# I listen to Death Metal. I'd like to listen to classical, too. Where do I start?



## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

Ideally, I'd like a list of the essential works by the most influential classical composers.

Would 'The History of Classical Music on 100 CDs' be a good place to start? How would you rate it? Is it missing anything?

This is what it includes:

'Medieval - Baroque' section 
CD 1 Gregorian Chant - Feast Of Stephen / Marchaut: Chansons
CD 2 Dufay / Josquin Des Pres: Motets
CD 3 Wind Music From Renaissance Italy
CD 4 Tallis / Byrd / De Victoria / Palestrina / Allegri
CD 5 Monteverdi: Vespers (Highlights), Madrigals
CD 6 Schütz / Buxtehude / Pachelbel: Chamber Music
CD 7 Purcell: Dido And Aeneas (Highlights); The Fairy Queen (Highlights)
CD 8 Charpentier: Te Deum / Rameau: Une Symphonie Imaginaire
CD 9 Telemann: Concertos
CD 10 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Gloria in D Major
CD 11 Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 & 5, Orchestral Suite No.2
CD 12 Bach: Goldberg Variations, Fantasia in C Minor, Italian Concerto
CD 13 Bach: Organ Works
CD 14 Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Highlights)
CD 15 Bach: Magnificat, Cantatas BWV 63 & 65
CD 16 Handel: "Royal Fireworks" Music, Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba
CD 17 Handel: Harp Concerto, Organ Concerto in F, Concerto No.3
CD 18 Handel: Messiah - Arias And Choruses
CD 19 D. Scarlatti: Sonatas
CD 20 C.P.E. Bach: Symphonies For Strings (1-6) / J.C. Bach: Quintet

'Classical' section
CD 21 Haydn: Symphonies No.45 "Farewell", No.88 & No.104 "London"
CD 22 Haydn: String Quartets Nos.3, 5, 63, 74, 77
CD 23 Haydn: The Creation (Highlights)
CD 24 Mozart: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik", Symphonies Nos.40 & 41
CD 25 Mozart: Piano Concerto Nos.20 & 21, Fantasia In D Minor
CD 26 Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, String Quintet In G Minor, K516
CD 27 Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K.492 (Highlights)
CD 28 Mozart: Requiem, Laudate Dominum, Exsultate, jubilate
CD 29 Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.5 & 6 
CD 30 Beethoven: Symphony No.9 "Choral"
CD 31 Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos 4 & 5 
CD 32 Beethoven: Sonata For Violin And Piano No.9 "Kreutzer"
CD 33 Beethoven: Piano Sonata Nos.8, 23 & 31
CD 34 Weber: Der Freischütz (Highlights)

