# Favorite classical pieces



## chiknmunky (Jan 8, 2008)

What are your favorite pieces of classical music?

My favorites are:

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons 
Holst - The Planets 

I can't be the only person here who listens to this, post your favorites!


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## Wavels (Jan 8, 2008)

Hi chik,
There are at least two of us here, maybe more???

Some faves that come to mind:

J S Bach
Brandenburg Concertos, Goldberg Variations, Mass in B Minor, Well-Tempered Clavier.

Mozart
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, All Symphonies

Beethoven
All Symphonies, Piano Concerto Emperor

Chopin
Pretty much all of his piano music especialy the Nocturnes 

Sam Barber
Adagio for Strings

Copland
Fanfare for the Common Man, Rodeo, Appalachian Spring

Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris

Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition

Berlioz
Symphonie fantastique

Varèse
Ionisation

Zappa
The Yellow Shark

**


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## chiknmunky (Jan 8, 2008)

Only two? I would have guessed much more.


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## natmoon (Jan 9, 2008)

I remake classical music on my keyboard and pc.
*All* of my music is free,i play till i need weed to stop finger and wrist pain.
No samples instruments are made up by me using wind and reed modeling synth and the strings are made using VA synthesis.
Heres a couple of my classical remakes if you want to hear any more of my work more click on the bottom link in my signature.

leyenda(remake)
hi-fi URL: Start Player

Adagio in G minor(synthremake)
hi-fi URL: Start Player

Sonata No.1 (synthremake)
hi-fi URL: Start Player

gouryella(ligaya)(synth)
hi-fi URL: Start Player

moon vs Bach
hi-fi URL: Start Player


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## Wavels (Jan 10, 2008)

Those are nice arrangements Nat, and I do not wish to be disrespectful,
But I detest and loathe the sound of any and all electronic music.
I consider electronic interpretations of classical pieces as blasphemous.
It hurts my ears. It is the antithesis of what I love about Classical music...acoustic instruments with a lush organic natural sound.

Even one of my favorite musicians Grammy award winning albums is unlistenable to me because of the use of electronics...Frank Zappa's Jazz from Hell.
Two of the compositions from that album were done by Ensemble Modern (Yellow Shark) without the use of electronics, and to my ears they are stunning and gorgeous and far superior to the original!
I do not wish to offend you, and I apologize if I have done so!


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## bongspit (Jan 10, 2008)

wagner and verdi are cool...flight of the valkyries is awesome..


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## natmoon (Jan 10, 2008)

Wavels said:


> Those are nice arrangements Nat, and I do not wish to be disrespectful,
> But I detest and loathe the sound of any and all electronic music.
> I consider electronic interpretations of classical pieces as blasphemous.
> It hurts my ears. It is the antithesis of what I love about Classical music...acoustic instruments with a lush organic natural sound.
> ...


Thats ok i already realize that classical purists see me as a butcher and this has been said to me before.
I take no offense in this and understand totally.

I only attempt to bring classical music to the masses of electronica heads that are out there and i like real classical music and i like trance music there is something to like in everything if you only want to look for it.
I make these tracks for myself really and then share them for free with anyone that may want them.

These are my interpretations of a fusion of classical and modern sound created on the basis that i want to listen to something old and something new at the same time if you know what i mean.

I have a pc and a keyboard and smoke a lot of pot in my bedroom.
I record them with a cheap soundblaster card and master them with the free creative wave program that came with my soundcard.
Obviously this will create a lot of dud frequencies especially to a well trained ear like your own.
So you have to bear that in mind please.

I have a new synth now and hopefully my future work will be better and have a lot more natural clarity.
I am currently saving up for some powered studio monitors so that i may be finally able to achieve a more realistic and natural clean sound so i would appreciate all of your feedback on all of my work and i appreciate your honest comments a 100 times more than a fake pat on the back.
Please keep listening and let me know if and when you think my soundwork has improved


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## Wavels (Jan 10, 2008)

natmoon said:


> Thats ok i already realize that classical purists see me as a butcher and this has been said to me before.
> I take no offense in this and understand totally.
> 
> I only attempt to bring classical music to the masses of electronica heads that are out there and i like real classical music and i like trance music there is something to like in everything if you only want to look for it.
> ...


