# Musical "To-Do" List?



## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Are there pieces that you've never heard before that you feel like you should have listened to but never got around to it? I recently started my own "to-do" list and finally got down Tchaikovsky's _Pathétique_, Beethoven's _Pastorale_, Sibelius' 5th symphony, and Ives' _The Unanswered Question_, all of which I somehow have gone without listening in full until just a little bit ago. Right now, I can't think of many major pieces that I have somehow skipped over completely. I have a couple (most importantly Sibelius 7 right now), but I feel I'm forgetting some.

How about all of you?


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

I've never heard Beethoven's _Missa Solemnis_.

After reading Swafford's LvB biography, it's now on my list.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

- Hear the first five Dvorák symphonies.

- Get more 20th-century Cello Concertos.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

- listen to all the stuff I haven't heard

- listen to some select stuff I've heard through the years

- be humble

/ptr


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

I need to re-listen to Tchaikovsky's symphonies 5 and 6 as well as the Manfred symphony since I don't remember what they sound like at all. Then the symphonies of Brahms and Schumann since I haven't listened to them in years; and eventually Mahler's 2,3,4,7, and 8th symphonies since I've never listened to them even once. I guess I'm not overly enthusiastic about symphonies as a whole.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Beethoven, Missa Solemnis
Handel operas
Haydn string quartets
Nono
Rachmaninov Second symphony


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

maestro267 said:


> - Hear the first five Dvorák symphonies.
> 
> - Get more 20th-century Cello Concertos.


Dvorak's 1st and 4th symphonies were quite good in the versions I heard (Kovatchev/Orchestra of Teatro Giuseppe Verdi Trieste, Kosler/Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra).


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Monteverdi - Il ritorno di Ulisse in partria and L'incoronazione di Poppea
Bach - Art of Fugue
Mozart - piano concertos (actually I've heard the late ones but not without nearly falling asleep midway) and violin concertos
Handel - a couple of oratorios (aside from Messiah) and operas
Haydn - Paris symphonies
Chopin - piano concertos
Dvorak - Rusalka
Brahms - Clarinet sonatas, string quartets
Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Ring Cycle, Parsifal
Tchaikovsky - violin concerto
Bruckner - all symphonies except 00, 4 and 8 (already heard them), Te Deum
Mahler - all symphonies except 1 and 5, song cycles
Rachmaninov - Vespers, Symphony No. 3 
Strauss - Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier
Prokofiev - symphonies, piano concertos, Romeo and Juliet
Bartok - piano concertos and string quartets except No. 4
Debussy - Pelleas et Melisande
Ravel - L'heure spagnole and L'enfant et les sortileges
Stravinsky - Petrushka, Pulcinella, Symphony of Psalms
Berg - Wozzeck, Lulu
Schoenberg - Moses und Aron, A survivor from Warsaw, Chamber symphonies
Sibelius - Symphonies 4, 5, 6 and 7, Kullervo
Varese - anything
Shostakovich - all symphonies except No. 5, string quartets, Lady Macbeth, The nose
Messiaen - Quartet for the end of time, Eclairs sul au-dela
Cage - Sonatas and interludes for prepared piano (I'm seriously willing to give him a chance)
Stockhausen - anything
Glass - anything
Reich - anything
That's all I can think of right now. So much music, so little time.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Listen to more of my opera recordings - it's the one category I've neglected rather badly over the last few years.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

elgars ghost said:


> Listen to more of my opera recordings - it's the one category I've neglected rather badly over the last few years.


Yes I must find time to try more opera
Reading some of the posts on the Current Listening thread keeps making me feel I sm missing something


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I have a huge list of music and composers that I eventually wish to hear. I slowly work my way through the list, but I'm always adding more so I don't make much progress. I suppose one could say I'm making a lot of progress - just not progress with shortening my list. And I'm fine with that.


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2015)

I'm gonna go through the whole Andras Schiff lecture series on Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, along with the sonatas themselves. Combined playing time almost 29 hours.

I've started before but never finished.


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## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

Bruckner! Never really explored his music but I have a couple of concerts coming up this year of his symphonies, so I want to learn more about each of them. 
Also I'm studying grade 6 music theory which is a lot about harmony. Hope to complete that by the end of this year. A lot of it is studying scores which I'm very much looking forward to. I love reading old scores particularly and hopefully I can learn how to interpret them better.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Icarus said:


> I'm gonna go through the whole Andras Schiff lecture series on Beethoven's Piano Sonatas, along with the sonatas themselves. Combined playing time almost 29 hours.
> 
> I've started before but never finished.


