# Recommendations for serious, determination-showing classical pieces



## Caelo (Sep 19, 2009)

I love serious, determination-evoking music such as Lalo Concerto in D-minor 1st movement. (The one played by Fournier seems to be the best)

Can anyone recommend other seriousness-evoking classical music pieces, whether it's cello, violin, quartet, French Horn, Orchestral piece, etc?


----------



## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Hmmm - all that comes to mind at the moment is the Beethoven Quartet No. 11 in F minor "Serioso." It cannot quite have the dynamic range of an orchestra however. Try before you buy.

I think it shows the strength of Beethoven's personality that he totally made up the word "serioso" and everyone understands what it means almost 200 years later.


----------



## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Is this guy serious?


----------



## danae (Jan 7, 2009)

Caelo said:


> I love serious, determination-evoking music...


What does that mean?


----------



## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Um... Sibelius 2?


----------



## Caelo (Sep 19, 2009)

danae said:


> What does that mean?


I mean music that gives similar feeling as Lalo Concerto


----------



## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Doctor...is it..._serious_?


----------



## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6
Schubert's Symphony No. 8
Lots of Beethoven's stuff, especially Piano Sonata No. 23 and Grosse Fuge
Mahler's Symphony No. 2, 5, 6
Brahms's Symphony No. 4 
Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (I don't think it's possible to get more serious than this)


----------



## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

I'm afraid Lalo's cello concerto is in my 'Chamber of Musical Horrors' - at least the first movement. A woefully uninspired theme in 12/8 which doesn't 'scan', massive orchestral _ff_ crashes on the last beat of the bar - endlessly; a contrived air of seriousness which to me sounds plastically false - I find the whole thing utterly repellant. The very top of my 'don't ever want to hear it again' list.
(Hotly pursued by Franck's d minor symphony, the slow movement of the Fantastique, the whole of Tchaikovsky 4, Chopin's piano concertos...)

Sorry to be no help, I'm just alarmed that anyone can find anything to like about Lalo's concerto.

cheers,
Graeme


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Here is something with very strong theme. 




And also a piece with very difficult technique, and hard to interpret emotionally, but beautiful nonetheless.


----------



## Tapkaara (Apr 18, 2006)

Golliwog's Cakewalk has a very serious tone, I think. It's orchestrated very seriously with serious celli and serious triangles in particular. It's about the holocaust, which is a very serious subject.

Es muy serioso.


----------



## Rasa (Apr 23, 2009)

Janacek's Idyll for strings, movement 7


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Oooo! You just gave me an idea, my dear. Try Janacek's Sonata for Piano and violin. Here are links to all four movements: 



 



 



 




It's about WW1, so it's rather serious.


----------



## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Suk's Asrael Symphony is bound to be serious...


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Hindemith's _Mathis der maler symphony_?


----------



## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

hmmmm. Perhaps the most 'serious' pieces I know are also some of the most intimate. These would be my favorite Beethoven sonatas.. though by serious I'm pretty sure you're not necessarily including 'tragic,' so I won't list really depressing pieces

No. 7 in D, 2nd+3rd movements
Waldstein
Appassionata
No. 29 "Hammerklavier", 2nd movement
No. 30 in E
No. 32 in Cm

Also the string quartet No. 13 in C#m.

Other pieces I recommend:
Schubert 20th-21st piano sonatas
Rachmaninov 2nd piano concerto 
Guillame de Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame (yep)
any Wagner opera..


----------



## nickgray (Sep 28, 2008)

Errr, how 'bout some Mahler? Incredibly complex and serious. There's also late Wagner (Ring, Tristan, Parsifal), Chopin, Mussorgsky (Godunov, Khovanschina, the libretto is insanely serious), Bach, of course, oh, and Shostakovich.


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Janacek Sonata for Violin and Piano. And you might give Reminiscence a try, it's an amazing short piece.


----------



## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

So Caelo, would the first movements of Beethoven's symphonies 5th and 9th be the kind of music you're looking for? Not that I'd expect that you wouldn't have heard them, but I ask to get a better idea what you mean by "determination-showing." Something relatively straightforward (rather than subtle), tightly structured, minor-key music, with with crushing and forceful sounds and dissonances? The first movement (again... I seem to be very focused on them ) of Brahms 1st symphony is this type of music; I absolute love that movement and the symphony is good as a whole as well. Brahms in general is serious and determined, I think.



nickgray said:


> Errr, how 'bout some Mahler? Incredibly complex and serious


Mahler is definately very serious most of the time, though he has his playful moments too, but I think that Mahler is often maybe too meandering and hysterical to be considered "determination-showing", for example the last movement of the 6th. However the first movement and the second/third movement (scherzo) of the same symphony might be what Caelo is looking for.

Bruckner fits into this category well. If you want something more straightforward, check his scherzos (they are very serious even though scherzos are usually lighthearted), for example from the symphonies 7th, 4th or 9th. The scherzo of the 9th is my personal favorite. 7th probably fits the most perfectly into this category, though I find it rather annoying. For something less repetitive you can check the other movements, though you my find them a bit long-winded.


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/user/Lukecash12#play/user/C5600538C44739F9/14/7PtIHBCuR-Q

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky,(None But The Lonely Hearts)

You can't go wrong with Tchaikovsky.


----------



## sangy (Apr 17, 2018)

Dvorak From New World symphony
Beethoven 5th
Pomp and circumstance
Olympic fanfare and theme


----------