 
Wow, nat, thanks so much for the very thoughtful response to my harsh critique. I appreciate it greatly. 
I am a passionate lover of music, and I find as I get older that Classical music is becoming less popular. It never was what could be called truly popular for the past sixty years or so.
This I consider an unfortunate development, as it used to be the case that almost *all* popular musicians had some knowledge of, or were informed by the great masters of the classics.
I do not think this is the case any longer and I consider this development to be most discouraging. We are losing touch with some of the underpinnings of what made us who we are as a culture.
I admire and respect your desire to expose some music fans to works they may have never heard before. This is tremendous!

I look forward to listening to some of your forthcoming efforts.
Would it be Ok if I come up with some suggestions for pieces I think may appeal to the music fans you are trying to reach.

I smoke a lot of pot and listen to lots of music (acoustic Jazz as well as the classics) and I would like to assist you (in whatever way I can) in your attempt to reach people that may have never be exposed to this genre of music.
Wavels


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## natmoon (Jan 10, 2008)

Wavels said:


> Wow, nat, thanks so much for the very thoughtful response to my harsh critique. I appreciate it greatly.
> I am a passionate lover of music, and I find as I get older that Classical music is becoming less popular. It never was what could be called truly popular for the past sixty years or so.
> This I consider an unfortunate development, as it used to be the case that almost *all* popular musicians had some knowledge of, or were informed by the great masters of the classics.
> I do not think this is the case any longer and I consider this development to be most discouraging. We are losing touch with some of the underpinnings of what made us who we are as a culture.
> ...


If you want to suggest one 5-8 minute piece of any kind i will see what i can come up with and go at it one at a time.
I have so much on the go right now so if you tell me your favorite piece and i will make it as purely classical as i can and also do a digital chilled out trance version and let you judge them.

If you want to assist me always give me honest feedback and tell people that i have 73 tracks at my site that are completely free,all kinds of music from joke tracks like bollocks knee nuts to Sonata No.1 which i was particularly proud of technically and sound wise considering my fairly crappy recording and reproduction skills as well as my obviously limited and cheap tools all though in a live streaming mp3 it loses a lot in comparison to my own 44khz high quality version.

My beautiful new alesis fusion is now going to be the device i use for these tracks so hopefully the advanced wind and reed modeling engines in it will pay for themselves and give me back every penny in sonic excellence.
I just need the monitors now so that i can hear properly instead of trying to master them through my old aiwa stereo.

My new synth is also basically a studio in one machine with an 8 track hd recorder and fully fledged and automatable onboard mixer.

Something good in all music i reckon from iron maiden 7th son of a 7th son(excellent musically if you really listen) to Mozart,always something good and of course always something bad.


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## buckley26 (Jan 12, 2008)

My plants love the classics & so do I!


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## Smoke2Live420 (Jan 12, 2008)

chiildren of bodom guitarist play vivaldi

YouTube - children of bodom


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## Wavels (Jan 19, 2008)

natmoon said:


> If you want to suggest one 5-8 minute piece of any kind i will see what i can come up with and go at it one at a time.


Nice cola BTW nat....
After thinking about it for a little while I thought I would throw out a tune that is not "classical", however to my ears it is one of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. There are many interpretations of it available

It is from a Frank Zappa Album entitled One Size Fits All...

I can't find my preferred version of this tune, but you should get the idea from these...
I think you can do a great job with this...
Wavels
YouTube - Frank Zappa, Sofa

Frank Zappa - Sofa NÂ°2 - Circus Krone Munich - 1978 - AOL Video

YouTube - sofa

YouTube - Steve Vai Sofa by Cesar Huesca


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## Wavels (Jan 19, 2008)

Smoke2Live420 said:


> chiildren of bodom guitarist play vivaldi
> 
> YouTube - children of bodom


 
This is a nice tune...those bodom guys do not do it justice...Not for me...they are better than average "rock" guitarists though.
This is how Vivaldi should sound.

YouTube - Vivaldi Four Seasons - I Musici 1988

YouTube - Vivaldi Four Seasons played by Anne-Sophie Mutter


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## natmoon (Jan 19, 2008)

Ok i will work on frank zappas track sofa and Vivaldi four seasons and see what comes out
I will post some rough work soon and then in a few weeks some polished work


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## natmoon (Jan 19, 2008)

OK here you go wavels.
Not really my thing and after 5 hours of doing it i have had enough
Anyway my head and ears are aching now so i uploaded it to one of my many fake name accounts as its a cover and i cant upload it to any account that i am not prepared to have deleted at a moments notice.

