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Okay, so I'm not actually going to introduce you to classical music in any sort of order, but I am going to put up pieces that I particularly like. Who knows? Maybe someone will find a new favorite composer or piece of music.


To start off, since I'm on somewhat of a Russian kick, and to avoid the ones that everyone's heard of (Beethoven, Bach, Mozart), here's a piece by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who was one of the Mighty Handful. Festival at Baghdad; The Sea; Shipwreck. This is from his Sheherazade Suite, Opus (which means work) 35.

The Mighty Handful was a group of five Russian composers in the late 19th century, who came together in an attempt to define a uniquely "Russian" style of music. They reflected one of the dominant trends in both music and culture of the Romantic Period, nationalism. Other romantic composers I plan to explore include Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev (a bit of a stretch, yes, but I like his music), and Vaughan Williams, among others.

Also, I'm sorry that all the links are from Wikipedia, but I don't know of any good online musical history sites.

ahh, good old Sheherazade. I could never spell that right...

I would also recommend a slightly... different arrangement of Sheherazade. But's that's not what this thread is about!

I look forward to next week, Desertfly!

Wow, someone actually read this! Thanks for the comments, Hawkwings. Also, next week, I'm going to have more in-depth reference.

One the few Tchaikovsky pieces that I've listened to and really enjoyed is Swan Lake but his Concerto-No-1-for-Piano--Orchestra-Op-23-III-Allegro you have up as a link just blew me away.

Spice Runner wrote:One the few Tchaikovsky pieces that I've listened to and really enjoyed is Swan Lake but his Concerto-No-1-for-Piano--Orchestra-Op-23-III-Allegro you have up as a link just blew me away.

Yeah, Tchaikovsky is really one of my favorite composers, if not my favorite. He has so much good stuff out there apart from the 1812 Overture that people just don't know about, so I'm going to do my best to feature him.

where is this link?

I absolutely love the sort of canvass that the music of Scheherazade paints for me when I listen to it. When I hear those big chords played out by the whole orchestra in the middle of the Sea, I can picture huge stormy waves crashing against the hull of Sinbad's ship. And that violin solo part has a romantic touch to it that warms my heart.

Very nice. I'd show you the sources for the music history info I know, but it's all from these heavy archaic things called 'books.' You heard of 'em?

Hawkwings wrote:where is this link?

I found it here DesertFly's music for sailing
It's the first one in the list. You will need windows media player to listen.

Spice Runner wrote:

Hawkwings wrote:where is this link?

I found it here DesertFly's music for sailing
It's the first one in the list. You will need windows media player to listen.

Shhh! You're giving away my secrets!

Zaia wrote:I'd show you the sources for the music history info I know, but it's all from these heavy archaic things called 'books.' You heard of 'em?

Quiet, you. Actually, that was the point of

I wrote:Also, next week, I'm going to have more in-depth reference.

I'm planning on going to the library this week to get some more info. I know a lot of basic things due to reading and various classes I've taken over the years, but it's all the little details that really make it.

DesertFly wrote: Shhh! You're giving away my secrets!

My bad

Though I must say I appreciate your putting up that list. It's difficult to find good classical pieces.

my internet filter blocks out putfile

Spice Runner wrote:

DesertFly wrote: Shhh! You're giving away my secrets!

My bad

Though I must say I appreciate your putting up that list. It's difficult to find good classical pieces.

No problem. My parents used to listen to classical, and at first I couldn't stand it, but over the years I came to realize that is has some amazing pieces. As my experience grew, I came to find that there were certain periods of classical music that I particularly enjoyed. Not the actual "Classical Period" itself (which covers about 1730 to 1825), as I much prefer music from the Romantic, Modern, Baroque, and Renaissance periods, in that order. But "classical" music, insofar as it covers those periods and styles, is overall an amazing body of aural delights.

I certainly intend to add many more as the weeks go on.

Hawkwings wrote:my internet filter blocks out putfile

What did you mean here...

Hawkwings earlier wrote:I would also recommend a slightly... different arrangement of Sheherazade. But's that's not what this thread is about!

...if you couldn't hear it?

I mean, I can't go to your putfile link, but I have that part of Scheherazade on my computer.

And the different arrangement I'm talking about is by the 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps

Of the Mighty Handful to which I have been exposed, I have to say Borodin's my favorite. His On the Steppes of Central Asia is a wonderful piece.

Simplicius wrote:Of the Mighty Handful to which I have been exposed, I have to say Borodin's my favorite. His On the Steppes of Central Asia is a wonderful piece.

Hah, I had Borodin under Mussorgsky, as the first part of the title of the two pieces of his I have. And yes, it is. That may well have to be featured at some future point.

Hawkwings wrote:I mean, I can't go to your putfile link, but I have that part of Scheherazade on my computer.

Oh, okay, that's kinda what I figured, actually, once I stopped to think about it.

And the different arrangement I'm talking about is by the 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps

Yay for bugle corps! I wonder if I could find a copy of that somehow....

For this week's installment, I'm sticking with the "Big Five", though this time I'll be featuring work from Modest Mussorgsky. Blah blah blah, studied under Balkirev some, etc. I would give you more, but the one book I found (The Oxford Companion to Music, 10th ed.) in the public library's rather sparse collection of classical music history books has about three paragraphs on him, and all of that information, and more, is in the Wikipedia article I linked.

The first piece I have for you is three movements I've stitched together from an orchestral arrangement of his piano work, Pictures at an Exhibition. I believe, though I don't have the liner notes to back me up, that the version I have is the Ravel arrangement. I've uploaded the first movement, Promenade, and the last two movements, The Hut on Fowl's Legs and The Great Gate of Kiev, which repeats the theme first introduced in Promenade. Here it is.

Also, just because I'm feeling generous, here's a more well known piece of his, Night on Bald Mountain. As a sidenote, my marching band performed this my freshman year in high school as part of a Fantasia show.

Ok...I might as well jump on the bandwagon. I'm not organised enough to provide any particular themed presentation, but will post music which I particularly like.

The first piece is Sergei Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto in D minor, Opus 30. A concerto is a piece in which a virtuoso soloist (whether pianist, violinist etc) plays in collaboration with an orchestra, and Rach's 3rd is one of the most difficult pieces in the piano repertoire. In addition, it's considered by many to be the epitome of the Russian romantic period, with its sweeping melodies and melancholy. The version I'm posting is by the Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich, and is considered by many to be the finest version on record. It's pretty long, but if you can't get much from it at one go, listen to sections of it at a time.

Click here to listen to the 1st movement of the Rach 3rd


Click here to listen to the 2nd movement of the Rach 3rd


Click here to listen to the 3rd movement of the Rach 3rd

Another concerto favourite is Mendelssohn's famous E minor violin concerto. It's another concert-hall staple, and it's easy to hear why from its plaintive melodies. The 3rd and final movement is the closest thing I can think of to a musical orgasm.

Click here to listen to the 1st movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto

Click here to listen to the 2nd movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto

Click here to listen to the 3rd movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto

stupid putfile...

kheegan wrote:Snip awesome Rachmaninoff music!

Thank you, kheegan! Rachmaninoff was one of those artists who I was hoping to include, but I didn't have any of his music and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find some.

I've always prefered the original Night on Bare Mountain by Mussorgsky instead of the Rimski-Korsakov version. The feel I get from the original's opening is more terror-inspiring, and the entire piece still keeps a stormy element to it, as opposed to the complete change of character that occurs at the midpoint of the R-K version.