I've been binging a ton of classical music the past couple months, and I feel like talking about some of my favorite pieces this month.
So once a day for the month of July, I will be posting a piece that speaks to me, and talking briefly about why. Maybe you'll share some pieces you yourself adore, and maybe you'll enjoy the pieces I share.
Two things to note:
1st, I am not a music expert, and know next to nothing about classical music except that some of it is incredible to listen to.
2nd, I will not be able to post literally every day in July, as I'll be traveling (see: the next few days). [Reply]
I'll start off with the piece that kicked me off here.
The piece: Beethoven -- Moonlight Sonata, 3rd movement
Why it's incredible: This is such an energetic piece, with a palpable expression of fury poring through it. Angry music, pop music has led me to believe, is usually loud and aggressive. But Beethoven's piece here is only aggressive on certain notes, and otherwise just uses minor keys and repetitive explosions of notes to express dismay.
The best part: Aside from the initial explosion at the very start of the song, probably 5:03. I love how nimble the notes move and then get interrupted with a pissed off pounding. But the best part of this movement is absolutely the opening notes that just wash over you and demand your ears perk up. Edit: I also love the part where the song builds up around 6:30 and completely collapses before rebuilding at 6:49. [Reply]
I know almost nothing about classical music (other than what I've learned watching Bugs Bunny cartoons) so I hope to learn some stuff from this thread.
Here are a few things that I like:
I was never a big fan of the sound of a trumpet. Turns out that there just needs to be six more of them to accompany it before I like it.
^ I first heard this in a French cartoon called Le Moine et le poisson (1994.)
Why it's incredible: I love the little experiments and silly little songs that exist within songs in Liszt's work. There will be a lot of Liszt in this thread by the time I wrap it up. This particular song takes you on a journey through several different atmospheres, from the somewhat nervous stroll of the early going, to the flittery anxiety of the middle portion, until it unfolds in a cheerful ballast down the stretch.
The best part: Absolutely when the 32nd notes come charging in at about 1:55. They give the song a new charge and element I don't often hear in this kind of music. [Reply]
Why it's incredible: You're probably picking up at this point that I'm generally drawn to nimble, energetic pieces that zigzag through several ideas in a compacted timespan. This piece embodies that approach, with a lighthearted buildup to a cascade of energy at the middle point, before ending in on a trite, absurd note. This is not a heavy, intellectual piece. You literally get everything it has to deliver upon your first listen, but it rewards so thoroughly for such a relatively light piece.
The best part: Absolutely 1:54, as the melody continues to slink along despite the fact that there is a glissando simultaneously running amok for basically the next 30 seconds, crescendoing into dueling sixteenth notes. [Reply]
The piece: Grieg -- In the Hall of the Mountain King
Why it's incredible: This song is a nightmare from start to finish, with the maniacal building at the start with the ramping intensity with the great note-spikes at the end as it all descends into madness. The song careens out of control in the final third, culminating in that last minute in which the notes on the register start to blur and undergird the song with mayhem.
The best part: As mentioned, it's clearly that last minute of the song, when the notes on the lowest register are played so aggressively and quickly that it transmutes the song into World War Z. [Reply]
Why it's incredible: I don't know a ton of Chopin, but this always seems to be the stuff I associate with him, particularly from 1:20 to 2:30 and so on. But then 3:45 happens, and the water-dancing from the very start of the song returns with a vengeance before settling down with an ending that sounds resolved and learned.
The best part: You only get a window of it, but it's that terrific breakdown and final stretch of melody that starts around 4:53. I actually wish this part was longer, the lyrical nature of it sounds like a realization has been reached, the fantasy over, the rebuilding beginning. [Reply]