For me it’d have to be S.

Saint Saens
Schoenberg
Schubert
Schumann
Scriabin
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Smetana
R Strauss
Stravinsky

I could live with that list! Plenty of great Romanticism and Modernism. Scriabin if I wanna get freaky. Schoenberg if I wanna lose my mind…

Which pieces do you consider "addictive"?

For me, Brahms Symphony N. 4. I keep coming back to it incredibly frecuently. Even though I know it since decades, I still find new things there.

Also Dvorak Symphony Nr 7 and 8.

Camille Chevillard and the Lamoureux Orchestra had given the first two pieces, Nuages and Fêtes, in Paris the previous December. Sirènes was left out then because a women's chorus could not be found. On October 27, 1901, the same performers gave all three.

Debussy said he used the title in a general and, above all, decorative sense: not the usual nocturne form, but the impressions and special effects of light that the word suggests.

This piece takes me straight back to my college apartment, listening on headphones. I spent almost every night of those days listening to music until dawn, and Nocturnes is the sound of those solitary mornings when a faint light crept into the monochrome night and slowly took on color.

Nocturnes (Ernest Ansermet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hUxWbdHedU

*Debussy at the piano in the summer of 1893

I wonder how it will sound when it gets exploded

If you're the kind of weirdo who thinks classical music would never sully itself with any kind of popular culture... well, it's probably because you don't hear much classical music.

One only has to hear movie and video game soundtracks to appreciate how classical music impacts modern culture.

But what about something as abrasive and low brow as punk rock?

Well, one day, I was listening to the Velvet Underground. "The Black Angel's Death Song" came on. And my immediate thought was, "Wait a minute. This sounds more like an experimental classical song than a rock song."

Turns out I was right.

This particular song was deeply influenced by the classical composer La Monte Young. One only has to hear Young's composition "The Second Dream of the High-Tension Line Stepdown Transformer" to see the connection. And if that doesn't convince you, VU member John Cale performed in Young's Theatre of Eternal Music before joining the Velvet Underground.

Consequently, La Monte Young is probably the most consequential composer in any genre upon the evolution of punk rock since his signature drones, sustained tones, dissonance, and repetition can still be heard in the genre now.

So is La Monte Young just a one-off, a rare classical guy who accidentally impacted the most unclassical of rock music?

Well, no. There's another source of classical, and that's through Karlheinz Stockhausen. He was an early experimenter who pioneered tape manipulation, feedback, and electronically generated sound.

Almost every punk band that engaged with synths, such as Cabaret Voltaire, were impacted by Stockhausen. Now some people might object and call Cabaret Voltaire post-punk rather than punk. But since they formed in 1973, if anything, they are a pre-punk band who had a seminal influence on punk itself, and you can hear that on their compilation "1974-1976".

Finally, the classical composers who are the most blatantly punk in ethos: Steve Reich and Philip Glass. These composers were an inspiration to artists as diverse as Brian Eno and David Byrne. But their most direct connection is with another classical composer, Glenn Branca. You see, Branca was a full participant in the seminal no wave scene, and it was Branca who imported Reich and Glass's minimalist techniques that became essential to bands like Sonic Youth.

Indeed, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth played in his guitar ensembles, as did musicians associated with Swans.

So while at first glance it seems punk rock has nothing to do with classical music, it seems to have everything to do with classical music.

But what's your opinion?

I see Nelsons conduct the Boston Symphony regularly, and I usually leave having thoroughly enjoyed myself. But when I read discussions of his recordings, his Beethoven is supposedly boring, his Bruckner too slow, and his Mahler dull and lifeless. You’d think his entire discography should come with a warning: “Do not listen while operating heavy machinery."

I know David Hurwitz is very critical of Nelsons, and I wonder whether that repeated criticism has influenced people’s perceptions. Does hearing the same verdict often enough start to shape what we expect before the orchestra plays a note?

The reaction to the recently released Mahler box set is what prompted this post. I’ve seen some remarkably hostile comments, including from people who don’t seem to have listened to it yet. Reviewing a Mahler cycle without listening certainly saves time, but I feel we may be skipping an important step. I’ve listened to Symphonies 1, 2, and 3 so far, and I like them very much. But I’m not a musician, just someone who loves listening to music.

