Reddit mentions: The best classical music

Fear cuts deeper than swords!

Grey Tribble!

Reminiscent of rain. If you turned a sound machine on and set it to "spring rain" and put this on you'd think your face was actually being caressed by gentle cooling drops of relaxing rain. :)

Weird food Haggis flavored chips. What? I love tasting new stuff. This intrigued me. :)

For my mom She loves horses. I once gave her an ornament with a horse on it that meant a lot to her. It's become sort of a tradition to get her an ornament as part of Christmas. This one is soo pretty. :)

Book! If you've watched the show I don't have to sell this too hard. :) I LOVE this show and really really want to read this book!

Less than $1. Technically... Digital delivery is a delivery method. It's not a food, polish, or anything to do with my hair. ;)

Cat related!

This key does nothing useful, but it looks awesome!

Across The Universe (movie). I had a friend who had the soundtrack. We listened to it pretty often. It's worth a watch just for the music alone, but it's a great watch. :)

Useful for zombies? Maybe?It's a knife that fits in your wallet like a credit card. It's at least a weapon that you could always have on you so you're ready at a moments notice. :) If only they made a credit card size folding flame thrower. ;)

Life changing. I need to be less fat... :/ This would definitely help.

Add on. My hedgehog loves these!

This is my second most expensive. My most expensive was the one for not being fat... lol. Before I used a wishlist I just added stuff to my cart and then saved it for later. This is the oldest item I've had stashed away. Every camping trip or competitive horse ride I went on with my mom/parents always involved sitting around the fire talking before heading off to bed. Whenever I get the chance to see them (we live in different states now) we still sit around a fire. This just reminds me of good times spent with family and essentially being home...

Bigger than a breadbox. For side table fishy times! :D

Smaller than a golfball. I'm obsessed with stars. I really love this ring. :)

Good smell! I bought the lotion and body spray on a whim when I was at the mall a while back. This stuff smells sooo good. It's like summer time!

Safe for work toy. These things look really neat. I saw them mentioned somewhere else and googled to see what they were. The video makes them look pretty cool. :)

I'm always late for class, but if I had a watch that I couldn't stop looking at I might just make it on time. ;)

Speaking of "can't stop looking at"... I'm obsessed with Doctor Who and David Tennant. :D

I added this to show someone else... I think it's crazy that they even make these. There's an appliance for everything! What beats fresh donuts anytime you want them? NOTHING! That's what... This is why I need that elliptical.. :P


Pm'd what I think is your name! :D

Oregon Cherries!

I assume it doesn't have to be an actual concerto and since you said flashy I'd take at look at pretty much any of the Clarke (or other) solos from Carnaval. These are the definition of flashy and you can get wind band arrangements of them.

I really like Sounds from the Hudson personally because it's one I've performed, but there are a lot of great one like The Debutante


I don't even know that these are the flashiest of them honestly. I think these are still vastly more in the crowd pleaser range than pretty much all of the concerti I can think of. I love Neruda the most personally, but honestly I don't think any of them make for exciting listening. It's just a judgement call if you think the college cares more about "serious literature" or about a fun show of the facility of the instrument.

If it were me these days, I'd err on the side of flashy and less classical honestly. You're always stacked in these types of competitions against people's whose instruments just lend themselves more to pizzazz than trumpet with their classical literature. I've found that flute and violins seem to always have the edge just because of the relative show of virtuosity they can do with relative easy compared to something dull and relatively stale like Hummel. I love it, but it doesn't compare to rip-roaring wild runs up and down 3 octaves of crazy arpeggios like most winds and strings can do.

Besides, most of these contests want only one movement of a proper concerto anyway... so why not just pick a standalone piece that shows the instrument off much better?

Personally, I think one of the best ways to explore classical music is to just invest in a big, high quality box-set/collection for each composer. It means that you don't have to buy millions of different albums, which avoids duplicating stuff you already have, and in the long run it's much, much better value.

For Chopin, this complete piano edition is extremely good value and has lots of excellent recordings from good pianists.

If you like Chopin, there's a good chance you'll enjoy his even more virtuosic friend and fellow composer Franz Liszt. This collection provides a good overview, although Liszt was extremely prolific so there's always more to explore.

