# What one piece would you recommend to a person unacquainted with Classical music?



## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

If you had to suggest one piece of classical music (in the broad sense of the word) to someone who knows absolutely nothing about the genre, what would you recommend? I would say Beethoven Symphony 5. You can't go wrong with Beethoven.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Easy
Mozart Piano Conerto 23
Ticket to heaven


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring.


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## csacks (Dec 5, 2013)

Beethoven´s Emperor.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

the 2 pieces I was introduced to classical music in the age of ten (I wonder if this was late)

moonlight sonata of great Ludwig van Beethoven

and allegretto alla turca from piano sonata no 11 of Amadeus

my innocent mind welcomed classical music and the soul felt a real pleasure

I would definitely suggest them, especially to a young person


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Mendelssohn Italian symphony, Violin concerto.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

It all depends on what (other)musical experience the subject has! Given the subject is a musical "tabula rasa", then I would play something interestingly rhythmical, maybe Bela Bartok's music for strings, percussion and celesta...

/ptr


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Depends on who it is and what other types of music he listens to.

I've always thought Janacek's Sinfonietta is a good choice for people into Rock.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I think I would actually choose that hour long Ring Cycle adaptation that someone did for orchestra only.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

An American in Paris by Gershwin is also nice-very snappy and bluesy.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Schnittke's 1st Symphony--it would give them a pretty good overview of what classical music has to offer.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

Depends on the person and their willingness - but something a bit mind-blowing, I should think. Scheherezade, Pictures, Paganini Rhapsody?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Crumb's _Black Angels_.

I do not intend to confirm their expectations.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

science said:


> Crumb's _Black Angels_.
> 
> I do not intend to confirm their expectations.


It was a success in the classroom from what I remember of you posting a while back, was it not?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> It was a success in the classroom from what I remember of you posting a while back, was it not?


It almost always has been.

Young people like to be startled, I think.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Schubert's Unfinished Symphony in B minor, Ravel's Piano Concerto in G and Pavane pour une infante defunte, Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a faun. Of course it depends if they prefer something slow, something fast and rythmic,etc. What attracted me to this music was realising its diversity, say, a Monteverdi mass to a Bartok string quartet.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I recommend on a case by case basis.


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## dgee (Sep 26, 2013)

science said:


> It almost always has been.
> 
> Young people like to be startled, I think.


This is an important point. Lots of people young and old have rejected "classical music that sounds like classical music" - they've come into contact with it plenty and it hasn't resonanted. There's a bit more hope for classical music that sounds like movie/game soundtrack or classical music that doesn't sound like aything they've heard before. The latter gives them a chance to throw off some of the baggage and just engage with the music! Black Angels would be a good choice - Rite of Spring, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, even Partiels or Gesang der Junglinge or some Nancarrow studies for player piano


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I once bought a car from a kid that had a really terrific aftermarket sound system. On the test drive I played the 1st movement of Shostakovich's 5th, the middle part with the march and the big crescendo. The kid was amazed, wanted to know what it was, where he could buy it, etc. He wrote it all down.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Something by Beethoven or Shostakovich maybe. That's how I've been wedging it to my roommate


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Rebel: Chaos & the Elements or Biber: Battalia

To show that Baroque Music need not be mere twiddly stuff.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

science said:


> It almost always has been.
> 
> Young people like to be startled, I think.


When I was 8 I once asked my teacher to put on Piazzolla's Tango Suite for the class to listen to. It was a hit!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Can't give them anything too light, or it'll nudge them toward some prejudices that classical is nice music to relax to, but can't hammer them over the head with something so odd and obscure that they think classical music is elitist mind-messing.

I think something from Schubert's songs, maybe Der Doppelganger, to give them accessibility and mood. Or maybe Chopin's Etudes - take your pick. I'd really start them in on something that has few instruments, and isn't too complex, but is interesting enough to grab their attention.

Then I'd give them the box set of Dame Mitso of Wimbledon, playing Mozart... :tiphat:

EDIT: I heard Piazzola recently. Some tango music. It was fairly incredible...


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's not really my cup of tea, but I think that Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony would be a good for a starter.