I found that the Schiff lectures are very good to listen to while driving.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I'm going to try to listen to more harp concerti, a newly acquired taste! I didn't realize there were so many.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

After listening to Schiff play the Hammerklavier, you will have to excuse me while I proceed down the hall and attend two other lectures-the Rudolf Serkin and the Annie Fischer. See ya later!


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Here's my list in approximate order of priority. For quite a few of these, I have listened to them at least in part but never in full. Or possibly I've heard them in full, but forgot them completely.

Symphony No. 7 - Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 10 -	Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 - Sergei Prokofiev
Symphony No. 4 - Carl Nielsen
Piano Quintet in A "Trout" -	Franz Schubert
Verklarte Nacht - Arnold Schoenberg
Violin Concerto -	Samuel Barber
Symphony No. 6 - Jean Sibelius
Symphony No. 4 - Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 3 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Don Quixote -	Richard Strauss
An Alpine Symphony -	Richard Strauss
Violin Concerto -	Alban Berg
Don Juan -	Richard Strauss
Symphony No. 4 - Charles Ives
Concerto for Orchestra - Witold Lutoslawski
Gaspard de la Nuit - Maurice Ravel
Violin Concerto - Arnold Schoenberg
Piano Concertos -	Sergei Prokofiev
Tapiola - Jean Sibelius
Violin Concerto - Robert Schumann
Variations on a Rococo Theme - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Seasons - Alexander Glazunov
String Quartet No. 62 "Emperor" -	Franz Joseph Haydn
Double Concerto - Johannes Brahms
Clarinet Concerto - Aaron Copland


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

For me, it's mainly operas. They're so _long_...and I prefer to follow along with the libretto, so I really need to take some time out to listen to one.

And I find I often don't do it. But I have a checklist that is getting smaller  Next up is "Lohengrin", which I have never listened to before, and "Don Giovanni", which I have also never listened to.

I always enjoy them, it just often might be a while between listening to them.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Tristan said:


> For me, it's mainly operas. They're so _long_...and I prefer to follow along with the libretto, so I really need to take some time out to listen to one.


[ditto]

There are lots of works in the nooks and crannies by composers I am committed to that I haven't gotten around to yet. And there are lots more works by composers I know little or nothing of that I might never get around to.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Tristan said:


> For me, it's mainly operas. They're so _long_...and I prefer to follow along with the libretto, so I really need to take some time out to listen to one.
> 
> And I find I often don't do it. But I have a checklist that is getting smaller  Next up is "Lohengrin", which I have never listened to before, and "Don Giovanni", which I have also never listened to.
> 
> I always enjoy them, it just often might be a while between listening to them.


It's difficult but worth it. It does help me to actually watch them, and there are many complete operas on Youtube, with subtitles even. Opera did help me a lot to evaluate composers, not only the "only-opera" ones like Wagner and Rossini, but if it weren't for his operas, I would hold Mozart in very low regard.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

musicrom said:


> Here's my list in approximate order of priority. For quite a few of these, I have listened to them at least in part but never in full. Or possibly I've heard them in full, but forgot them completely.
> 
> Symphony No. 7 - Jean Sibelius
> Symphony No. 10 -	Dmitri Shostakovich
> ...


A FEAST awaits you!!!


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Der Leiermann said:


> Monteverdi - Il ritorno di Ulisse in partria and L'incoronazione di Poppea
> Bach - Art of Fugue
> Mozart - piano concertos (actually I've heard the late ones but not without nearly falling asleep midway) and violin concertos
> Handel - a couple of oratorios (aside from Messiah) and operas
> ...


I might steal some of this stuff and add it to my list, if that's okay with you. 



JACE said:


> A FEAST awaits you!!!


Thanks, I know! I'm looking forward to it, and there's surely a lot that I missed in my list.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

musicrom said:


> I might steal some of this stuff and add it to my list, if that's okay with you.


:lol: Which ones exactly?
I'm stealing some from your list. Forgot about Nielsen, seems interesting. And Lutoslawski has a cool name, better add him too.


