I play predominantly baroque on violin. I've started working on some Handel, and my current impression is that I much much prefer Vivaldi. :P I also saw Pinchas Zukerman playing Lark Ascending Thursday. :)

Who wrote the miracle symphony again? Was it Handel? It's bugging me, I can't remember.

It was called that because at the end of the symphony the entire crowd moved forwards towards the stage because they loved it so much, and as they did so the giant chandelier fell on the seats where they were sitting only moments earlier.

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 96 in D major is the "Miracle". (I didn't know that, I looked up "Miracle Symphony" in a Yahoo! search.)

[QUOTE=PianoDan]Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 96 in D major is the "Miracle". (I didn't know that, I looked up "Miracle Symphony" in a Yahoo! search.)[/QUOTE]
Ahh thank you, it's been itching me :p

I have a really great recording of Franz Liszt's "Consolation N.3," and it's beautiful, but it's the only piece of his I have. Does anyone have any recommendations for particular recordings or at least compositions? I'd really like to delve into his work.

[QUOTE=PianoDan]Hello. I love Baroque music as well. I've never actually heard of De Visee... what is he like? I'm not sure that I'm such a fan of lute music, and I usually steer clear of much harpsichord and organ music, but I love orchestral Baroque works such as Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and Handel's Fireworks and Water Music Suites.[/Quote]

Well, the only music I've heard composed by Robert De Visee is written for the lute. I don't exactly know what you mean when you ask what he is like. I tabbed out his Minuet in D on Powertab, and there are some other pieces on there too. The one I am currently trying to master on guitar is his Bouree from his Lute Suite in D minor. Yes, I also love Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and Handel's Fireworks and Water Music Suites. In fact, I was listening to some movements of each just yesterday!

[quote]Terrific. :thumb:[/QUOTE]

It was. See, I am a little new to the world of Classical music (and, when I say Classical, I mean Baroque, Romantic, etc. as well). Although I have listened to it everyday, and play it on guitar, I had not sat down and listened to a whole CD of mine that had Classical music until yesterday.

I listened to "Bach's Greatest Hits" and Beethoven's 5th and 7th Symphonies. It was quite good!

I picked up a compilation of Bernstein Mahler Symphonies including 8, 9, and 10 from my library today on CD, looking forward to checking that out. Apparently, the 9th was written very close to his death (although, HOW close could it be if there was a 10th? :confused: ), and it is supposed to represent the stages of life or something like that. Sounds cool. :)

Anyways, what type of compositions do you guys prefer? Sonatas, Symphonies, Operas, Conciertos, etc? So far, Symphonies have struck me the most...I really like the dramatic and emotional impact that you get from an all out orchestral arrangement, but I also like the fact that symphonies tend to be a bit more...compact, maybe? Compared to, say, Operas. Operas are certainly dramatic, but the problem for me is that they're also so story driven, which makes them difficult to follow when you're just listening to a CD and the lyrics are in another language.

IMO well designed choir/operatic singing is some of the most emotional stuff you'll ever hear, but I prefer it to be within more of a musical context, such as a symphonic arrangement, than a lyrical/story context as in an opera.

Favorite style of composition... hmm, probably the Fugue. Or a Bouree.

[QUOTE=Det_Nosnip]I picked up a compilation of Bernstein Mahler Symphonies including 8, 9, and 10 from my library today on CD, looking forward to checking that out. Apparently, the 9th was written very close to his death (although, HOW close could it be if there was a 10th? :confused: ), and it is supposed to represent the stages of life or something like that. Sounds cool. :)[/QUOTE]
I have a friend singing in the Melbourne Chorale, which is doing, with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler 3. I'll listen to it on ABC radio. Other than that I've only heard his 5th symphony, as it's the only one I've got. I'm not the biggest fan but I haven't heard it too much. Maybe I need to listen to it a bit more.

[QUOTE=Det_Nosnip]Anyways, what type of compositions do you guys prefer? Sonatas, Symphonies, Operas, Conciertos, etc? So far, Symphonies have struck me the most...I really like the dramatic and emotional impact that you get from an all out orchestral arrangement, but I also like the fact that symphonies tend to be a bit more...compact, maybe? Compared to, say, Operas. Operas are certainly dramatic, but the problem for me is that they're also so story driven, which makes them difficult to follow when you're just listening to a CD and the lyrics are in another language. [/QUOTE]
Ditto about the Operas. I actually went to see an Operetta, which was sung in English and was highly enjoyable. I liked it. The voice can grate on me a bit but I love the music, usually, and if I can follow the story then it's really good.

