# Expanding my Library



## hdeely (Dec 29, 2009)

Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

I was very into classical music when I was younger (9, 10 years old), I played the violin, etc. Then I switched to guitar and bass and got into rock and punk, etc. It's only lately that my interest has been reawakened.

So far, my library is quite limited. I have a lot of the basics: Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms. A good friend recommended Shostakovich, so I got a lot of his music, which is very good. I also have a love of classical guitar, but the only classical guitar music I have is by Francisco Tarrega and Andres Segovia. 

So I am looking for suggestions to expand my library. I enjoy both the simple, solo work of classical guitarists and Chopin and Bach, as well as the more complex symphonies of Beethoven and Mozart. Any and all suggestions are welcome--if you could describe the music a bit, or provide a link to a clip, that would be absolutely wonderful.

Thanks,
Hunter


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Gustav Mahler - Late romantic composer, expanded the boundaries of tonality. He wrote mainly symphonies, all of which are gargantuan masterpieces and display different sides of Mahler.

Dvorak - My favorite composer! Czech Romantic, wrote 9 excellent symphonies (especially the last 4), a lot of chamber (str. Quartet12, Dumky trio and the Piano Quintet in A are amazing. HE wrote an amazing Stabat Mater after the death of his 3 Children, also towards the end of his life some very good tone poems displaying czech poems.

Prokofiev - Shostakovich really respected this composer, another soviet russian who also had a hard time under Stalins regime. Composed the famous Ballets Romeo and Juliet as well as Cinderella. His 1st symphony is a modernized version of Haydn - Excellent, His later symphonies are great as well, the 5th is the triumphant soviet victory in WW2 (my fav) and the 6th is the darker side of war - excellent!!! Also his violin and piano concerti are fantastic.


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## hdeely (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions. Do you know if the romantics in music would be considered a part of the same movement which produced the romantics in visual art and literature?


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## Artemis (Dec 8, 2007)

hdeely said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. Do you know if the romantics in music would be considered a part of the same movement which produced the romantics in visual art and literature?


The short answer is "yes" but if you Google "Romanticism in the arts" it will come up with a list of sources among which This article is useful and explains it further.


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## Argus (Oct 16, 2009)

For classical guitar I'd recommend Barrios Mangore. He is similar to Tarrega in many ways but has a more folk sound to my ears. Also, Mauro Giuliani and Fernando Sor for earlier classical/romantic stuff. For musicians the obvious guy to check out after Segovia would be Julian Bream. His Bach transcriptions are excellent.

Isaac Albeniz's Iberia Suite is also excellent on the guitar even though it was originally written for the piano. And obviously, Rodrigo is the master at combining guitar and orchestra into a cohesive whole.

For more obscure guitar composers, try Dioniso Aguado, J.K. Mertz, Matteo Carcassi and Zani de Ferranti.


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