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## Piwikiwi (Apr 1, 2011)

All of WTC book I and II, all mozart piano sonatas and the entire repertoire of Debussy, Ravel(I think I've actually done this), Poulenc, Stravinsky and Fauré


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2015)

I have no shortage of music to catch up on...it's time I need. I've still not done justice to the Shostakovich Symphonies I got last Christmas and I'm hoping to buy a Mahler set for my birthday next month. I've been given two Mozart piano concertos and Haydn's 'Paris' symphonies for Christmas...

That'll keep me going for months, and I've still got two sets (Lewis, Kempff) of Beethoven Sonatas and a complete set of his quartets.

Then there's my job, just promoted, and a wife who's not a fan of classical, a house to run...

The opportunities to just sit and listen to music are not as great as I'd like.


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## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

I just sift through the TC Top Recommended Lists.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Der Leiermann said:


> :lol: Which ones exactly?
> I'm stealing some from your list. Forgot about Nielsen, seems interesting. And Lutoslawski has a cool name, better add him too.


Haha, I added the Bartok to my list (haven't done justice at all to his music), as well as Stravinsky and the Brahms quartets.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

To avoid warhorses of Beethoven and Brahms and experience music I'm not familiar with-particularly Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.


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## BillT (Nov 3, 2013)

Great thread.

For me, it's all about what I listen to *CLOSELY*, as opposed to what i have on while I'm cooking dinner or working at the computer (like now). No, it doesn't do the piece a disservice to not listen closely, but it's *SO MUCH MORE* valuable time!

So my list includes:

Mozart Violin Sonatas (esp. the late ones)
Mozart Synfonia in C, K. 364
Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites played on double bass by Edgar Meyer
Beethoven - Eroica Variations Op. 35
Beethoven - String Quintet
Beethoven - String Quartet by Quarteto Italiano

And, of course, continue listening to the Beethoven Sonata cycle as I read Soloman's biography.

- Bill


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2015)

I've only sipped a teaspoon from the ocean, so a list would be impossible. In fact to curtail my panic attacks I'm thinking of focussing the rest of my listening life to just one composer; any one really. As long as they're dead so they can't write any more.


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## FerneKlang (Dec 18, 2014)

Too many to list, but my current project is getting to know all of Haydn's quartets and piano trios: so far it's been an undiluted pleasure


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## Leonius (Jan 8, 2015)

I'm looking at Mozart's serenades, the remaining violin concertos I haven't listened to yet, and Mendelssohn's songs without words. It always pleases me to think about the incredible number of good pieces that I haven't tried yet!


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## Frei aber froh (Feb 22, 2013)

Beethoven: Hammerklavier, Missa Solemnis
Schubert: Winterreise, the Unfinished Symphony
Wagner: Tristan, Parsifal
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio, piano concerti, romances for piano
Brahms: German Requiem, Double Concerto
Mahler: Seventh Symphony, Das Lied
Debussy: Afternoon of a Faun, La Mer
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben, Elektra, Salomé 
Sibelius: Seventh Symphony
Rachmaninov: First Symphony
Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht, Pierrot Lunaire
Bloch: Concerto Grosso No. 1, Suite for Viola and Piano (1919)
Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Canticum Sacrum
Berg: Wozzeck
Rebecca Clarke: Morpheus, Passacaglia on an Old English Tune
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3, Violin Concerto No. 2, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, all the symphonies except the Classical
Shostakovich: First Symphony, Thirteenth Symphony, The Nose
Messiaen: Turangalîla
Britten: Peter Grimes, Lachrymae
Gubaidulina: Viola Concerto, Canticle of the Sun, Offertorium
Schnittke: Viola Concerto, Concerto Grosso No. 1
Harbison: Viola Concerto, The Great Gatsby, Elegiac Songs
Tomáš Svoboda: Marimba Concerto, string quartets
Golijov: Yiddishbbuk, La Pasión según San Marcos, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
Unsuk Chin: Alice in Wonderland, Piano Concerto
Higdon: Percussion Concerto, Violin Concerto
Bunch: The Devil's Box, symphonies

Phewph.


