# ONE classical piece for the rest of your life



## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

This is the continuation of the installment* "One ____________for the rest of your life"
*. The first is here: http://www.talkclassical.com/24029-one-composer-rest-your-7.html#post424797

So. what's ONE classical piece that you can probably listen and treasure for the rest of your life and WHY?

Only one and no cheating. 

Mine would be:* Schubert's Symphony no. 9 "Great C Major"*. It's a hard choice between the String Quintet and Winterreise, but the Great C major symphony celebrates life to the fullest. So even though, this would be the ONLY piece in my life, at least I celebrate my life. 










The recording would be Josef Kips with the LSO.

What's yours?


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

I'd probably go with Beethoven's piano sonata #8 but I'd be careful to only listen to it like twice per month.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

I can't even imagine listening to just one piece of music for the rest of my life, even if it's a piece I love  I guess I'm going to go with 4"33 for now...


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

peeyaj said:


> This is the continuation of the installment* "One ____________for the rest of your life"
> *. The first is here: http://www.talkclassical.com/24029-one-composer-rest-your-7.html#post424797
> 
> So. what's ONE classical piece that you can probably listen and treasure for the rest of your life and WHY?
> ...


Going to hear this live on Saturday! Performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

One piece....wow. I've still got a ton of pieces and composers to discover, but as of now I'd have to say Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

It would be impossible to choose a single work to listen to for the rest of my life... if that meant no other work allowed. Perhaps the closest I could get would be Bach's Well Tempered Clavier or Wagner's Ring which both demand repeated hearings to even begin to appreciate them in any depth. Is there any work that I can imagine I will still be listening to on a frequent basis 'til the end of my life? Certainly. A good many. I imagine that Mozart's four great operas, Bach's cello suites and WTC, Beethoven's 9th, Schubert's Winterreise, and Wagner's Ring, Tristan, and Parsifal will all be among these.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Probably the WTC, all 48. It can't be worn out.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Too brutal. I don't want to speculate even as a thought experiment.


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

Ring Cycle is allowed as a a one work.


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## AvantThought (Feb 26, 2013)

Hmmm...

Perhaps Bach's Mass in B minor?

This is tough.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Yeah. Right.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Cage's ASLSP. And may I live to hear it completed.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Can't participate because I could never choose a single piece. I think I would rather live without than to be in such a purgatory.

Kevin


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## Sudonim (Feb 28, 2013)

Boy, this is tough. Having only one piece (or album) for the rest of my life would be much more like a curse than a blessing. I'd probably want Miles Davis' _Kind of Blue_ if it really came to that, actually - but if I must choose a classical piece, maybe a Mahler symphony (like the 3rd) since they're long and dense and reward repeated listenings?


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Chopin's _Minute Waltz._


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Impossible, I'd rather go for the slight silence of the wind in the trees outside and the memories of all the music I have listened to previously. 

/ptr


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

Just kill me instead.


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

It is more in the classical tradition than jazz, so it counts.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Oh what a dilemma!

If t had to be I would say Beethoven Violin Concerto with Heifetz.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I'd rather not be in the position, but if I had to choose, it would be the Russian Orthodox 'Liturgy of St John Chrysostom' sung by the choir of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in London, 1979. We bought an audiotape of it on a trip to Walsingham. On the way back I was driving & listening to it & took the wrong lane in some roadworks. I saw a car approaching head-on and do you know, so celestial was the music that I didn't care at all! Luckily the other driver stopped & I was able to reverse out.


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## mahdis (Mar 3, 2013)

:tiphat::tiphat:


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I wish Glazunov wrote a Requiem, but I guess that's a Catholic thing, not an Orthodox thing. I would listen to that. I find choral music some of the easiest music to re-listen to. I really don't like over-listening to music if I can help it.


