Classical music thread for TCO

[Asher]

Awesome posts.

Now where do John Williams and Danny Elfman fit?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Asher
Awesome posts.

Now where do John Williams and Danny Elfman fit?

Williams is heavily influenced by Wagner, Holst, Stravinsky and Mahler in his symphonic film scores, so I'd call him a "Neo-Romantic" if anything.

Elfman was, IIRC, a jazz musician who then started to write scores for movies. I think his stuff gets repetitive real quick. But I'd also say he's in the "Neo-Romantic" zone.

[Asher]

Which era is best?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by CrONoS
... lol

If you have Civilization 4, you have a VERY GOOD compilation of classical music.

From Pre-Baroque to Contemporary (John Adams)

Except: There is no opera, religious work.

The files are in: Asset / Sountrack / folder.

All files are in MP3 are a classed by musical era:
Medieval/Baroque/romantism etc...

Edit: OOps I remember there is one religious composition: Miserere Me from Allegri is included.

I'd say it's actually a pretty narrow compilation. Large numbers of pieces from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Dvorak, but completely ignoring other composers of these eras. No Hadyn? Berlioz? Schubert?

And while I understand paying for the rights was an issue, just Adams for the Modern Era got old, for me.

[Asher]

Isn't all classical music public domain by now?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Asher
Which era is best?

Given your preference for louder, meatier stuff, I think you'd prefer late Romantic/Early 20th Century stuff:

Wagner
Bruckner
Tchaikovsky
Mahler
Prokofiev
Stravinksy
Britten
Holst
Orff
Shostakovich
Respighi
R. Strauss

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Asher
Isn't all classical music public domain by now?

Not a lot of later 20th century music like Adams, he's still alive.

[Asher]

Who wrote that kickass theme from Requiem for a Dream and why is it so awesome?

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Asher
Who wrote that kickass theme from Requiem for a Dream and why is it so awesome?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_a_Dream_(soundtrack)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Mansell

From what little I've heard, Mansell's music is definitely symphonic rock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_rock

[Asher]

Is symphonic rock why it is so awesome?

[Boris Godunov]

Since that's your opinion, you'd have to verify it by listening to other examples of symphonic rock and seeing if you find them awesome as well.

[Asher]

That's not a very good answer.

[Boris Godunov]

It's a great answer, as it encourages you to explore a genre of music, and in doing so you might find more pieces that are awesome to you. I'd be happy to have sparked such enjoyment of music in someone.

[Asher]

Symphonic rock? Classical music?

[Asher]

I've tried for several years to get into classical but it usually doesn't work well. I'm heavy into melody in the rock music I listen and the best rock music I like is the kind that tell a story, but usually not literally. There needs to be some level of abstraction or metaphor in the lyrics that require some thought and creativity to decipher. It really becomes more of a cerebral exercise than simply listening to nice tunes.

For instance, the latest song I'm into is Dustland Fairytale:


From what I've been able to gather, it's a story of his parents' lives: specifically how they meet in 1961 in Vegas, find religion, spend life together, then she's hit by cancer and is presently on her death bed (and at the end he's asking her not to sleep, "the kingdom's under siege", etc). The buildup of the song is superb, the little crescendos and the pauses help convey the gravity of the song as well.

I've found most of the classical music I've listened to lacks this kind of emotional intensity. They're frequently overly quiet, plodding pieces that I've heard or they're just chaotic and crazy.

Given this information, would you stick to your recommendations of Wagner et al?