OK, I want to start myself a classical music collection. I need some music, because at uni, my room is next to the room of a latvian mathematician who is a bit keen on his death metal. I need good 'classical' music which I can work to, and drowns out latvain metal.

I have studied music all through secondary school and have an idea of what I like, just not what to get. Of the four main eras of 'classical' music (Baroque (1600 to 1750), Classcal (1750 to 1830), Romantic (1830 to 1900) and Modern (1900 until now)) I'm only really interested in Romantic music, although I'm sometimes partial to a bit of Baroque. No Mozart, Hayden, Stravinsky or Debussy, tenjewberrymud.

My favourite piece, to date is 'Danse Macabre' by Camille saint-Seans (Johnathan Creek theme, for all you plebs out there :D ). I also happen to love 'The Planets' by Gustav Holst (especially the slow bit in Jupiter), and 'Hall of the Mountain King' (old Alton Towers adverts) by Grieg. I am a classical guitarist and will happily listen to good recordings of Tarrega and Albeniz. The Rodrigo guitar concerto is another favourite. As for Baroque, I have enjoyed some Biber a friend gave me, 'Batallia a 10'. I didn't much rate the 'Requiem a 15'.

Anyway, by now, music buffs may have got an idea of my tastes. Sadly, I don't own much of this stuff, so what I want are reccomendations of other music/composors and good recordings of the pieces mentioned above (nothing hacks me off more than paying for a poor recital of a good piece).

Thanks a lot, guys [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh BTW, if you know of any sites/forums that cover this sort of thing, do tell...

Edit - The reason 'classical' is in quotes some of the time, is because this is when i'm referring to the whole genre. 'Classical' technically describes music from the Mozart/Hayden/1750->1830 era, and is not a genre.

[ 12-29-2005, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: Melcheor ]

If you want to tick off your suitemate, consider an endless recording of "It's a Small World". People have been known to hurl themselves in front of buses because of that one... :D

However, to expand your classical library, you've already got a good start. You know some classical pieces that you like, so start expanding from there. Other works by that composer, other groups performing that work, other performances by that group... it expands from there.

Happily, expanding your classical collection is one of the cheapest things you can do. For some reason, the CDs are a whole lote cheaper ;)

I don't know if you can do the same thing in Merry Old, but here you can go into music stores and listen to the CDs before you buy them. That will help you weed out a poor performance, if you're lucky. And you can also ask at the store for input on other classical music selections. *Someone* at the store will probably be into classical... somewhere...

Good luck! Expanding your musical horizons is always fun!

Do you like opera? There are some excellent DVD's, the sound quality is far greater then that of CD's. Anywho, like Wagner?

<font color = lightgreen>The foundation of any Baroque collection will be J. S. Bach; anything he composed is pure magic. If you can find his works performed on the harpsichord then do so--the sound is more authentic than when played on piano. If you can find any of his works perfomed on the glass harmonica, let me know so I can buy a copy, too. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]

For Romantic music, stay away from Strauss--waltzes are fine, but they get old after about 10 minutes. Rimsky-Korsakov is good, as are Dvorak and Janacek.</font>

Go Wagner. He rules. :D

Bach - Minuet in D!

Anything by J.S. Bach. The Goldberg variations perhaps. But it wont drown out Latvian metal.

Thanks guys, keep it coming. Not so keen on Wagner, my old music teacher was mad about him, so we studied a lot of it. Enough to put anyone off... Not a fan of opera either. I like orchestral works, not singing/choral stuff.

Just a thought. Some of the orchestral music in some RPG games is surprisingly good, and i'm wondering what inspired it. Its mostly romantic-sounding stuff. Any ideas?

I like Andre Rieu, both cd's and the DVD's. He covers the spectrum fairly well.

Rachmaninov you cultural barbarians!