I tried to combine some classical elements with some 60s doors style organ sounds and some new electronica bass backing tones.
Drums are made using an orchestral drum palette and a basic drum synth.
Electric distortion guitar may not be so good,but after so many listens i can no longer judge it properly.

Took ages to get the panned element right to try to make it sound more like it was really being played by a band instead of me in my bedroom.
EQ was done with pc after i rendered it.

Hope you appreciate the effort even if its not to your liking

Spymac.com : Frank Zappa(synth remake)


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## natmoon (Jan 26, 2008)

Did wavels ever come back


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## Jas (Jan 29, 2008)

The process of creating music is a beatiful thing, good work man.

I always had a little place in my heart for Beethovens piano sonatas. No14 in C sharp major (the "moonlight") being my favourite. Even started an arr. for guitar back in my school days. Children of Bodom can fuck right off, they play with no feel or soul. Sure they can play fast though if thats your thing


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## natmoon (Jan 29, 2008)

Jas said:


> The process of creating music is a beatiful thing, good work man.
> 
> I always had a little place in my heart for Beethovens piano sonatas. No14 in C sharp major (the "moonlight") being my favourite. Even started an arr. for guitar back in my school days. Children of Bodom can fuck right off, they play with no feel or soul. Sure they can play fast though if thats your thing


Thanks for having a listen and glad you liked it
My work is always improving with practice.
I will work on the vivaldi stuff in a few days time and see what i come up with


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## rmax (Jan 29, 2008)

1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky.

It's hard to beat Chimes & Cannons.... Acoustic Techno.

What do you think?

YouTube - Tchaicovsky - 1812 Overture


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## natmoon (Feb 2, 2008)

rmax said:


> 1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky.
> 
> It's hard to beat Chimes & Cannons.... Acoustic Techno.
> 
> ...


Just having a listen now but as its 15.31 minutes long i will post what i thought later


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## natmoon (Feb 9, 2008)

Well i did the vivaldi stuff even though wavels has never been back lol
I thought it sounded like a good tune to rip up so i did.
This classical piece has got the full electronic natmoon treatment.
Used virtual classical instruments as well as drums and synth lines and sounds that i made up meself.

Sounds a bit weird but i still liked it.
Maybe i will work on it more in the future sometime but i have had enough of it for the minute.

Enjoy another free weird track to listen to when you are bored,stoned or want something different


Vivaldi four seasons piece
lo-fi URL: Start Player
hi-fi URL: Start Player


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## natmoon (Feb 16, 2008)

I guess wavels never came back lol oh well


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## Wavels (Feb 26, 2008)

natmoon said:


> OK here you go wavels.
> Not really my thing and after 5 hours of doing it i have had enough
> Anyway my head and ears are aching now so i uploaded it to one of my many fake name accounts as its a cover and i cant upload it to any account that i am not prepared to have deleted at a moments notice.
> 
> ...


Sorry for my disappearance from this thread but I did not have the time necessary to sit and listen with serious intent.....

Wowee, you are quite talented nat, you did a great job, I was afraid that you would trample or otherwise obscure the beautiful melody with too much rhythmic background....Instead you actually accentuated this sublime melody with very creative and lush, suitable ornamentation in the background!!!!

I have played this for, and shared it with some of my friends and they all love it.
Beautiful!!!GREAT work!!!

Thanks for your effort!

I must admit to being MOST pleasantly surprised, if not blown away!!!!!
WOW!



Wowee, you have boatloads of talent Nat!


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## natmoon (Feb 26, 2008)

Wavels said:


> Sorry for my disappearance from this thread but I did not have the time necessary to sit and listen with serious intent.....
> 
> Wowee, you are quite talented nat, you did a great job, I was afraid that you would trample or otherwise obscure the beautiful melody with too much rhythmic background....Instead you actually accentuated this sublime melody with very creative and lush, suitable ornamentation in the background!!!!
> 
> ...


Yeah man thanks for the kind comments.