'Romantic' section
CD 34 Weber: Der Freischütz (Highlights)
CD 35 Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Highlights)
CD 36 Schubert: Symphony No.8 "Unfinished"; Symphony No.9 "The Great"
CD 37 Schubert: Piano Quintet in A "The Trout", String Quartet No.14 in D Minor "Death And The Maiden"
CD 38 Schubert: Piano Sonata No.21 in B Flat, 3 Impromptus; 2 Moments musicaux
CD 39 Schubert: Winterreise
CD 40 Paganini: Violin Concerto No.1; 10 Capricci
CD 41 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Overtures: Benvenuto Cellini & Le Corsaire
CD 42 Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor, Préludes; Barcarolle in F Sharp Minor, Scherzo Nr. 3 in Sharp Minor
CD 43 Chopin: Nocturnes (Selection)
CD 44 Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G Minor, Berceuse in D Flat, Polonaise No.6 in A Flat-"Heroic, Excerpts From 12 Etudes, Op.10
CD 45 Liszt: Piano Concerto No.1 in E Flat, Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 in D Flat, Années de pèlerinage,
CD 46 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Symphony No.4 "Italian", "The Hebrids" Overture; Excerpts Of "A Midsummer Night's Dream
CD 47 Schumann: Symphony No.2, Symphony No.3 "Rhenish"
CD 48 Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, "Kinderszenen", Carnaval
CD 49 Schumann: Dichterliebe, Frauenliebe und Leben
CD 50 Bizet: Carmen (Highlights)
CD 51 Brahms: Symphonies No.1 & No.4
CD 52 Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 in B Flat, 7 Fantasias
CD 53 Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Sonata For Piano And Violin No.1 in G "Regenlied-Sonate"
CD 54 Bruckner: Symphony No.4 in E Flat Major - "Romantic"; Psalm 150, for Soprano, Chorus And Orchestra
CD 55 Strauss, J.: Waltzes & Polkas
CD 56 Smetana: The Moldau, From Bohemia's Meadows And Woods / Dvorák: Symphony No.9, Op.95 "From The New World"
CD 57 Dvorák: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Cello Concerto in B Minor
CD 58 Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos.1 & 2; Piano Concerto in A Minor
CD 59 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6, Op.74 "Pathéthique"; Nutcracker Suite, Op.71a
CD 60 Tchaikovsky: Romeo And Julia - Fantasy Overture; Serenade For String Orchestra, Overture solenelle "1812" Op. 39
CD 61 Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 Op.23; Violin Concerto Op.35
CD 62 Wagner: Overtures & Preludes
CD 63 Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Highlights)
CD 64 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Highlights)
CD 65 Verdi: Aida (Highlights)
CD 66 Verdi: Rigoletto (Highlights)
CD 67 Verdi: La Traviata (Highlights)
CD 68 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3 in C Minor, Op.78 - "Organ Symphony" / Franck: Symphony in D Minor
CD 69 Glinka: Ruslan And Ludmilla - Overture / Balakirev: Islamey / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances / Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition
CD 70 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnole
CD 71 Mahler: Symphony No.1, Songs Of A Wayfarer
CD 72 Mahler: Symphony No. 5

'Modern' section
CD 73 Debussy: Nocturnes, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, La Mer
CD 74 Debussy: Suite bergamasque, 12 Préludes
CD 75 Strauss, R.: Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel
CD 76 Strauss, R.: Tod und Verklärung, Capriccio, Vier letzte Lieder
CD 77 Puccini: La Bohème - Highlights
CD 78 Puccini: Tosca - Highlights; "Nessun dorma"
CD 79 Elgar: Variations On An Original Theme / Holst: The Planets
CD 80 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 in D Minor / Scriabin: Symphony No.4 "Le Poeme De L'Extase"
CD 81 Sibelius: Symphony No.5, Finlandia, Tapiola, Valse triste
CD 82 Ives: Piano Sonata No.2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-1860", Central Park In The Dark, Three Places In New England / Barber: Adagio For Strings
CD 83 Janácek: Taras Bulba; Concertino; Sinfonietta
CD 84 Ravel: Boléro, Piano Concerto in G, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Ma mère l'oye
CD 85 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Pierrot Lunaire / Webern: Six Pieces For Orchestra, Symphony
CD 86 Berg: 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite - 3 Pieces For String Orchestra
CD 87 Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Apollon Musagète (1947 Version), Circus Polka For A Young Elephant
CD 88 Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Le sacre du printemps
CD 89 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite
CD 90 Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Concerto For Orchestra
CD 91 Hindemith: Mathis Der Maler / Weill: The Threepenny Opera - Suite / Pfitzner: Palestrina - Preludes / Busoni: Doktor Faust - Intermezzo
CD 92 Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2, Symphony No. 5 in D Minor
CD 93 Britten: Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings / Delius: Two Pieces For Small Orchestra / Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
CD 94 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez / Falla: El amor brujo, Nights In Spanish Garden
CD 95 Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue, An American In Paris / Bernstein: "Candide" Overture, Symphonic Dances From "West Side Story"
CD 96 Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony
CD 97 Boulez: Le marteau sans maitre / Stockhausen: Gruppen
CD 98 Schnittke: Concerto Grosso No.1 / Lutoslawski: Chain 3; Novelette / Ligeti: Chamber Concerto
CD 99 Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs"
CD 100 Reich: Six Pianos / Adams: Shaker Loops / Glass: Violin Concerto


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Looks like a good list to me!


