Quote:
Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Want to get more into classical music. But ive found that i think alot of it is too slow. Looking for recommendations of faster classical, livelier. I also am extremely partial to piano and violin, i played piano for 8 years when i was little. Not so fond of entire orchestras or symphonies either.
Thanks for the suggestions ahead of time
on a side not, ive been very intrigued by the electric violin recently
|
That's a shame! Slow music can be poignant and moving, although less immediate than more rhythmic music, it yields its secrets slower over time...
I can't stand piano music although love Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas. Some are played with deftness you'd think he'd had an extra finger!
On each hand!
His 1st & 5th intrigue me, as does the Black Mass (much slower though). Hamelin is considered one of the foremost interpreters of his sonatas:
YouTube - Marc-André Hamelin plays Scriabin Sonata No.1 Op.6 I.
I haven't updated my Askenazy collection sadly
Regarding violin music, well you might enjoy Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No.1:
YouTube - Shostakovich - Violin Concerto No.1 Mvt.4 - Sayaka Shoji 5/5
Ravel's 'Tzigane'....after half of it is over!
YouTube - Henryk Szeryng plays Tzigane by Ravel
although I do prefer David Oistrakh's version.
Bela Bartok's 44 Duos for violin (two of them of course).
You prob. do need a more general introduction to classical music, although I'm not a fan of populist introductions, which just flaunt the commercial mainstream and can positively deter many would-be-classical music lovers from even bothering with the genre.
Of the composers, you might like the 'grunge classical composer' - Mussorgsky. His 'Pictures at an Exhibition' is very carnivalesque and chimeric:
YouTube - Evgeny Kissin - Pictures At An Exhibition [1 of 4]
Maybe not quite ....fast though?
Of the string quartets, if you like 'intense', rather than 'fast' - Henryk Gorecki's string quartets are worth exploring. I only have his first 2 string quartets - can't wait to get this one:
Henryk Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 ("... songs are sung") | Nonesuch Records
Soooo frustrating that they only ship the LP version to the States
The Kronos Quartet are an interesting avant-garde classical band = they do interpret some modern work such as Phillip Glass, or Latin American composers (Nuevo). They might be more accessible to non-classical purists. I like them for their string quartet interpretation of early liturgical music (medieval).
Szymanowski's Three Myths (Dryads & Pan +/- The myth of Narcissus in some couplings) for violin and piano:
Three Myths, Op. 30: III. Dryads and Pan: Aaron Rosand: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads
Mostly however, I'd like to recommend a genre of 'fast rhythmic music' which is has become greatly neglected in modern classical music: the harpsichord concerto. There are not many harpsichord concertos in the modern era, and those which have been written, are all strikingly rhythmic and furiously paced:
1. Gorecki's Harpsichord Concerto
2. Manuel de Falla
3. Poulenc's Concert de Champetre
4. Peer Norgard's 'Turn'
Gorecki's is the best pace to start, particularly the Nonsuch release coupling with Kleines Requiem fur eine Polka and 'Good Night':
The harpsichord is such a fantastic instrument for goth style classical music. If this is too much, then Bach's complete works for harpsichord along with the 17th century Dutch school offer a more MOR Sunday evening lilt.
Let us know how you get on with your forays into classical!
