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I listen to Death Metal. I'd like to listen to classical, too. Where do I start?

7K views 36 replies 16 participants last post by  MilesMetal 
#1 ·
Ideally, I'd like a list of the essential works by the most influential classical composers.

Would 'The History of Classical Music on 100 CDs' be a good place to start? How would you rate it? Is it missing anything?

This is what it includes:

'Medieval - Baroque' section
CD 1 Gregorian Chant - Feast Of Stephen / Marchaut: Chansons
CD 2 Dufay / Josquin Des Pres: Motets
CD 3 Wind Music From Renaissance Italy
CD 4 Tallis / Byrd / De Victoria / Palestrina / Allegri
CD 5 Monteverdi: Vespers (Highlights), Madrigals
CD 6 Schütz / Buxtehude / Pachelbel: Chamber Music
CD 7 Purcell: Dido And Aeneas (Highlights); The Fairy Queen (Highlights)
CD 8 Charpentier: Te Deum / Rameau: Une Symphonie Imaginaire
CD 9 Telemann: Concertos
CD 10 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Gloria in D Major
CD 11 Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 & 5, Orchestral Suite No.2
CD 12 Bach: Goldberg Variations, Fantasia in C Minor, Italian Concerto
CD 13 Bach: Organ Works
CD 14 Bach: St. Matthew Passion (Highlights)
CD 15 Bach: Magnificat, Cantatas BWV 63 & 65
CD 16 Handel: "Royal Fireworks" Music, Arrival Of The Queen Of Sheba
CD 17 Handel: Harp Concerto, Organ Concerto in F, Concerto No.3
CD 18 Handel: Messiah - Arias And Choruses
CD 19 D. Scarlatti: Sonatas
CD 20 C.P.E. Bach: Symphonies For Strings (1-6) / J.C. Bach: Quintet

'Classical' section
CD 21 Haydn: Symphonies No.45 "Farewell", No.88 & No.104 "London"
CD 22 Haydn: String Quartets Nos.3, 5, 63, 74, 77
CD 23 Haydn: The Creation (Highlights)
CD 24 Mozart: "Eine kleine Nachtmusik", Symphonies Nos.40 & 41
CD 25 Mozart: Piano Concerto Nos.20 & 21, Fantasia In D Minor
CD 26 Mozart: Clarinet Quintet, String Quintet In G Minor, K516
CD 27 Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro, K.492 (Highlights)
CD 28 Mozart: Requiem, Laudate Dominum, Exsultate, jubilate
CD 29 Beethoven: Symphonies Nos.5 & 6
CD 30 Beethoven: Symphony No.9 "Choral"
CD 31 Beethoven: Piano Concerto Nos 4 & 5
CD 32 Beethoven: Sonata For Violin And Piano No.9 "Kreutzer"
CD 33 Beethoven: Piano Sonata Nos.8, 23 & 31
CD 34 Weber: Der Freischütz (Highlights)