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)




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## chesapeake bay (Aug 3, 2015)

That looks like a pretty reasonable list, certainly it is "missing" a few things, but if you go through it I'm sure you will find pieces you really like and can then expand your search in that area.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

Dim7 said:


>


Thanks for the recommendation.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

Thanks for the reply. 

I was thinking the same thing.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

MoonlightSonata said:


> Looks like a good list to me!


Excellent, I'll get started.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

A sensible list, I approve!


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

That's a good overview, all right, and a great way to start... assuming that your interest in death metal is actually irrelevant to your interest in classical music! As a list of music that will likely appeal to a death metal fan, I'm not sure how good it is.


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## gHeadphone (Mar 30, 2015)

A great start and a lot of great music on there.

One piece that a lot of my friends who like Metal usually enjoy is on CD 88 and thats Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps. Without wanting to skip 87 other perfectly good CDs, this is pretty heavy in a different way to metal.

Youll have a great time with this collection in any case!


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

Nereffid said:


> That's a good overview, all right, and a great way to start... assuming that your interest in death metal is actually irrelevant to your interest in classical music! As a list of music that will likely appeal to a death metal fan, I'm not sure how good it is.


Thanks for the reply.

Thinking about it, mentioning that I was a fan of death metal was not needed :/


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

gHeadphone said:


> A great start and a lot of great music on there.
> 
> One piece that a lot of my friends who like Metal usually enjoy is on CD 88 and thats Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps. Without wanting to skip 87 other perfectly good CDs, this is pretty heavy in a different way to metal.
> 
> Youll have a great time with this collection in any case!


Thanks for the reply.

I didn't realize how heavy classical music can be until I heard Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*What about Concert Band Music. The band junkie strikes again.*

As a band junkie, I am disappointed that there are no concert band pieces on the list. Concert band music does not have the stature it deserves in the classical community. I have had some success in reaching a few people here. I would recommend the following works. There are many fine performances of them on YouTube:

Felix Mendelssohn:_ Overture for Band _(An amazing work that he composed when he was only 15. One of the finest concert works ever composed for the band.)

Gustav Holst: _First and Second Suites for Band_.

Ralph Vaughn Williams: _English Folk Song Suite_

Ralph Vaughn Williams: _Toccata Marziale_

Percy Granger: _Lincolnshire Posey_

Morton Gould: _West Point Symphony_

Vincent Persichetti: _Symphony for Band_

Norman Dello Joio: _Variants on a Medieval Tune _

Karel Husa: _Music for Prague 1968_

I can list many more. If your interested in exploring this genre of classical music, these works would be a good start.


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2015)

MilesMetal said:


> Excellent, I'll get started.


Looks like a very big list to me! I'd feel overwhelmed.
Personally I'd want a more directed search.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

arpeggio said:


> As a band junkie, I am disappointed that there are no concert band pieces on the list. Concert band music does not have the stature it deserves in the classical community. I have had some success in reaching a few people here. I would recommend the following works. There are many fine performances of them on YouTube:
> 
> Felix Mendelssohn:_ Overture for Band _(An amazing work that he composed when he was only 15. One of the finest concert works ever composed for the band.)
> 
> ...


I'm compiling a number of lists to get me started so one for this style would be greatly appreciated.

List as many as you think is needed. If you could list or group them, starting with the ones you prefer the most I.

Thank you.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm not exactly considering it as a list I need to attack full-on from start to finish. I'm using it as a starting point. I'm going to pick and choose the most notable pieces and listen to them first before going to other works by composers who's work I liked.


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2015)

You may have already seen it but there's a List of Lists you could dip into:

http://http://www.talkclassical.com/17996-compilation-tc-top-recommended.html


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Where's the list for all the lists that do not include themselves....


