Classical music for the uninitiated

[Foxman49]

I want to start listening to some classical music. Can anyone give me any suggestions for getting started?

(Aside from the pieces that everyone can recognize, but cannot name) I am familiar with only two works: Beethoven's 5th which I heard an orchestra perform a few months ago and Prokofiev's Overture on Hebrew Themes. (which I really like)

Also I remember reading some random page that said INTPs tend to like Shostakovich. Is that true?

 

[~~~]

Just dive into a classical radio station. Many play a variety of stuff. There is a lot to explore too.

 

[Architect]

Shostakovich, and when your tastes develop Nielson, Holmboe, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Chopin. Complex music that invokes the Si melancholic.

To get started it depends on what tickles you. Listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Haydn and the moderns and when you find a composer you like stick with it.

 

[Rocco]

I recommend 4 particular pieces to anyone who has ever asked why I like Classical music.

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto
Ravel's String Quartet
Brahm's 1st Symphony

I would think that Chopin and Rachmininov, in particular, would be perfectly appropriate to cut one's teeth on, but Archie's probably spent more brainpower on the subject that me.

 

[Lot]

Shostakovitch's 5th symphony is amazing. So epic. It also has it's elements of atonality, so you can get your ear adjusted to other's like Bartok or Stravinsky.

That being said. Bartok's Violin concerto no. 1. It's full of deep sorrow and a sense of nihilistic despair. A sense of how chaotic the battle of thoughts and emotions can be.

Scriabin has some nice tunes, but nothing comes to mind right now.

Philip Glass, might not be considered classical to some of the older people out there, but IMO he is following the tradition. "Facades" is good, and "Modern Love Waltz" are a good place to start with him.

Debussy, Bach, and Mendelssohn; have pretty easy to digest music. Almost anything from them is palatable to most ears.

Here is a fun little tune I like to listen to.

Spoiler

http://youtu.be/E4PLryN04Iw

I personally skip the classical era. I find it boring. Necessary for the romantic period, but still boring. Mozart's later work and Beethoven are really the only composers I would listen to from that period. I guess the sons of Bach are good, too, but they certainly sound more baroque then classical.

 

[Lot]

I recommend 4 particular pieces to anyone who has ever asked why I like Classical music.

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto
Ravel's String Quartet
Brahm's 1st Symphony

I would think that Chopin and Rachmininov, in particular, would be perfectly appropriate to cut one's teeth on, but Archie's probably spent more brainpower on the subject that me.

These are all really good pieces to start with, as well as what Architect said. Although, I'm not a big Hayden fan, but to each their own.

 

[Puffy]

To get started it depends on what tickles you. Listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Haydn and the moderns and when you find a composer you like stick with it.

Basically this. I don't like pre-20th century too much strangely (though I can appreciate it distantly). But I really like Schoenberg, Penderecki, Cage and Stockhausen - I just really love dissonant music and so find them easier to get into.

 

[Lucifer van Satan]

Handel (operas): Messiah (English), Belshazzar (German), Rinaldo (Italian) - Baroque period
Mozart (symphonies): 9, 25, 28, 29 - Classical period
Mozart: Requiem (this is the best work of his, the part that he composed, anyway) - Classical period
Dvorak (symphonies): 1: "Bells of Zlonice", 9: "New World Symphony" - Romantic period

This is simply to get you started, tell me what you liked the most

 

[Rocco]

Ooh, I had forgotten about Mozart's Requiem. Probably the best example of Classical Period mastery, and absent all of the pomp and cookie cutter-ness. Consider it added to my list.

 

[dream&bass]

Lot mentioned Scriabin but said he couldn't think of any particular tune to send. Check this composition out. This is in his earlier period where he was emulating the works and aesthetic of Chopin. As such, the melodic character throughout this piece is INTENSE. So good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3hA5J-A5Yw


I second suggestions of Debussy. Check out his String Quartet in G minor, his 3 movement orchestral masterpiece La Mer, and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is a classic as well!

You should consider listening to some Ravel as well. Ravel is in the same vein as Debussy.

 

[Ex-User (9062)]

My favorites are

Gustav Holst's Planets Suite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ895q_D9-4

Particularly Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Gustav Mahler's "Lied von der Erde" / "Song of the Earth"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ0_ucTqsIY

I recommend accompanying the music with a lyric sheet.

(Dangnit, i just can't embed this stuff.)