# First wanderings into the realms of classical music - any calming recommendations?



## SamuelSM (Oct 21, 2013)

Morning all,

First post to this forum.

I have recently been searching the realms of youtube and have come across various classical music pieces such as Bach's air on a G String which have had such a relaxing affect on me and now I am eager to find out about other pieces of music.

Trouble is I am a bit of a 'newbie' to classical music and was wondering if anyone could recommend any good musicians/pieces which are calm and relaxing??

Thank you for your recommendations.

Samuel


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Welcome, SamuelSM.

Perhaps you might like to tell us a bit more about the types of classical music you love listening to - instrumental (concertos, symphonies, chamber music etc.) and or vocal (opera, songs, arias, etc.) to help point out some standard favorites that have long remained in the repertoire, such as the Bach piece you mentioned.

If you enjoyed that Bach piece, and a brilliant choice, you could try the first movement of his solo keyboard piece - The Goldberg Variations. If you like the piano, Glen Gould tends to be a well known pianist whose first version folks enjoy. Or try a harpsichord version if you prefer. 

Or pieces by Bach include The Well Tempered Clavier, The Brandenburg Concertos, his two solo violin concertos.

Branch out from these great composers and their great works first, you can't go wrong.

I'm sure others will chip in.


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## Winterreisender (Jul 13, 2013)

So you like Bach's relaxing mood? I personally find this aria endlessly calming:






...especially in the hands of the wonderful Emma Kirkby. But the orchestral arrangements are popular as well.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

To continue the Bach theme of this thread so far, I'd recommend the solo bass cantata "Ich habe genug" BWV 82. Marvelously calming and consoling music!


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)




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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

If you're literally new to classical music - a blank canvas as it were.
You're probably better off just working your way down this list...
http://www.kickassclassical.com/classical-music-popular-famous-best-top-100-list.html
..then search for them on youtube.

It seems to list a lot of pieces that turn up in advertising/movies etc.
Keep note of what you like and then it'll be easier for us to make recommendations.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Couac Addict said:


> If you're literally new to classical music - a blank canvas as it were.
> You're probably better off just working your way down this list...
> http://www.kickassclassical.com/classical-music-popular-famous-best-top-100-list.html
> ..then search for them on youtube.
> ...


If i had followed that list i would never have started listening to classical music.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

A movement from one of the best pieces ever written for the piano  unbelievably amazing music. I highly recommend checking out more Ives if you like this, as well as the music of Bartok, Debussy, Schoenberg, Ravel, and Stravinsky. I can recommend more pieces if you are interested


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## schuberkovich (Apr 7, 2013)




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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

Slow movement from Mozart's piano concerto no. 21 - very famous and very relaxing:






Claude Debussy - Rêverie:






Agustin Barrios - La Catedral:


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

It's always great to see people discovering classical music and becoming curious to hear more nd learn about it .
It's also important to have context, a frame of reference , when you're new to it , so try this excellent book
which will both inform and entertain you : The Essential Canon Of Classical Music, by the noted pianist and
teacher David Dubal , which you can easily get on amazon or other similar websites .


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2013)

You GO starry.:tiphat:

Relax, or else!!

And don't we all need to just CALM DOWN once and awhile?

Anyway, to be serious for just a second, this thread was really starting to get on my nerves, and the _Sabre Dance_ (and the good laugh) really did calm me down quite nicely.

Thanks starry!!

[And now, back to Samuel and his request--which neither starry nor I had any business interfering with. We are bad people* and should be banned from everything.]

Anyway, Samuel, you will very quickly find--which no one has been courteous enough to point out yet, except for starry--that "classical music" includes quite a lot of very vigorous music as well. In fact, whether vigorous or not, very little of it is very relaxing or calming at all. You can pick through the many centuries the term covers and find bits and pieces here and there that are calming. And you can even put them all together in "Adagio" albums, too. But eventually, you're going to notice, if you haven't already, that classical music is not about any single thing, but about all things, and often all things in quick sequence or even layered. (It's a lot of fun to hear a piece in which some of the music is calm and some of it is agitated, at the same time.)

I hope you continue to enjoy your journey. And I hope you end up liking thunderstorms and avalanches as much as you do meadows and saunas.

*This proves it, in my case. How dare I speak of starry in this way?:lol:


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

some guy said:


> You GO starry.:tiphat:
> 
> Relax, or else!!
> 
> ...


What about some noise-music you listen to? Any calm pieces worth recommending from there? You know, the ones you could impress the gal when you first take her home .


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

ArtMusic said:


> What about some noise-music you listen to? Any calm pieces worth recommending from there? You know, the ones you could impress the gal when you first take her home .


No guarantee it would impress any gals (just be yourself y'know) but Merzbow's _Merzbient_ album is ambient noise and people such as Fennesz, Tim Hecker and William Basinski make fairly relaxing noise inspired albums.

For the OP I found this playlist of adagio slow movements with a beautiful Handel piece, one of my favourites.


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

At first I thought this was a joke, but then I clicked on the link. I am not familiar with the sonata, but at least the beginnning of this movement seems "calm and relaxing".

