Donate SIGN UP

Classical Music Recommendations

Avatar Image
iamcarley | 15:12 Wed 24th Jun 2015 | Music
69 Answers
Hi,

I want to download some classical music but I'm new to it! Can anyone give me some recommendations, preferably stuff I'll recognise e.g. from films, adverts, etc... or just anything good!

Thanks :)
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 20 of 69rss feed

1 2 3 4 Next Last

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by iamcarley. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
I like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP_CSQgBPpQ
Have you listened to Classic FM? You'll get lots of ideas there.
Unfortunately, they play the same "tunes" to death, along with the same limited number of ads ad nauseam and, of course, the words "this is Classic FM" unnecessarily every minute of the day. Infuriating radio station...but will give you some ideas.
Vltava (from Má Vlast, by Smetana) is a wonderful evocation of the rhythms of the river of that name. It has quiet tributaries in among swirling maelstroms. Highly recommended!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdtLuyWuPDs
I like anything by Barrington Pheloung (music for Morse and Lewis among others) also Spem in Allium. My version is by Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars
Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna is pretty good too
Vivaldi's Four Seasons is wonderful, you can Google 'Classical Greatest Hits' to give you some ideas of well-known pieces to try.
This CD or Download basically covers all bases. Cheaper to download.
It has music used in both TV and Film and TV Adverts.
You may recognise a large majority of them once you hear them.

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

I would start with youtube. There is lots of classical music on there, and loads of opera selections....its free to use, so just sit back and make a note of the ones that you like. Don't forget that classical music has many more variations than pop music does, and has been going for much longer ! Monteverdi and Wagner have nothing in common whatsoever !

I am lucky I suppose, as I introduced to serious music when I was very young. I played the recorder as a primary schoolboy, and I was in a brass band in my teens....very good background ! Taste in music needs to taught, as if you are not aware of something, you can't know what you like it or don't like it !

Classic FM is OK I suppose, but the station irritates me somewhat, by playing the same bits over and over again. And those ruddy adverts get on my wick !

Try listening to Radio Three from 09:00 in the morning. A good selection of very different music is played every day, not just the same old Mozart, etc, that Classic FM fills it hours up with.
I'm sure I heard an extract from this on a TV advert recently. (Anybody know which one?).
A popular favourite from the first of Grieg's two Pier Gynt Suites, both of which were among the first LPs I bought as a kid. Have a feeling that Hall of the Mountain King might also have featured in an ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1JMdWpJ54
I think that you might recognise Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NjssV8UuVA
Copland's Hoedown (from his ballet, Rodeo) proves that classical music doesn't have to be 'serious'!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsReWx9XdNs
Vivaldi's Four Seasons is generally recognised as the source of more advertising music than any other classical work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxofEmo3HA
I can't resist some Maria Callas here ! It has that tingle factor for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rjGwS20V94
Spot the 'Hovis' music in Dvořák's 9th ('New World') Symphony ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETNoPqYAIPI
And here is some Angela Gheorghiu :::::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uut6X4E-Kgk
This gets played a lot on TV. Ludovico Einaudi - I Giorni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sKZ4dx7CxQ
How about some Mendelssohn ? Fingals cave, a very famous tune !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4qxb_DytXQ
If you're a fan of the Wombles, Mozart's 40th Symphony might sound rather familiar to you ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJf4ZffkoI
People who don't know much about classical music tend to lump it all together under the single term "classical music" but it covers a whole range of musical styles from hundreds of years ago to the present day.

So for example Mozart is very different from say Beethoven (particularly Beethoven's later music) even though they lived at similar times (Mozart born just before Beethoven).

And there are different types of music: solo piano or other solo instrument, string quartets, piano or violin concertos, symphonies, vocal, opera and so on.

So you may find you like one "style" of classical music, but dislike another (as you would with "pop" music you love one artist but dislike another).

I would listen to many many different types of music from many different composers and you may find you prefer one style of music, or music from one or more composers.

Search in YouTube for things like "popular classics" and you will find dozens of videos to listen to.

Also WATCH classic videos. Watching an orchestra play something like Ravel's Bolero make you realise the work that goes into writing a piece of classical music.

Here is the link to Ravel's Bolero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KgpEru9lhw
And this modern classic, from Cinema Paradiso, music by Ennio Morricone.
This one of my favourite films as well, and it still makes me cry, no matter how many times I see it ! I can't recommend the film highly enough....but get the directors cut, not the original cinema release !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXMpBrwbNU
Sorry...beggered that up I think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXMpBrwbNU

1 to 20 of 69rss feed

1 2 3 4 Next Last

Do you know the answer?

Classical Music Recommendations

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.