Classical Music

One I think ought to be shared...

John Philip Sousa, while not composing marches, wrote a number of compositions he dubbed "art music." This is one of them - "Nymphalin," a violin solo. It has a Little Nemo-esque, dreamlike quality to it that I like.

I do enjoy myself some good counterpoint, although the video you link seems to be Saturn from Holst's The Planets rather than anything by Arvo Pärt, who I assume is the composer you are referring to.

I am confused now. I linked, to my knowledge, the second prelude and fugue by Veljo Tormis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggCkt3_ygvY .

It plays the right video for me.

From what album/composition of his does that one comes from?

It's a set of three preludes and fugues written in 1958-1960. The album this recording is from is by the pianist the pieces are dedicated to: http://www.discogs.com/Lilian-Semper-M%C3%A4ngib-Lilian-Semper/release/5015246.

Man, Dance of Iscariot is such an underrated piece. :/

Thank you.

Just wondering; are there mainstream and underground artists in the world of Classical as well as in modern genres?

Not sure if that happens, exactly. Composers seem to go in and out of style. There'll be a big revival about So-and-So's music, and everybody will be performing it or writing music in So-and-So's style, and then someone will unearth That-Other-Guy's music that was being neglected, and everybody will perform THAT, etc.

Likewise, the Big Names (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc) will be all the rage, then fall out of style in favor of lesser-known composers, then come around again maybe decades later. It's pretty cyclical.

(Can anybody else back me up? Or am I just pulling things out of thin air?)

Joining in on this thread...

I am, like, a massive fan of Bach. Particularly his organ works. But there's people in every era that I like. Somebody mentioned Arvo Pärt: I love the shimmery sound in his works. And Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna is gorgeous.

My thing, though, is how music is performed. I was introduced to Faure's Requiem by my choir director, and I loved it. So I went and found a CD of it. And over time, I kind of soured on the work as being saccharine and limp. Then, ten years later, this same choir director wanted to do the piece again, and I was struck with how he directed it. He gave it more drama and a slightly "heavier" sound than my CD, turning the "saccharine" into "soulful". So now I gotta find me a different recording.

When I buy Baroque/Classical era music, I look for stuff with reviews complaining about how the performers were going way too fast. My copy of Handel's Messiah (the whole thing!) has liner notes to the effect of, "We didn't want it to be boring." It's the fastest performance of "Hallelujah" I've ever heard, and it's an absolute joy.

Anybody here familiar with Ola Gjielo's choral works? I'm intrigued with how he seems to be ripping off all the major soundtrack composers and somehow making it work.

I am confused now. I linked, to my knowledge, the second prelude and fugue by Veljo Tormis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggCkt3_ygvY .

Hmmm, it does seem to be the correct video now. Not really sure what happened but somehow Holst was showing up on my end.

(And sorry for the delay in response. I started a new job and got distracted.)

edited 14th Oct '14 3:17:43 PM by Hatshepsut

On a different note, I made a discovery of a modern version of my favorite vocal music genre, the madrigal.

Man, Nimrod is such an underappreciated piece from the Enigma Variations. I mean, it doesn't even have an Wikipedia entry.

Of course, it's great.

I remember playing this in my orchestra class at 8th grade. Years later I felt very nostalgic and proud when I heard this music again in Australia, at the end.

What do you think of Leonard Bernstein's Mass? I just listened to it, and I quite liked it, although I felt some Ending Fatigue. But maybe it was because I was simply tired.

Here is something really badass from the first real neoclassical composer in Estonia. The pure motoric energy in this piece never ceases to grab my attention fully.

Check this one out. THIS is how you perform Ode to Joy: WITH A CHORUS OF TEN THOUSAND.

Maybe they are Compensating for Something. But seriously, possibly because of the You Tube quality, but for me it just seems more noisy instead of more awesome. Bigger is not always better, you know.

Oh, and definitely do not read the comments for that video. Godwin seems to have got it (which is somehow inevitable if you mention Germany and Japan on the same page).

Yet the very fact that they bothered to assemble that many people for ONE song shows that they take their classical music seriously.

That one I respect, even if they are doing it wrong.

Rant on Canon.

As a cellist, yes, I can tell you that he's right.

Goddamn, how come I've never heard of this one until now? This is fantastic!

I learned about this music through The Shawshank Redemption.

A very grandiose and serious title.

Not so much the actual tune.

Thought that last name was fuck at first lol

Let this be revived. Anybody heard of this Valentina Lisitsa chick who plays piano?

Remembered her name when I was in college and wondering if she's one of those big stars like Lang Lang