harmonique led by Vincent Dumestre - the guy playing the Lute/Theorbo.

:>


----------