'Romantic' section
CD 34 Weber: Der Freischütz (Highlights)
CD 35 Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Highlights)
CD 36 Schubert: Symphony No.8 "Unfinished"; Symphony No.9 "The Great"
CD 37 Schubert: Piano Quintet in A "The Trout", String Quartet No.14 in D Minor "Death And The Maiden"
CD 38 Schubert: Piano Sonata No.21 in B Flat, 3 Impromptus; 2 Moments musicaux
CD 39 Schubert: Winterreise
CD 40 Paganini: Violin Concerto No.1; 10 Capricci
CD 41 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Overtures: Benvenuto Cellini & Le Corsaire
CD 42 Chopin: Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor, Préludes; Barcarolle in F Sharp Minor, Scherzo Nr. 3 in Sharp Minor
CD 43 Chopin: Nocturnes (Selection)
CD 44 Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G Minor, Berceuse in D Flat, Polonaise No.6 in A Flat-"Heroic, Excerpts From 12 Etudes, Op.10
CD 45 Liszt: Piano Concerto No.1 in E Flat, Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hungarian Rhapsody No.6 in D Flat, Années de pèlerinage,
CD 46 Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: Symphony No.4 "Italian", "The Hebrids" Overture; Excerpts Of "A Midsummer Night's Dream
CD 47 Schumann: Symphony No.2, Symphony No.3 "Rhenish"
CD 48 Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, "Kinderszenen", Carnaval
CD 49 Schumann: Dichterliebe, Frauenliebe und Leben
CD 50 Bizet: Carmen (Highlights)
CD 51 Brahms: Symphonies No.1 & No.4
CD 52 Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2 in B Flat, 7 Fantasias
CD 53 Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Sonata For Piano And Violin No.1 in G "Regenlied-Sonate"
CD 54 Bruckner: Symphony No.4 in E Flat Major - "Romantic"; Psalm 150, for Soprano, Chorus And Orchestra
CD 55 Strauss, J.: Waltzes & Polkas
CD 56 Smetana: The Moldau, From Bohemia's Meadows And Woods / Dvorák: Symphony No.9, Op.95 "From The New World"
CD 57 Dvorák: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Cello Concerto in B Minor
CD 58 Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites Nos.1 & 2; Piano Concerto in A Minor
CD 59 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6, Op.74 "Pathéthique"; Nutcracker Suite, Op.71a
CD 60 Tchaikovsky: Romeo And Julia - Fantasy Overture; Serenade For String Orchestra, Overture solenelle "1812" Op. 39
CD 61 Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No.1 Op.23; Violin Concerto Op.35
CD 62 Wagner: Overtures & Preludes
CD 63 Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Highlights)
CD 64 Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Highlights)
CD 65 Verdi: Aida (Highlights)
CD 66 Verdi: Rigoletto (Highlights)
CD 67 Verdi: La Traviata (Highlights)
CD 68 Saint-Saëns: Symphony No.3 in C Minor, Op.78 - "Organ Symphony" / Franck: Symphony in D Minor
CD 69 Glinka: Ruslan And Ludmilla - Overture / Balakirev: Islamey / Borodin: Polovtsian Dances / Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition
CD 70 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnole
CD 71 Mahler: Symphony No.1, Songs Of A Wayfarer
CD 72 Mahler: Symphony No. 5

'Modern' section
CD 73 Debussy: Nocturnes, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, La Mer
CD 74 Debussy: Suite bergamasque, 12 Préludes
CD 75 Strauss, R.: Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel
CD 76 Strauss, R.: Tod und Verklärung, Capriccio, Vier letzte Lieder
CD 77 Puccini: La Bohème - Highlights
CD 78 Puccini: Tosca - Highlights; "Nessun dorma"
CD 79 Elgar: Variations On An Original Theme / Holst: The Planets
CD 80 Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.3 in D Minor / Scriabin: Symphony No.4 "Le Poeme De L'Extase"
CD 81 Sibelius: Symphony No.5, Finlandia, Tapiola, Valse triste
CD 82 Ives: Piano Sonata No.2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-1860", Central Park In The Dark, Three Places In New England / Barber: Adagio For Strings
CD 83 Janácek: Taras Bulba; Concertino; Sinfonietta
CD 84 Ravel: Boléro, Piano Concerto in G, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Ma mère l'oye
CD 85 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Pierrot Lunaire / Webern: Six Pieces For Orchestra, Symphony
CD 86 Berg: 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite - 3 Pieces For String Orchestra
CD 87 Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Apollon Musagète (1947 Version), Circus Polka For A Young Elephant
CD 88 Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Le sacre du printemps
CD 89 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite
CD 90 Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Concerto For Orchestra
CD 91 Hindemith: Mathis Der Maler / Weill: The Threepenny Opera - Suite / Pfitzner: Palestrina - Preludes / Busoni: Doktor Faust - Intermezzo
CD 92 Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No. 2, Symphony No. 5 in D Minor
CD 93 Britten: Serenade For Tenor, Horn And Strings / Delius: Two Pieces For Small Orchestra / Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
CD 94 Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez / Falla: El amor brujo, Nights In Spanish Garden
CD 95 Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue, An American In Paris / Bernstein: "Candide" Overture, Symphonic Dances From "West Side Story"
CD 96 Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony
CD 97 Boulez: Le marteau sans maitre / Stockhausen: Gruppen
CD 98 Schnittke: Concerto Grosso No.1 / Lutoslawski: Chain 3; Novelette / Ligeti: Chamber Concerto
CD 99 Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs"
CD 100 Reich: Six Pianos / Adams: Shaker Loops / Glass: Violin Concerto
 