Different tastes make perfect sense to me. It’s the intensity of the hostility that puzzles me.

What am I missing? Have I been enjoying Mahler without the appropriate permit?

This is a piece I wrote for my first love. Her name in Thai is Nok, which means bird. I don’t normally give much of a backstory on my compositions, but this one is special.

We were 19 and I was living in the north of Thailand. It was my first time away from home (Thunder Bay, Ontario), and we were sitting on a bench overlooking the beautiful Nan River. The moon was so bright that night that it illuminated the golden hue of the surrounding temples... and she held my hand for the first time. I remember the feeling like it was yesterday.

I’m 34 now, and quietly, we have gone through life together. Even though we are both going through our own individual challenges, we love each other deeply, and I’m so grateful to still have her in my life.

We haven't seen each other in person in over 15 years...

So let me take you to Thailand, back to that night, the conversation we had, my feelings for her, and the life journey we are traveling through.

Does anyone have any recommendations for avante-garde Baroque. Strange and atonal is a plus. Basically pieces that sound like they're ahead of their time or still ahead of their time. Thanks!

A few weeks ago I posted a 30-minute survey about how people listen to, play and feel about classical music. 85 of the 787 kept responses came from r/classicalmusic, the second-largest source after my own channel. Thank you, and especially to those who sat through it when it ran long. Together, everyone who took it gave it nearly 400 hours.

A few results:

• 70% hear classical music in their heads every day, with nothing playing.
• 53% agree that they often feel alone in how much it means to them. That rises to 65% among people for whom classical is almost all they listen to.
• 87% pick Stravinsky over Schoenberg. Mahler and Debussy finished 51 to 49.
• Shown a clip of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony without being told what it was, only 11% placed it in the right period. Trained musicians did no better than untrained listeners.
• Ratings of 22 periods and styles sorted 95% of respondents into five Types. The 20th century divides them most.

If you missed the census, an eight-minute version gives you your Type, using the same questions and rules: https://tally.so/r/GxNZDz

Tell me which of the five you got, and which results you want me to dig into next.

Operalia, Plácido Domingo’s World Opera Competition, opened at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music on Monday, with half of its 34 participants taking the stage in the first quarterfinal session.

The conservatory and its Shangyin Opera House are co-hosting this year’s edition, which runs from 26 October to 1 November. The session ran from 3pm to 8:30pm at the 742 seat He Luting Concert Hall, with a one hour dinner break. Three pianists, Artem Grishaev, Kamal Khan and Nino Sanikidze, accompanied singers who each offered selections of their own choice and a zarzuela, the Spanish form Domingo requires in keeping with his heritage.

https://klassikom.substack.com/p/operalia-opens-in-shanghai

I came across a nice-looking copy of this 200g LP and have since learned that there are several re-issues of this recording. How does this interpretation stack up against, say, one of the other "classic" recordings like Klemperer? Any thoughts on the recording itself? Remastered in 2002 with all tube electronics, apparently.

Basically the title.

the first round of the comp was called “semi final”

I have been enjoying listening to Forrest Morning by Øyvind Torvund. Are there any more similar pieces that I might like?

He was born in the same year as Bach and Handel, yet his keyboard sonatas sound crisp and modern next to theirs. Ralph Kirkpatrick catalogued 555 of them, and most were written for the harpsichord.

What shocked me as a student was Horowitz's Scarlatti on his own CBS album. Here is the Sonata in D major, K.33, made in 1964 at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York. I think of it as a super-performance.

Last year I confessed here that I find the harpsichord hard to enjoy without very good playback, and that I was one of those who laughed along with the "skeletons on a tin roof" line. Readers sent me Pierre Hantaï, Kenneth Gilbert and Kristian Bezuidenhout, and my world got bigger. One reader's favorite was K.466, so the second link is Hantaï playing it on harpsichord.

