12 Feb 09
Originally posted by ScriabinAbout the only ones on that list I haven't heard is the Bruch's and Marais and the Organ , St. Saens.
Listeners to Washington DC's only all-classical music public radio station this year selected the following pieces as the top 90 classical music selections from the past 400 years. Makes for a good intro to the basic orchestral repertoire. Haven't found a list for chamber music yet, but I tend to prefer it to most of what is listed here simply because the ...[text shortened]... kov: Capriccio espagnol
89. Mozart: Piano Concerto #23
90. Haydn: Symphony #104 “London”
12 Feb 09
3 edits
Originally posted by sonhouseI can't stand Washington DC's so called classical music station.
About the only ones on that list I haven't heard is the Bruch's and Marais and the Organ , St. Saens.
Its the worst I have ever heard of any major city or minor one for that matter.
I think they should change the name of it to be
"Mozart and Friends Classical Golden Oldies" or maybe
" The Top 40 All Time Best Buy Classical Hit Parade, (played three to five times a month.) "
Nearest better classical music station come out of Baltimore or University of Penn. in PA. Even what comes out of Wake Forrest North Carolina is better than DC.
12 Feb 09
3 edits
Originally posted by Scriabin=======================================
Listeners to Washington DC's only all-classical music public radio station this year selected the following pieces as the top 90 classical music selections from the past 400 years. Makes for a good intro to the basic orchestral repertoire. Haven't found a list for chamber music yet, but I tend to prefer it to most of what is listed here simply because the ...[text shortened]... kov: Capriccio espagnol
89. Mozart: Piano Concerto #23
90. Haydn: Symphony #104 “London”
Listeners to Washington DC's only all-classical music public radio station this year selected the following pieces as the top 90 classical music selections from the past 400 years. Makes for a good intro to the basic orchestral repertoire. Haven't found a list for chamber music yet, but I tend to prefer it to most of what is listed here simply because the following pieces are so familiar.
1. Dvorak: Symphony #9 “From the New World”
2. Beethoven: Symphony #9 “Choral”
3. Beethoven: Symphony #7
4. Beethoven: Symphony #6 “Pastoral”
5. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #2
6. Beethoven: Symphony #5
7. Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 “Emperor”
8. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
9. Saint-Saens: Symphony #3 “Organ”
10. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
11. Smetana: The Moldau
12. Mozart: Symphony #41 “Jupiter”
13. Grieg: Piano Concerto
14. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1
15. Beethoven: Violin Concerto
16. Rachmaninoff: Symphony #2
17. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
18. Beethoven: Symphony #3 “Eroica”
19. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
20. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #5
21. Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
22. Bach: Double Violin Concerto (BWV 1043)
23. Beethoven: Triple Concerto
24. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture
25. Pachelbel: Canon
26. Dvorak: Cello Concerto
27. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #3
28. Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
29. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (BWV 565)
30. Mendelssohn: Symphony #4 “Italian”
31. Stravinsky: Firebird Suite
32. Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
33. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
34. Brahms: Symphony #1
35. Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 “Moonlight”
36. Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
37. Mozart: Symphony #40
38. Mahler: Symphony #1 “Titan”
39. Brahms: Piano Concerto #1
40. Dvorak: Symphony #8
41. Ravel: Bolero
42. Handel: Water Music
43. Mozart: Clarinet Concerto
44. Marais: The Bells of St. Genevieve
45. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
46. Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto
47. Mahler: Symphony #5
48. Barber: Adagio for Strings
49. Copland: Appalachian Spring (“Simple Gifts&rdquo😉
50. Grieg: Peer Gynt
51. Bach: Sheep May Safely Graze
52. Bizet: Carmen Suite
53. Strauss, J Jr.: Blue Danube
54. Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
55. Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto #3
56. Brahms: Symphony #4
57. Chopin: Piano Concerto #1
58. Brahms: Violin Concerto
59. Debussy: Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun
60. Rachmaninoff: Vocalise
61. Chopin: Piano Concerto #2
62. Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
63. Wagner: Overture to “Tannhäuser”
64. Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks
65. Beethoven: Piano Concerto #4
66. Tchaikovsky: Symphony #6 “Pathetique”
67. Handel: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
68. Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries
69. Schubert: Symphony #8 “Unfinished”
70. Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis
71. Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances
72. Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
73. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto #2
74. Bernstein: Candide Overture
75. Chopin: Heroic Polonaise (A-flat Major)
76. Rossini: Barber of Seville Overture
77. Mozart: Piano Concerto #21 “Elvira Madigan”
78. Bruch: Violin Concerto #1
79. Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
80. Sibelius: Finlandia
81. Mozart: Piano Concerto #20
82. Brahms: Piano Concerto #2
83. Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
84. Brahms: Symphony #3
85. Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
86. Bach: Keyboard Concerto in F Minor (BWV 1056)
87. Mozart: Marriage of Figaro Overture
88. Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnol
89. Mozart: Piano Concerto #23
90. Haydn: Symphony #104 “London”
===================================
I am happy for anyone who is as thrilled to hear so many of these pieces as I was years ago.