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#8 ·
A sensible list, I approve! :)
 
#9 ·
That's a good overview, all right, and a great way to start... assuming that your interest in death metal is actually irrelevant to your interest in classical music! As a list of music that will likely appeal to a death metal fan, I'm not sure how good it is.
 
#10 ·
A great start and a lot of great music on there.

One piece that a lot of my friends who like Metal usually enjoy is on CD 88 and thats Stravinsky - Le sacre du printemps. Without wanting to skip 87 other perfectly good CDs, this is pretty heavy in a different way to metal.

Youll have a great time with this collection in any case!
 
#13 ·
What about Concert Band Music. The band junkie strikes again.

As a band junkie, I am disappointed that there are no concert band pieces on the list. Concert band music does not have the stature it deserves in the classical community. I have had some success in reaching a few people here. I would recommend the following works. There are many fine performances of them on YouTube:

Felix Mendelssohn: Overture for Band (An amazing work that he composed when he was only 15. One of the finest concert works ever composed for the band.)

Gustav Holst: First and Second Suites for Band.

Ralph Vaughn Williams: English Folk Song Suite

Ralph Vaughn Williams: Toccata Marziale

Percy Granger: Lincolnshire Posey

Morton Gould: West Point Symphony

Vincent Persichetti: Symphony for Band

Norman Dello Joio: Variants on a Medieval Tune

Karel Husa: Music for Prague 1968

I can list many more. If your interested in exploring this genre of classical music, these works would be a good start.
 
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#15 ·
As a band junkie, I am disappointed that there are no concert band pieces on the list. Concert band music does not have the stature it deserves in the classical community. I have had some success in reaching a few people here. I would recommend the following works. There are many fine performances of them on YouTube:

Felix Mendelssohn: Overture for Band (An amazing work that he composed when he was only 15. One of the finest concert works ever composed for the band.)

Gustav Holst: First and Second Suites for Band.

Ralph Vaughn Williams: English Folk Song Suite

Ralph Vaughn Williams: Toccata Marziale

Percy Granger: Lincolnshire Posey

Morton Gould: West Point Symphony

Vincent Persichetti: Symphony for Band

Norman Dello Joio: Variants on a Medieval Tune

Karel Husa: Music for Prague 1968

I can list many more. If your interested in exploring this genre of classical music, these works would be a good start.
I'm compiling a number of lists to get me started so one for this style would be greatly appreciated.

List as many as you think is needed. If you could list or group them, starting with the ones you prefer the most I.

Thank you. :)
 
#21 ·
Rite of Spring does seem like a natural transition piece from Death Metal. Another item to consider if you care to poke into opera is Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The tritone is an essential part of the 'Tristan Chord' that's heard throughout that opera, and it's also important in Death Metal, oddly enough---I have an article upcoming (I hope!) in the Bonn Beethoven Journal talking about this to some length. It's kind of subtle but there should be something familiar there for you.
 
#22 ·
What kind of metal do you like?- Amon Amarth? Immortal? Slayer? Ensiferum? Kreator?

