I'm about to finish my Music Appreciation class this semester, and I want to make a CD of alot of the music that we've listened to over the semester so I can take it to medical school. I know there's a some research out there that implies listening to art music while studying can do some good, but I'm really doing it just because I like it
Here are my candidates. Please reply if you have any suggestions!
Vivaldi - "Spring" from
The Four Seasons
Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5
Mozart - Piano Concerto in G major
Beethoven - Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor
Clara Schumann - "Nocturne" from Music for an Evening Entertainment
Smetana - The Moldau
Handel - Water Music</SPAN>
Mozart
- Fur Elise
I'm a chem. major and didn't really expect to enjoy this class, but I really have. Old music rules!
Well, except that early 20th century stuff, lol.
First time I'm seeing someone here really interested in classical music. I've been a classical addict for the last six years listening to nothing but classical. Believe me, there are so many pieces there that you can never run out. Compare that to pop music, and you can go through an entire repertoire of any one artist in a week or less.
Ok, some suggestions: No classical list can be complete without the father of all classical music: Johann Sebastian Bach. Here are some of the more famous pieces by him and the best performers:
J.S. Bach:
Brandenburg Concertos (Alessandrini)
Cello Suites (Yo-Yo Ma, 2nd version)
Goldberg Variations (Gould)
Overture No.2 in B Minor (Pinnock)
Piano Concertos (Gould)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Hurford)
Here is Bach's
Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543, I.Praeludium
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEhPprtZOdc[/youtube]
Not the best performance, but ok (try Weissenberg instead).
Here is Bach's
Chorale Prelude 'Ich rud' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ,' BWV 639
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrptYiV25JQ&feature=related[/youtube]
I like Perahia's version better.
Here is the exquisite first movement of
Goldberg Variations by Glend Gould himself:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv94m_S3QDo[/youtube]
Another piece by Bach -
Prelude in D Minor, BWV 926 (Gould):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytmb4u2XDqU[/youtube]
I can go on and on about Bach because I think too many people who are new to classical music don't appreciate the importance of Bach. Mozart and Beethoven, among many other old and new composers, have learned from him.
Just to throw this out there, here is what's considered one of the best works by Chopin -
Nocturne Op.Posth in C Sharp Minor:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Wsp9TpIZw[/youtube]
I'd get the version played by Arrau.
If you like any particular style or composer, let me know and I'll give you some suggestions. I like all composers.
I'll end with a piece that is not well known even to classical aficionados:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjwnWWNNeFg[/youtube]
That's Ave Maria by Giulio Caccini. You might like the voice version too.