Classical Music Recommendations Options

[MattG]

Classical music is a genre that includes compositions from around 500 A.D. all the way up to the present day. Classical music is typically broken down into 6 different eras or time periods. Though there is some overlap, the generally accepted time periods are:

• Medieval (500-1400)
• Renaissance (1400-1600)
• Baroque (1600-1760)
• Classical (1730-1820)
• Romantic (1815-1910) – sometimes further broken down into Late- / Post-Romantic (1850-1880) and Impressionist (1880-1910)
• 20th Century (1910-present) – sometimes further divided into Modern (1910-1975) and Contemporary (1975-present)

Some of the musical forms contained within the classical genre include: the sonata, symphony, concerto, chamber music, solo vocal music, and choral music. Classical music has also influenced many rock and metal bands to varying degrees, from progressive rock groups like Genesis, Yes, and ELP (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) to heavy metal artists like Deep Purple, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine, and others.

Classical Music Reference websites
-ClassicalNet – “The Internet’s Premier Classical Music Source”
-Classical Archives
–The World Center for Classical Broadcasting – “The very finest in free online symphonic & orchestral streams”
-ClassTab – An excellent resource for finding classical guitar tablature.

Personal Recommendations
Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludwig van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Georg Philip Telemann

Some Guitarists / Instrumentalists of Note
Andrés Segovia
Christopher Parkening – website
John Williams - website
Julian Bream (guitar, lute)
Narciso Yepes (guitar, lute)
Ronn McFarlane (lute) – website
Paul O’Dette (lute)
Itzhak Perlman (violin)
Yo-Yo Ma (cello)

Composers by Classical Period

Renaissance
Dowland, John (1563-1626); England – wrote over 100 pieces for the lute (the ancestor of the modern guitar)
Milano, Francesco Canova da (1497-1543); Italy

Baroque
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750); Germany
Handel, George Frederic (1685-1759); Germany/England
Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757); Italy
Telemann, Georg Phillip (1681-1767); Germany.
Vivaldi, Antonio (1678-1741); Italy

Classical
Haydn, Franz Joseph (1732-1809); Austria
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791); Austria

Romantic
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827); Germany
Carcassi, Matteo (1792-1853); Italy
Carulli, Ferdinando (1770-1841); Italy
Chopin, Frédéric François (1810-1849); Poland
Giuliani, Mauro (1781-1829); Italy
Liszt, Franz (1811-1886); Hungary
Mendelssohn, Felix (1809-1847); Germany
Paganini, Niccolò (1782-1840); Italy
Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828); Austria
Schumann, Robert Alexander (1810-1856); Germany
Sor, Fernando (1778-1839); Spain
Tárrega, Francisco (1852-1909); Spain

Late- / Post-Romantic
Albéniz, Isaac (1860-1909); Spain
Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897); Germany
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich (1840-1893); Russia
Wagner, Richard (1813-1883); Germany

Impressionist
Debussy, Achille-Claude (1860-1918); France
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937); France

Modern
Segovia, Andrés (1893-1987); Spain
Villa-Lobos, Heitor (1887-1959); Brazil

Contemporary
Williams, John (1941- ); USA.

This post has been edited by MattG: Jan 28 2009, 08:10 PM

[Ramiro Delforte]

Nice post mate!!! I really enjoy the classical music

I just want to add a few things

I know that you added Dowland because he composed a lot of lute music but the great composer of that period is Josquin Des Prez and Palestrina both are the great composers of the renaissance. But if you divide the Medieval into Ars Nova and Ars Antiqua you have more composers

Ars Antiqua

Leonin
Perotin

Ars Nova

Machaut
Philippe de Vitry

Now, about the classical composers. Beethoven was a classical composer, his figure was the first romantic in terms of the composer itself but not the compositions (although Beethoven divides in three stages and the last one could be thought as a more romantic). Schubert also is more classical.

Impressionist also are Manuel de Falla (Spain), Ottorino Respighi (Italy).

Modern composers
Well you forgot the most important mate Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Alban Berg (the second vienna school).

Contemporary
I don't want to disqualify John Williams (I really like his compositions) but he does not enter in this kind of category.

The great composers in that period are

Karlheinz Stockhausen (Germany)
Iannis Xenakis (Greece)
Gyorgy Ligeti (Hungary)
Luciano Berio (Italy)
Pierre Boulez (France)
Oliver Messiaen (France)

Also you have minor composers (compared with those) like

Brian Ferneyhough
Mauricio Kagel
Gérard Grisey

And minimal composers

Steve Reich
Terry Riley
Arvo Part
La Monte Young
Philip Glass

I hope you don't mind I added those things

Your post is great!!!

[MattG]

Ramiro - thanks for the input! My post wasn't meant to be all-inclusive, just a good starting point for people interested in classical music. I'm not an expert by any means; in fact, I'm not that familiar with many classical composers other than a few of the "big" ones (mostly Mozart, Beethoven, and some Bach). I was actually hoping folks like yourself would add to this list and build on it.

Thanks again.

[Ramiro Delforte]

Oh, that's great man!
I just added to have a nice base.
I could add more but I think it would be confusing the readers between what you wrote and what I wrote I think it's a pretty good list.

Could resist to make a bigger list on the contemporary (that's what I've studied in my degree) but I know no many people like that kind of music hehehe

[Toni Suominen]

Nice post mate, I've always wanted to dive into the world of classical music more deeply so this is really helpful. Thanks for sharing