Who here enjoys and/or plays classical music? I'd love to hear about your favorite composers, pieces, musicians, etc... Do you play an instrument? I play violin and piano and absolutely love it! I'm currently working on La Campagnella by Paganini, but it is insanely difficult...I'm barely getting the notes out. Anyway, feel free to give any input!

The first composer I liked was Beethoven. Even as a kid I liked him. Nowadays Hans Zimmer tops my list of awesome composers.

I love classical music and played the piano for 10 years.

My favorite composer has always been Mozart although I like different works by different composers.

Mozart's Requiem and his opera Don Giovani are my favorite of his works.

Beethoven, Puccini, Vivaldi are a few others I favor as well. I have seen a couple of Wagner's operas and enjoyed those and a couple of his other works, but I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of his music.

Hi! Nice topic! Although it tend to be something unusual, I'm deeply in love with classical music. What are your favourite composers, emeraldincantations?
Btw, you are very lucky...I wish I could know how to play the violin and the piano...

I usually don´t listen classical music but I have to admit that I find it very relaxing and beautiful. Especially I like the creation of so called "classics of Vienna". This kind of music is just.... so pure!

This forum is full of piano players. Wonderful!

I also play piano, I had classical training since age 3 and I always loved it, playing always made me feel like I could get away from everything else and escape to my own little world of Beethoven and Mozart.

When I was about 9 I decided I also liked the cello, but I also realized it was probably too late to become a 'professional'. I still got a cello and started my training, and well, I don't suck, but I'm much better at piano.

Does anyone here play Viola?

Hi, piano players. +1 here. Far from being a pro, though.

As for my favourite piece of classical music it has always been The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi. I guess it is partly because I wanted to play violin when I was a teenager. However my parents couldn’t stand the disturbing whining sound coming from the violin in my incompetent hands so I had to choose less irritating instrument - piano.

Not so much classical as it is operatic, but I do LOVE listening to Il Divo, and Josh Groban when the mood strikes me.

Oh my!

You could've gotten them ear plugs for Christmas. I know my brothers begged for those when I was learning how to play cello.

Was he lucky to get ones?

Lovely topic I listen to classical music occasionally, usually when I want to relax and everything else seems too loud to listen to. A big favourite of mine is Mussorgsky.

I wonder if I'm the only one who gets epic, intense images from movie scenes in my head when I listen to Shostakovich...?

Yes, my dad got them both large bags of ear plugs as a present for Hanukkah. It was hilarious.



That happens to me. I just don't see epic movie scenes, but ... I don't know how to explain it. Colours, maybe?

Yes, colours. I see different colours when I close my eyes, according to the overall 'feel' of the music I'm listening to.

I love classical music I have several fave composers, like Vivaldi, Carl Orrf, Chopin, Ravel, Schubert.

Same. but with Mozart, Paganini and Brahms. and without Schubert and Ravel.

I play Indian classical music. I have learnt the tabla [form of Indian drums] and also used to sing classical music.. But was taken over by the love for the tabla..!
I also occasionally listen to Western classical music - Yanni and the like..
But mostly my ears yearn for POTF and certain Indian songs that are soulful...

i love classical music as much i loved PoTF music, my favorite composers beethoven, chopin, and vivaldi

Since I saw "Farinelli" I fell in love with baroque music.

I love classical music. I joined my school's orchestra and I've been playing the violin for about 5 years. Next week, my orchestra and I are going to play at a concert in one of our schools for the parents. I hope we sound great!

i love classical music, favorite composer probably mozart or beethoven. chopin is awesome to.
and also i loved videogames music , and as a gamer my most favorite composer is nobuo uematsu or yoko shimomura from Final fantasy and kingdom hearts, they're brilliant. and you should hear Shadow of colossus OST too, it's nothing but epic. while i only love few modern musician, because many bands now are very bland, no art, no sense of music, and all sounds the same if it's not terrible. poets is one of the few exception, they revived what i loved about music back in 2000's. there were lot of awesome musician back then, while music now is infected by crap like lady GaGa, ect. (in my opinion, i have no intend to offense her fans here)

I too enjoy some Baroque, I am a sucker for Pacabel's Cannon, but Mozart is the master in my book; granted I adore Beethoven as well, but Mozart really brought about the new age in classical music........I really think he lifted it up to a new level with his operas, the themes and then introducing dancing into the opera which was unheard of till then .