But for the older long active classical music listener this list represents the basic diet of standard favorites that we cut our teeth on
probably while still adolecents.
This list represents to most standard and typical well worn war horses of the concert hall in the Western World. We were intriduced to music appreciation with many of these pieces years ago. Have fun.
At my age (over fifty) now when I want to hear something great and exciting which I have not heard 50 times already, I have to go to the local University Library and select pieces of interest.
These days I either write my own classical works or go to the library to hear some great but seldom heard works.
Turning to my particular classical music radio station is for the most part a waste of time.
But George Mason Library has a wide selection of great "other" pieces beside the standard concert repetiore represented by the local commercial classic music station in this area.
12 Feb 09
1 edit
Originally posted by jaywillYou write classical music compositions yourself? Where can we hear them?
[b]=======================================
Listeners to Washington DC's only all-classical music public radio station this year selected the following pieces as the top 90 classical music selections from the past 400 years. Makes for a good intro to the basic orchestral repertoire. Haven't found a list for chamber music yet, but I tend to prefer it to rd concert repetiore represented by the local commercial classic music station in this area.
13 Feb 09
Originally posted by sonhouseWell, you have to understand that the "classical music" station here in DC plays very basic repertoire -- mostly old, familiar favorites.
About the only ones on that list I haven't heard is the Bruch's and Marais and the Organ , St. Saens.
The station imported much of its staff from a former commercial classical music station, including the program director. The market for what WETA FM used to play was judged insufficient a few years back and they went to all talk. That failed, so they took on WGMS when the parent company dumped what we can call the light classical format for a rock format.
WETA's programming follows the same model as any other music format on today's FM radio -- very limited playlist determined by focus groups and other market research and then put into a loop that results in one hearing the same few pieces repeated over days or a week more than one can stand.
But I put the list out for someone new to classical music and this is the orchestral basic 101 repertoire.
There are many many pieces I would like to hear, but I am going to have to wait until I put my next music system together for that.
13 Feb 09
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Originally posted by sonhouseA rather snobbish post which I wrote. I tried to erase it but it is too late.
You write classical music compositions yourself? Where can we hear them?
It is presumpteous for me to say that I write classics. I write in the symphonic style. I am an amatuer.
'
If you can play MP3 and care to hear some write me a private note and we can converse and exchange emails and maybe I'll send you a composition or two. Do you have a package like Finale or Sibelius which can play simulated orchestral files ?
13 Feb 09
1 edit
Originally posted by ScriabinYou said it much better than I did.
Well, you have to understand that the "classical music" station here in DC plays very basic repertoire -- mostly old, familiar favorites.
The station imported much of its staff from a former commercial classical music station, including the program director. The market for what WETA FM used to play was judged insufficient a few years back and they went to hear, but I am going to have to wait until I put my next music system together for that.
Thanks for the balance. It is a fair assessment folks.
Oh, also I exaggerated. Some of that basic list I did not hear before I was a young adult. I did not become familiar with all of those pieces as a teen.
13 Feb 09
Also, I think that WETA is now run on a shoestring. Public broadcasting is very hard up. WETA FM was so mismanaged for so long, they now try to operate at the lowest possible cost. They even have one of the old WGMS' most popular daytime hosts record an all night program to save money. There is a bare minimum of purchased programs. A really good station would cover a much wider repertoire and have a lot of features produced elsewhere in addition to many more live or delayed concert broadcasts. Can't blame them too much, they simply don't have the money or the audience they once did.
13 Feb 09
Originally posted by jaywillBTW, I used to enjoy just about every piece of classical music I got to hear.
You said it much better than I did.
Thanks for the balance. It is a fair assessment folks.
Oh, also I exaggerated. Some of that basic list I did not hear before I was a young adult. I did not become familiar with all of those pieces as a teen.