Sonata in D major, K.33 (Horowitz, 1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLA-W7VRr6o

Sonata in F minor, K.466 (Hantaï, harpsichord)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVGERHJmOdw

hello,

i grew up in a household where classical was always playing. i wish i had an encyclopedic knowledge of it like many, but despite loving it so much as i do, i guess i'm ultimately a casual enjoyer (though the emotions it elicits certainly aren't casual).

then some years later, i got really into film score music.

actually, i'm not even really sure what genre it might be which encapsulates this music i'm talking about, but "film score" seems to be most fitting, even if some of the artists haven't been featured in films afaik (but several have, prominently at that).

joep beving, olafur arnalds, nils frahm, max richter, johann johannsson, etc. and of course then the more 'famous' names; zimmer, williams, morricone, and so on.

after first asking myself this question before posting here, if pressed to answer, my casual observation is such that much of the film score music certainly accomplishes the feat of tugging at your heartstrings, stirring up emotions, conjuring up imagery, but ultimately doesn't seem as deep, complex, evolving- film music seems to rely much more on repetition (themes), while much classical seems to move along more.

i don't want to take anything away from film music as, truly, some of my most emotive moments as a listener throughout my lifetime have been a result of scores i've heard... that depth and emotion cannot be faked... or can it, and is that kind of the point maybe even? i don't know, i'm just being silly, thinking out loud here.

i'd love to hear more from you much more knowledgable lot about the distinction(s) and/or if maybe the lines are actually much more blurred than i think, perhaps one genre veering into the next even... i could see that being the case too.

i really don't wish to diminish the efforts of any of those musicians/composers i've cited, because lots from their catalogue is truly genre-defining, culture-shaping, and generally very epic, but it somehow feels 'shallow' compared to a lot of classical- i don't know how else to describe my feeling. kind of like cola vs diet cola (or perhaps zero cola is more apt).

Hey,

I just heard this song and it has the same melody as a famous piano (I think) classical piece. It starts as early as 00:12 in the song. Bit I can't remember the name of it.

Please help me out ! The internet was of no help on this one.

Hi everyone! My sister, Evelina Andrieș, has been pouring her heart into the harp for a long time, and she just uploaded a beautiful new solo performance on YouTube.

She's playing “From Dear Dreams, Poems...” by Sabin Pautza in such a lovely, warm setting. I would love to surprise her with a few more views and some nice comments from fellow music lovers.

If you have a few minutes, give it a listen here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7UGmteNq4k

Thank you so much! 🎵✨

Looking for some great pieces for Halloween

I saw the NY Phil in Vienna last week and they played an encore I can't identify now (no reviews online yet that I can find, though I don't speak German). It was the Thursday night show, it involved both violin sections (maybe violas too), it was sweet and wistful, and I think it was in 7/8. Does anyone have any ideas?

sorry to use the word epic unironically, i hate it 99% of the time but in certain contexts like this it kinda does describe what type of opening im talking about, pieces with a lot of grandeur or strong affect

but im looking for lesser known pieces, ones that are not mentioned as often as the ones on this list:

bach st john passion - like wow. the matthew passion is also great but i think the st john is a lot more accessible in its overt drama

ravel daphnis et chloe - the start from nothing with the soft choir and then the building to the huge G major over B is so good and you just KNOW its going to be a whole adventure

handel messiah - tbh i just have a thing for works with a nice overture with the dramatic dotted rhythm intro to a fast fugato. like bach bwv 826 and 831 and the orchestral suites, theyre always exciting

mozart requiem - yes

i swear if someone unironically says rach 2. or literally anything by him for that matter like hes so corny

I'm a relative newbie wanting to build a personal cd collection of classical music. Which guide books do you refer to or which ones do you recommend?? A book from NPR or NYT or something else?? Or do you refer to someone on the net like Hurwitz on YouTube?

I am finding it tricky as many CDs / recordings aren't available anymore or they are reissued or repackaged. Also any tips on building on a budget??

Are box sets a good way to go or is it better to just shoot for reference recordings?? Lastly does it make sense to listen explore through composer or through performer or time period /genre?? Many thanks in advance for your input in this sprawling and occasionally bewildering landscape!

Some orchestras have stuck with Tuxedos with tails and others have moved to black suit with black shirts and ties. If it does matter, what do you prefer to see on stage? Or is the answer dependent on the concert/program?