My favourite type of composition, if I had to choose only one, would have to be the Concerto. As much as I love Symphonies, Piano Sonatas, and so on, I love Concertos (I think the plural of concerto is concerti, but anyway). The way the solo instrument interacts with the orchestra, yet both have equally important parts (or at least, that's the case in most of the classical and later concerti). My main love is for the piano, so Piano Concertos are naturally my favourite type of Concerto. So much brilliant, beautiful piano music, yet backed up by such wonderful orchestral stuff as well... just magnificent. I love certain Violin Concertos and other Concertos as well. I guess it's for the virtuosic solo playing.

My favourite Concertos.... are hard to pick. Impossible to pick. If I had to single one out it would probably be Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in Bb minor... possibly because I saw it performed live and it was something else... but to list all my other favourite Concertos would take a long time.

Same goes for Symphonies, there are just too many good ones to choose from. I guess Beethoven's 6th, Mozart's 40th, and Mendelssohn's 4th "Italian" would definitely be three of my most favourites. Does anyone else have a particular favourite Symphony/Concerto/Etc. that they can choose above most others for any reason?

Well, I couldn't exactly tell you all the reasons why I like it, but my favorite Symphony is Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major.

His Symphony No. 5 in C Minor falls a little flat during the 2nd movement, but No. 7 keeps me engaged throughout.

I almost agree with you. I don't find the 5th falls flat, but I agree mostly about the 7th. I was lucky enough to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra do this live last year in my home town, and have loved it ever since. The second Allegretto movement is perhaps one of my very favourite single movements from any symphony by any composer, certainly among the slower, middle movements. It's almost enough by itself to make the 7th my favourite Beethoven Symphony. I do find though the third movement tends to let me down a bit. I don't dislike it, it just seems a little dull compared to the first two, which are amazing.

Last couple of days, I've been listening to Tchaikovsky's 4th and 6th (Pathetique) Symphonies in F minor and B minor. I had never been into Tchaikovsky's symphonies so much, but have always loved his Ballets and Piano and Violin Concertos. I for some reason remembered not having liked his symphonies, but I don't know why, because I've loved them the last couple of days. Next week I'll be listening to these two and the 5th.

My friend is having her first performance with the Melbourne Chorale tonight, who together with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra are performing Mahler's 3rd Symphony. Unfortunately I remember not being too fussed over Mahler either from what I've heard, but maybe when I listen on the radio tonight I'll enjoy it.

Does anybody know the best Orchestra in the world? People say the San Fran? i think it's an interesting topic.

[QUOTE=appreciate_it]Does anybody know the best Orchestra in the world? People say the San Fran? i think it's an interesting topic.[/QUOTE]
I hear people talk about London, Chicago, and Berlin a lot. I really don't know. I like the Melbourne cos I live near it and it comes to Echuca.

People always tell me that I have a quite strange taste of music. When I listen to music, it´s mainly metal. But I do play the violin, piano and the guitar, so it´s quite varied.

My favourite thing to play is Telemann and Mozart. Telemanns fantasies are great things to play fo a solo-violin. When I´m in the symphony orchestra I like Mozart (number 29 A-major) and Haydn.

I do write some as well, so in the future I might put something up in the Audio Arena.

[url]http://www.lysator.liu.se/~tuben/scores/[/url]
This site is made by a Swedish man named Johan Tufvesson that puts up classical notes on the internet. Very nice work by some of the biggest composers.

[QUOTE=Grateful Dead]It was a piece written solely for the Pope's ears, I believe. Mozart was present in some capacity, performing with the choir I think, and after he'd left wrote the entire piece down.[/QUOTE]
Well there you go. I'd never heard that. Interesting.

[QUOTE=dahlgren]People always tell me that I have a quite strange taste of music. When I listen to music, it´s mainly metal. But I do play the violin, piano and the guitar, so it´s quite varied.

My favourite thing to play is Telemann and Mozart. Telemanns fantasies are great things to play fo a solo-violin. When I´m in the symphony orchestra I like Mozart (number 29 A-major) and Haydn.

