Rachmaninoff's piano concertos are usually pretty good (a shame that he was quite anti-communist).
Sibelius's Violin Concerto and D minor (his opus 47) is pretty good as well.
Scarlatti's Sonatas have also been great every time I've listened to one of 'em.
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is also a favorite.
You may have noticed that these songs aren't household names (like "the well-tempered clavier" or the "moonlight sonata") but I'm trying to avoid those for now.
Also, not a composition highlight, but shout-out to Ryuichi Sakamoto.
What are your favorite compositions/symphonies/sonatas/etc. of classical music in general? Can range from anywhere to early baroque to the Soviet composers to the 21st century and so on and so forth.
This barely counts and shows off my philistine tendencies, but I really love some of the Depeche Mode instrumentals. Most of these can be classified as Neoclassical Darkwave (Goths going "classical music is cool, we should make some" basically)
Oberkorn (It's a Small Town) (Development Mix) - 1982
The Great Outdoors! - 1983 - definitely electronic, and not my favorite, but it reminds me of video game music. Specifically this , despite being from the era before mass g*ming.
Agent Orange - 1987 - this one fits slightly less perhaps
Sonata No. 14 in C#m - 1987 - yes, it's a Beethoven cover and apparently contains a mistake towards the end of the recording, because it was not supposed to end up on the album.
Zenstation - 2001 - not classical influenced, but the only interesting one they made after Alan Wilder (a classically trained musician) left the band in '95
Huh. I've never heard of "neoclassical darkwave." I guess I'll listen to these and try it out...
https://rateyourmusic.com/genre/neoclassical-darkwave/
Obscure genres my beloved.
Dvorak's New WOrld Symphony has some fuckin epic moments
I would like to start a Philip Glass struggle session in the replies to this post please
Satyagraha (probably sp) isn’t something I like to listen to, but reading the liner notes pushed me towards learning about gandhi and recognizing that he wasn’t the heroic figure I was taught about in school really at all.
Man I legit listen to bits of satyagraha all the time (I have pretty insufferable taste). The Einstein one is the one I kinda bounce off of
It’s probably got more to do with recognizing it and remembering bad experiences. Played it backwards and it sounds great.
I've been disarmed
Just a little joke, I've seen some classical music threads in other places get derailed by people arguing about Glass and whether or not his music counts as modern classical
Luigi Nono was a communist Italian composer that I absolutely adore. His two hour Prometeo "opera" is one of the greatest compositions of the 20th century. A much shorter piece, but the same vibe (it's explicitly about the horror of modern capitalist states) is his Guai ai gelidi mostri. Love a lot of serialists and post-serialists, but Nono is my favorite.
There was a communist composer who was apart of the KKE who died recently, but I forgot his name...
You're probably thinking of Mikis Theodorakis, who amongst other things scored the kickass movie Z in the 60's.
Loves me some classic Stravinsky, Rite of Spring and the Firebird Suite
Holst’s Jupiter, Barber’s Angus Dei, anything by Meredith Monk
Played Homeworld for a few months and I've been a die-hard for Adagio For Strings, by Samuel Barber ever since.
Good picks! I've been listening to Richter's Rach 2 a lot recently, so good
Vivaldi Violin Concerto in B minor rv390
Bach Sonatas for Viola da Gamba BWV1027-1029
Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor
and of course Chopin, particularly the Sonatas and Ballades
