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Heavy Classical Music

post #1 of 80
3/24/06 at 11:56am
Thread Starter 
I'm not too familiar with classical---I like Debussy, Mozart, etc, etc... Though I'm looking for some heavy/intense classical.

Also any dark classical music would be cool, too.



Thanks.
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post #2 of 80
3/24/06 at 12:05pm
Elend
http://www.elend-music.org/
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post #3 of 80
3/24/06 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enverxis
This is cool, but I was looking for something less contemporary and more traditional.

Thanks though.
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post #4 of 80
3/24/06 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BodiesOfLight
I'm not too familiar with classical---I like Debussy, Mozart, etc, etc... Though I'm looking for some heavy/intense classical.
Beethoven is very intense and at times heavy. Wagner is very heavy and at times intense

Quote:
Also any dark classical music would be cool, too.
Wagner's Ring certainly qualifies. Try before you buy (the library is your friend). I'd recommend getting it on DVD (or videotape): you need to see what's going on to enjoy the music for 13+ hours. If you dislike opera, you can still get one of the many orchestral highlights disks: the prelude to Rheingold is one the most beautiful examples of dark, primeval music.

Another dark and intense (but not heavy) piece is Stravinsky Rite of Spring. My fave is Muti/Philadelphia which is available as a EMI budget rerelease coupled with Mussorgsky "Pictures" also pretty intense.

Finally Bartok Bluebeard's Castle is an intense, heavy and downright creepy (in a Boris Karloff movie kind of way) modern opera.
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post #5 of 80
3/24/06 at 1:06pm
Brahm's 4th, first movement. I swear it's the most intense piece of classical I've heard to date... the ending sounds like a scream of fear, looking death right in the eye, interspersed with the joy of being alive (although that may not be what Brahms intended, yet I think it was the last symphony he wrote before he died). Heavy s**t, and I find it deeply moving and satisfying every time I listen.

P.S. the rest of the symphony is kinda blah though... it's like he used up all his energy in the first movement, and wrote the rest in his sleep.
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post #6 of 80
3/24/06 at 2:51pm
Shostakovich 5...11 is pretty intense too, it's about the massacre of 1905, imagine tanks and machine guns. Then again, there are reports that he was inspired by another massacre by stalin but used the 1905 massacre as a disguise...

Beethoven 5 & 9, Mahler and Bruckner symphonies, definitely Strauss Ein Heldenleben, there's a battle scene which is amazing. Berlioz symphonie fantastique, starts off relaxes and then gets intense in the 4th and 5th movement, execution scene and witches orgy respectively. Those off the top of my head.
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post #7 of 80
3/24/06 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
Cool, I'll check this stuff out. I'm not into opera, but I'll check out the orchestrated only stuff.
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post #8 of 80
3/24/06 at 2:58pm
My best recommendation would be Shostakovich 8. That is a really dark and violent piece of music.

I have the version on Decca with Haitink conducting the Concertgebouw orchestra; great performance and sound quality.
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post #9 of 80
3/24/06 at 2:59pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by nabwong
Shostakovich 5...11 is pretty intense too, it's about the massacre of 1905, imagine tanks and machine guns. Then again, there are reports that he was inspired by another massacre by stalin but used the 1905 massacre as a disguise...

Beethoven 5 & 9, Mahler and Bruckner symphonies, definitely Strauss Ein Heldenleben, there's a battle scene which is amazing. Berlioz symphonie fantastique, starts off relaxes and then gets intense in the 4th and 5th movement, execution scene and witches orgy respectively. Those off the top of my head.
I'm loving the Shostakovich stuff so far (listening to stuff on Amazon).
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post #10 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BodiesOfLight
I'm loving the Shostakovich stuff so far (listening to stuff on Amazon).
Suddenly i too have the urge for shosty...putting some on right now..

A couple of months back, maxim shostakovich ( dimitri's son ) came to my school to listen to us rehearse shosty 6. He came up to conduct the 4th movement. It was crazy but fun. He picked a tempo which was almost impossible....
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post #11 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fante7
My best recommendation would be Shostakovich 8. That is a really dark and violent piece of music.

I have the version on Decca with Haitink conducting the Concertgebouw orchestra; great performance and sound quality.
YES. Dark and violent is right. Wow.
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post #12 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BodiesOfLight
Cool, I'll check this stuff out. I'm not into opera
that's too bad, a little threadjacking is in order to convert you on the spot
Wagner is not the best place to start with opera (at least it wasn't for me). Since you like Mozart do yourself a favour and listen to Rene Jacobs' Nozze di Figaro. It is not dark, it is not heavy, it is simply wonderful!
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post #13 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:21pm
I totally second Shostakovich 5. Movement IV- Allegro non troppo- is pretty much as intense as an onchestra can be- IMHO.

Oh yeah, and dont get the Bernstein coupled with the Yo-yo ma cello. He totally misses the point, IMHO, and ruins the symphony
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post #14 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:32pm
Harnoncourt's latest recording of Mozart's Requiem.

Liszt's Totentanz. The title translates to Dance of the Dead I believe? Play it loud . . . LOUD. Heh.

Mahler's 2nd Symphony probably qualifies too.

That is some dark stuff
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post #15 of 80
3/24/06 at 3:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BodiesOfLight
I'm not too familiar with classical---I like Debussy, Mozart, etc, etc... Though I'm looking for some heavy/intense classical.

Also any dark classical music would be cool, too.
Stravinksy - THE RITE OF SPRING. You can hear where John Williams got some of his ideas for his Star Wars music. See also THE FIREBIRD SUITE and PETROUCHKA. Antal Dorati is a great choice for Stravinksy.

Holst - THE PLANETS. Ditto (re: John Williams).

Bruckner 8th Symphony. Intense and beautiful.

Sibelius 2nd Symphony. One of my favorites that I don't mention too often.

-jar
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