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Start with Varese.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

dogen said:


> You may have already seen it but there's a List of Lists you could dip into:
> 
> http://http://www.talkclassical.com/17996-compilation-tc-top-recommended.html


I have.

I mainly created this thread for comments on the CD collection I found.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Rite of Spring does seem like a natural transition piece from Death Metal. Another item to consider if you care to poke into opera is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The tritone is an essential part of the 'Tristan Chord' that's heard throughout that opera, and it's also important in Death Metal, oddly enough---I have an article upcoming (I hope!) in the Bonn Beethoven Journal talking about this to some length. It's kind of subtle but there should be something familiar there for you.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

What kind of metal do you like?- Amon Amarth? Immortal? Slayer? Ensiferum? Kreator?

I imagine if you like any of those bands then you may just incline to the following:

- Strauss: _Ein Heldenelben_ ("A Hero's Life"- especially the cut from it called "A Hero's Deeds in Battle." Rudolf Kempe conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden on EMI has the fiercest treatment of the battle sequence that I've heard.)

-Prokofiev: _Alexander Nevsky_ (Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra)

- Mussorgsky: _Night on Bald Mountain_ (Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on RCA)

- Rachmaninov: _First Symphony _and the _Symphonic Dance Number Three_ (Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra)

- Shostakovich: _Eleventh Symphony_ (Pavo Berglund conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra); _Twelfth Symphony_ (Yvengy Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic on the Erato label)

- Respighi: _The Roman Trilogy_ (Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra)

- William Mathias: _Second _and _Third Symphonies_ (Grant Llewellyn conducting the BBCSO of Wales)

- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fourth Symphony (Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra)

- Rimsky-Korsakov: _Scheherazade_ (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Wagner: _Music from the Ring_ (Charles Gerhardt conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra)

- Holst: _The Planets_ (James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Bax: _Tintagel_ (Sir Adrian Boult conducting the London Philharmonic)

- Verdi: _Requiem_ (Sir George Solti conducing the Vienna Philharmonic)

- Alwyn: _Third Symphony_ (Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

- Barber: Tone Poems (Thomas Schippers conducting the New York Philharmonic)

- Rossini: Overtures (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Mahler: _Fifth Symphony_ (Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic)

- Liszt: _Tasso, Les Preludes_ (Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic)

- Dvorak: _Symphonic Dances_ (Neemi Jarvi conducting the Scottish National Orchestra)

- for a start.

_;D_

-


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

We wouldn't want to shock you, now...


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

gardibolt said:


> Rite of Spring does seem like a natural transition piece from Death Metal. Another item to consider if you care to poke into opera is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The tritone is an essential part of the 'Tristan Chord' that's heard throughout that opera, and it's also important in Death Metal, oddly enough---I have an article upcoming (I hope!) in the Bonn Beethoven Journal talking about this to some length. It's kind of subtle but there should be something familiar there for you.


I will be listening to _Rite of Spring_ later tonight. I've heard that it caused a riot the first time it was played publicly.

Tristan and Isolde sounds interesting and I do already like a couple of pieces by Wagner. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

A few I'd recommend that aren't in that set:
Bach: Mass in B Minor (#1 on our Classical Music Project list)
Beethoven: Grosse Fuge
Elgar: Cello Concerto
Penderecki: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Berio: Sinfonia (#1 on our Post-1950 Works list)
Schnittke: Viola Concerto
Ligeti: Requiem


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

gardibolt said:


> Rite of Spring does seem like a natural transition piece from Death Metal. Another item to consider if you care to poke into opera is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The tritone is an essential part of the 'Tristan Chord' that's heard throughout that opera, and it's also important in Death Metal, oddly enough---I have an article upcoming (I hope!) in the Bonn Beethoven Journal talking about this to some length. It's kind of subtle but there should be something familiar there for you.


