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Fav orchestral music

13K views 51 replies 27 participants last post by  EddieRUKiddingVarese 
#1 ·
My fav has got to be Andante from Bach's Brandenburg Concerto 2, Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony and Holst's The Planets... And not forgetting, Bach's Double Violin Concerto in D minor. :D
I adore Schubert's Death and the Maiden also...but that would be under ensemble work.... <_<
What abt. yrs? :rolleyes:
 
#27 ·
Here is my list of THE INDISPENSIBLE! (pared to two per)
Beethoven 3 and Piano 4
Shostakovich 10 and 8
Prokofiev 6 and Piano 3
Bruckner 7 and 8
Mozart 40 and 41
Tchaikovsky 5 and
Brahms 4 and Piano Concerto 1
Stravinsky Petrouska and Dumbarton Oaks
Holst The Planets and Military Suites!
Strauss Till Eulenspiegel and Don Quixote
Sibelius Violin and Sym 4
Walton 1 and Concertante
Dvorak 8 and Cello
Schuman Sym for Strings
Barber Adagio for Strings and Violin Concerto
Britten Sinfonia Da Requiem
Bach ALL!!!!
Handel Music for Royal Fireworks and 12 Concerti Grossi
Alban Berg Three pieces for orchestra and Wozzeck
Webern Passacaglia and Symphony
Bela Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste
John Adams Harmonielehre and Nixon in China
Bernstein Dances from West Side Story and Prelude fugue and riffs
Copland El Salon Mexico, Appalachian Spring, Concerto for Piano (cheated)
Debussy La Mer and Jeux
Dukas Sym in C and the Sorcerors Apprentice
Elgar Sym 1 and Enigma Var.
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Ives Sym no. 4
Korngold Violin Concerto and Sym in F
Holmboe Brass Concertos and 4 symphonic metamorphoses
Hindemith Mathis der Maler and Variations on a theme by Von Weber
De Falla Harpsichord Concerto and The three cornered Hat
Dutilleux - ANYTHING!
Martin Ballades and Violin Concerto and anything else!
Martinu Concerto for String Quartet and orchestra
Nielsen Sym No 4 and Clarinet Concerto
Poulenc Piano and organ Concertos
Ravel Ma Mere l'oye and Daphnis and Chloe
Sandor Veress Hommage a Paul Klee and Concerto for Piano, Strings and Percussion
Vaughn Williams Fantasia on a theme by Tallis and Tuba Concerto
This should be a good start and an entry into Classical Music can be found in one of these pieces for any Human Being on earth- its a matter of which one does it!
 
#29 ·
I could add on my own giant list, but I would have to say that Mahler 5 and 9 are both ridiculously amazing. Mahler's Adagietto is the most beautiful piece of music ever written. That's a fact.
 
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#31 ·
Strauss-
Wiener Blut (Vienna blood), Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South), Auf der Jagt (The hunt), An der schönen, blauen donau (The Blue danube), Tritsch tratsch polka, Unter donner und blitz (Thunder & lightning), Redtzky marsch (Redtzky march), Spanischer marsch (Spanish march), Egyptischer marsch (Egyptian marsch), Annen polka, Frühlingsstimmen (the voices of spring), Künstlerlieben (artists life), Die Fledermaus (The bat (Overture))
Ponchielli-
Danza dell ore (Dance of the Hours)
Rossini-
William Tell Overture, Barber of Seville Overture
Tchaikovsky-
1812 Overture
Waltz of the Flowers (from the nutcracker suite)
Bach-
Toccata & Fugue in D minor
Liszt-
Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2
Schubert-
Ave Maria
 
#33 ·
Symphony No. 6 by Tschaikowsky
Symphony No. 40 by Mozart
Magnificat by Bach
Symphony No. 6 by Beethoven
Symphony in C by Bizet
Symphony No. 2 by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Dream of Gerontius by Elgar
Daphnis and Chloe by Ravel
On the Steppes of Central Asia by Borodin
Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky
Tapiola by Sibelius
All 4 symphonies by Brahms
The Isle of the Dead by Rachmaninoff
Petrushka by Stravinsky
New England Triptych by William Schuman

This is just skimming the surface!
 
#35 ·
While not wanting to simply list off a bunch of pieces, I will describe what characteristics I like in orchestral music.

I prefer logical music where structural ideas of balance, symmetry, unity and well constructed interrelationships take precedence over overt expressionism and effect.

