classical help please!

martyna

I'm a novice when it comes to classical music, but I find myself with some spare credits and 36 hours in which to spend them in. I'd like to try some classical music, but where to start?
I've attempted this before, and from that experience I know that I probably do not like baroque music (organ and early keyboard instruments in particular), definitely dislike the sound of violins (yeah, I know, but there's something about the tone when they hit the high notes...) and wouldn't like anything too abstract/avantgarde.
On the other hand, having been force-fed Chopin during my childhood, I love the sound of the piano, and, having randomly downloaded World to Come by Maya Beiser last month, have come to the conclusion that I rather like cello music too.
In addition, being in the UK, I thought it may be a good time to stock up on those long tracks/short albums before that '12 credit deal' arrives.
Any suggestions much appreciated!

Nereffid

Hey, you should definitely head over to Nereffid's Guide and check out all the...

Oh, wait. Hmm.

Well, if you like the cello, the first thing you need to do is download the first track from Bach: Cello suites, and then decide whether you don't like baroque music.

If you liked the Arvo Part track off "World to Come", the latest Part album on ECM, In Principio, is apparently wonderful (I haven't got it yet).

I'll defer to RonanM on pianistic matters, except to say that Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated is, in Europe at least, one of the all-time great eMusic bargains.

If you want suggestions for a short "rough guide to classical music", ask - and then the fur will fly!

martyna

Ok, you got me, I've downloaded that track from Bach, and I do like baroque music.
ooh ok, ok, quite a lot.
Rzewski's album is indeed a bargin, but I'll reserve judgment on In Principio until I've heard a little more of it, it's the words 'string orchestra' that fill me with trepidation (maybe it was some bad childhood experience...?)

As for the "rough guide to classical music", well, I wouldn't dream of starting a fight....

...but I'll watch!

JFLL

If you like Chopin, and you like the cello, why not try Chopin's Cello Sonata? (He did write for other instruments!) There are some other fine cello sonatas, including those by Beethoven (particularly op. 69), Mendelssohn and Brahms, and some wonderful concertos, by Dvorak, Elgar, and Schumann particularly.

martyna

I do have some of Chopin's cello music (somewhere). I guess it didn't make much of an impression when I listened to it before, I shall find it and try again. Thanks for the reminder!
Of the others (apart from Beethoven op.69), is there anything in particular you'd recommend to start with?

amclark2

martyna, i'm also a classical novice, but 68stationwagon/brittleblood asked Robert from BIS records for a 25 download classical list, and this list was his reply. i've downloaded all 25 tracks and have been enjoying it all very much.

martyna

amclark2 - thanks for that. I remember seeing the recommendations some time back and thinking I must take a closer look.....

fduniho

A good place to start is with the three biggest Classical composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Nereffid has already recommended some Bach to you. Since you like the piano, I'll recommend that you get some piano transcriptions of Bach's music. My Switched-Off Bach, Piano list will point you to some piano transcriptions of Bach's music. I also recommend Bach Transcriptions for Piano by Risto Lauriala. Glenn Gould has done several piano versions of Bach's music, though if you have an Audio Lunchbox account, it is worth looking up Pnina Becher and Frank French. For Mozart, you can currently get Mozart: The Complete Sonatas for Piano, a 55 download value, for only 12 credits. Some of my favorite Beethoven works include his 5th and 9th symphonies. Bis, which still prices by the download, has an excellent piano transcription of Beethoven's 9th symphony: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, "Choral" (Arr. R. Wagner). Since you like both the piano and the cello, I will also recommend Beethoven's Cello Sonatas. The version I have is not on emusic, and I haven't listened to the others, but based on Nicolas Deletaille's excellent performances of Bach's Cello Suites, I will suggest Beethoven 5 cello sonatas (Double Disc) by Nicolas Deletaille and Jean-Michel Dayez, which is available for half the price of the Yo-Yo Ma recording of the same pieces. Beethoven's piano sonatas and string quartets are also excellent. I have excellent performances of the piano sonatas by Jeno Jando and of the string quartets by the Lindsays, but I'm sure there are other great choices too, especially since Sony is now on emusic. Besides the top three, I have some personal favorites from the 20th century, none of which is especially avant garde: La Mer by Claude Debussy, the Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, the Planets by Gustav Holst, Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo, and a lot of Aaron Copland's music.