I do write some as well, so in the future I might put something up in the Audio Arena.

[url]http://www.lysator.liu.se/~tuben/scores/[/url]
This site is made by a Swedish man named Johan Tufvesson that puts up classical notes on the internet. Very nice work by some of the biggest composers.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the site. :thumb:

How much piano do you play? Is violin your primary instrument? I love Mozart and I quite like Telemann as well. I don't think I have Mozart's 29th Symphony in A. I'll check. No, I don't have that one.

Currently I'm listening to Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Tchaikovsky. It's quite good. Very good in fact. It's very romantic, very emotional and powerful.

I just got Holst's The Planets, as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Not quite as good as I'd been led to believe, but still pretty good.

[QUOTE=Iai]I just got Holst's The Planets, as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Not quite as good as I'd been led to believe, but still pretty good.[/QUOTE]
Holst is someone I've heard none of. I must keep my eye out for him, especially the Planets that I've heard so much about.

Someone whose name I haven't seen mentioned yet in discussions of classical music is Cesar Franck, the Belgian born 19th century (1822-1890) composer, pianist, and organist. Apparently Franz Liszt compared his organ improvisation to J.S. Bach.

I just listened to his "Symphonic Variations" for piano and orchestra. It was very interesting, as is his Symphony in D minor - a very romantic symphony, but very good.

Though not a massive fan of the organ, I also quite enjoyed his "Piece Heroique" for organ.

This CD I have of his is as much as I know about him, but I quite like him.

I don't know a lot about classical, but I listen to the classical radio station around here (one is 24 hours a day, and PBS plays classical in the evening.) I've been listening to the 1st movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C Major and it makes my little heart melt. I'll be looking at this thread and try to download some of what you guys suggest.

Oh, and does anyone have any opinions on the French horn? One of my high school band's instuctors said it is "God's instrument," and certainly think it is one of them. ;)

[QUOTE=Iai]I just got Holst's The Planets, as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Not quite as good as I'd been led to believe, but still pretty good.[/QUOTE]

Mars kicks total ***, but the rest of it is pretty standard IMO.

Does anyne know Pachelbel's Canon? Probably. I was wondering if there is anything else by that composer out there

[QUOTE=sink sink]I don't know a lot about classical, but I listen to the classical radio station around here (one is 24 hours a day, and PBS plays classical in the evening.) I've been listening to the 1st movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C Major and it makes my little heart melt. I'll be looking at this thread and try to download some of what you guys suggest.[/QUOTE]
Yes, Serenade in C is beautiful indeed. I know what you mean about the first movement too. You've got me into it now.:)

[QUOTE=sink sink]Oh, and does anyone have any opinions on the French horn? One of my high school band's instuctors said it is "God's instrument," and certainly think it is one of them. ;)[/QUOTE]
I have no real opinion on French horn but I would certainly not say it's "God's instrument" - that's the piano. I read somewhere (I think it was actually the 1984 Guiness Book of Records) that the French Horn is considered the most difficult musical instrument to play. (Just for the record I think it was the ukelele that was considered the easiest.)

[QUOTE=Walrus Gumboot]Does anyne know Pachelbel's Canon? Probably. I was wondering if there is anything else by that composer out there[/QUOTE]
If there's one piece of music that everybody knows it's Pachelbel's Canon in D. I did a brief and thoroughless search on the internet and found nothing to suggest he wrote anything other than his Canon in D. In my Music Dictionary, I read this:

[QUOTE=Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music]...His comps. influenced Bach. Works incl. [i]Hexachordum Apollinis[/i] (1699), 6 sets of airs and variations for hpd.; 78 chorale preludes (1693), incl. [i]Ein' feste Burg, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, Vom Himmel hoch[/i], etc.; [i]Aria Sebaldina,[/i] variations in F minor for hpd.; [i]Canon and Gigue[/i] in D for 3 vns. and continuo; [i]Chaconne and 13 variations[/i] for hpd., etc. His church music, for long disregarded, has been highly revalued, particularly his sacred concertos and his 13 settings of the [i]Magnificat[/i].[/QUOTE]
That's as much information as I can find on him right now. It's not all that useful really, but at least we know that he did right a fair bit of other stuff which is probably going around somewhere or other out there.