Was a difficult thing for me to do as i had never listened to Frank Zappa before then and this is not my usual style of music.
I tried to keep it real and not clutter it to much,sounds like i succeeded from your review.

I thought the 60s organ sounds helped to make it warm and real,i tried to achieve the effect that it was really being played by a group instead of just me.
I used light touches on the drum sounds by limiting the velocity and speed of the strikes in the sequencer to try to achieve the sound effect of a real drummer as well with the use of the cymbals and hi hats.

Maybe one day i will get a job making music until then i will keep making music for as long as i can for fun and achievement and listening pleasure.
Thank your friends for having a listen as well and thank you for the great review,i know you have a lot going on right now so i appreciate that and i am very glad that you liked it


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## ViRedd (Feb 27, 2008)

Concierto de Aranjuez. Composer: Rodridgo. Artist: John Williams guitar.

YouTube - Xuefei Yang - JoaquÃ*n Rodrigo: Concierto De Aranjuez

YouTube - Kaori Muraji - Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez, Adagio 2/2

And why no mention of Liszt?

YouTube - LISZT PIANO CONCERTO NO 1 (IV TEMPO) by ROBERTO PARUZZO

Vi


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## southpaw (Feb 28, 2008)

For me, most anything from Igor Stravinsky, Fredrick Chopin and Nicolo Paganini. Especially Paganini's 24 Caprice's, good stuff ....


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## blitz (Apr 12, 2008)

I definitely agree with Wavels re: the discussion from earlier in this thread. I think that Classical music should remain in its proper context- covering it on a synthesizer is just silly and adds nothing. What really bothers me about this is Tiesto and his bunch turning Samuel Barber's 'Adagio for Strings' into a trance cover version. It doesn't even work as a trance track, and is totally an abomination for classical music fans.

Anyways, I like Bach a lot, Mahler, Prokofiev, Brahms, later Beethoven


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## natmoon (Apr 13, 2008)

blitz said:


> I definitely agree with Wavels re: the discussion from earlier in this thread. I think that Classical music should remain in its proper context- covering it on a synthesizer is just silly and adds nothing. What really bothers me about this is Tiesto and his bunch turning Samuel Barber's 'Adagio for Strings' into a trance cover version. It doesn't even work as a trance track, and is totally an abomination for classical music fans.
> 
> Anyways, I like Bach a lot, Mahler, Prokofiev, Brahms, later Beethoven


Yeah but just because your a die hard classical fan you also have to realize that you have never even heard Bach, Mahler, Prokofiev, Brahms or Beethoven only the modern day orchestras version of their works.
Saying that these guys work is an abomination just shows you to be a narrow minded snob.
Bach and Beethoven would not have been impressed with your single minded prejudiced attitude


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## HoLE (Apr 13, 2008)

natmoon said:


> Well i did the vivaldi stuff even though wavels has never been back lol
> I thought it sounded like a good tune to rip up so i did.
> This classical piece has got the full electronic natmoon treatment.
> Used virtual classical instruments as well as drums and synth lines and sounds that i made up meself.
> ...


I just listened to it,,pretty cool,,something you clean up the house to

Keep on Growin

HoLE


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## blitz (Apr 13, 2008)

natmoon said:


> Yeah but just because your a die hard classical fan you also have to realize that you have never even heard Bach, Mahler, Prokofiev, Brahms or Beethoven only the modern day orchestras version of their works.
> Saying that these guys work is an abomination just shows you to be a narrow minded snob.
> Bach and Beethoven would not have been impressed with your single minded prejudiced attitude


Ouch! I really don't think you're on the right track at all. Do you really think Beethoven would want to hear his symphonies arranged by some amateur on a Radio Shack synthesizer? He'd probably like them the way they were originally written. And don't give me the line that I'm not REALLY hearing Mahler's 1st Symphony when I listen to a recording- the instruments that are playing the music haven't changed in centuries, and many of the stringed instruments being played by professional musicians probably date back to a period contemporary with Beethoven's life. Besides, there's this field called MUSICOLOGY, not to mention these things called SCORES AND MANUSCRIPTS so nothing is changing with contemporary performances except maybe our A is 440 instead of 450, and maybe tempos differ, but what's the matter with some interpretation?
You're barking up the wrong tree here. I just like classical music played on the instruments for which it was written, instead of some crap cover version.


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