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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Recommendation Megathread
 
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Smudgie Buggler
Feb 27, 2005

SET PHASERS TO "GRINDING TEDIUM"

Elijya posted:

I like classical music, but I don't really know anything about it. I know the names of most of the more famous composers, but I can't really tell their work apart. I just found out one of my favorite pieces is Beethoven's Symphony #7 since I knew a movie it was in and looked up the soundtrack. Usually I appreciate songs - any style of music - more when I've heard it before in some sort of context like a movie, even if I don't remember the scene. Symphony #7 just hugs at the heart strings in ways I can't describe for me. Can anyone name any other specific classical pieces with a similar effect?

The only other pieces of classical music I can name specifically are Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach (excellent, but has a different effect) and Pachebel's Cannon in D which I know is something of an overused cliche.
"Classical music" is really hard to recommend in the sense you're looking for because it means, well, everything written before 1880 plus a hell of a lot more besides. But if you're looking for that kind of rapturous, all-encompassing, make-you-weep experience, Beethoven's 9th is a must-listen. I guarantee you've heard at least the final movement before.

Other pieces you would definitely have heard before and with good reason include Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (the best-known bit) and Cello Suites (Yo-Yo Ma playing the prelude to No. 1). You would definitely have heard some Mozart in your time, too. The Piano Concerto No.21 is a gorgeous piece that you've probably heard at some point, and there are many many other pieces of his you'd recognise too. Look him up on IMDB or something.

I'm betting there's Wagner that you'd have heard, but I can't in all good conscience give you a link to Die Liebestod or something, because to listen to Wagner in bits is to totally miss the point. There'd be quite a lot of opera you might have heard, really. You can't possibly not have heard Nessun Dorma. But, again, this poo poo's hard to recommend. Every link I've given you are all completely obvious, and they are all also tiny bits of much bigger works, the entireties of which are well worth listening to. Please, enjoy the hell out of the most famous pieces, but don't stop there. Don't listen to the hit singles of classical music. There's SO much beautiful music out there you won't have heard in a movie that you really, really should give a try. There are countless composers worthy of your time that don't make the all-time-greatest-hits mixtape, including Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Stravinsky, Hayden, Paganini, Strauss, Schumann and several of J.S. Bach's sons, to name just a few.

Have fun :), but again, please don't stop at the McNuggets.

* # ¿ Mar 6, 2011 17:17
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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Recommendation Megathread