If you like both of those piano specialists, you might also enjoy Robert Schumann, who was from roughly the same generation. This collection is excellent but Schumann can be a bit of an acquired taste, so if you just want a sample, I'd recommend this album as a good starting point.

For Debussy I'd recommend this collection. If you want to explore his orchestral and chamber music as well as his piano work, this complete edition might be the way to go.

For Beethoven, I'd recommend getting the complete piano sonatas. There are quite a few complete sets - personally I'd recommend Brendel and Arrau. My favourite complete set is by Paul Lewis, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be possible to download the complete set in one go - you either have to get the different volumes separately or get the complete set on CD.

If you want to move out from there to other piano composers, then Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Mozart, Ravel, Satie and Fauré are all great. I could make some more recommendations for them but I think I've probably already given you more than enough!

Early 20th-century literature is awesome. Sadly there's almost nothing for us in the Romantic era for bassoons or almost any wind instrument. The whole Paganini-inspired virtuoso craze was awesome for pianists and violinists but composers had very little faith in wind instruments to keep up. The closest we have is the last piece Saint-Saëns wrote, this bassoon sonata.

The first unaccompanied piece for music, the Osbourne Rhapsody, is pretty fucking awesome.

If you want something more classical era, the Mozart bassoon concerto is famous, but what is really underplayed and awesome is the Weber Hungarian Fantasy.

If you like extremely modern, John Williams wrote a bassoon concerto, "The Five Sacred Trees".

For my favorite albums, Christopher Millard's "Melange" is awesome as well as his album of concerti. For something even more off the beaten path, Keesecker's "Bassoon Music of the Americas" is also a personal favorite.

If you want to know what I sounded like, I did in my senior recital Orselli's Divertimento on "Il Trovatore".

The Raft of the Medusa

Not only because its a stunning piece of art, but it has some connotations to the event of being set adrift into an endless void, in the hope of finding aid. The sense of loss and madness, the yearning to live, the desire and power of the human spirit to survive in tumultuous circumstances. It's all there.

One album, well that would have to be THIS compilation of great pieces of classical music. No modern album could do our planet justice. Sure, there are more recent choices, but there's such a range of emotion and feelings you get from classical music, it would be a great place to start any new music collection for a world.

As for a book, I think a heavily, I'm talking HEAVILY edited and modernized rendition of the Old Testament would be the best. I'm not particularly religious, and I'd hate to think the words would divide people in the future as they have on Earth, but I think streamlining it and keeping it simple, and regarding it as a work of fiction would make for a really good story. At its root, there are tons of lessons about mankind, faith, and the human condition that can be gleaned from the Old Testament. Not to mention the influence that those stories have had upon cultures all over the world. I mean, think... the tree of life, creation, the deluge, exodus, the tower of Babel, David and Goliath.... Could you imagine a world without those lessons and metaphors in some form? Just keep those crazy sequels starring Jesus and Muhammad far away from me!

I picked up this album a while back and absolutely adore it! The London Philharmonic Orchestra's The Greatest Video Game Music

This album recreates the iconic scores of popular games such as Bioshock, Mass Effect, COD Modern Warfare 2, Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Fallout, Halo, and Tetris (my favorite) in an orchestral setting.

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL and a must-have for any fan of vidya.

They also did "Heart of Courage", the ME2's Super Bowl trailer. I personally love that kind of orchestral epic music and TSFH's two albums are excellent: Invincible, Archangel

Cheap bulk classical:

• The 99 Most Essential Relaxing Classics
  
• 99 Must-Have Chillout Classics
  
• The Greatest Classical Music Ever! 50 Best Relaxing Classical
  
  Lhasa:
  
  
• La Llorona
  
• The Living Road
  
• Lhasa
  
  Ambient 1/Music For Airports by Brian Eno

I don't think I had ever heard banjo and classical guitar together, it was delightful (track 4 is one):

http://www.amazon.com/Perpetual-Motion-B%C3%A9la-Fleck/dp/B00138KGRU/

The mandolin combination on K. 213 has such a great feel. There are other very interesting combinations, with double bass (I think), marimba, violin and cello, etc.

