Wanderer Between Worlds wrote:I've been listening to a lot of Tchaikovsky (
1812 Overture, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake), Vivaldi (
The Four Seasons), and Camille Saint-Saens (
Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre) lately, along with various other pieces by other composers (Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Grieg). I'd be curious to see if there are any other NarniaWebbers who like classical music. I would also love to hear anyone else's recommendations about composers or pieces, as I am always looking for more classical music to listen to!
Oh, yes! I love to listen to classical music! You've mentioned many of my favorites already! I love Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Saint-Saens as well as Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Bach, and Grieg.
I had the opportunity to go to many recitals and concerts when I was an undergraduate, and they really helped develop my appreciation and love for classical music.
The Rose-Tree Dryad wrote:Dvorak's New World Symphony became a favorite of mine when I was a teen, particularly the Largo movement.
Me, too! It always gives me the goosebumps. I also love the choral piece "Going Home," which takes it melody from Largo. It's quite beautiful. Funnily enough, many people think that "Going Home" is a spiritual.
The Rose-Tree Dryad wrote:Wanderer and Glenwit, if you guys like the Star Wars soundtrack, you should check out Gustav Holst's The Planets; John Williams drew a lot of inspiration from that.
I actually really like Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, the fourth movement from
The Planets, but I liked it because the song "I Vow to Thee, My Country" takes its melody from it.
Courtenay wrote: I don't have an absolute favourite composer, but since I moved to the UK, my favourite British composer has definitely been Ralph Vaughan Williams. I don't know if I'd ever heard anything by him before I came here, but I fell in love (again!) when I first heard one of his most famous pieces, The Lark Ascending. I soon found plenty of other pieces by him that I love as well — he has a very distinctive, very "English" sound to his music (he collected folk songs and traditional hymn tunes and used them a lot as the basis of his own works).
I agree!
The Lark Ascending is so beautiful! Ralph Vaughan Williams also wrote a beautiful rendition of "Greensleeves" (
Fantasia on "Greensleeves").
I've been trying to branch out and listen to a variety of classic music not just the ones that most people are familiar with. I recently discovered a piano version of "Sheep may safely graze," which is an aria from Bach's Hunting Cantata, BWV 208. It is so beautiful! I also love Beethoven's Waldstein sonata (Piano Sonata No. 21) and, of course, his "Moonlight" Sonata!
I'm also a huge fan of choral music. One of my favorite composer is John Rutter. I discovered his music through the many choirs and ensembles I was involved in at college. I especially love his carols. He's also done arrangements of well-known English hymns that also quite beautiful.
~Wunder