# heavy orchestral



## sirjohn

Hello. I am a percussionist in the local youth symphony and I love heavy metal. We played Shostakovich 5 and the last movement was my kind of thing. I played cymbals. I am not very familiar with classical music so I am wondering if yall can help me. Do you know of some really heavy classical/orchestral pieces?


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## Guest

Well, Shosty wrote 14 other symphonies. The fourth is good for what you want, I'm sure. In many ways, the fifth is a tamed down version of the fourth. Check out number ten, too. It's not a favorite of mine, but it's got a lot of the same qualities as the fifth. Same with #7, which I don't like at all, but who cares if you _do._

Here are a couple of other things that are heavily percussive with big orchestra forces and driving rhythms:

Carl Nielsen, 4th symphony 
Carl Ruggles, _Suntreader_ 
Edgar Varèse, _Arcana_ 
Wolfgang Rihm, _Tutuguri_ and _Morphonie_
Serge Prokofiev, 3rd Symphony
Alexander Mosolov, _Iron Foundry_
George Antheil, _Ballet Mecanique_

For this last one, beware. The piece exists in a twenty minute, evicerated version from the early fifties. Not cool. I think there are two of the complete ballet. Be sure to get the Music Masters Classics CD with Maurice Peress conducting. It's not only the better of the two, it's got all the other pieces played at the (in)famous Carnegie Hall concert of 1927. Great idea, beautifully realized.

Enjoy!


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## Guest

Parts of "Pictures at an Exhibition" (orchestral version of course). 

This is one of those pieces I thought I had heard too many times to enjoy any more, but hearing it live at a concert recently was quite an experience.


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## tutto

..Yeah... I..I
for me, Stravinsky:Rite of spring Bass drum part is the winner.
Bolero is a nice,tripomatic part,if you are still alive after first two minutes..


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## The Mad Hatter

I second the Rite of Spring, and add anything by Gustav Mahler (though a lot of that is very sweet and romantic as well). Still, try the Sixth symphony, I think that'll be what you're looking for.


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## Eric

before I liked classical, I was obsessed with metal, but Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake appealed to me, as did Dvorak's Ninth Symphony and Saint-Saens Danse Macabre


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## Mr Salek

sirjohn said:


> Hello. I am a percussionist in the local youth symphony and I love heavy metal. We played Shostakovich 5 and the last movement was my kind of thing. I played cymbals. I am not very familiar with classical music so I am wondering if yall can help me. Do you know of some really heavy classical/orchestral pieces?


I'm playing this with the Hampshire Youth and it's a bloody amazing piece. You've got your work cut out on percussion! What orchestra do you play in?


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## 4/4player

You should try some of the Tchaikovsky pieces....
First one you should check out is his famous..."1812 Overture"
...You can also try his 4th symphony..the last movement is simply loud...when I went to my local symphony's performance of it....nearly 3/4 of the audience woke up and was frightened by it!( Considering most of them were seniors...=(...
But it's good that you play in a local youth symphony....I wish I could get into my local youth orchestra...=(...I can only dream, can't I?
Musically,
4/4player


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## Rondo

Also, one Shostakovich symphony which is underrated is the 11th. Give that and the 10th a try. Im sure you wont be disappointed. 

Also, someone mentioned Nielsen's 4th...his 5th is really good (4th is more timpani, while 5th is more snare). Also, Glagolitic Mass (Intrada) is what can define the word "heavy." Also, Bruckner's 8th, Concerto for Orchestra (!!), and Uranus and Mars from The Planets Suite.


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## cato

Not only is Shostakovich's 11th symphony highly under-rated, in my opinion, it is one of THE BEST SYMPHONIES EVER WRITEN!!!!  

It ranks up there with Beethoven's 9th, and Brahm's 4th.

The 11th symphony is a beautiful, and tragic work of art, that is also a re-telling of a historical event in 1905, "Bloody Sunday", which changed the course of Russian history forever.


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## Rondo

Yeah, it's a great one! 

Also, to add to more of the somewhat obscure ones, check out an album titled "Fire Dreams" by a New Zealand composer: Scott Steidl. It's not as artistic as some of these mentioned, but may be what you're looking for.


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## LaciDeeLeBlanc

When I think "heavy", I think Wagner and Bruckner (however, the entire duration of his symphonies are not heavy throughout).

As a percussionist, Leonard Bernstein's _Candide_ has kick butt percussion parts.


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## Rondo

LaciDeeLeBlanc said:


> When I think "heavy", I think Wagner and Bruckner (however, the entire duration of his symphonies are not heavy throughout).
> 
> As a percussionist, Leonard Bernstein's _Candide_ has kick butt percussion parts.


I was a percussionist as well. And, for a while, as my musical taste was changing, I was also looking around for the same kind of music you described above. Take my word for it, if you are a percussionist, you may like (some of these were mentioned above): Uranus: The Magician from Holst's "The Planets," Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (which you will no doubt recognize), the fourth mv't from Beethoven's Sixth, the Allegro from Hansen's Sixth, Sembre et Meuse (sp??) by Planquette, Procession of the Nobles, _any_ of Mahler's symphonies (as the Finale to the 7th), and...I dont know why I didnt mention this before, but check out some of Malcolm Arnold's pieces. For instance, Serenade for Small Orchestra, and Symphony Nos. 2, 5 and 6. There is some very neat percussion writing there!

Although, not all of these are "heavy throughout" (though some are!). But, that is the beauty of classical music...contrast and variation. If a symphony was constantly heavy throughout with little change in tempo, dynamics, etc... it would become boring after a while (which is like a vivacious "spectacle" which dies off after a while). That is really the distinct quality that sets this genre apart from most others: the fact that you can sit down and listen to it dozens and dozens of times and _still_ hear something different or get something new from it.


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## Saturnus

I'm certain you'll break into headbanging with the Honegger symphonies! Honegger was actually so heavy that he discarded all Scherzos and other light third movements, so his symphonies are only three movements instead of the usual four.
Also the Rite seems to be for your taste.


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## Guest

the word "heavy music" reminds me of Manuel's « Shocking-Shostakovich-Emergency-Toolkit »:

http://www.talkclassical.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=62&d=1178899872

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## Amy

The last movement of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique is like Joey Jordison in a time warp...


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