Find a decent album with several composers and listen to it a few times. Then pick a few favorite pieces and look into the composer to learn more about them and hear more of their music.

Myself, I like Beethoven. Immortal Beloved was a pretty interesting film.

I got this on amazon for 5 bucks, it was a great pickup. They have tons of different collections of the top 50 or top 100 songs from different eras or composers. For a 5 spot, it's absolutely worth picking up and diving in to classical music.

Start with pieces you might already know: Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachmusik, Beethoven's 5th Symphony, etc. London Symphony's 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music is a great place to start (although heavy on the romantic era): https://www.amazon.com/50-Greatest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B002WMP162

I found that the lightbulb went off for me when I understood the forms (sonata, rondo, theme/variations, scherzo, etc.). Being able to recognize the themes in sonata form, for example, made me feel grounded in the piece. Without that understanding, I felt lost and didn't understand what the composer was doing.

you can hear all the baroque and classical music he plays recorded on the amazing album perpetual motion. i believe this album won a grammy award in the classical category.

You might check out this collection by the X5 music group, you can find it here. It ranges across a pretty broad spectrum and it's a pretty nice collection for the price.

Sure thing! I bought two volumes of "The Greatest Video Game Music", performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra:

Volume 1

Volume 2

| | |
|-:|:-|
|name|Steve Reich|
|about artist|Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. He is a pioneer of minimalism, although his music has increasingly deviated from a purely minimalist style. Reich's innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns (examples are his early compositions, "It's Gonna Rain" and "Come Out"), and the use of processes to create and explore musical concepts (for instance, "Pendulum music" and ""Four Organs"). ([more on last.fm](http://www.last.fm/music/Steve Reich))|
|album|Works 1|
|track|Come Out|
|about track|Using a simple tape loop (or two identical loops overlapping) this piece creates rhythm, reverb and phase while at the same time allowing the listeners attention to drift between the linguistic points of the words. The effects are altered by changing the arrangement of the loops and thus the rhythm. (i think)|
|images|album image, artist image|
|links|track on amazon, album on amazon|
|tags|minimalism, experimental, neoclassical, classical|
|similar|Terry Riley, John Adams, Nico Muhly, John Cage, Philip Glass|
|metrics|lastfm listeners: 236,535, lastfm plays: 4,381,209, youtube plays: 25,221, radd.it score: 7|


Please downvote this comment if this data is incorrect!
I am a bot by radd.it data services. I have been requested to post these reports.

This classical album will ensure that you have 50 amazing songs to listen to. :D

You're welcome! If any of those float your boat, maybe try also:

Mozart: Requiem, Schreier/Dresden

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas, Perlman/Ashkenazy

Schubert: Trout Quintet, Gilels/Amadeus Quartet

EDIT: Had a chance to really check out my library and would also add:

Berlioz: Requiem, Shaw/Atlanta(the Sanctus is stunning)

This CD of Steve Reich works

This set by the LaSalle Quartet, especially for the Schoenberg quartets

Louis Lortie's recording of Ravel's piano music

Chailly's recording of Mahler 4, primarily for the amazing pairing of Berg's 7 Early Songs

Cleveland Quartet doing Ravel and Debussy

Herreweghe conducting some Mozart wind music

This CD, especially for the Trois poemes de Mallarme, but it includes so much good music.

Lastly, this wonderful Gershwin collection.

Kinda cheesy, but this:
http://www.amazon.com/99-Darkest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B0048NUUS2/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292293934&sr=301-1
Plenty of decent tracks, good for the background, and a legit copy for $2. Also Tron soundtrack isn't bad.

All of these are piano music, because that's what I perceive is played at salons.

Ravel: Jeux D'eau

Ravel: Pavane pour une Infante Defunte

Debussy: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin

Satie: Trois Gymnopédies

Chopin: Many of his nocturnes (Check the comments for track listings)

Bach: Aria from the Goldberg Variations

These are all just off the top of my head. You can also check out this extraordinarily cheap album on Amazon filled with works deemed "relaxing" and pick and choose what you find suitable.

