Any classical music fans? Looking for some recommendations!

[kirk13]

Generally,I'm a rock/ blues/ C+W music fan,although I've skimmed the surface of classical music.

What I'm looking recommendations for is some relaxing,chilled works to listen to at work on my breaks,as an alternative to rock.

Any suggestions?

[Steinar]

Ironically, I jumped into this topic thinking I could get some good listening tips, but it seems my reply is the first, and also, the kind of classical music I really like is not very chilled.

Perhaps some Gregorian chants or madrigals? Naxos (the record company) has often cheap recordings of a pretty good quality.

[kirk13]

I think we're waiting for the cultured members of the forum to arrive mate

We do have cultured members,don't we

[Grathr]

Lately i have been listening a lot to Grieg. Lots of relaxing music.
"Grieg: the greatest orchestral works" should give you plenty to listen to. 63 songs 382minutes of great classical music.




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[ducttapetech]

J.S. Bach. Technically from the Barogue period, has some great great music to listen too. His Brandenburg Concertos are rather nice to listen too.
Mozart is one of the greatest in the Classical Period. Pieces like Rondo alla Turca or Symphony no. 25 or easy and nice listening.
Best thing to do is just dive in head first. You will like some of it and hate some of it. Just like todays music.
I like Wagner, but hate Beethoven works. Even his ealier classical music.
Nate

[Steinar]

Bach is IMHO perhaps the greatest composer to have lived, but as baroque music in general, I would not term most of what I have heard chilled or relaxing (even though some of it certainly is).

As for cultured members... I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Mr. Whippy]

I'm assuming you're talking about all European based music from about 1500's upto the 20th century.  Let me ask you, what sorts of pieces do you like already? 1812 overture? (Theme from the original movie Bad News Bears), Christmas stuff like the Messiah? Mozart (like Eine kleine Nacht Musik)? 2001 space odyessy theme (Also sprach Zarathustra)?  Theme from Star Wars?

There's a ton of stuff out there, but it can be extremely variable.

What do you currently like?

[dks]

Try something classic but played on an Organ (like a church or aeolian organ)

It is very unusual and enjoyable.

[kirk13]

I'm assuming you're talking about all European based music from about 1500's upto the 20th century.  Let me ask you, what sorts of pieces do you like already? 1812 overture? (Theme from the original movie Bad News Bears), Christmas stuff like the Messiah? Mozart (like Eine kleine Nacht Musik)? 2001 space odyessy theme (Also sprach Zarathustra)?  Theme from Star Wars?

There's a ton of stuff out there, but it can be extremely variable.

What do you currently like?

Like most things,I'm randomly eclectic....

Vivaldis Four Season has long been a favourite,but never took to the pizza. Beethovens Piano sonatas are wonderful. Some Strauss Waltzs are good( yes 2001 again). Opera is just a no,just can't get on with it.

I recently had a look at Aaron Copeland,which was a bit hit and miss,as is Gerswin. Love Rhapsody in Blue,but other stuff can be a bit meh.

 

[Mr. Whippy]

If you like Vivaldi, then you should like most of Handel's stuff.  Bach may seem a little medievel to you. Have a try with Wagner (ride of the Valkyries),  maybe some Dvorak (New World Symphony) and if you're looking for later period stuff, try Vaugn Williams.

[Steinar]

So, you are the cultured member, Mr Whippy?!

[jerseydevil]

So, you are the cultured member, Mr Whippy?!

As cultured as someone south of Mason-Dixon can be I suppose......   

Personally my favorite piece of classical music is Handel's Water Music suites.  The vast majority of recordings of it you find are paired with his Music for the Royal Fireworks, though they technically have nothing to do with each other and were written over thirty years apart.  Another excellent piece by Handel is the "Dead March" in Saul, a piece often used at state funerals on both sides of the pond. My favorite Beethoven symphony is No. 3, though the standards No. 5 and 9 are rightfully considered masterpieces as well.  There's lots out there Kirky, enjoy the hunt for stuff you like! 

[Mr. Whippy]

So, you are the cultured member, Mr Whippy?!

Uhm...

So, you are the cultured member, Mr Whippy?!

As cultured as someone south of Mason-Dixon can be I suppose......   

More like this. 


I was pretty involved musically in High School (and to some extent college).  1979 McDonald's All-American Band member.    I spent a ton of time playing and studying everything musical I could: Marching band, jazz band, German polka band, Dixieland, brass quartet, brass quintet, mixed quintets and chamber orchestras, pit orchestra duty for community performances, Christmas performances, Oktoberfests, pep band, symphonic band, symphony orchestras, band camps... You name it.  Anything where a trombone was used.

btw, imo, a LOT of people who think they're sophisticated music connoisseurs are mostly FOS.  There is a ton of waxing philosophical on what various passages might mean from various composers and 90% of it is crapola.  The reason a composer has a certain "sound" is because they tended to reuse certain musical devices, to get the sound they wanted.

Handel's Water Music (alla Hornpipe being my personal favorite) is a block buster. 

You might try adagio for strings by Barber.  It is very well known.  It is a sad piece of music that most everyone embraces.  One of the things that is so powerful is that it ends without ever having a chord resolving its melancholy theme.

[detron]

for me it is Bach,  love his music.  Toccata is D minor is my favorite, especially if played on a large pipe organ.

[Smashie]

The advice is all good so far, I really started listening to Classical music about 10 years ago. I started with classicFM and then just wrote down the names of the pieces I liked so I could hunt them down. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO THAT.