The tritone is extremely common in jazz too, but that doesn't mean that someone into Morbid Angels will appreciate In the land of Oo-bla dee. And to introduce someone to classical music with Tristan un Isolde seems like introduce someone to movies with Satantango, more than heavy could be a bit too much, but that's just my opinion.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Well, metal is pretty heavy to begin with so it seemed appropriate to me. But it's certainly not a foregone conclusion, just a suggestion.


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## Faustian (Feb 8, 2015)

Personally, Wagner was the biggest galvanizing force behind my own love and appreciation for classical music. Before I had learned to appreciate the symphonies of Beethoven, or the miniatures of Chopin, I was plunging into his operas head first. So there's no reason why a work like Tristan can't be as excellent an introduction to classical as any other, and no reason to discourage someone new to classical from listening to it because of its length; its exceptional music that's filled with passion and drama.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Faustian said:


> Personally, Wagner was the biggest galvanizing force behind my own love and appreciation for classical music. Before I had learned to appreciate the symphonies of Beethoven, or the miniatures of Chopin, I was plunging into his operas head first. So there's no reason why a work like Tristan can't be as excellent an introduction to classical as any other, and no reason to discourage someone new to classical from listening to it because of its length; its exceptional music that's filled with passion and drama.


I don't want to discourage anybody, but as it's possible that he will love it immediately there's also the possibility that this will not happen, and if one is beginning to explore classical music and has to absorb four hours of music, instead of just one long opera (four hours of a single work can discourage in spite of the value of the music) one can listen to six, seven, eight works of different composers. Just this.
Anyway if I had to consider the fact that OP likes death metal I would choose also something fast and rhyhtmic, more than Tristan that besides its lenght is also quite slow music.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Since I listen to some technical metal myself, some of it crossing over a bit into death metal, it seems to me that classical music from the 20th century, and later, would appeal a bit more than classical from earlier eras. 

From your list, these sound like a good starting point:

CD 85 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Pierrot Lunaire / Webern: Six Pieces For Orchestra, Symphony
CD 86 Berg: 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite - 3 Pieces For String Orchestra
CD 87 Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Apollon Musagète (1947 Version), Circus Polka For A Young Elephant
CD 88 Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Le sacre du printemps
CD 89 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite
CD 90 Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Concerto For Orchestra


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## PeterFromLA (Jul 22, 2011)

I'd recommend a lot of Varese and Xenakis to start, given your other interests. Ameriques by the former, Pithoprakta and Metastasis by the latter for starters, and take it from there.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

millionrainbows said:


> We wouldn't want to shock you, now...


Wow, I didn't know about those.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

MoonlightSonata said:


> A few I'd recommend that aren't in that set:
> Bach: Mass in B Minor (#1 on our Classical Music Project list)
> Beethoven: Grosse Fuge
> Elgar: Cello Concerto
> ...


Thanks for the recommendations.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

Simon Moon said:


> Since I listen to some technical metal myself, some of it crossing over a bit into death metal, it seems to me that classical music from the 20th century, and later, would appeal a bit more than classical from earlier eras.
> 
> From your list, these sound like a good starting point:
> 
> ...


I've listened to the first few parts of _Rite of Spring_, I liked what I heard. I'll make these CDs a priority after I've listened to some more of Bach's organ works.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

PeterFromLA said:


> I'd recommend a lot of Varese and Xenakis to start, given your other interests. Ameriques by the former, Pithoprakta and Metastasis by the latter for starters, and take it from there.


Thank you for the recommendation.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2015)

MilesMetal said:


> I've listened to the first few parts of _Rite of Spring_, I liked what I heard. I'll make these CDs a priority after I've listened to some more of Bach's organ works.


As a bit of a metalhead meself, I would agree with Simon I think: the more recent stuff is likely to click with you.


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## MilesMetal (Sep 9, 2015)

dogen said:


> As a bit of a metalhead meself, I would agree with Simon I think: the more recent stuff is likely to click with you.


Thank you for the advice, I will keep it in mind.


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