What other music of Ives, and what pieces by Bartok, Schoenberg, or Stravinsky can you describe as "calm and relaxing", as the question asks for? This may help the OP (original poster), and i am curious to hear such works too.



BurningDesire said:


> A movement from one of the best pieces ever written for the piano  unbelievably amazing music. I highly recommend checking out more Ives if you like this, as well as the music of Bartok, Debussy, Schoenberg, Ravel, and Stravinsky. I can recommend more pieces if you are interested


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

SamuelSM : I hope that eventually you branch out and listen to music that is not necessarily "calm and relaxing". If you limit yourself to that you're missing a lot.

Having said that, here are some works that I think answer your question (it is hard for me to recommend musicians or composers because virtually all of them have composed or played music that is not "calm and relaxing"). Some may be repeats of others' posts.

Many works by Debussy, including
Reverie
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn
The Children's Corner Suite (for piano, there is also a popular orchestral arrangement)
Petite Suite (for piano, there is also a popular orchestral arrangement)
Images for Orchestra, especially the neglected outer movements "Gigues" and "Rondes de Printemps"

Many shorter piano works by Brahms, including a famous intermezzo in A major, and a famous set of three. Out of that set, the first (in E flat major), is probably closest to what you're looking for. Sorry I don't have opus numbers, but Brahms's output was not huge, and this should be enough information to find them.

Many works by Ravel, including
second movement of Concerto in G
Pavane for a Dead Princess
Introduction and Allegro [for Harp, several winds, and string quartet (?)]
Daphnis and Chloe (try to find a recording of the entire ballet, not just the Second Suite)

Beethoven's 6th symphony
Brahms's 2d symphony
Vaughn Williams's 5th symphony
Mahler's 4th symphony

"Flos Campi" by Vaughn Williams

"Pastorale d'Ete" by Arthur Honegger

Since you liked a Bach piece, try Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", Prelude in C Major from Well-Tempered Clavier, chorale prelude "Wachet Auf", and most or all of his Suites for Solo Cello (the most famous one starts in G major and is excellent. Sorry I don't have more data), Bach wrote hundreds or thousands of other pieces which would also work for you. Maybe others who know more about Bach can suggest others.

I could think of others, but your question is very broad and the number of possible appropriate responses is huge.



SamuelSM said:


> Morning all,
> 
> First post to this forum.
> 
> ...


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

spradlig said:


> At first I thought this was a joke, but then I clicked on the link. I am not familiar with the sonata, but at least the beginnning of this movement seems "calm and relaxing".
> 
> What other music of Ives, and what pieces by Bartok, Schoenberg, or Stravinsky can you describe as "calm and relaxing", as the question asks for? This may help the OP (original poster), and i am curious to hear such works too.


I suppose among canonical Schoenberg works, movements like this may be the best fit. His music is usually quite rhythmically jumpy (same with Stravinsky and Bartok, though in a very different way), but at least the beginning of slow movements like this are less so. The harmony here is slightly astringent, with the prominent use of sevenths/major seconds and quartal chords in particular (which may sound slightly alien if you don't recognize the sound of them), but not loaded with minor seconds or anything.




(Hate the picture they used, though...)

For true accessibility, though, while still sounding like nobody but Schoenberg, the Christmas Music is hard to beat.
http://www.schoenberg.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=265&Itemid=440&lang=en

Stravinsky's Apollo is one of his most sedate Neoclassical scores.




(Sorry I didn't find a better full performance. Craft isn't even good in the things he specializes in!)


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Faure, Roussel, Debussy, Mompou, Severac, Delius. :tiphat:


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## spradlig (Jul 25, 2012)

@Mahlerian: the YouTube link was labelled as an Ives work, not a Schoenberg work, and from listening to it, I have no reason to believe it was mislabelled. I am afraid you may confuse the Original Poster (as well as myself). Thanks for suggesting Schoenberg's Christmas music and Stravinsky's Apollo, however.



Mahlerian said:


> I suppose among canonical Schoenberg works, movements like this may be the best fit. His music is usually quite rhythmically jumpy (same with Stravinsky and Bartok, though in a very different way), but at least the beginning of slow movements like this are less so. The harmony here is slightly astringent, with the prominent use of sevenths/major seconds and quartal chords in particular (which may sound slightly alien if you don't recognize the sound of them), but not loaded with minor seconds or anything.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## nightscape (Jun 22, 2013)

You can try some fairly accessible symphonies, such as:

Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5
Rachmaninov - Symphony No. 2
Dvorak - Symphony No. 9
Brahms - Symphony No. 2


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

As others have pointed out, classical music isn't primarily relaxing (my personal choice for relaxation is New Age, but that is something of a swear word in classical circles.  ) But as we can see from this thread, there are many classical pieces that are fairly relaxing or can be construed to be.

One might add here the great choral works of the Renaissance - Tallis, Palestrina etc.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

spradlig said:


> At first I thought this was a joke, but then I clicked on the link. I am not familiar with the sonata, but at least the beginnning of this movement seems "calm and relaxing".
> 
> What other music of Ives, and what pieces by Bartok, Schoenberg, or Stravinsky can you describe as "calm and relaxing", as the question asks for? This may help the OP (original poster), and i am curious to hear such works too.