There are so many different recordings that you can end up with a not so fantastic version of the work.

I would recommend having a look here when you find something you like the sound of http://www.prestoclassica...o.uk/buildingalibrary.php

I'm not connected with them in any way

[Mr. Whippy]

for me it is Bach,  love his music.  Toccata is D minor is my favorite, especially if played on a large pipe organ.

Also a big fan of Baroque.  I love Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.  Super cool 3/4--9/8 time changes.  Really radical for that time.

[jzmtl]

I've always liked Tchaikovsky's stuff, but I don't know if you consider it relaxing. I like music with complex compositions, i.e. not piano solo.

Most of the time I stream off CBC music app, lots of classical channels, not sure if it's available outside Canada though.

[kkokkolis]

I love classical music. You asked for relaxing pieces. Nearly every composer wrote relaxing music. Among the most famous pieces are Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 (AKA Elvira Madigan), everything from Satie (Gnossienes, Gymnopedies), most Chopin (Preludes, Valses, Polonaises, Etudes), some pieces like Kanon from Pachelbel, Adagio from Albinoni, Stabat Mater from Pergolesi, Moonlight Sonata from Beethoven, Klavierquartett from Mahler, Miserere from Allegri, Vltava from Smetana, Hebrides from Mendelssohn, Peer Guynt from Grieg, Ave Maria from Schubert etc.
Try searching for a collection with a title such as "Best of Relaxing Classics" or similar.

[Grail Knight]

A Tchaikovsky Festival and his Symphonies 1 - 5 are quite good.

Mahler Symphonies 1 - 9 never gets boring.

Melancholy Moods is another great collection although a bit dark.

Mendelssohn - any of the symphonies.

If you want something with a little more punch check out Dmitri Shostakovich.

Amazon has some rather inexpensive mp3 collections which are great for a broad sample.

100 Russian Masterpieces
50 Greatest Classical Pieces - London Philharmonic Orchestra

Look around at their classical collections under $5. Some of them are quite good.

[detron]

though it is not "classical"  I also enjoy scores or sound tracks from movies like Lord of the Rings, the hobbit, and others that use an orchestra.

[kkokkolis]

In my opinion, these are really classical, not just symphonic. Some classical collections contain Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone for a reason. Maurice Jarre and others also. I think that Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre (and Kraftwerk) are classical too in a broad sence. In a narrow sence Bach and Vivaldi (Baroque) or Beethoven and Schubert (Romantic) aren't Classical, in the way Haydn and Mozart are, so I follow the broad sence.

[kirk13]

Thanks for all the good feedback folks....don't stop!

Smashie did give me one good idea...I've downloaded the ClassicFM app!

But,as I said lots of good stuff and lots to explore

[NeitherExtreme]

I'm enjoying the suggestions so far as well. I'm not that well versed in classical, but here are a few of my favorites...

I always enjoy listening to Bach's Cellos Suites.


On a grander scale, Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture is awe-inspiring:


If you're looking for mellow, Chopin's Nocturnes would be hard to beat:

[pfrsantos]

I find myself whisthling this lots o'times:



I like Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev. They're somber, majestic, powerful. You could also try some full operas or a selection of arias from several different operas and composers.

Ravel, Vivaldi, Verdi are more cheerful and "light". Browse Youtube for some examples. You might find you already knew and liked some composers, even though you didn't know it.

 

[ToolJoe]

  Any of those budget classical collections are a good way to dive in at first. He is a little more modern but I would recommend George Gershwin. Rhapsody in Blue is a master piece!

[kkokkolis]

It's not chill out but since you are a rock fan, don't miss the evergreen Concerto for Group and Orchestra from Deep Purple. You may also enjoy April from the same band and Blackmore's classic riffs from live performances (usually while wringing some neck or enjoying mandrake roots).
Richie is one and only but Uli John Roth has some classical interpretations for electric quitar, notably the full four seasons from Vivaldi. Malmsteen played classic too and if you google "Dr Viosy" in YouTube you'll enjoy amazing performances of Bumblebee Flight, Moonlight Sonata and Paganini's 24th Caprice by a guy with good, old, long hair. Miss none of them. Finish with Emerson Lake and Palmer and Fanfare for the Common Man, unless you prefer Manzarek's Carmina Burana. Classic Rocks!

[firiki]

Brahms, Chopin, Tchaikovsky are few I can recall - I'm terrible with names.

[kkokkolis]

I couldn't  help myself.

Just listen to this:



And this:



And this:



And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osX6FMJDr4o&index=11&list=RDNryhTrYPgZs

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAq817mTb50&list=RDNryhTrYPgZs&index=19

Above all, listen to  this:

[firiki]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manos_Hatzidakis

Perhaps you might want to try some of his music. Not a classical composer but a mordern classic for many people.

Here is a complilation; nice choices, perhaps not the best performance.



Also, one of my favourites:

[kkokkolis]

Hadjidakis and Theodorakis are classics, but most historians don't count them and know a few things about Kalomoiris (nothing to  do with Kalomoira), Skalkotas and Mitropoulos. Yet pioneer Xenakis is included in most histories of Classical music.
Myself, I listen to Xenakis when I want to scare the cats of the neighborhood, love Skalkotas and reckon Hadjidakis and Theodorakis at a similar level with Rota and Jarre I already mentioned.
For those unfamiliar (everybody), there are Hungarian dances (Brahms), Slavonic Dances (Dvorak), English Dances (Arnold), Polonaises (Chopin) etc, but there are also Greek Dances (Skalkotas), 36 of them and they contain these three masterpieces: