Thread: My Interest in Classical Music.

My Interest in Classical Music.

Ever since I was a youngster (over 40 years ago) I have had an interest in Classical Music, of course it started with the well-known pieces, like Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Beethoven's Symphony No 5, and Holst's The Planets Suite. At the time I didn't appreciate the music other than they piqued my curiosity and they were lively pieces to listen to. Over the years I never really strayed from classical music, yes I occasionally dabbled pop music and jazz, however I always came back to the music I really loved.
As I grew mature I developed my classical music tastes and started finding more pieces that I started to like; Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Pachelbel’s Canon, Albinoni's Adagio, Johann Strauss' The Blue Danube, and Beethoven's Symphony No 6 'Pastorale.' Most of this was via vinyl or cassettes, and then one day I heard an orchestra live and then I wanted more of it, however it was very expensive to see a live concert so I had to stick to vinyl and cassettes.
Then CDs came onto the market and I now updated my collection and started broadening my horizons and discovered Vaughn Williams Lark Ascending, among the many more becoming available. I then discovered Chopin, Schubert, Delius, Rachmaninov and Grieg, especially his Piano Concerto.
Then opera started to influence me and although I listened to them mainly on the radio or CDs, I wanted more and then I bought to watch an opera; my first live opera was Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Since then I have watched, Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes; Puccini's Madam Butterfly; Puccini's Tosca; Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust; Benjamin's A Midsummer Night's Dream; and my next one is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman. I have also seen a couple of ballets as well; Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and an Eifman's ballet Anna Karenina.
I have found that classical music is very soothing, especially after a hard day at work.
Reading reviews of Classical Music is not always helpful, it is only listening to it that you get to know whether it is a good piece or not.

Recently I tried to put together a list of my top fifty; however as I wrote it down I realised it is not as easy as it sounds, there is a possibility that I would miss some; however here is my top fifty:


50. The Ring-Wagner. (Actually I have never heard this complete, however I would love to one day.)
49. Der Rosenkavalier-Richard Strauss.
48. Finlandia-Sibelius.
47. The Trout Quintet-Schubert.
46. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini-Rachmaninov.
45. Water Music-Handel.
44. Pavane-Ravel.
43. Bolero-Ravel.
42. Swan Lake (ballet)-Tchaikovsky.
41. Violin Concerto No. 4-Mozart.
40. Violin Concerto-Beethoven.
39. Emperor Waltz-Johann Strauss.
38. Symphony in C-Dukas.
37. Peer Gynt Suites 1&2-Grieg.
36. Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis-Vaughan Williams.
35. Double Concerto in A minor-Brahms.
34. Romeo and Juliet-Tchaikovsky.
33. Sea Drift-Delius.
32. In a Summer Garden-Delius.
31. The Walk in Paradise Garden-Delius.
30. The Damnation of Faust-Berlioz.
29. Tosca-Puccini.
28. Madam Butterfly-Puccini.
27. Variations on an Original Theme 'Enigma'-Elgar.
26. 'Moonlight' Piano Sonato-Beethoven.
25. Canon and Gigue-Pachelbel.
24. 'Air on a G string-Bach.
23. Peter Grimes-Britten.
22. Scheherazade-Rimsky-Korsakov.
21. The Flying Dutchman-Wagner.
20. Violin Concerto in D-Brahms.
19. Symphony No. 5-Schubert.
18. A Midsummer Night's Dream-Britten.
17. Symphony No. 6-Dvorak.
16. Danse Macabre-Saint-Saens.
15. Fantasia on Greensleeves-Vaughan Williams.
14. Piano Sonato-Dukas.
13. Adagio-Albinoni.
12. The Nutcracker (ballet)-Tchaikovsky.
11. Symphony No. 2 in E minor-Rachmaninov.
10. Piano Concerto in A minor-Grieg.
9. The Four Seasons-Vivaldi.
8. The Sorcerer's Apprentice-Dukas.
7. Symphony No. 5-Beethoven.
6. The Blue Danube-Johann Strauss.
5. 1812 overture-Tchaikovsky.
4. Carnival of the Animals-Saint-Saens.
3. The Planets-Holst.
2. Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale)-Beethoven.
1. Lark Ascending-Vaughan Williams.

Hi Ian and welcome to the board. I always enjoy reading how people came to love and enjoy classical music. Great list of your top 50 but if you stick around here a while I bet that will change drastically with time.

Kevin

Originally Posted by Kevin Pearson

Hi Ian and welcome to the board. I always enjoy reading how people came to love and enjoy classical music. Great list of your top 50 but if you stick around here a while I bet that will change drastically with time.

Kevin

yea, Beethovens 9th should be the number 1

Thanks for posting. Everyone has their unique story, but I'm glad it takes us to the same place.

That is a beautiful list of works too. I wouldn't want to try to list my top 50... actually I would. I'll try!

Originally Posted by jani

yea, Beethovens 9th should be the number 1

Beethoven's 9th should always be number 1

seriously though, welcome and have fun!

One thing I neglected when I was just starting out on my foray through classical music was solo piano music. Now a few decades down the road I'm realizing what I was missing. Solo piano is definitely NOT boring or monochromatic. On the contrary, it's a place where great performers can have the most impact with their interpretations. It isn't filtered through 70 other musicians.

If you are interested and like Grieg's piano concerto, I'd recommend his Lyric Pieces for piano. They're really wonderful.

Of course people are going to vary what they like over someone else's choice.

Every time I try to list my top ten, I get ten more new recordings and it becomes a top twenty.

Originally Posted by bigshot

Every time I try to list my top ten, I get ten more new recordings and it becomes a top twenty.

I have at least a top 500!

Kevin

Let me count my CDs and I'll give you the number of my favorites.

Thanks for the introduction, looking forward to see you around. Great to see another opera lover around too!

You clearly need to listen to more Wagner. Flying Dutchman should not be in a list at the expense of Tristan, Parsifal, and Meistersinger...

Where is Wagner's Faust Overture?

I actually think Flying Dutchman is Wagner's best overture, maybe Tannhauser.