Perhaps Handel's water music?

 

hi!

search out the 'adagio' (1 & 2) albums that dg released with karajan and the berlin philharmonic.
also try the chopin & debussy preludes for piano.

dj

 

you might also try Beethoven's Pathetique sonata 2nd movement and his 2nd violin romanza, Chopin's nocturne in C sharp minor, and Bach's Air for G String.

 

Try listening to some compilations with similar titles and/or imagery on the cd covers - I've seen plenty of them around. Then you can just pick and choose whichever songs have the most appeal.

You might enjoy Górecki's 3rd Symphony as well.

 

Rachmaninov is my recommendation! Especially the piano concertos - pure bliss!

 

Sorry, but while we're on the topic of soothing compositions, has anyone heard the music of the Kapp family. I heard a peice by Villem Kapp and it was amazing and so relaxing. If all their music is like that I might invest in some of their CD's!

 

Notice how hardly anyone has recommended an entire piece?

That's because classical music ain't very good at the soothing. Or it is, but only for short times. Indeed, most of it is characteristically mercurial; part of its charm.

If you want soothing, why not step outside the classical world entirely and just get some stuff designed to sooth. It's pretty awful, I think, but to each his own.

Even better, get yourself a nice kitty. Kitties are soft, and furry, and very soothing. A nice hot bath is good, too. And a back massage. Why use music for those purposes? Music's for listening to, paying attention to. That's like using a thoroughbred race horse to plow the field.

Race horses can pull plows, but what a waste!!

 

I agree with some guy that there is so much more to Classical music than relaxing adagios and the like. It became some sort of misconception about the whole genre too. People think it's what you listen to when you wanna relax or do your homework!

Anyway, if that rocks your boat, here's a tip: most symphonies and concertos have a slow second movement. That's the movement you should looking for. Now, that's only for the works composed in "traditional form". Also, pay attention to the tempo indicator of music pieces : adagio, largo, lento, grave (that's a bit gloomy though) is what you're looking for. Maybe even Andante (that's best described as "a walking pace".

 

I also agree with some guy, but the sad fact of the matter is that it's the slow stuff that attracts folk that wouldn't usually listen to classical music. My mother is always complaining that Mozart and Schubert is too eratic and jarring to be enjoyable. In other words, it's the commercial classical music we need to endorse to get the common yokels hooked!

 

Man, I put together a cd of slow and quiet classical music to play during my jewelry party I was having a few days ago, just something for background that people wouldn't have to yell over. But would you believe I forgot to turn it on? My poor scatterbrain head! oh well, I'm sure I will enjoy it all by myself.

 

When you ask for a soothing compositions this came immediately to my mind It is by Arvo Part, I find this work very soothing and contemplative, perhaps you will too, it is Spiegel im Spiegel from Alina. Very simple, but could be absolutely ruined by some, the pianist is Sergej Bezrodny and the Violin is played magnificently by Vladimir Spivakov.

 

I highly recommend "I pini del Gianicolo" (Pines of the Janiculum) from Respighi's Pines of Rome. Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess is nice. Some of Faure's music is pretty soothing as well.

 

Some of Faure's music is pretty soothing as well.

Learn to play the piano, and after five years... get the score of Fauré's Prelude, Fugue et Variation, in the arrangement done by the great Ignaz Friedman.

Or just purchase a copy of it. But be aware that not all the transcriptions sound the same. The others (Demus, Bauer, Mortensen) wrote octaves with the left hand throughout the whole Prelude, so the sonority is different.

 

I've made CD compilations if I am feeling a bit mellow for this purpose.

Here's some of what I had on those CDs (off the top of my head):

Debussy: The Afternoon of a Faun
Beethoven: String 4tet No. 16 (the thrid movement) [there is a sting orchestra version of this that is quite good as well]
Pachelbel: Canon in D (it MUST be Jean-Francois Paillard's recording though)
John Adams: China Gates
Cage: In a Landscape
Cage: Dream
Satie: Gymnopedies
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 (the second movement)
Shostakovich: String 4tet No. 15 (the first movement)
Barber: Adagio for Strings (though I prefer the original string quartet)
Beethoven: String 4tet No. 15 (the long "hymn" movement! what beauty!)
Vivaldi: the largo from Winter
Vivaldi: the adagio from Autumn
Bach: the air from orch. suite no. 3

Arvo Part: Spiegel im Spiegel
Arvo Part: Fur Alina
[oh I see Andante has already mentioned him]

A bit more on the kind of weird side:
Feldman: Palais de Mari
Feldman: Piano & String Quartet
Ives: The Unanswered Question
Takemitsu: Garden Rain
[warning: those 4 can be kind of weird to people not accustomed to dissonance, but I find them hauntingly beautiful and relaxing as well]

That's good for starters...