I have not seen "Farinelli" but since you mention it I am going to look it up!

@apollooo

My grandmother LOVED Chopin! We used to listen to it at her lake house in Florida, especially when there were thunderstorms! I played some sonatas on the piano when I took lessons a long time ago too.

I was never as good as this guy though.....fantastic! I remember this one so well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYG-Q-TlC8E

@Vic

You never told me you played the violin! And all the talks and things

JUST KIDDING! Wicked! I always wanted to play the violin!

@shanti_everywhere

My father loves an Indian composer, I can't remember his name though........he used a zither maybe? I'm not sure, but I really liked listening to it when I was young .

We're touching divine with Mozart's operas: "Don Giovanni" is one of my favorites! I also love Beethoven's symphonies. These composers were more that human beings

I play the piano a little. I can't point many songs to many composers, but I really love Chopin and Grieg, and all of the songs that float through our house daily because nearly everyone in my family plays the piano, besides my mother, she plays the saxophone.

GOOD TASTE!!!!!!

I love classical music, besides I sing opera as a hobbie so, I love sopranos arias for example:
Mozart's queen of the night
una voce poco fa.
lakme and too many more.

and about composers my favorites are:
Verdi (Requiem ....my GOD!!!!!!!!! I love it)
Shuberth ( The unfinished symphony makes me cry, it's so beautiful.)
Dvorak
Zbigniew Preisner

but I can't stand Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier... sorry, it seems heavy and dark to me.

Hey

well, I do play a little bit classical guitar, took about two years lessons. My teacher was very good. But then I got pregnant and my guitar didn't fit for a little while.

But I relax with Ravell, Mozart and Vivaldi - also others.
I tried to lead my children to learn an classic instrument and my grown up daughter plays drums and piano and is still learning classical music, I'm proud to say, she is learning some really difficult pieces. For now the drums are standing quietly in a corner of her home
My grown up son doesn't play an instrument, he plays with words making poetry. That's always sooo touching, when he gives me another one of his poems to read.

a little off topic, sorry

hehe, now you got an idea of how old I am, by the way, another two children are still teenager, I'm mom of 4 again some off topic

I love classical music.

Some cool masterpieces, I recommend.

Air (Bach)
Adagio in G minor (Albinoni)
Piano concerto No. 1 in B flat (Tchaikovsky)
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik 1st. mvt (Mozart)
Für Elise (Beethoven)
Liebestraume No. 3 (Liszt)
Morning (Grieg)
Spring (Vivaldi)
Symphony No. 40 in G minor (Mozart)
Symphony No. 5 in C minor (Beethoven)
Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia (Khachaturian)
Swan Lake theme (Tchaikovsky)

And few more masterpieces.

