Classical YouTube etc. music that is special to you

Simple Simon

Simpleton
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Complicated title, I know. Lemme explain what I want you to post here: Please post youtube or other web links to classical music that is special to you, personally, and do state why. Please give guides to specific sections of the music (e.g. state 'from t=3:14 to 7:35 you can hear my Dad's solo' or '21:12 to 22:35 is a theme stolen by [band name], for a song running while I received my first kiss' or whatever).

I'll go first:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Kspm0MA9Sxs

Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 147 'Jesus bleibet meine Freude'

This is a piano version of the first chorale from the cantate 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herz_und_Mund_und_Tat_und_Leben
I guess that it is the Myra Hess arrangement, but I am not sure. Fact is that I have heard about 20 different recordings, piano or organ, and nobody plays this piece as well as Roberto Capello. He makes the instrument sing, knows, really knows, how to use the pedals to give the sound the fullness that makes it vibrant - but not so much as to turn the piece into a left-hand-heavy chord-thumping. The legato is just amazing! Search around youtube for other interpretations and you'll see what I mean.


What is so special about the piece itself is hard to say for me, beyond the obvious: the melody is extremely simple, just scales and chords, nothing else. At the same time, Bach turns this into a highly complex piece, one that gains most from retaining superficial simplicity. But do listen how the melody changes from right to left hand! Listen how easily Bach modulates not in the more common quint steps, but actually down tone by tone in the coda. C, C7, B, A, G, F etc. - B, A, G, F becomes possible only because of the use of simple chords and the C-C7 step. Genius at play! :)

The superficial simplicity and constant repetition is reminiscent of Beethoven's violin concert, third movement. However, Bach does it with less emphasis. Beethoven is a bit like 'Hey, get it, moron? The main theme AGAIN, unchanged, and AGAIN.....' Quite frankly, it is great, but Bach does it without thumping my nose :)

Fact is: this piece can move me to tears. I wish I wasn't so clumsy and would finally manage to play it in a way that I can suffer to hear.

Have fun listening :)
 
i'm not musical....i feel stupid...
 
As though classical music is the only music that might be special to a person? :(
 
As though classical music is the only music that might be special to a person? :(

Quit whining, make your own thread on special rock, or pop, or funk, or death metal! Maybe I'll have something to post there, too ;)


In fact, I was tempted to drop the 'classical' - but then we'd be talking about Britney Spears and Mozart in one thread. Too wide a field, sorry.
 
Well I personally was gonna post some Charles Mingus pieces... they're instrumental jazz.

But I guess to play by the rules, I was always inspired by Gustave Holst's Second Suite in F, particularly the movement called "Fantasia On the Dargason". This video also includes "Song of The Blacksmith", which is quite good as well.
 
Joking? Listening classic @22Khz mp3 64kb/s mono. No thank you. No wonder it feels special.

Yeah, I know. But this is not about the perfect listening experience thread. Rather, listen for the points I made - they come across even in this recording.

or, feel free to sponsor CFC its own orchestra and glass-fibre cables all over the world.

Third alternative: shut up and leave this thread. :p
 
Well I personally was gonna post some Charles Mingus pieces... they're instrumental jazz.

But I guess to play by the rules, I was always inspired by Gustave Holst's Second Suite in F, particularly the movement called "Fantasia On the Dargason". This video also includes "Song of The Blacksmith", which is quite good as well.

Good find, I've always liked Holst, his planet suite was my first record, a birthday present when I was seven :) There's alot of folk music there, including greensleeves...
 
This soundclick music is special to me. :D

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=866444

Complicated title, I know. Lemme explain what I want you to post here: Please post youtube or other web links to classical music that is special to you, personally, and do state why. Please give guides to specific sections of the music (e.g. state 'from t=3:14 to 7:35 you can hear my Dad's solo' or '21:12 to 22:35 is a theme stolen by [band name], for a song running while I received my first kiss' or whatever).
Reason why it's special: it's composed by me. :D
 
The various operas have grown on me. I used to despise them as a kid, but now I love them. Very orgasmic.
 
I guess that it is the Myra Hess arrangement, but I am not sure. Fact is that I have heard about 20 different recordings, piano or organ, and nobody plays this piece as well as Roberto Capello. He makes the instrument sing, knows, really knows, how to use the pedals to give the sound the fullness that makes it vibrant - but not so much as to turn the piece into a left-hand-heavy chord-thumping. The legato is just amazing! Search around youtube for other interpretations and you'll see what I mean.

Yep, its Hess' arrangement.

I appreciate how be brought out the tenor voices in the theme and such.

Strangely enough, I havent heard the original cantata yet.