And, to a lesser extent, the rest of his Anaklasis album.

Xenakis's Metastatis is also worthy of at least one hearing.

Edit: I'm a moron. The album is not called Anaklasis - that's one of his pieces. It's called Matrix 5.

does any one oboe music?
I have a cd with al sorts of pieces from a lot of (unknown) composers for oboe and string arragements

very soothing to the ear :)

[QUOTE=the2stranger]does any one oboe music?
I have a cd with al sorts of pieces from a lot of (unknown) composers for oboe and string arragements

very soothing to the ear :)[/QUOTE]
Last year our composition task for A-level music was to compose a piece for an oboe quartet - oboe, violin, viola, cello (not four oboes, as some people seem to conclude). I did a 5/4 jazz piece :lol: it went down quite well. I also composed another piece for reed trio - oboe, bassoon and clarinet. As for actual composers, I can't recommend any - we listened to a few to get us started on the composition but I can't remember who they were.

My main love, of all the styles of classical music, has to be church music. I love masses, especially Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. I also really enjoy Mozart's "Requiem" mass and recently bought Vaughan-Williams' Mass in G minor. The harmonic progression at the end of the Agnus Dei is superb, it brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

I could talk more but my parents are about to shut down the internet connection for the night :rolleyes:

Well I just got back from Bendigo, where I attended a concert by the Cologne New Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra from Germany. There were six musicians (I think there were three violins, a viola, a cello, and one double bass) plus an oboeist. They played a number of pieces (I can't remember all of them) which included the following:

Vivaldi - Concerto Amoroso, and "Summer" from Four Seasons.

Mozart's Salzburg Symphony No. 2. Mozart's Chamber Music is unparalleled and this is a great little Symphony.

Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in D Minor (not sure of the composer - my parents brought home the program but I don't know where they put it).

J. S. Bach - Concerto for Violin, Oboe and Orchestra in D Minor.

Tchaikovski - Nocturne for Violincello and Orchestra. It was a minor-key piece that was just heart-wrenching.

A beautiful number by a composer with an Italian-sounding name that I just can't think of - the piece was Adagio for Violin and Orchestra. Gorgeous piece.

Pachelbel – Canon in D. They played this as an encore, which was great, because they'd advertised to play it and at the end of the program they hadn't done it. A friend of mine came almost specifically for this piece and was very disappointed when they walked off having not played it - but they came back on and did it so beautifully. Tears were welling in my eyes.

They then had two more encores after that, both violin duets, both very virtuosic. I'm not sure who the composers were but one of them sounded not unlike Paganini - just to give an idea of what it sounded like anyway.

It was a fantastic evening, almost dampened - by the fact that it was played in a Catholic Church and the "stage" was ground level, the pews just as any normal church, perfectly parallel going all the way back down the narrow corridor (I don't know church terminology). We could barely see a thing at first, but luckily found a spot to the side where we could see quite well. Another slight drawback was the poor acoustics which made it sound slightly muffled. But this was indeed a very slight drawback and really didn't matter.

So to the2stranger: I now can say that I have seen oboe music live and definitely like it. The Bach Concerto and the other one were both lovely pieces. I'll try and find the name of the other piece tomorrow.

It was indeed the loveliest night I've had in a long time.:)

Hey everyone tell me if this sounds cool to you -

I was listening to Moonlight Sonata and i noticed a part in the song which was almost identical to a part in Metallicas "the call or ktulu' . i was amazed at how cool it sounded too. Has anyone else heard anything like this in any other cases? if so please share.

Plenty of rock songs have taken inspiration and even stolen phrases from the more famous Beethoven pieces. Bright Eye's Road To Joy is the most obvious, recent example. But John Lennon once wrote a song based entirely unpon inverted versions of the chords from Moonlight Sonata. I forget which one.

Edit: Not to mention, most metal ballads take their cues from Romantic music. The two forms have more in common than you might imagine.

I've also been told that on the Hullabaloo soundtrack, one of Muse's songs from Origin of Symmetry (I can't remember which) has some of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto worked in there. On the same soundtrack, he works in Rach's Prelude in C#minor.

It's very common to have classical themes in rock music.