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## Frei aber froh (Feb 22, 2013)

Kudos to anyone who can tell me the rule for how I listed composers.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

On the treadmill of dissatisfaction, I find myself in general more dissatisfied by how poorly I know the music that I've heard than by not having heard most of the music that I haven't heard. There are some exceptions: 

- Haydn: The Seasons 
- Wagner: The operas that I haven't heard yet
- Prokofiev: Symphonies
- Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk 
- Wolf: Italian songbook 
- Martinu: Symphonies and piano concertos 
- Norgard: Symphonies
- Dutilleux: Symphonies 
- Haydn: Piano trios
- Rorem: Symphonies 
- Telemann: Almost everything
- Vivaldi: Operas 
- the Renaissance: Everything I haven't heard
- Bruch: Chamber music 

That's a start. But like I said, there's a heck of a lot of stuff that I have heard that I'd like to get to know better, and at the moment that feels like a higher priority to me. That is too much to list. Maybe I should think about prioritizing it....


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Hermioneviolageek said:


> Kudos to anyone who can tell me the rule for how I listed composers.


At a glance, birth date?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

My to-do list is too big - I'd be embarrassed to specify. 

But to prioritise my shamefully-never-listened-to pieces:

An Opera by Rameau
A symphony by Brahms
Any music by Glazunov - I ought to find out why Huilu keeps on about him! :lol:


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Ingélou said:


> Any music by Glazunov - I ought to find out why Huilu keeps on about him!


For me, this is one of the great and fascinating things about the human experience, and of music. Who knows what music out there is "best," or which you might enjoy most, or whatever? No one will ever know.

But we meet people, we find out about the music that they like, we affect each other. It is a human process of finitude, vicissitudes, and contingencies, or, well, at least luck.

Had I not met certain people at the right time, is it possible I wouldn't even like classical music?


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

To name a few:

1. Listening to Bernstein's three box sets
2. Finishing Karajan's DG and EMI Vol. 1 Orchestral box set [and downloading them.]
3. Listening to the entire Liszt: Complete Piano Music
4. Bach's keyboard works [Andras Schiff and Angela Hewitt]
5. 20th/21st century symphonies
6. The Rubinstein Collection
7. Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside The Symphony
8. Beethoven's piano sonatas [Barenboim's DVD performances/Heidseick/Richard Goode/Brendel/Arrau - all of them]
9. Comprehending Liszt's masterpieces: Eine Faust Symphonie (in drei Charakterbildern) and Eine Symphonie zu Dante's Divina Commedia
10. The Mozart Edition [Philips Classics]
11. Beethoven Edition [DG]
12. Brahms' Editions [Brilliant Classics]
13. Brahms' Editions [DG] 
14. Rachmaninoff Edition [Brilliant Classics]
15. Bach 2000 [Teldec]
16. Bruno Walter: The Edition
17. The Decca Sound
18. 111 Years of DG
19. Britten conducts Britten
20. Scarlatti's Complete Keyboard Sonatas [Richard Lester - Nimbus]
21. Bach's Complete Organ Works [Hurford - Decca]
22. Radu Lupu - The Complete Decca Recordings
23. Vladimir Horowitz - The Complete Original Jacket Collection
24. Mahler's Symphonies [Bernstein with New York Philharmonic]
25. Mahler's Symphonies [Bernstein with Wiener Philharmoniker]


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Ingélou said:


> My to-do list is too big - I'd be embarrassed to specify.
> 
> But to prioritise my shamefully-never-listened-to pieces:
> 
> ...


I still don't really get the Glazunov / Myaskovsky / Balakirev / Kalinnikov, etc. fascination. It's great music, but it sounds kind of like - you know, normal symphonic classical music. Nice but not something that lifts me out of autopilot, at least not yet.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Of course, I want to hear and memorize everything ever written. Since that's not likely to happen, here's a few from my current bucket list:

The *von Karajan 1960s Beethoven symphony cycle* everyone raves about, if I can only figure out which recordings they are! There are so many confusing box sets and re-releases. Okay I already know most of Beethoven fairly well, so maybe this doesn't count.

I too don't know much in the way of opera having only seen / heard about six of them. I haven't been able to listen with the libretto. I get lost. I'm better with watching them. I'm trying to work my way down the TC Top Recommended Operas List. I haven't made it very far. I'm currently at *Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro*. I'm looking for a decent YouTube version with subtitles. I really want to experience *Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre.*

I need to dig deeper into 20th / 21st century works: More *serial Schoenberg*, more *Boulez*.

Again, there are about ten thousand others.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Weston said:


> I'm trying to work my way down the TC Top Recommended Operas List. I haven't made it very far. I'm currently at *Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro*. I'm looking for a decent YouTube version with subtitles. I really want to experience *Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre.*
> 
> Again, there are about ten thousand others.


