Your favourite classical piece.

Christmas is a time where you cannot even try to avoid the sound of traditional folksongs and classical pieces inspired by the festive period. Classical music is my favourite genre, and I was wondering if any of the members here take the time to listen to a sonata, symphony, even perhaps a lieder or two? If so, do you have any favourites? :)

I'm going to recommend Lohengrin's Prelude to Act 1, by the incredibly influential Richard Wagner. He had many faults as a human-being, and I won't refer to his rather alarming opinions on specific subjects. This music had such enormous talent beyond it, and for a moment, you feel transported to a completely different world. Film scoring composition owes a lot to this man. This piece sets the scene to the opening act of his relatively early opera 'Lohengrin'. The story based on The Knight of the Swan, an old German folktale based on the legend and mythology of King Arthur.

For those of you who haven't heard it:
Lohengrin: Prelude to Act One - Conducted by Daniel Barenboim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOETfODf8r4

Any fellow classical lovers willing to share their awesome tastes? :)

I love Bach's Cello Suite Number 1. It's a beautiful peace that's so calming. I love to listen to it whilst i'm working, it's the perfect concentration piece.

In general my favourite Tchaikovsky would be The Nutcracker. Festive and beautifully written like all his masterpieces, but I feel like The Nutcracker is his best work.

You know what I find funny, one of my favorite genre's is called contemporary classical. Which is kinda redundant, it can't be classic if it's contemporary but it's new music in the style of classical stuff.

As everyone knows, my favorite contemporary composer is Olafur Arnalds.



As with actual classical music, I've burned myself on most of it. I used to listen a lot of it as a kid so I don't tend to have a favorite older piece. Beethoven was my favorite though. His music always had such power to it.

This is Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition."

I actually used to put this on and play Final Fantasy I, after I'd played it enough that I was tired of the chiptunes. :) Good times.

My favorite classical piece is, always has been, and probably always will be, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It's just that amazing.

Clair de Lune has always been a personal favorite of mine. I also really like Chopin (which is why I enjoy the game, Eternal Sonata, a lot more than I should).

Nocturne Opera 9 No. 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E6b3swbnWg

One of my favorites. Although I usually like it with a bit more fire, a bit more passion.

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Originally Posted by Scotty_ffgamer

Clair de Lune has always been a personal favorite of mine. I also really like Chopin (which is why I enjoy the game, Eternal Sonata, a lot more than I should).

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Also one of my favorites. Used in many things, when you think about it. Also, Eternal Sonata Bro! *fistbump*

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Originally Posted by Aerith's Knight

One of my favorites. Although I usually like it with a bit more fire, a bit more passion.

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Then you're looking for Vladimir Ashkenazy. ;)

I'm more of a fan of Arthur Rubinstein, when it comes to the Nocturnes. He'll make me believe it is Nightime at Noon. :)

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Originally Posted by Leigh

Then you're looking for Vladimir Ashkenazy. ;)

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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ERROR ERROR THANK YOU NOT FOUND!

If you didn't get it.. :squeeze:

I can't decide if I want to go with something by Tchaikovsky or Holst.

Alternatively, Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...pscaef13f2.gif

This isn't the best version of it (they mess up in a couple places), but it's still good:


Actually after listening to that all the way through, I almost shouldn't recommend it. Try to find the version by Ales Solarik and Peter Pazicky. That version is epic.

Anything Chopin works for me. When I was playing piano many years ago, I was getting into some Chopin (the easy stuff, Raindrop Prelude and the like) and it's absolutely fun as smurf to play, even more than just to listen to, and I can't say that about many other composers.

I too also love Moonlight Sonata. It was the second song I ever learned to play on piano (first and second movements, I didn't ever get the third movement all the way down) and I was obsessed with it for a long time. I remember the moonlight sonata piano scene in Resident Evil was initially what really sucked me into that game, and thus into that series. (They've since lost me.) In high school, we were tasked to write a QBasic program for computer class (yes I'm old, smurf off!) and I programmed the first movement of Moonlight Sonata (from memory!) which was very difficult let me tell you, given that there was no way to create "chords" or even just two notes played simultaneously, but it turned out rather nice, actually.