I have the programme from the Chamber Orchestra the other night (for those who read my previous post) -

the other Oboe Concerto was by Alessandro Marcello;

They didn't do "Concerto Amoroso" by Vivaldi, rather Sinfonia No. 3 in G major;

And the Adagio for Violin and Orchestra was written by T. Albinoni - and I'm dying to get a copy of it somewhere, it was just beautiful.

[QUOTE=PianoDan]Thanks for the site. :thumb:

How much piano do you play? Is violin your primary instrument? I love Mozart and I quite like Telemann as well. I don't think I have Mozart's 29th Symphony in A. I'll check. No, I don't have that one.

Currently I'm listening to Symphony No. 4 in F minor by Tchaikovsky. It's quite good. Very good in fact. It's very romantic, very emotional and powerful.[/QUOTE]

My primary instrument is violin, I´ve got a scolarship and I play the first vilolin in a symphony orchestra here in Sweden. As well, I play some solo violin and a play some chamber music with my trio.

I've never taken any piano-lessons, But my mother played the piano when she was young, so we have a lot of notes at home. So I learned to play the piano by myself. It takes some time, but right now I'm playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Do you play the piano? Because in that case, If you would like to, I would really appreciate some response on the piano sonatas I'm writing on right now.

[QUOTE=dahlgren]My primary instrument is violin, I´ve got a scolarship and I play the first vilolin in a symphony orchestra here in Sweden. As well, I play some solo violin and a play some chamber music with my trio.

I've never taken any piano-lessons, But my mother played the piano when she was young, so we have a lot of notes at home. So I learned to play the piano by myself. It takes some time, but right now I'm playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.[/QUOTE]
Nice, and nice. I love seeing the violin played well.

[QUOTE=dahlgren]Do you play the piano? Because in that case, If you would like to, I would really appreciate some response on the piano sonatas I'm writing on right now.[/QUOTE]
I do play the piano and would be very interested to see your work.

[QUOTE=PianoDan]I do play the piano and would be very interested to see your work.[/QUOTE]

I'm very thankful for that. They are not finished yet, but I will contact you when they are.

Having heard much about it, mainly from this forum actually, I am finally hearing Holst's "Planets" for the first time. Well actually, only Jupiter. It's on a friend's CD which is a compilation of single movements from different pieces by different composers... but anyway, it sounds quite good. I would like to hear the rest of the Planets.

Also on this same CD is "Also Sprach Zarathustra Op. 30" by Richard Strauss. It's a very very famous piece of music that I'm sure we all know from somewhere, but I had no idea what it was called or who wrote it. I would not have guessed Strauss that's for sure.

[QUOTE=dahlgren]I'm very thankful for that. They are not finished yet, but I will contact you when they are.[/QUOTE]
Surely. I look forward to it.

[url]http://s42.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1LEO5C4C5VRJH2DKJ7K9DWQLZV[/url]

You people should listen to this, it's an orchestra of Russian folk instruments playing Sibelius' Valse Triste... owns every other symphonic orchestra I've heard playing this.

I've been hooked on Bach's "Art of the Fugue" lately. I'm not especially partial to the Harpsichord as an instrument, but the music is great! Counterpoints are one of my favorite musical concepts...when well done, they evoke alot of emotion for me. It's a shame that all of that brilliance was done on such a...tame instrument. It'd be interesting to hear those same ideas applied to a full orchestra...can anyone think of any famous Bach Symphonys?

J.P.Sousa Marches
 

Would ANY BODY have a score or piccolo/flute sheet music for ANY of J.P.Sousa's Marches?. Im trying to get as many as possible. THanx :thumb:

Does ne1?
 

[QUOTE=agcolonialman]Would ANY BODY have a score or piccolo/flute sheet music for ANY of J.P.Sousa's Marches?. Im trying to get as many as possible. THanx :thumb:[/QUOTE]Would anyone hav the sheet music or score?

[QUOTE=Det_Nosnip]I've been hooked on Bach's "Art of the Fugue" lately. I'm not especially partial to the Harpsichord as an instrument, but the music is great! Counterpoints are one of my favorite musical concepts...when well done, they evoke alot of emotion for me. It's a shame that all of that brilliance was done on such a...tame instrument. It'd be interesting to hear those same ideas applied to a full orchestra...can anyone think of any famous Bach Symphonys?[/QUOTE]
The Brandenburg Concertos.