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

I'd probably recommend something that I really enjoy in the hope that they might enjoy it too. So, something by Chopin, as in the very delightful and mesmeric Berceuse in D flat major, Op. 57, or the transient and dreamy nocturne in D flat major op. 27 no. 2. :tiphat:


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

I finally thought of a piece I was happy with: Mozart's trio for clarinet, viola, and piano k.498. It's melodic, very profound, but not too heavy or plodding either and no one understood the expressive capability of the clarinet better than Mozart. Some might say Brahms, but he would disagree with you anyways.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Orchestral version of Pictures at an Exhibition maybe?


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2014)

Classical music is not a genre.

Classical music is many different things. A collection of many different genres and styles.

As such, there is simply no one piece that could represent any more than a very small fraction of the whole collection.

I'm also not sure how many people there are who have no acquaintance with any classical music. Anyone with a tv has heard quite a lot of classical music already, though not necessarily identified as such. In some Warner Bros. cartoons, it is identified as such. Not all. Stokowski was easy to caricature. 

But seriously, when you're dealing with one category that covers several hundred years and includes both Machaut and Maderna and another category that consists of over 7 billion individual units with over 7 billion different levels of experience and knowledge, the task you have set would stymy even Hercules. 

In such a circumstance, anything you do will be whatever you do.

So do it.


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I think I would actually choose that hour long Ring Cycle adaptation that someone did for orchestra only.


Or perhaps Anna Russell's fifteen minute Ring synopsis.


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

I first thought of Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" - tuneful and easy-going, but sophisticated (a combination that Mozart did so very well).


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## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

Verdi's Requiem mass works perfectly with heavy metal fans


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I have a friend who has really only heard Classical music through pop culture. Last week we were talking about music and he knows I'm heavily into Classical and he said he was really interested in learning more about it and wanted me to give him some stuff to listen to. He was obviously familiar with some of Mozart and Beethoven's more famous melodies so he wasn't complete ignorant of it. I gathered from the discussion that he wanted to start with some familiar type stuff and work outward so since I had an old set of George Szell's 9 Beethoven Symphonies lying around, that's what I gave him to start.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I would also recommend Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto N0. 1.

It has everything: obviously classical, sweeping romantic melodies, virtuoso excitement.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

realdealblues said:


> I have a friend who has really only heard Classical music through pop culture.


Back in the day:
Pretty sure it was Emerson, Lake and Palmer's art-rock rendition of Pictures at an Exhibiton that got me to go buy the orchestral version (the orchestral version is way, way better by the way).


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

Whistler Fred said:


> I first thought of Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" - tuneful and easy-going, but sophisticated (a combination that Mozart did so very well).


Yeah but everyone's already heard that before.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Declined said:


> Yeah but everyone's already heard that before.


Exactly, every single person has already heard all four movements of that serenade and not just the opening theme that it's usually associated with.

...


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Kieran said:


> Can't give them anything too light, or it'll nudge them toward some prejudices that classical is nice music to relax to, but can't hammer them over the head with something so odd and obscure that they think classical music is elitist mind-messing.


This is my feeling.

I might choose something like "The Rite of Spring", or as previously mentioned, Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta".

Just edgy enough to demonstrate that classical isn't all Pachelbel or Handel, but not so 'spiky' to scare them.



GreenMamba said:


> Depends on who it is and what other types of music he listens to.
> 
> I've always thought Janacek's Sinfonietta is a good choice for people into Rock.


ELP's "Knife Edge" is adapted from "Sinfonetta", so this is probably a good call. Maybe play one version then the other....


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

Declined said:


> Yeah but everyone's already heard that before.


I'm not sure this is really the case these days, but even if the opening "fanfare" is immediately recognizable, this may not be a bad thing as it may help the listener with a bit a familiarity, a "hook" if you will, for the rest of the music.


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

As a kid the first classical piece I remember was Haydn and I think that is a good starting point. Simple and direct composing. Maybe the Surprise Symphony.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

trazom said:


> Exactly, every single person has already heard all four movements of that serenade and not just the opening theme that it's usually associated with.
> 
> ...


Would someone who dislikes the opening of Eine kleine Nachtmusik take a shine to the rest of it?

