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The piece that made me fall in love with music was "Pictures at an Exhibition," so I can't help but smile and feel uplifted when I hear it - especially if it is on the album on which I first heard it, with crackles and all! When I married and moved from home, I made sure to snag this album and bring it with me.
I think I was somewhere around the age of 12 when I found it in my parents' stereo console (one of those large pieces of furniture, with two built in speakers and a lid under which was the record player), listened to it, and was enraptured by the sound.
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Pauline Soooo....Bach "Goldberg Air and Variations" for accordian and violin was quite lovely. The accordian accompanied the violin, and it worked very well. I will admit to having a difficult time, at first, taking a "concert accordian" seriously, but I was won over quickly and thoroughly enjoyed the lovely soft sounds that came from the instrument. He (Iwo Jedynecki) played a beautiful accordian solo, Cesar Franck's "Offertoire," then two more duets with violin: Piazzolla's "Escualo" and Blazewicz's Allegro from Sonata for violin and accordian, "Night Full of Sins" (written for the duo). Pleasantly suprised I was - the accordian pieces were the best ones of the night. (I think you can still watch the livestream, and watch all of them over the next two weeks, if you are interested - livestreams are free - www.oicmf.org )
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Michelle R I am glad the concert was lovely. Thank you for the update and for sending the link!
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Another piece in this category for me is Beethoven's Op. 135 quartet -- particularly the "Muss es sein? Es muss sein!" last movement. This is Beethoven's last completed work. Fabulous music.
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I like Chopins Rondo 脿 la Krakowiak played by Garrick Ohlsson. The beginning is so stunning and there is only light, no darkness at all.
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Papagena. especially opening few measure
- Just the opening itself makes me laugh out loud. The funny costume and gaits appears in my head as soon as the music plays.
Beethoven Op2 no 3 (the entire movement, especially 1st and 4th met)
- The opening double "trills" of the first movement is energizing, and as the music gets on, it's so encouraging. It's the makes me feel like I could do anything!
- As I was learning the piece, the opening double trills seems impossible, but nonetheless, the technical challenge was overcome.
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So many interesting choices here, many of which are unfamiliar to me, & which I can't wait to check out. This is one reason I've joined Tonebase - to be part of a community of musicians and learn from all of you as well as so many world-class instructors that we are given access to.
OK so here are some pieces that fill me with emotion every time, no matter how many times I hear them:
Beethoven Concerto No. 3 in C minor
Beethoven Conerto No. 4 in G
Mozart Concerto No. 24 in C minor
Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 in C minor
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite.
I'm aware that these are all "greatest hits" and not particularly esoteric. What can I say? my best defense is: "They are greatest hits for a reason!" And it's certainly not to say that my tastes and interests don't go far beyond these, but, well, . . . . i'll stop being defensive about it!
Right now I'm listening to the Brahms Violin Sonata link as recommended by Alexander & Gail, and it's taking my breath away. such a privilege to live in the midst of such beauty and to be able to experience it almost at will. Thank you to everyone for sharing some of your favorites.
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Peter Golemme P.S. In my 'day job' I work in taxes and spend many hours on the phone with the IRS, a large proportion of them on hold. They used to play 'The Waltz of the Flowers' over & over and I never stopped loving hearing it. In the last few years they've gone with this canned synth pop piece which is of interest for about 2 minutes before it gets really tiresome. I always ask the agents "why don't you play the Nutcracker any more?" as one of my ice breakers...
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As for the "why": I think these pieces are all connected to various stages of my musical awakenings & made particularly deep impressions when I discovered them. Growing up immersed in (and enjoying) pop music, I remember being spellbound when my mother brought home a record of the "Nutcracker". I played it over and over, staring at the record as it went around, totally lost in the beauty of it, visualizing all kinds of scenarios, as though in my own private Disney-type Fantasia. All of the others above I first heard in college, again awakening me to what was out there & triggering a life long love of classical music that I had just begun to discover in my last couple of years in high school. With the Rach 2, it was the immensely powerful emotional content, the intense sorrow, the yearning, the nostalgia, especially in Mvt. II, and in particular the way he transported this emotional content through his harmonic progressions. With Beethoven No. 3, it was the drama, the exuberance of the outer movements, and the deeply meditative peacefulness of the 2nd movement. With Concerto No. 4, it was/is the sensation of a massive 'unfolding' is the best way I can put it, from those simple G major chords that open it. To me it's like the mystery of life itself, starting with a few proteins folding over themselves and yielding this world of massive variety, complexity & beauty. With the Mozart, it was the subtlety and intricacy of the emotions filtering through the generally genial and seemingly clean and simple harmonies. The minor key was unusual for him and I used to think of this piece as emanating from a true genius who might be laughing on the outside but crying on the inside, allowing a glimpse of suffering to show through.