No longer the case. It has become especially clear listening during the day in the office to WETA that there is too much repetition or self reference in the works of a lot of baroque and classical period composers. Too much of the same thing written over and over again -- like the thousand and one Vivaldi pieces that sound not enough different to keep me enchanted any longer. But I don't dislike Vivaldi, I just don't want quite so much of him, I guess. And Telemann, there's another one I can hear less often. Why don't they play more Handel?
I will say that WETA has helped me renew my admiration and appreciation for Haydn.
You will note that among the top 90 hits, only Dvorak's 8th and 9th appear. Although I've written them more than once, they do not play his 7th in D minor.
It came, therefore, as something of a surprise that while WETA still won't play it, both the National Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony had Dvorak's 7th on their programs in the same week.
One begins to suspect that WETA really prefers pieces in a major key --
13 Feb 09
How about piano soloists -- who has some favorite recordings we should know of.
I would include probably too many. I just heard the Rachmaninoff 3rd the other night in an old recording by Van Cliburn -- never had heard that one. I was interested and liked the way he brought that piece to life very much. I've never been a Van Cliburn fan. The two at the top of my list would be Horowitz and Argerich. But I wouldn't criticize any number of others: Sviatoslav Richter, Michelangeli, Gilels, Arau, Rubenstein, Gould, Cortot, Bolet, Katchen, Fisher, Watts, Wild, Serkin, Haskil, and on and on ...
13 Feb 09
My 'classical' tastes are all over the place.
Lately I've been enjoying Harry Partch (Delusions of the Fury) and Conlon Nancarrow (Last and Lost Works). This stuff does stuff to your head.
I was very disappointed to miss Penderecki in concert in Cape Town. A one-off opportunity and I had to be on holiday ...
I seldom attend concerts, sadly; the last one (at the Cape Town City Hall) had a piece by Glazunov that totally blew my mind. I doubt the effect would have been as dramatic from a recording.
13 Feb 09
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Originally posted by jaywillYou are talking about MIDI stuff? I have Kontakt 3, Sonar 7, an RME hammerfall multiface I/O with midi ins and outs and 8 audio ins and outs. Kontakt is a sampler host program, I think with it's own format. But Sonar might be able to convert to sound. I also have Cakewalk's Project 5, a MIDI equivalent of Sonar for audio. Some of that stuff might work.
A rather snobbish post which I wrote. I tried to erase it but it is too late.
It is presumpteous for me to say that I write [b]classics. I write in the symphonic style. I am an amatuer.
'
If you can play MP3 and care to hear some write me a private note and we can converse and exchange emails and maybe I'll send you a composition or two. Do ...[text shortened]... ve a package like Finale or Sibelius which can play simulated orchestral files ?[/b]
Did you hear my stuff on myspace? If so, I don't need to give the url out again. I compose for acoustic strings, mandolin, guitar, dulcimer, fiddle, banjo, that kind of thing, but like piano, and just got a Kurzweil PC1X performance controller, but it has a couple hundred presets, nice piano's. I am trying to get some really good sampled pianos, one called Akoustik Piano from Native Instruments, same company that makes Kontakt and Kore and Komplete and other stuff.
Also found a site in the UK where a couple of guys started up their own business based on a great piano sample, it's 38 GIGAbytes!, the site is Imperfectsamples.com and they sampled this great german upright, if you go to the site, listen to the first demo, my favorite. It is in the Kontakt format and another format for Mac's, forget which one, since I have a PC which is why I got Kontakt in the first place.
The basic Kontakt pak has about a thousand samples, none of which I particularly fell in love with, they have a nice grand, a Dusendorfer (sp?) but it is a bit short on size compared to Imperfect samples, only about 300 megs or less, which means they skimped on layers.
It sounds ok but no better than the one that came with the PC1. The imperfect sample one has the most soul of any sampled piano I personally ever heard. I still have some work to do on the comp, first had to up the ram, it had only half gig, of (yuuck, Rambus, very expensive) There happened to be a computer fair the day I was checking out a comp a guy had for sale with rambus in it, cheap, like 40 bucks for the whole thing but it only had 128 megs of ram total, not enough to be worth the effort, so that day, the computer fair was on and I found a gig (they can only be used in pairs so it takes two 512 meggers to make a gig) and I found the best price I have seen online even, 130 bucks. Which still sucks but at least I tripled the ram to a gig and a half, not much by todays standards.