Bartók - Divertimento for Strings.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Ravndal said:


> If i had followed that list i would never have started listening to classical music.


mmm....but there's no denying that every one of those pieces is a popular warhorse. 
There's no such thing as 'over-played' if it's all new to you.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Overplayed or not, i liked few of them to begin with


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

SamuelSM said:


> Morning all,
> 
> First post to this forum.
> 
> ...


Welcome to the forum, and to the world of classical music, Samuel.

My own advice is to get compilations, if you don't mind shelling out some money. The budget Naxos label has two series you might be interested in particular. One is "Chill with..." and "Easy Listening Piano Classics." I have got a couple of these and they are good because they are basically the relaxing bits and pieces of longer works by a particular composer on the Naxos label. It makes sense to get into classical with slow movements, as they are often the pivotal or emotional cores of classical pieces. That certainly applies to Bach's Air on the G string as it is a movement from his Orchestral Suite #3.

Talking of Bach, here are two releases from those Naxos series devoted to his music. Some of the piano series have complete works, they are 2 or 3 cd sets. Maybe start with the Chill series if you just want to dip in and get your feet wet and go from there. I myself had quite a few compilations like this when I started with classical ages ago. I have just been getting rid of old tapes of this sort. One of the Debussy ones had the exact works amongst the ones excerpted that people have mentioned already (eg. Reverie, Clair de lune, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair and so on).

Happy listening, and exploring!


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## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

Relaxing? My favorite type! Here's a few suggestions (mostly just slow movements from larger works, so I urge you to listen to the whole piece if you like the movement). Also feel free to check out other works by the composers themselves!! I would probably say that Mahler, Sibelius, Bruckner, and Chopin are some of the best at creating truly calming slow movements.

Ravel - Concerto in G: 



This one was already suggested, but this is, in my opinion, a downright amazing and unique performance of the second movement.

Tchaikovsky's violin concerto - 




Mahler - Symphony 3 final movement - 




Vivaldi - Lute Concerto - Largo - 




Sibelius - The Bard - 




Beethoven - String Quartet 16 -


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)




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## Guest (Oct 23, 2013)

What IS classical music?


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

spradlig said:


> At first I thought this was a joke, but then I clicked on the link. I am not familiar with the sonata, but at least the beginnning of this movement seems "calm and relaxing".
> 
> What other music of Ives, and what pieces by Bartok, Schoenberg, or Stravinsky can you describe as "calm and relaxing", as the question asks for? This may help the OP (original poster), and i am curious to hear such works too.


Bartok: 




Webern: 




Stravinsky:


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## Joris (Jan 13, 2013)

More Bartok:


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## ethanjamesescano (Aug 29, 2012)

some guy said:


> What IS classical music?


That's very hard to define for me.
It's hard for me to define, but if you listen to classical music, you know what's classical or not.
for example, common people would be mistaken Yiruma as a classical composer, but he's just an instrumentalist pop composer.

To OP:
Satie will not fail you, listen to his gymnopedies, vexations and gnossienne but not parade if you're finding for a relaxing piece.
also listen for some Palestrina


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Here are some recommendations for J. Haydn:

Op. 33 No. 2 in E flat Major - Adagio.






Paukenmesse, 'Qui tollis peccata mundi'.






Piano Sonata No. 60 in C Major, Adagio.






String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3 in C Major, Poco adagio cantabile.






Symphony No. 44 in E minor, 'Mourning', Adagio.






Symphony No. 102 in B flat Major, Adagio.






Hope you'll enjoy them .


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Here are some recommendations for J. Haydn:...


You forgot to throw in the slow movement from the "Surprise" symphony. It's also very, very relaxing... :angel:


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

Welcome!

I've handpicked a few Baroque pieces which hopefully will be similar to what you're looking for (using Bach's Air as a template/inspiration). They have a very relaxing/calming effect on me. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

----

Albinoni!

Op 9/2 - 2nd movement (this music just makes me float  )





Op 2/2 - 1st movement (not sure why the video is 5min long - the music only lasts 3m30)





----

Corelli!

Op 6/8 - 3rd movement (with a short fast-paced interlude!)





----

Handel!

Op 3/2 - 2nd movement (maybe some people would attribute sadness or melancholy with this music, but to me it just puts me at peace)





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Telemann!

TWV 51/D7 - 1st movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NPcOc2cnc#t=32m40 (until 34m30)

----

Vivaldi!

RV 498 - 2nd movement (bassoon!!!)





RV 93 - 2nd movement (3m20 until 6m35)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0kJwhbZcAM#t=3m20

----
Anyway, thanks for making this thread. Gave me the chance to reexplore this beautiful music


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## HaydnBearstheClock (Jul 6, 2013)

Llyranor said:


> Welcome!
> 
> I've handpicked a few Baroque pieces which hopefully will be similar to what you're looking for (using Bach's Air as a template/inspiration). They have a very relaxing/calming effect on me. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
> 
> ...


I'll have to make another one for Telemann soon.


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