I don't know, but this goes to show it depends on who the listener is. For my Rock-loving friends, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik would be the epitome of what they don't like about Classical. The only things worse would be Strauss waltzes or Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. (I would have loathed all this stuff when I was a teenager.)

That's the issue with pop/rock people. We use words like "charming" and "delightful" as praise, but they don't necessarily see those as compliments.


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## Whistler Fred (Feb 6, 2014)

GreenMamba said:


> Would someone who dislikes the opening of Eine kleine Nachtmusik take a shine to the rest of it?
> 
> I don't know, but this goes to show it depends on who the listener is. For my Rock-loving friends, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik would be the epitome of what they don't like about Classical. The only things worse would be Strauss waltzes or Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. (I would have loathed all this stuff when I was a teenager.)
> 
> That's the issue with pop/rock people. We use words like "charming" and "delightful" as praise, but they don't necessarily see those as compliments.


Very likely, I'm afraid. I was approaching the question from the point of view of someone interested but unfamiliar with classical music. But if your musical teeth were cut from listening to Led Zeppelin or Despache Mode, Mozart would not have much appeal. I remember the first time I listened (in my early teen years) to "Blind Faith" (the Windwood/Clapton/Baker "supergroup") and was outraged that one of their songs dared to use...A VIOLIN INSTEAD OF A LOUD GUITAR SOLO! A boring classical instrument in a rock song? Heretics!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I changed me mind. The Waldstein sonata. Just listened to it. The familiar rumble & roll would please, while sucking them into the vortex. Before they know it, they're shredded and addicted and begging for more. Alfred Brendel at the wheel...


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2014)

Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Followed by a spelling test!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Dvorak: Symphony 9.:tiphat:


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I would also recommend Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto N0. 1.
> 
> It has everything: obviously classical, sweeping romantic melodies, virtuoso excitement.


yes

and with Lang Lang as soloist, it would definitely attract the audiences


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

clara s said:


> yes
> 
> and with *Lang Lang as soloist*, it would definitely attract the audiences


Nooo!!! WHY!?!......Just..


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

trazom said:


> Nooo!!! WHY!?!......Just..


what?

no objections please

hpowders wanted "virtuoso excitement" hahaha

of course for less show off, you could choose Argerich, Van Cliburn or Horowitz


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor.

A treat for the ears ... and the eyes. :tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> what?
> 
> no objections please
> 
> ...


Yes. My favorite Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 is the Cliburn. Just about as perfect a performance of anything as there ever was, in my opinion.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> yes
> 
> and with Lang Lang as soloist, it would definitely attract the audiences


I do believe he would do a fine job with it!


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Yes. My favorite Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 is the Cliburn. Just about as perfect a performance of anything as there ever was, in my opinion.


Tchaikovsky's piano concertos are unique samples of divine music

Cliburn was top in it.


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## clara s (Jan 6, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I do believe he would do a fine job with it!


what?

are you making fun of me?

clara s is a great pianist monsieur and she can appreciate a talented colleague hahaha


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> what?
> 
> are you making fun of me?
> 
> clara s is a great pianist monsieur and she can appreciate a talented colleague hahaha


Of course not! But the Tchaikovsky, clara s would have never heard unfortunately. But could she play the Schumann concerto!!

I do respect clara s' evaluation of potentially fine talent. :tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

clara s said:


> Tchaikovsky's piano concertos are unique samples of divine music
> 
> Cliburn was top in it.


Of course, I agree! I heard him do it live!


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## Markbridge (Sep 28, 2014)

I can't think of a complete composition to use to introduce someone to classical music. However, I think "Mars" from the Planets would be a good place to start. If the person had been (or is) in high school band, perhaps "Turandot" from Hindemith's Metamorphosis. 

Instead of using a whole composition, perhaps bits and pieces might be a better idea. Like, "Pines Along the Appian Way", Nielsen's 4th, the last movement with the "Battle of the Timpani", the last movement of Saint-Saëns' 3rd symphony, "O fortuna" from Orff's Carmina Burana (they probably have heard it somewhere but would be nice to show them where it comes from). 

I do like the Janáček Sinfonia idea, though, at least the 1st movement.


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I think I would actually choose that hour long Ring Cycle adaptation that someone did for orchestra only.


Yes!

The Ring Without Words 
Tannhäuser Without Words


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