So Beethoven over Berlioz...
Sibelius over Mahler...
Dvorak over Tchaikovsky...
 
#36 ·
Unfortunately you can't imply all logic to music as the chromatic scale isn't made of perfectly spaced tones, therefore our brains themselves are illogical, in as much as exact fugues are often not nearly as pleasing as those which conform to the scale they were written in. If music was meant to be logical, then their would be rapture in an algorythm and I dare say that's not the case! I think your referring to the famous conversation the two composers (Mahler, Sibelius) had as where Sibelius stressed his concern for form in music: And it could easily be said that when Mahler said "put the World in his symphonies" he was by no means trumping form! If you've herd Mahler's Fifth you would fined it seeping with structural sap i.e. form. (In praticular the build up, and resolution of the first climax of the finally) so tender and yet suicidally brutal as Mahler could only be! THIS HAS JUST AS MUCH FORMAL BRILLIANCE AS SIBELIUS!!!
 
#39 · (Edited)
I simply do not know, it somehow speaks to me more than the rest (to me it contains more of honest emotions than the other symphonies). Note that I haven't yet heard the ninth (I own two records of it, I just never give me time to listen).
About the fourth: I love the opening, how the work comes alive (the first part of the opening reminds me of Schumann's fourth), and the climax (it's only ca. 5 mins. into the movement, but I'll call it a climax) of the second movement and how the finale is swift and agile instead of being boasting and trumpetous. And somehow I find it to be his most exciting symphony (like how he uses the bassoon to create tension in the first movement) and full with joy for life.

Overall I seem to have strange selections of 'my favorite Beethoven'. In contrast to what I thought when I first heard his sixth violin sonata, it's not his most famous and celebrated chamber-piece and his oboe trio is completely unknown at all!
 
#42 ·
Hello everyone!

My most favorite orchestral music is Dvorak's Ninth sympony"The New World".
I just love the second movement(Largo) with the peaceful English Horn solo! The piece is so calm, relaxing, I almost can't stop myself from falling asleep!

4/4player:p
 
#43 ·
Interesting thing about Dvorak's 9th is the title.

Officially, the title that Dvorak himself gave it "Z noveho sveta", which literally translated is "From the New World".

But it is often called "The New World Symphony", and not only in English! In Czech, people also call it that, "Novosvetska", mainly because of the convienient and catchy one-word format.

I however strongly protest to this title, which developed over time, because it carries very different connotations. I will not elaborate and force my opinion on the rest of you, I will simply ask that we all call the symphony by the name that Dvorak himself gave it.
 
#45 ·
There's a lot of composers I haven't gotten around to listening to yet but here are some of my favorites...

Scriabin's three symphonies (first movement of first symphony is quite nice)
Berg's Violin Concerto
Berg's Lyric Suite
Schoenberg's Transfigured Night
Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto (third movement especially)
 
#46 ·
Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto (third movement especially)
Just a little side note about this piece... my orchestra just performed it on Nov. 24th with a very gifted 30-year-old pianist named Jaroslava Pechocova.

She has played this very concerto with the Czech Philharmonic and the Liverpool Philharmonic, both with Libor Pesek conducting, so we were very lucky to have her in our little spa-town orchestra.

Our hall is smallish, seating about 375 people... As miss Pechocova is no doubt used to much larger halls, she played it really, REALLY loud. I had never heard a piano THAT loud in our hall, it was very exciting.

... hmm ...

Well, thats the end of my little aside.
 
#47 ·
This concerto formed the theme music of a famous early post WWII UK movie called "Brief Encounter", made in 1946. It was probably the best matching of classical music to movie film ever done. It's almost as if they were made for each other.

I first bought the version of the concerto played by Rachmaninoff himself. But it's a bit muffled, so I investigated other more recent versions. The one I liked best was Van Cliburn with Reiner/Chicago SO. The sound is crisp and clear and the orchestral backing very good.


Topaz
 
#49 ·
K.....

Have you seen "Brief Encounter"?

I've seen Platoon, and prefer Brief Encounter.

I also prefer Rach Piano Con 2 to Barber's Adagio. So there:p

Mind you, I like Okie from Muskoqee, so I guess we're evens. :)

Don't over do it with all that rehearsing. Give that young pianist a big -_- from me, please.

Cheers.

Topaz
 
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