We’ve heard recently from the metalheads and the rap lovers. Are there any classical music fans out there?
Here are a few of my faves:
Nutcracker Suite - Tchaikovsky
1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky
William Tell Overture - Rossini
Canon in D Major - Pachelbel
Mozart (Leopold) - Sinfonia de caccia in G major
Mozart - La Nozze di Figaro, Overture
And, last but not least:
Beethoven’s glorious 9th (never fails to bring a tear to my eye)
I think that Beethoven’s 9th was the greatest piece of music ever written. I took my kids to see it performed at the local symphony. They even had a fat lady sing!
1812 Overture-Simply amazing. I refer to the entire 16 minutes, not just the last few minutes that most people are familiar with. I have this in my CD Alarm clock and I wake up to it every day.
Beethovens 9th-Best with the choral pieces intact. Again most people only hear ode to joy and not the whole thing.
O Fortuna from Carmina Baruna
Morning from “Peer Gynt” by Grieg
Ave Maria by Schubert
Thus Sprach Zarathustra
William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger theme to most people)
Air by Bach
The Planets by Holst (inspiration for John Williams’ Star Wars themese)
Really just too much to list. I have very eclectic musical tastes, but would have to put Classical music (more precisely Baroque, Classical, and Romantic) at the top of my list of favorite styles.
I don’t know why irondoc, but I had a feeling you were going to reply to this post. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. And anybody who disagrees has no appreciation for all that is good, true and beautiful in the world. 
I’m swollen for shubert
Groove
We saw the whole symphony. I have a lot of other stuff for when the mood moves me.
I know this isn’t Mozart,
But I love Debussy’s Clair de Lune. I listened to it on repeat when I read The Clan of the Cave Bear Book. It made me fell like I was actually there.
I listen to Bach and Baroque when I study. It helps me remember what I’m reading better.
“La Donna es mobile” is without a doubt one of the greatest musical masterpieces ever written.
“La Paloma Blanca” comes in a close second.
Its amazing to think these guys wrote the musci on paper and hear it in their heads before ever actually playing it with instruments.
I played the violin for at least 20 years of my life I still listen to Mozart, Vivaldi, Mendlessohn, Tchaikovsky. I played it also. Greatest Celloist of all time is Yo - Yo MA! Chee-Yun is one of the greatest female violinist. And Lang Lang is one of the most passionate pianist in the world. I am a little bias here picking out all the asian classical musicians.
I love classical music, esp. the music from Baroque and Romantic eras and I’m a sucker for music in minor keys. I’m quite sure I’m leaving out a lot, but I like (in no particular order):
J. S. Bach
Brandenberg Concertos (esp. fond of 3 and 4)
Air in G (it’s really in D, but who cares? ^^ If anyone’s ever watched Eva the movie, Air in G was used in one of the most creative way)
Double Violin Concerto
Suite for Solo Cello (if you haven’t listened to it, you should. Get Yo Yo Ma’s)
Vivaldi
Four Seasons
Violin Concerto in Am
Pachelbel
Canon in D (although this one’s overplayed by far)
Paganini
Caprices
Conceto for Violin La Campanella
W. A. Mozart
Symphonies in Gm (#25 and 40)
Overture to Marriage of Figaro
Piano Concerto #20
Beethoven
Appassionata Sonata
Moonlight Sonata
Pathetique Sonata
Symphonies #5, 7, 9
Brahms
Symphony #4 in Em
Piano Concerto No 2
Variations on the Theme of Paganini
Mendelssohn
Violin Concerto
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Saint-Saens
Le Carnaval des Animaux
Bizet
Carmen (who can forget the famous Habanera and the March of Bullfighters?)
Schumann
Piano Concerto
Ravel
Bolero
Debussy
Pour Le Piano
Claire de Lune
Dvorak
Violin Concerto
Cello Concerto
New World Symphony
Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto #1
Violin Concerto
1812 Overture
Marche Slav
Symphonie Pathetique
Waltz from Eugene Onegin
Romeo and Juliet Overture
Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique
Grieg
Piano Concerto
Peer Gynt
Norwegian Air
Mascagni
Intermezzo Sinfonico (one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard)
Chopin
Nocturnes
Etudes (esp. known for the black keys, revolutionary, and butterfly among others)
Ballades
Preludes
Piano Concertos
Polonaises (esp. Military)
Liszt
Variations on the Theme of Paganini
Hungarian Rhapsodies
Wagner
Flight of the Valkirie (spelling and the title?)
March of the Meistersingers
Rachmaninoff
Variations on the Theme of Paganini
Piano Concertos #2 & #3 (I’m surprised that nobody mentioned these two masterpieces!)
Vocalise
Samuel Barber
Adagio for Strings
CASS: Are you following the tips in the Superlearning book by chance?
Irondoc: How old are your kids? How did you manage to get them to sit through a whole symphony?
Cass: I used Mozart and Beethoven as examples only.
I’ve read Clan of the Cave Bear too, as well as The Valley of Horses, and I got halfway through The Mammoth Hunters. I plan to finish it and read the other two books in the series. If you can manage to put aside your studies a bit, I strongly suggest you continue with the series.
I usually don’t go for bestsellers but these books are fascinating. Ayla is a fantastic character. Now there’s a high-T woman. This series also provides an interesting glimpse into what life was possibly like during prehistoric times.
Oops, I’m hijacking my own thread. All right everybody, back to Beethoven.
I enjoy listening to classical music when I study. I know some composers but not too many names of pieces.
For the classical/opera genre I really like Andrea Bocelli. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with his work but the guy is amazing.
If you’d like to sample one of his songs I would recommend “Time to Say Goodbye”. It is one of my favorites.
Or “Con Te Partiro” for you Italian speaking Bocelli fans. It’s a duet with Sarah Brightman.
I am a HUGE fan of classical music. I do love my Mozart. Even watch my DVD of “Amadeus” pretty regularly.
But I must say, Mozart’s music is responsible for my classical craze. While I do enjoy Beethoven, my next favorite composer is indeed Berlioz.
I got hooked on his stuff after hearing a bit of it in “Star Trek: First Contact”. Seriously.
What I do is go to the library check out a few classical CD’s of various composers and just listen. I’ll then go look for the ones I like in stores and purchase them or get them via Apple’s iTune music store.
Love my classical.
I like:
Bach
-organ stuff especially BWV540
-Goldberg Variations
-Brandenburg Concertos (especially #5 with the harpsichord solo & #6)
-Orchestral Suites (that Air piece is part of Suite #3 in D)
-Solo cello suites (& Rostropovich has the best recording, not Ma)
Handel
-Music for the Royal Fireworks (the beginning is like the Star Wars theme except it’s not a tired cliche)
& a bunch of the stuff already mentioned. It’s mostly just the popular stuff that you can buy off TV. Everyone’s only scratched the surface when it comes to this stuff.
I also do the Baroque/Motzart thing for studying.
they were 8 and fell asleep. But I tried. They were taking music lessons, so I thought it would work. In their defense the auditorium was hot that night.
Irondoc: The important thing is that you’re exposing your kids to the arts.
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Fur Elise from Beethoven
Pavanne by Gabriel Faure
Vocalise from Rachmaninoff
O Fortuna from Carmina Burana
Jesu The joy of Man’s desiring fom Bach
The four seasons by Vivaldi
there are more but those are off the top of my head