# My ''classical timeline'' playlist for 2017



## w00ster (May 14, 2016)

I've been listening to classical music on and off for many years, but I feel I've never really taken the time to properly sample the ''main'' composers.

Since I have SO much to learn, I've decided that one way to go about it would be to listen to 5 pieces by a different composer every week for 2017. I've cheated a bit for the first 2 weeks, by simply compiling a few composers into ''Medieval week'' and ''renaissance week''

All composers are arranged by order of their year of birth, so I start with Lully and end the year with Mr. Shostakovich.

I just wanted to share my little project in case it's any use to other newbies out there 

All the pieces are compiled here as a basic playlist, although for my personal purposes I have many in higher quality recordings at home : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqq0iYWtbwQCjYoi8rBpPv38AlrqCB1xq

I hope I've done a fairly good job at selecting pieces, most of which I'm not familiar with. I'm open to any feedback as well, as in ''I can't believe you would put piece ____ and not ____ you utter fool!!!!''

Happy Christmas all 









EDIT: Sorry, I edited this thing like 4 times... The list is on the white image, which is legible if you make it bigger. For some reason I can't seem to delete the second attachment which shows up as a black image.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Hello w00ster, and welcome to the forum. That's a not unreasonable list, and I hope you enjoy going through it as 2017 progresses. 

To remove your unwanted 'black image' I went to Edit Post > Advanced > manage attachments, hovered the cursor over the unwanted image which brought up a 'delete this image?' message and a 'X' to click on. Et voila...


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

One little error... Richard Strauss didn't composer _The Blue Danube_, it was the unrelated Johan Strauss II.

It's a heroic effort, and I wish you well with it. No comments from me about what "should" be on the list, though I will note that (a) as I've found when I've thought about doing a similar project, there really aren't enough weeks in the year, and (b) there's plenty good stuff after Shostakovich - for 2018, perhaps?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I didn't look closely at every work, but overall it seems like a great project. I hope you enjoy the works and find some new composers that interest you. I would second Nereffid's comment on later works, but you can certainly take your time exploring.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

I wish you happy listening. Your list seems like it has a lot of the celebrated works of these composers. A sampling does not need to be exhaustive, so any omissions of major works are okay. You can circle back to those later.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

This is an exciting project and you've put together a great list. I find myself wishing that CPE Bach (1714-1788) could be squeezed in there somewhere...his music is so wild and wonderful and exciting! 

But I realize that there is only so much room, so this might not be doable. If you are interested in trying to fit him in, then perhaps he and Stamitz could share a week, although I feel bad about suggesting that you downgrade poor Stamitz to half-a-week!


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

That sounds like a FANTASTIC project, w00ster!!! 

Have fun! And keep us posted as you progress.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

I like this idea very much and wish you well with the project
Keep us posted with your thoughts as you progress


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## w00ster (May 14, 2016)

Thanks so much for spotting the error Nereffid (exactly the sort of thing I'm trying to avoid)
I've replaced it with '' Also sprach Zarathustra'' 

As for more contemporary composers, I'm thinking of delving further next year, but I thought it would be good for me to know a little bit about the basics first. I suspect this will be an ongoing effort of many years. Also, I'm doing the more traditional ''western'' composers this year but (some other year) I'd also be interested in a more worldly approach. 

SO MANY THINGS TO LEARN. Such a short lifespan.


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## w00ster (May 14, 2016)

Bettina said:


> This is an exciting project and you've put together a great list. I find myself wishing that CPE Bach (1714-1788) could be squeezed in there somewhere...his music is so wild and wonderful and exciting!
> 
> But I realize that there is only so much room, so this might not be doable. If you are interested in trying to fit him in, then perhaps he and Stamitz could share a week, although I feel bad about suggesting that you downgrade poor Stamitz to half-a-week!


Maybe I could kill off Puccini? Stamitz was suggested by a friend and I had to wipe out Webern for him. (Which I didn't feel too bad about, actually). Tough choices indeed!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

w00ster said:


> Maybe I could kill off Puccini? Stamitz was suggested by a friend and I had to wipe out Webern for him. (Which I didn't feel too bad about, actually). Tough choices indeed!


Personally, I wouldn't worry about making the "best" choices. All of those composers are well worth hearing. When I first started getting serious, I bought Goulding's book _Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1000 Greatest Works_. I started trying to listen to the "Top 5" from each composer. I was stunned by how beautiful so many works were. I continued branching out listening to more and more.

TalkClassical is a wonderful forum to learn about new composers and works. I have amassed a very long list of both waiting for me to sample. It's an amazing journey with so much to discover. You certainly can't go wrong with the project you've planned.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Hello w00ster, from me also a very warm welcome to Talk Classical.
Very impressive list and like others mentioned: Happy listening.


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## w00ster (May 14, 2016)

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!


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## lluissineu (Dec 27, 2016)

I guess from the list you're French. if so, bienvenu. Moi je suis aussi completement neuf dans le forum.

I encourage you to the task of listening all these pieces of music. In my case I repeated The listening many times in order to get familiar with it.

Anyway don't take it as an obligation. Enjoy.

Happy new year.


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## Razumovskymas (Sep 20, 2016)

Great project!

But maybe (as if your list isn't ambitious enough) for Händel instead of sarabande and passacaglia (which are 2 short pieces you can listen to as an intermezzo)you can squeeze in Giulio Cesare. 

And for Beethoven I would suggest you replace the overtures with the 3 string quartets opus 59.

No "Winterreise" for Schubert?


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