~ josh

 

Are you still with us?? and have you listened to any of the examples we have given?

 

Yes, I'm still here, and yes, I've listened to quite a bit of the music, but, being that I'm a local yocal and my reason for listening is a waste, I have chosen to leave.
I listen to different types of classical, soothing or not and love it. I just wanted a cd that was slower for when I'm driving home. Thank you to the ones that were kind enough to share with me. I'm sorry that I have obviously offended people that are die hard classical lovers!!

 

Its unfortunate some small minority feel like they own a monopoly on classical music and so when someone doesn't conform to their standard they get on their high horse about it. And then they wonder why people have the stereotype that classical listeners are snobs?

You know you don't jump from Vivaldi to Bartok overnight! You want to drive off people who are willing to explore? This is how you do it.

~ josh

 

The Bach Goldberg Variations were written as a musical sleeping pill. Really. Even the very fast variations still have an underlying calmness to them that is remarkable.

And the neat thing is that if you want to listen deeply, there is a whole lot of stuff going on in there that can make your brain go into a tizzy, but if you just want to absorb it for what it is, it's simply gorgeous stuff.

 

mozarts piano concerto 21. the second movement andante

 

Here's just a few......

Grieg: Holberg Suite, second movement gavotte and third movement sarabande
Grieg: Elegiac Melody No. 2, also known as "The Last Spring" (try listening to the orchestral version conducted by Jarvi)
Tchaikovsky: the andante cantabile from the String Quartet No. 1
Chopin: Nocturne in E flat, opus 9, no. 2
Rachmaninoff: third movement adagio from Symphony No. 2
Debussy: Clair de Lune
Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Dvorak: Humoresque No. 7 (try listening to Ma and Perlman on You Tube)

 

I don't believe one needs to only stick with adagio movements to be soothed. For instance, I consider the entire Four Seasons (Vivaldi) quite soothing. Sure, you have a storm pass through, but it's no 1812 Overture. One of the most soothing real-world events for me is to be snug in bed while a storm rages out the window. Not that I hear rage with the Seasons - mild thunderstorm, at most.

I'll also mention Debussy's La Mer, which I find highly relaxing. Find a copy with nuages, fetes, sirens, and the afternoon faun prelude and you're in like Flint.

 

For whole works try things like Vaughan Williams Symphonies 3 or 5 or Five Variants on Dives & Lazarus, or Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, etc, etc (- quite a lot of VW), or Elgar's Serenade for Strings. George Butterworth's The Banks of Green Willow and A Shropshire Lad may also suit. The overall mood of pieces like these is soothing, even if there may be some faster or louder bits.

In a nutshell, quite a lot of early 20th century English music is quite pastoral. Some bits of French chamber music from the same period (Poulenc's Flute Sonata, that sort of thing) may also work. Ravel's Introduction & Allegro is great, too.

 

For whole works try things like Vaughan Williams Symphonies 3 or 5 or Five Variants on Dives & Lazarus, or Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, etc, etc (- quite a lot of VW), or Elgar's Serenade for Strings. George Butterworth's The Banks of Green Willow and A Shropshire Lad may also suit. The overall mood of pieces like these is soothing, even if there may be some faster or louder bits.

In a nutshell, quite a lot of early 20th century English music is quite pastoral.

Agree wholeheartedly on the very nice Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth recommendations.

 

Satie's Piano Music.

Chopin's Nocturnes

 

Soothing baroque? except for Vivaldis 4 seasons, Id say Handel s organ concertos and harpsichord suites.

I am a snob is every regard. But so far, in this classical forum I feel most like home, in spite of different views, most people are very polite and stately.

 

I love Brahms´ 3rd Symphony; I find it partly invigorating, and partly very, very soothing.

 

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-Flat Major, Op. 73 "Emperor" - 2. Adagio un poco mosso

 

It's always felt soothing to me.