I imagine if you like any of those bands then you may just incline to the following:

- Strauss: Ein Heldenelben ("A Hero's Life"- especially the cut from it called "A Hero's Deeds in Battle." Rudolf Kempe conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden on EMI has the fiercest treatment of the battle sequence that I've heard.)

-Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra)

- Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain (Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on RCA)

- Rachmaninov: First Symphony and the Symphonic Dance Number Three (Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra)

- Shostakovich: Eleventh Symphony (Pavo Berglund conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra); Twelfth Symphony (Yvengy Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic on the Erato label)

- Respighi: The Roman Trilogy (Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra)

- William Mathias: Second and Third Symphonies (Grant Llewellyn conducting the BBCSO of Wales)

- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fourth Symphony (Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra)

- Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Wagner: Music from the Ring (Charles Gerhardt conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra)

- Holst: The Planets (James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Bax: Tintagel (Sir Adrian Boult conducting the London Philharmonic)

- Verdi: Requiem (Sir George Solti conducing the Vienna Philharmonic)

- Alwyn: Third Symphony (Richard Hickox conducting the London Symphony Orchestra

- Barber: Tone Poems (Thomas Schippers conducting the New York Philharmonic)

- Rossini: Overtures (Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra)

- Mahler: Fifth Symphony (Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic)

- Liszt: Tasso, Les Preludes (Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic)

- Dvorak: Symphonic Dances (Neemi Jarvi conducting the Scottish National Orchestra)

- for a start.

;D

-
 
#23 ·
#28 ·
Personally, Wagner was the biggest galvanizing force behind my own love and appreciation for classical music. Before I had learned to appreciate the symphonies of Beethoven, or the miniatures of Chopin, I was plunging into his operas head first. So there's no reason why a work like Tristan can't be as excellent an introduction to classical as any other, and no reason to discourage someone new to classical from listening to it because of its length; its exceptional music that's filled with passion and drama.
 
#29 ·
I don't want to discourage anybody, but as it's possible that he will love it immediately there's also the possibility that this will not happen, and if one is beginning to explore classical music and has to absorb four hours of music, instead of just one long opera (four hours of a single work can discourage in spite of the value of the music) one can listen to six, seven, eight works of different composers. Just this.
Anyway if I had to consider the fact that OP likes death metal I would choose also something fast and rhyhtmic, more than Tristan that besides its lenght is also quite slow music.
 
#30 ·
Since I listen to some technical metal myself, some of it crossing over a bit into death metal, it seems to me that classical music from the 20th century, and later, would appeal a bit more than classical from earlier eras.

From your list, these sound like a good starting point:

CD 85 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Pierrot Lunaire / Webern: Six Pieces For Orchestra, Symphony
CD 86 Berg: 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite - 3 Pieces For String Orchestra
CD 87 Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Apollon Musagète (1947 Version), Circus Polka For A Young Elephant
CD 88 Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Le sacre du printemps
CD 89 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite
CD 90 Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Concerto For Orchestra
 
#34 ·
Since I listen to some technical metal myself, some of it crossing over a bit into death metal, it seems to me that classical music from the 20th century, and later, would appeal a bit more than classical from earlier eras.

From your list, these sound like a good starting point:

CD 85 Schoenberg: Transfigured Night, Pierrot Lunaire / Webern: Six Pieces For Orchestra, Symphony
CD 86 Berg: 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Violin Concerto, Lyric Suite - 3 Pieces For String Orchestra
CD 87 Stravinsky: Petrouchka, Apollon Musagète (1947 Version), Circus Polka For A Young Elephant
CD 88 Stravinsky: Pulcinella, Le sacre du printemps
CD 89 Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No.1 in D, Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Lieutenant Kijé, Symphonic Suite
CD 90 Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta, Concerto For Orchestra
I've listened to the first few parts of Rite of Spring, I liked what I heard. I'll make these CDs a priority after I've listened to some more of Bach's organ works.
 
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