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## Bone (Jan 19, 2013)

Brahms 4 with Kleiber. I can sing the whole thing anyway and, since I've listened to his version 100's of times already, I guess it is the one piece I'm going to be stuck with for the rest of my life.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

As far as I can see Glazunov didn't write much orthodox music. One good classical source is Rachmaninov borrowing heavily from his childhood experience.

The orthodox don't have a requiem as Catholics know it complete with Dies Irae et al but they do use the matins of Holy Saturday as one of the sources for their funeral liturgy.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Is this not the same question as "Your favorite classical piece?" If not, why would you then sacrifice your favorite for choosing one that is "more bearable" over a longer period of time? In doing so, wouldn't you then be, in fact, choosing that latter piece as your true "favorite," as you prefer it over your _actual_ favorite? Thus, transitively, this question is in fact: "What is your favorite classical piece?"


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Easy for me

Varese Poeme Electronique, best part about being one demionsion is the decisions are simple, maybe even serial!!!


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## StevenOBrien (Jun 27, 2011)

Don Giovanni


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Easy for me
> 
> Varese Poeme Electronique, best part about being one demionsion is the decisions are simple, maybe even serial!!!


Great - thank you. It reminds me of an LP of 'sound effects for the BBC' my flatmate owned in the 1970s. A lawnmower chugging, then a lawnmower coughing in difficulties, a lavatory with 'modern' flush, then a lavatory with delayed flush & clanking chain (so British!), a car refusing to start etc. It was fascinating. We played it over & over. Maybe I should substitute this for the Mass of St John Chrysostom? Or just start listening to modern music?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Avey said:


> Is this not the same question as "Your favorite classical piece?" If not, why would you then sacrifice your favorite for choosing one that is "more bearable" over a longer period of time? In doing so, wouldn't you then be, in fact, choosing that latter piece as your true "favorite," as you prefer it over your _actual_ favorite? Thus, transitively, this question is in fact: "What is your favorite classical piece?"


Not necessarily. Say that my favourite piece is Beethoven's Fuer Elise, and my second favourite is his ninth symphony (both totally not my taste, but they do come up regularly in favourite compositions lists), I would definitely choose the 70 min symphony with its variation in moods over the 3 min bagatelle.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Ingenue said:


> Great - thank you. It reminds me of an LP of 'sound effects for the BBC' my flatmate owned in the 1970s. A lawnmower chugging, then a lawnmower coughing in difficulties, a lavatory with 'modern' flush, then a lavatory with delayed flush & clanking chain (so British!), a car refusing to start etc. It was fascinating. We played it over & over. Maybe I should substitute this for the Mass of St John Chrysostom? Or just start listening to modern music?


Glad I reminded you of something... Isn't that what's music is partly all about. each to their own. Flushing hey, Edgard would be so pleased. I think it would make for an interesting mass.

Mass at the St john's or anywhere, is definitely not something I look for in music.......


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Dvorak's #7, Beethoven's #3 or Bruckner's #6.

I suppose I will listen to it once a day and... that's it.


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## Mordred (Mar 15, 2012)

Brahms ein deutsches requiem. I pretty much listen to it over and over anyway!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Mordred said:


> Brahms ein deutsches requiem. I pretty much listen to it over and over anyway!


Yes, for now you do - as a choice. But might you not want to move on if forced to have only one choice? I tend to listen to something over & over till I've got it out of my system, & then move on to another craze.

Maybe Brahms-lovers are more constant in their habits, however.


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

StevenOBrien said:


> Don Giovanni


Ditto.

And just think, if you have one piece for the rest of your life, it'll be the music you hear as you die. Well, I'd rather die to the sound of the requiem, but the Supper Scene here, where the Don gets cast to hell would be quite a music to sharpen your soul before you face your final judgment!


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## Combinebobnt (Jul 21, 2015)

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier

24 keys means good ground for all sorts of temperaments, and there is a huge variety of musical style going on so things don't get boring from listening too much. Oh and 4 hours of music is not bad too.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Right now its Anthony Collins LSO Sibelius Symphony no 1. The first movement alone I could get by with!


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