martyna

fduniho - wow, thanks, that lot should keep me buisy for a while.
I may postpone Mozart: The Complete Sonatas for Piano til we get the 12 credit deal here, nor do I have access to any Sony catalogue yet, but that still leaves plenty for now.

fduniho

I forgot you were in the UK. One of the finest composers from your own country is Arnold Bax. His symphonies and tone poems are all very enjoyable. Although you can't get albums with many tracks for only 12 credits, you can still get any track for only one credit per download, which is good for getting symphonies. Naxos is one of the best classical labels you have access to. This label tries to put out recordings of almost every notable piece of classical music. So if you find a composer you really like and want to start collecting a lot of his music, Naxos is a good source. Another great classical label is Bis. This label does not record nearly as much as Naxos, but it features the works of many living composers, whose works are often not recorded by any other label. In America, Naxos albums are priced at 12 credits if the tracks go beyond 12 (which is good) or any track is longer than 10 minutes (which is bad), while Bis albums remain priced at one credit per download.

Nereffid

Martyna - Before I venture any more recommendations, I'd like to know a bit more about what you're looking for. Do you want to go down one or two particular paths (such as cello music), or do you want a more general introduction to the world of classical music? And do you know what you ultimately expect to get out of it - a whole new universe of music, or just a bunch of albums different from what you usually listen to?

I first came to classical music through compilation albums (things like "The Essential Karajan", "The Classic Experience", and some EMI series that I think was called "Best-loved classics") plus a handful of tuneful, accessible works (like Grieg's Piano concerto). I don't know if at that stage I'd have been receptive to something like a Bax symphony or Chopin's cello sonata. So when making recommendations to a newcomer I tend to follow my own experience. But other listeners may want to jump in at the deep end.

JFLL

fduniho, you wrote: "[in the UK] you can still get any track for only one credit per download, which is good for getting symphonies."

Unfortunately that's not true, because any track over ten minutes long on Naxos or Chandos (another good label for Bax) is "album-only" in the UK (and Europe generally?) , i.e. you have to buy the whole album if you want that track. And Bax tended to spread himself, so many of his tone-poems and symphonic movements are over ten minutes long. Album-only in the UK (with no album-capping) is disproportionately hard on classical fans who like romantic or post-romantic music. Long live BIS and the other IODA labels, who don’t yet have album-only, and I hope never will, unless they also have album-capping.

Katrina

I first came to classical music through compilation albums


This is how I began exploring both classical and jazz, and I recommend it.

Since I was forced to learn piano as a child, I somehow have always leaned toward pieces with piano in them. Go figure!

fduniho

JFLL, having album-only tracks doesn't detract from my main point, which was the cost of tracks in the UK. AFAIK, a four-track symphony is still going to cost someone in the UK four credits even if some of the tracks are album-only, whereas in the USA, some four-track symphonies cost 12 credits.

fduniho

Nereffid, we may have come to Classical music differently. I grew up with Classical music as a child, and my first exposure to it was mainly through my parents' record collection. There were some compilation albums, but there were also complete pieces, and it has generally been the complete pieces that have held my interest more. Bax is relatively obscure compared to the other composers I mentioned. I think this is mainly because he wasn't going along with the avant garde trends, such as serialism, that were gaining popularity in his time. Given martnya's lack of interest in the avant garde, I think Bax, who himself rejected the avant garde, may fit in with his interests, but I would recommend the more popular composers first, because I can recommend them not only on the basis of my own tastes but on the basis of their widespread popularity. Some of the pieces I mentioned -- La Mer, the Firebird, and the Planets -- are so widely popular that numerous recordings of each are available, whereas the recordings of Bax are much more limited. So my general advice here is to follow popular taste first, then when you have a better sense of what you like, begin to explore more obscure composers.

JFLL

"JFLL, having album-only tracks doesn't detract from my main point, which was the cost of tracks in the UK. AFAIK, a four-track symphony is still going to cost someone in the UK four credits even if some of the tracks are album-only, whereas in the USA, some four-track symphonies cost 12 credits."

I see your point, fduniho, but say you want a Bax tone-poem which is 12 minutes long. You've got to buy the album, so in effect it "costs" you however many tracks there are on the album, which in fact can be much more than 12 in the UK, as we don't have album-capping. If you've been collecting for a long time, you may well not want any of the other tracks, which are a dead weight eating up your credits. I think "album-only" is a huge deterrent to exploration. If we must have it, we've just got to have album-capping as well.