EDIT: formatting

Here you go.

It was not composed by the dude (Hans Zimmer) who composed the Inception soundtrack. If you want to hear some other awesome trailer music try this.

That first Bach suite by Yo Yo Ma is also in the movie Master and Commander, "Prelude", mp3 #9 here. A local classical music DJ called that her favorite version, and I have to agree.

My favorite classical piece. If anyone feels like buying it (composed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and David Parry), get it in this massive dark classical bundle.

Interstellar and Lord of the Rings. LOVE the Interstellar soundtrack.

Also not a soundtrack, but The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music is awesome.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0048NUUS2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482114316&sr=8-1&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=The+99+Darkest+Pieces+Of+Classical+Music

Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris)
The Dark Crystal (Trevor Jones)
Clash of the Titans (Laurence Rosenthal)
Jeremy Soule's soundtracks for Guild Wars, especially the Guild Wars 2 soundtrack, are all great.
The Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Tactics A2 Grimoire of the Rift soundtracks are pretty good, for general D&D play...
But then there's also some great classical music out there. Amazon sells a collection of "The 99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music" for 6.99.

One of my best and classiest purchases.

Also see: The Greatest Video Game Music (Track 11)

Full version

50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005WV6ZI8/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009XTXLDM
Two great collections

Physical gift that is Prime Eligible $6.49 under Stuff I need and a Digital gift $3.29 under No physical gifts...

Sir, you have impeccable taste! I found that we share this and this!

a more useful link (only 2.99)

for $5, this is a pretty good compilation. I don't agree with all their choices, but it's $5.

99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music for only $1.99. A good start to any collection as it includes a large amount of the most popular pieces.

You might be interested in this compilation http://www.amazon.com/99-Darkest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B0048NUUS2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323143549&sr=8-1

Here is a listing of who played what on the soundtrack:
http://www.amazon.com/Master-Commander-Original-Sound-Track/dp/B000V8FQUA

I took the music from track #1: "The Far Side of the World", 6:00 - 9:20.

Invincible is seriously one of the best albums I own, period. People use the words "epic" and "awesome" too much, but that's one album where they actually apply.

here's the amazon link

http://www.amazon.com/The-Greatest-Video-Game-Music/dp/B009XTXLDM

Good question! My new go-to background music is this collection I stumbled upon on Amazon. The 99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music. It's appropriately dramatic and unobtrusive at the same time.

I shuffle songs from these classical music collections:

The 99 Most Essential Masterpieces of the Classical Era
http://www.amazon.com/The-Most-Essential-Masterpieces-Classical/dp/B0058EH934


The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music
http://www.amazon.com/The-Darkest-Pieces-Classical-Music/dp/B0048NUUS2/


The 99 Most Essential Classical Pieces in Movies
http://www.amazon.com/Most-Essential-Classical-Pieces-Movies/dp/B004H0OGSG/

Or even this: click here

This is the [one.] (https://www.amazon.com/Must-Have-Chillout-Classics-Various-artists/dp/B0051QU0M6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522244909&sr=8-1&keywords=99+chillout)

I'm looking at the covers of these albums...and none of them are helpful...jeez... And there's more albums...but the music helped me at least.

And can buy the whole album for 6 bucks on Amazon.

Folk Medley: Richard Tognetti it's on the soundtrack. http://www.amazon.com/Master-Commander-Original-Sound-Track/dp/B000V8FQUA

What is a Music Guy?

The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music isn't bad too. But not as festive.

György Ligeti - Lux Aeterna

His work has a lot of variety, so if that doesn't hit the mark try a few other pieces.

Also, Rachmaninov - The Isle of the Dead may fit that slightly unsettled mood.

You can probably find more in this bargain $6.99 download: The 99 Darkest Pieces Of Classical Music

I guess there's even more than one? I saw VGO (Video Game Orchestra) at PAX East last year and they were stellar.

And maybe not dedicated, but a CD of game music by the London Philharmonic exists and is fairly decent. It's worth the cost just to hear the Angry Birds theme done by a full orchestra, and I'm not even a fan of that game. Amazon link here.