# Need Recommendations



## Cpt. Jack Sparrow

I'm relatively new to classical music, and i am in desperate need for recommendations.

I realised that my taste in classical music seems to be very specific, so i can't just buy all the famous works because i don't like many of them.

So i thougt maybe you could help me out.

Here is a list of music i like:

Beethoven Symphonies
My favourites are the 7. (best music i have ever heard!), the 5. and the 3., but i like all of them.

Dvorak - Symphonie Nr. 9
I love the epic feel of the 1. and 4. movement

Ravel - Boléro
Insane but brilliant 

Mussorgsky/Ravel - Pictures at an Exhibition
My favourite part: La grande porte de Kiev

Vivaldi - The four Seasons
Usually i don't like music from this period, but this is absolutelly awesome!

Mozart - Requiem
Not a Mozart fan, but i really like his Requiem (maybe because he only wrote about half of it  )

Strauss - On the beautiful blue Danube
Second best music i've ever heard 

Bach - Air
Just so delightful and elegant 

Pachelbel - Canon in D major 
Hauntingly beautiful


Well, you could say "The usual Suspects" 

It seems for me to like it, classical music has to have a memorable melody and must be easy to digest. I generally don't like tone poems (with a few exceptions) and concertos for solo instruments and orchestra. I want to hear the full orchestra all the time and want to be able to "hum along" with it. You could say i'm the typical mainstream classic-fan.

So, what should i buy?


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## Weston

It sounds like you enjoy very melodic pieces (with the possible exception of the Beethoven 5th) with lots of orchestral color. Here's a few colorful melodic pieces you may enjoy:

Holst - The Planets (especially Jupiter)

Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 2

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"

Anton Bruckner - any symphony (maybe the 4th)

Debussy - Three Nocturnes

Faure - Pelleas et Melisande Suite

Liszt - Les Preludes (takes its time but builds to several massive brass climaxes that send chills up your arms. Trust me on this.)

Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture 

Respighi - Ancient Airs and Dances Suites, The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome (and that other Rome thing I can never remember)

Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade

Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez 

Anton Rubinstein - Piano Concerto No. 5 (not a household name exactly, but this piece is loaded with wonderful melodies)

Schubert - Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"

Sibelius - Symphony Nos. 1 and 2

-and a few million others.

Sorry, I threw in a couple of concertos and a tone poem here and there. You never know what may grab you or not, so try before you buy. Most of these can be found on YouTube, etc.


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## Art Rock

More music for the millions I would say.

Some obvious suggestions:
Schubert - Unfinished symphony
Mendelssohn - Italian symphony
Grieg - Peer Gybt suite
Sibelius - Valse triste


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## Art Rock

Double posted.
Oh,


> Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade


Most definitely.


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## ToneDeaf&Senile

Cpt. Jack Sparrow said:


> I'm relatively new to classical music, and i am in desperate need for recommendations.
> 
> I realised that my taste in classical music seems to be very specific, so i can't just buy all the famous works because i don't like many of them.
> 
> So i thougt maybe you could help me out.
> 
> Here is a list of music i like:
> 
> Beethoven Symphonies
> My favourites are the 7. (best music i have ever heard!), the 5. and the 3., but i like all of them.
> 
> Dvorak - Symphonie Nr. 9
> I love the epic feel of the 1. and 4. movement
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Well, you could say "The usual Suspects"
> 
> It seems for me to like it, classical music has to have a memorable melody and must be easy to digest. I generally don't like tone poems (with a few exceptions) and concertos for solo instruments and orchestra. I want to hear the full orchestra all the time and want to be able to "hum along" with it. You could say i'm the typical mainstream classic-fan.
> 
> So, what should i buy?


I've only one recommendation at this time, but might add more later. Based on your preference for Beethoven and Dvorak as well as your closing comments, you might well enjoy *Tchaikovsky's Symphony Nr. 4.* It has the epic feel of the Dvorak, and at times something of the drive of Beethoven's seventh.

Here's a YouTube clip of *the finale, performed by the Leningrad Philharmonic* under Gennady Rozhdestvensky at the London Proms.

The third moment is pretty neat too, though not everyone is playing all the time. Here it is performed by *The Berlin Phil under Karajan.*

-ToneDeaf&Senile-


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## Cpt. Jack Sparrow

I guess i will buy the 7 symphonies of sibelius next. I have heard most of them on you tube and they are exactly what i'm looking for (well, maybe bit slow most of the time, but great romantic music). His music is absolutely beautiful and majestic  I don't know why i bothered with Mahler and Brahms over the last year. Sibelius ist just so much better!

But which recording is the one to buy? I always try to buy the best recordings (based on reviews and personal taste). But it's very difficult with sibelius. Personally i am a great fan of Bernstein with the NYPO (there is no better Beethoven!) but it seems there is no longer a complete cycle available. And i don't want to mix recordings from different conductors/orchestras within a cycle. I was forced to do that with Beethoven (2-8 Bernstein / 9 Karajan / still missing the 1th)) and try to avoid it since. It just irritates me to hear all symphonies performed one way and then the last one performed completely different (though still excellent).