I'm not sure if you meant a good performance of Figaro or the Ligeti opera; but either way, this is one of the best Figaro productions on youtube(and with subtitles). Sound quality isn't perfect, but everything else is:


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Weston said:


> Of course, I want to hear and memorize everything ever written. Since that's not likely to happen, here's a few from my current bucket list:
> 
> The *von Karajan 1960s Beethoven symphony cycle* everyone raves about, if I can only figure out which recordings they are! There are so many confusing box sets and re-releases. Okay I already know most of Beethoven fairly well, so maybe this doesn't count.
> 
> ...


You should stick to the most recent, SACD remastered box set [2004 - The 2014 version is marketing hype; milking the Karajan machine]:

View attachment 60754


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I bought a lot of CDs last year, so I want to spend time with this music. 

Especially 
Brahms chamber music
Symphonies of RVW
LvB quartets
Shostakovich Symphonies

and explore some choral music on Spotify

composers I'd like to know more
Gubaidulina 
John Adams
Schnittke


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## Peter Gibaloff (Jan 10, 2015)

To record music.

Different music.

To discover own spirit.

example:


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Just realized I'm not familiar with Beethoven's _Hammerklavier_ sonata. Adding it to the top of my list!


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## Frei aber froh (Feb 22, 2013)

Some composers I really want to get to know better: Dutilleux, Prokofiev, Schoenberg, Richard Strauss, Messiaen, Debussy, Schubert


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Hermioneviolageek said:


> *Beethoven: Hammerklavier, Missa Solemnis*
> Schubert: Winterreise, the Unfinished Symphony
> Wagner: Tristan, Parsifal
> Clara Schumann: Piano Trio, piano concerti, romances for piano
> ...


Both the Hammerklavier and Missa Solemnis are at the summit of their respective genres.

Do not dawdle. They are a must!!!!


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Finally used headphones on the treadmill, and discovered something unexpected. Telemann is GREAT for steady walking. Even went two tenths of a mile past my goal so I could finish walking to Concerto in D.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

It is time for me to know Wagner.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I want to hear as many of the 27 symphonies of Nikolai Myaskovsky as possible, and some day I'll get around to buying the now legendary set of all of them by the late Yevgeny Svetlanov .
I have CDs of about five or six of them , plus the cello concerto , and definitely want to hear more of the elusive but fascinating work of this long neglected composer who is finally beginning to gain more recognition after so long .
I want to hear more of the esoteric works of Sorabji , more music by Rued Laangaard , especially the symphonies . I already have the CD of his allegorical opera Antichrist . 
More Wilhelm Stenhammar, such as the string quartets, more music by Wilhelm Furtwangler,
more of the symphonies of Havergal Brian , to name only a small number of things I want to hear .
Just go to youtube, and you can hear virtually anything by any composer no matter how obscure !
If they don't have it, it doesn't exist ! A particularly good youtube channel for obscure works is Unsung masterworks .


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## TradeMark (Mar 12, 2015)

I really need to get around to listening to a Bruckner symphony.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

For logistical reasons that I'm happy to embrace, I'm settling down to a very conservative core repertoire of music that I really want to get to know well in the coming months. Lots of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

superhorn said:


> I want to hear as many of the 27 symphonies of Nikolai Myaskovsky as possible, and some day I'll get around to buying the now legendary set of all of them by the late Yevgeny Svetlanov .


Check out my post in the latest purchases thread: http://www.talkclassical.com/1006-latest-purchases-156.html?highlight=Myaskovsky#post560925


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

My current playlist reflects my "to-do" list right now:

Working my way through music history - currently with the songs of the troubadours
Working my way through the CPO catalog - currently languishing the the six volumes of Hindemith Orchestral music
Working my way through Eldar Nebolsin's discography - currently on my last three discs
Working my way through the works of Amy Beach - still on my first two compilation discs covering 1872-1895
Starting on Haydn and Vivaldi operas - listening to Haydn's early effort Acide - trying to decide which version of Ottone in Villa (Vivaldi) to buy as I watch the You Tube performance

Non-classical:
Working my way through a selective version of the Putumayo catalog
Finishing up the Rascals' discography (Search & Nearness, Peaceful World, Island of Real)
Mid-way through the Renaissance discography (Turn of the Cards, Scheherazade, Novella)


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