Bach - Toccata and fugue in D minor
Barber, Samuel - Adagio for strings
Beethoven – Moonlight sonata
Beethoven - Ode to joy
Beethoven – Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24, "Spring": II. Adagio molto espressivo
Bizet, Georges - Carmen (habanera)
Bizet - Carmen (marche du toreador)
Boccherini - Menuet
Brahms, Johannes - Cradle song
Brahms - Hugarian dance no 5
Charpentier - Te Deum: Prelude
Chopin, Frederic - Nocturne Op.9 No.2
Debussy, Claude - Claire de Lune
Dvorak - Humoresque
Elgar - Salut d’amour, op. 12
Fauré, Gabriel - Pavane
Fauré - Sicilienne
Fucik - March Entry of the Gladiators
Gounod - Funeral March Of A Marionette
Grieg, Edward - In the hall of the mountain king
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor
Handel, George Frideric - Messiah (Hallelujah chorus)
Ivanovici, Ioan - The Danube waves
Järnefelt, Armas - Berceuse
Khachaturian, Arem - Masquerade
Khachaturian - Sabredance
Liszt - Romance “O pourquoi donc” in E minor, s 169
Liszt - Consolation no. 3 in D-flat major, s 172
Mahler - Symphony No. 5: IV
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo
Melartin, Erkki - Butterfly Waltz
Melartin - Festival march (Sleeping beauty wedding march)
Mendelssohn, Felix - Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave)
Mendelssohn - Wedding march
Mendelssohn - Spring song
Mozart, W.A. - Elvira Madiagan Piano concerto 21 in C minor
Mozart - The marriage of figaro
Mussorgsky, Modest - Pictures at an Exhibition: The Old Castle
Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld (Can Can)
Orff, Carl - Carmina Burana
Paganini - Moses Fantasy (Variations on the G String)
Pärt, Arvo - Alina - Spiegel Im Spiegel
Prokofiev, Sergei - Montagues and capulets
Prokofiev - Peter and the Wolf
Prokofiev - Romance from Lt. Kije Suite
Ravel, Maurice - Bolero
Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez
Rosas, Juventino - Over the waves
Rossini - William Tell overture finale
Saint-Saéns - The swan
Satie, Erik - Gnossienne No. 4
Satie - Gymnopedies
Schubert, Franz - Ave Maria
Schubert - Serenade
Sibelius, Jean - Finlandia
Sibelius - Etude Op.76 No.2
Sibelius - Karelia Suite, for orchestra, Op. 11 : 3. Alla Marcia
Sibelius - Karelia Suite: Intermezzo
Sibelius - Tuonelan joutsen (The swan of Tuonela)
Strauss - The blue danube
Strauss - Voices of spring
Strauss Jr. Johann - Vienna blood waltz
Strauss Sr. Johann - Radetzky March
Strauss, R. - Sunrise
Tarrega, Fancisco - Recuerdos de la Alhambra
Tchaikovsky, Peter - Romeo and Juliet fantasy overture
Tchaikovsky - Waltz (from the nutcracker)
Verdi - Rigoletto (La donna e mobile)
Vivaldi - Winter (largo)
Wagner, Richard - Bridal chorus (Wedding march)
Wagner - The Ride of the Valkyries
Waldteufel - Skater's waltz

Jethro Tull - Warchild Waltz

If you like classical/instrumental music, I recommend also these Movie songs.

Aaron Zigman - The Lake (The Notebook)
Alan Menken - Farewell (Pocahontas)
Alan Menken - Main titles (The little mermaid)
Alan Silvestri - Annies theme (Father of the pride)
Alan Silvestri - Forrest Gump Suite
Alan Silvestri - Main title (Back to the future)
Alexandre Desplat - Girl with a pearl earring theme
Angelo Badalamenti - Laura Palmer’s theme (Twin Peaks)
Brad Fiedel - Emma’s eyes (Blink)
Clint Mansell - Together we will live forever (The fountain)
Danny Elfman - Titles (Big fish)
Dave Grusin - The Champ
Ennio Morricone - Deborah’s theme (Once upon a time in America)
Gabriel Yared - English Patient theme
Gabriel Yared - The lover theme
Hans Zimmer - Time (Inception)
Harold Faltermeyer - Memories (Top gun)
Harold Faltermeyer - Top gun anthem
James Horner - A beautiful mind theme
James Horner - Returning home (Cocoon)
James Horner - The Ludlows (Legends of the fall)
James Horner - The Portrait (Titanic)
James Newton Howard - King Kong
James Newton Howard - Noah visits (The village)
John Barry - Hanover Street theme
John Barry - The John Dunbar theme (Dances with wolves)
John Barry and Roger Williams - Somewhere in time
John Williams - E.T. Theme Song
John Williams - Far and Away - Suite
John Williams - Hedwig’s Theme (Harry Potter)
John Williams – Home alone
John Williams - Indiana Jones theme song
John Williams - Jaws theme
John Williams - Jurassic Park theme song
John Williams - Main theme (Star wars)
John Williams - Memoirs of a Geisha
John Williams - Schindler's list theme
John Williams - Seven years in Tibet theme
John Williams - The Patriot theme
John Williams - Where Dreams Are Born (A.I.)
Lennie Niehaus - Doe eyes (The Bridges of Madison County)
Mark Isham - Life as a house movie soundtrack
Michael Nyman - The heart asks pleasure first (Piano)
Rachel Portman - Main titles (The Cider House Rules)
Thomas Newman - Road to perdition theme
Thomas Newman - Whisper on a thrill (Meet Joe Black theme)
Vangelis - Chariots of Fire theme
Yann Tiersen - Comptine d'un autre ete : L'apres midi (Amélie)
Yiruma - River flows in you (Twilight)
Zbigniew Preisner - Damage theme