The alternatives would be Maazel conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, John Barbirolli conducting the Halle Orchestra and Colin Davis with the BSO. Other than that i have found no complete cycles. So, which one should i buy? They all have admirers and critics.

About my taste.
I like it when music is played a bit bigger and passionate than it is supposed to be  I don't go for a perfect rendition of what the composer had in mind. I want the music to blow me away. But i do care for detail.


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## pianoman55

Haha well if you like very romantic interpretations of works- go for works conducted by Bernstein. He's my hero, and he also had a habit of being quite romantic. As you said, his years with the NY Phil are incredible. Mahler 2 conducted by Bernstein (at the NY Phil) is a fantastic, life changing recording (might I say one of my school's choirs "Westminster Choir" sings on it, haha). I'm partial to Mahler over Sibelius...possibly because of this recording. DO check it out!

As for more rep that you can listen to, I would suggest:

Ravel, "La Valse" (the ending is available on youtube with Bernstein conducting, it's on the favorites on my channel: www.youtube.com/pianoman55)
Bernstein, "West Side Story: Symphonic Dances" (very funky, modern feel...something you don't always hear)
Tchaik 5
Orff, "Carmina Burana"

Those are some huge works to get yourself enticed. If you feel like trying a concerto again, may I suggest Ravel's, "Concerto in G"?- HUGE orchestral piece. Of course Gershwin "Rhapsody in Blue" and "American in Paris" are great, big pieces as well. And if you feel like really blowing your mind out of the water, try Stravinsky, "Firebird" and "Rite of Spring". I warn you these pieces are BIG and PROUD. So don't turn your stereo up TOO loud 

Hope you enjoy!


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## joen_cph

Perhaps a place for some recommendations of other Scandinavian orchestral composers whose
style can be more or less like that of Sibelius ...

- Tubin: His 5th Symphony conducted by Järvi is immediately gripping and has a lot of character and energy. The Järvi set is generally the best set if compared to the Volmer recordings.

- Englund: His 2nd Symphony, "The Blackbird", has some wonderful evocations of nature. It is mainly lyrical but still very varied

- Langgaard, also dealt with by at least one other thread here, but of a very varying quality and expression: symphonies 4, 5, 6, 10 are among his best and most varied works, the 5th being the simplest though.

- Nørgård: The 1st Symphony is actually hugely conservative if compared to his later works (which form an interesting voyage of discovery), I think it could partly be compared to Sibelius´ "Tapiola".

- Alfvén: His 4th Symphony is one of his more comparatively sophisticated and refined works and features vocal soloists.

- Berwald: Now we´re talking an earlier period of course, but the works are very varied and less predictable than many other mid-19th-century works. They often have a fresh energy and a sophisticated orchestration than includes much rhapsodic solo playing.


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## Aggelos

Cpt. Jack Sparrow said:


> Mussorgsky/Ravel - Pictures at an Exhibition
> My favourite part: La grande porte de Kiev
> 
> It seems for me to like it, classical music has to have a memorable melody and must be easy to digest. I generally don't like tone poems (with a few exceptions) and concertos for solo instruments and orchestra. I want to hear the full orchestra all the time and want to be able to "hum along" with it. You could say i'm the typical mainstream classic-fan.
> 
> So, what should i buy?


Brother just get these! (whatever you can!) 
You won't regret it!! 
Memorabale melodies, majestic-marvelous orchestrations, easy to digest musical text!

http://www.lyrita.co.uk/cgi-bin/lyrita_build.pl?filename=SRCD0216.txt

http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp?CNumber=CHAN 9445

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/Pictures_pines_2564619542.htm

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/det...368742d6175662d64656d2d6b61686c656e2d42657267

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/det...368742d6175662d64656d2d6b61686c656e2d42657267

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/oct00/Debussynight.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/oct00/debussyengulfed.htm
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=CHAN 5057
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2004/Aug04/Bach_conductors.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/aug00/bachtranscription.htm
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/2214
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/1716
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/4400
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/6072

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2002/Jan02/Symphbaroq.htm
http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/music/re_pictures.cfm
http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp?CNumber=CHAN 9349
http://www.atmaclassique.com/en/albums/albuminfo.aspx?albumid=352
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/June01/Mussorgsky_Pictures.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/June01/BorodinRequiem.htm


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## jaybee57

The problem with recommending pieces to classical newcomers is that we tend to put forward our personal favourites. We like them so they probably will. Certainly I have been accused me of this. For those whose starting criteria are melody and big tunes, I recommend Wagner overtrures or preludes, particularly Tannhauser and the Dutchman and Richard Strauss's Alpine symphony and Don Juan.

I even won over a convert to Mahler by playing her the last part - from Urlicht - of the Second Resurrection Symphony. It certainly had, and has, the wow effect on anyone in the least interested, especially in big sound. 

Anyway good luck and good listening to Cpt. Jack Sparrow and all newcomers to the glorious world of classical music.


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