As for my all-time favourite piece of classical music;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vea0o_0VmtQ
W.A Mozart's Requiem K626

I prefer Sir Georg Solti's performance with the Vienna Philharmonic during Mozart's death anniversary.
An absolute masterpiece in my opinion, though its a pity he did not live to complete the whole requiem.
In some concert performances of this work, the conductor stops at the 6th movement (Lacrimosa), 0:53 seconds into this video, as it is where Mozart last wrote till when he died.
The rest of the work was completed by his student, based on Mozart's sketches.

There's also an interesting story of how this work was commissioned, but I wont bore you guys.;)
 
Yep, its Hess' arrangement.

Thank you :D

I appreciate how be brought out the tenor voices in the theme and such.

Strangely enough, I havent heard the original cantata yet.

Personally, I find the piano (or organ) arrangements a lot better, simply because the Christian yadda-yadda gets on my nerves ;)

As for my all-time favourite piece of classical music;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vea0o_0VmtQ
W.A Mozart's Requiem K626

I prefer Sir Georg Solti's performance with the Vienna Philharmonic during Mozart's death anniversary.

I've never heard that one by Sir Solti :( Karajan only in recordings, and Navarro(sp?) IIRC live.
 
Spoiler :
Complicated title, I know. Lemme explain what I want you to post here: Please post youtube or other web links to classical music that is special to you, personally, and do state why. Please give guides to specific sections of the music (e.g. state 'from t=3:14 to 7:35 you can hear my Dad's solo' or '21:12 to 22:35 is a theme stolen by [band name], for a song running while I received my first kiss' or whatever).

I'll go first:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Kspm0MA9Sxs

Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 147 'Jesus bleibet meine Freude'

This is a piano version of the first chorale from the cantate 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herz_und_Mund_und_Tat_und_Leben
I guess that it is the Myra Hess arrangement, but I am not sure. Fact is that I have heard about 20 different recordings, piano or organ, and nobody plays this piece as well as Roberto Capello. He makes the instrument sing, knows, really knows, how to use the pedals to give the sound the fullness that makes it vibrant - but not so much as to turn the piece into a left-hand-heavy chord-thumping. The legato is just amazing! Search around youtube for other interpretations and you'll see what I mean.


What is so special about the piece itself is hard to say for me, beyond the obvious: the melody is extremely simple, just scales and chords, nothing else. At the same time, Bach turns this into a highly complex piece, one that gains most from retaining superficial simplicity. But do listen how the melody changes from right to left hand! Listen how easily Bach modulates not in the more common quint steps, but actually down tone by tone in the coda. C, C7, B, A, G, F etc. - B, A, G, F becomes possible only because of the use of simple chords and the C-C7 step. Genius at play! :)

The superficial simplicity and constant repetition is reminiscent of Beethoven's violin concert, third movement. However, Bach does it with less emphasis. Beethoven is a bit like 'Hey, get it, moron? The main theme AGAIN, unchanged, and AGAIN.....' Quite frankly, it is great, but Bach does it without thumping my nose :)

Fact is: this piece can move me to tears. I wish I wasn't so clumsy and would finally manage to play it in a way that I can suffer to hear.

Have fun listening :)

Although I don't have absolute favorites in pretty much anything, if I had to pick one composer from the whole history of music, to listen to, Bach would be the one. He was an amazing genius.

Here's some more:
- Italian Concerto on Harpsichord: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8q1YKWGeaM
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 (Allegro movement): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9qWpa2rIg
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X7N0wU2L8o
- Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pY08e_tdtA

Good thread,

this is one of my favourites, heard the whole Sonata recently at the South Bank, very beautiful music. I'm a romantic at heart :)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4bSSKLFs89w&feature=related

That is amazing. I get goosebumps towards the beginning of the last third of it.



As for my contributions:

- I'm a huge fan of Tchaikovsky. Here's some pure force, coming at the end of an amazingly complex and beautiful, E-P-I-C piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0ABhMLMSgY .
- Tchaikovsky - First piano concerto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pECGc7k4I4E
- Lalo - Spanish Symphony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvukOPDo3QU
- Chopin - Fantasy Impromptu: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvm2ZsRv3C8

- To represent my instrument: Concierto de Aranjuez (second movement) by Joaquin Rodrigo, played by Polish guitarist Marcin Dylla http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dbkdfHB8u0
- Fantasia Carioca (finale of an amazing piece, way too short clip for my taste...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fV8ri4BrCE

And now to represent my country:
- George Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody conducted by Sergiu Celibidache: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5yc3yRjEe4
- Jascha Heifetz playing Hora Staccato (by Grigoraş Dinicu)
- "Balada" for violin, by Ciprian Porumbescu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQyWdiKzgmQ
 
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