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I just never can stop smiling when I hear Suite No. 5 in E Major, HWV 430: IV. Air con Variazioni "The Harmonious Blacksmith". I adore the performance by the great Murray Perahia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNzVz5byPqk
I also of late cannot stop listening to F. Couperin鈥檚 芦 Les Barricades Myst茅rieuses 芦 . https://youtube.com/watch?v=NY2TNJiOG00&feature=share
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Victoria Elisabeth Both also very high on my list.
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I always feel happier after I've listened to Mozart's Sonata in C Major K 545. It reflects what I and chatGPT think might have been Mozart's personality; "a compassionate and curious individual, with a keen intellect and a playful sense of humor, always seeking to learn and connect with others on a deeper level." "Playfulness, to me, runs throughout the 2nd and 3rd movements, sometimes more lyrically, sometimes less. The second movement seems as if a compassionate person is having a kindly conversation with someone. It even transposes into a minor key for a bit, and then back to the major C. The third movement does more with scales and broken chords (Mozart always keeps them interesting even with the Alberti bass) and ends the story with a resounding octave C in the left hand and a C chord in the right hand -- very definitively. (all settled)
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Linda Clover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXIu0MRuIQU 1st movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_AX4R-d29o&t=508s 2 & 3 movements
Not me playing -- it's been 35 years since I've played this (sorry)
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Beethoven's "Archduke" Trio (Op. 97) and Cello Sonata #3 (Op. 69) - just listen!. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (K. 622) - imagine that from one's last year on earth! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8bVfZTbMoo). Schubert's "Fruhlingsglaube" (D 686b - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZlcX-Iejeg).
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So many it would take all night to list them all.
I am tempted to say anything by Bach. But to choose one example: the fugue finale from the B Minor Mass. Why? Because it's spiritually transcendent and technically miraculous: a massive profundity based on four rising notes. Similarly, in the Hallelujah chorus, Handel creates inspiring joy by alternating the two chords of a simple cadence. It's not what you've got, it's what you do with it.
From the piano repertoire: the finale of Beethoven's fourth concerto. Why? Firstly just because the theme is literally of an uplifting shape, and the whole movement is so wonderfully joyous. (One could say much the same about the Emperor finale.) Secondly, for a purely autobiographical reason. I remember the first time I heard it, by accident - it happened to be on the cheap 1960s transistor radio that I'd taken upstairs with me. I was, I suppose, fifteen at the time. The pianist was Clifford Curzon: I don't know what I'd think of the performance now (these days I'd prefer it in historical style with authentic instruments), but at the time it seemed overwhelmingly powerful. I realized I was no longer just a boy who had piano lessons: I was a boy who (however inadequate as a performer) was obsessed with, and possesed by, music - and always would
be.
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Wonderful question!!
The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, especially when I am running or biking. The endorphins erupt, especially during the third movement.
Time to run now. See you on the other side.
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So many -- from Will Yow Walke the Woods Soe Wylde in my Lady Nevell's Book to Prokofiev's Classical Symphony. I'm not thinking spiritual transcendence here (for that we have WTC); I'm thinking PUT ME IN MY HAPPY PLACE. The Stravinsky Pastorale may be a dark horse, but it never fails to charm me out of a dark mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWU6sX-KO-4
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I never tire of a good performance of Liszt's transcription of Schumann's Widmung. That final section of the piece is very exhilarating. I also find myself smiling whenever I hear Erkki Melartin's Legend II, Op 12. What can I say, I'm a sucker for long melodic lines and fast moving arpeggios.
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Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 in G major. The "et in terra pax' section of the Gloria from Bach's Mass in b minor. The sunrise music from Ravel's Daphnis et Chlo毛. Just to name a few!
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Beethoven Symphony Nr. 9 in D minor (the whole shebang!), ANY Mahler Symphony (elation!) and most Bach Harpsichord Concerti.
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It's not classical, but one of my all-time favourite songs would have to be 'How Deep the Father's Love For Us', by Stuart Townend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfhRs5g5t8M
I love the song for it's lyrics. It's about Jesus' death, and what it's all about. The second verse says:
Behold the Man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finishedTim.
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Because I'm in the guitar community, Campo by Abel Carlevaro. Very evocative and haunting melody.
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The Marriage of Figaro, especially the farcical last 20 minutes of Act 2.