So the next thing going on is the C drive, it is only 80 gigs. Kontakt 3 comes in at 33 Gigabytes(!) total, on 5 DVD's! and when it loaded I didn't know I had a custom install which I should have used to separate the samples from the program so it installed the whole friggin thing on the C drive. So now I am going to clone the C and sluff off the samples to the D drive. It so happened that I was in Circuit city last week and saw these two drives there, Western Digital, which I have been told is not the best brand but they were cheap, 250 gig drives for 40 bucks, so I got two of them. Didn't know why at the time, but now I see why. It turned out I had dropped the original D drive which had all my music files on it from various projects using Sonar, and my wife's cousin Sharon RIP, (murdered by her gardener, bad news, in NM), anyway she was a genius type, had her own website of her own design for her bf, Paul Hearst, a professional world class harpist, anyway she visits us and see's I have all my music projects on the D drive, she goes, so when did you back them up. I goes, not yet. She goes, lets go to Best Buy, She buys me a dual layer DVD burner and Nero 6 backup and so I put about 10 gigs of music files on three DVD's. So it turns out I dropped that drive screwing around with my system, it hit the floor pretty hard and when I put it back, not only did it not recognize it, the MOBO started beeping with this code that presumably meant, get that drive the hell off my back🙂, so I used one of the new ones as a new D drive and used the three DVD's to back up the old Sonar files and that all went perfectly, all the files are back, nothing lost, her final gift to me.
So now I have another 250 job that I will use to clone the existing C drive, stuff everything including XP onto that one and then get those samples off to the D drive like it's supposed to be and I will be set to get imperfect samples and/or AkoustiK piano, a professional pak from Native instruments, have a couple of bids out on Ebay for one now. So I am in the middle of all that, but the PC1 is a GREAT keyboard, 88 weighted keys, with velocity sense of course and also aftertouch and regular pedals but also a continuous pedal which is a much better emulation of a real piano. The ordinary switching pedal is just that, a switch, you kick it down to its switch point and you get sustain and you let loose and the sustain stops quite unpianolike so thats my next aquisition, getting the Kurzweil continuous pedal.
I have been very busy getting all this stuff together, just got the keyboard three weeks ago, have written two new tunes on it already though.
So if you have not heard my stuf on myspace, I'll give it to you but most all the musicians already have heard it I think.
13 Feb 09
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Originally posted by Bosse de Nage===============================
My 'classical' tastes are all over the place.
Lately I've been enjoying Harry Partch (Delusions of the Fury) and Conlon Nancarrow (Last and Lost Works). This stuff does stuff to your head.
I was very disappointed to miss Penderecki in concert in Cape Town. A one-off opportunity and I had to be on holiday ...
I seldom attend concerts, sadly; ...[text shortened]... v that totally blew my mind. I doubt the effect would have been as dramatic from a recording.
Lately I've been enjoying Harry Partch (Delusions of the Fury) and Conlon Nancarrow (Last and Lost Works). This stuff does stuff to your head.
=================================
I have heard Partch. Very innovative. He even made his own instruments and invented his own modes and scales if I am not mistaken.
A friend of mine knew him personally.
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I was very disappointed to miss Penderecki in concert in Cape Town. A one-off opportunity and I had to be on holiday ...
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The Greek School including Penderecki, I have heard.
I can't really say any piece I havce heard of Penderecki strikes me as beautiful. But I think that the composer who wrote part of the pieces which formed the sound track to 2001 Space Odyssey was one who came out of the Greek School of tone clusters. That piece which furnished the backround music to the sequence of the astranaut flying through the colors - that to me was a beautiful piece of tone cluster style modernism.
( I don't mean the Richard Strauss sequence from Thus Spach Zarathustra )
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I seldom attend concerts, sadly; the last one (at the Cape Town City Hall) had a piece by Glazunov that totally blew my mind. I doubt the effect would have been as dramatic from a recording.
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Glazunov - now there is an example of more of a composer WETA should work to create an audience for. I think their targeted public audience would love the tuneful Russian Romantic Nationalism of Glazanov.
They should play more NAXOS recordings of Glazunov and get people to become more familiar with him, IMO.
13 Feb 09
Originally posted by sonhouseI'll get back with a response. Pressed for time right now.
You are talking about MIDI stuff? I have Kontakt 3, Sonar 7, an RME hammerfall multiface I/O with midi ins and outs and 8 audio ins and outs. Kontakt is a sampler host program, I think with it's own format. But Sonar might be able to convert to sound. I also have Cakewalk's Project 5, a MIDI equivalent of Sonar for audio. Some of that stuff might work.
Di ...[text shortened]... ce, I'll give it to you but most all the musicians already have heard it I think.