Favorite classical music piece(s), anyone?

Community Off Topic
1

Any classical music piece that you like to hear and/or listen to?
I like to play Canon (I haven’t learned to play the entire song yet . . .) and I want to learn Clair De La Lune but I should learn Canon first.
I like to listen to Moonlight Sonata, Leopold Mozart, Pachelbel and The Cantina Band (IDK if Cantina Band counts as classical music but whatever).

2

For period stuff I like hearing Jordi Savall and Shunske Sato play (and countless singers) (any repertoire). For classical period if it’s in-person: Haydn, if it’s recordings: Mozart. For romantic I’m partial to Schumann/Brahms/Schubert. Early 20th century the russians and Debussy/Ravel. And the from then onward is too broad to narrow down. I’ll mention Anna Clyne but it really is a wide field.

In general I’m more interested in the stuff that surprises me, so I don’t have a tidy favorite list. One example is after Rossini stopped writing operas he exclusively wrote solo piano works in a style that could be seen as a precursor to Erik Satie.

Silvius Leopold Weiss’ lute works were also fun to find. Very well written and of comparable richness to Bach’s work for the same medium (in my opinion).

(And to play, I’ll be unoriginal and say Bach/Mozart/Beethoven. Also Caroline Shaw. Throw in some Mahler and Shostakovich for a little unrestrained fun).

4 Likes
3

Now that we have YouTube, et al, I’m all for the surprise finds that @toastedpitabread mentioned, but it depends how daring I am. There are those comfortable choices, and then there are unknown. The performance is ranked before the composition. (Many people wreck Mozart due to misinterpretation, for instance. The same can be said of any of the greats. Not all performers get an A grade from me, so get switched off quickly.)

Also, there is no such thing as a favorites list when one has spent a lifetime listening to the repertoire spanning from the Middle Ages through to the Neoclassical period, then on up to early 20th century. Toss in music that leaked into the Western world from the Orient, et al, and was adapted. There is so much to love in any of those eras.

If I was a guest in your house, and you permitted me to browse through your records, my first choice would be whatever is familiar, moreso than what is a favorite. I’d stop on “Pascal Roge Plays Ravel”, put on the platter, then continue to browse for what will be next.

4 Likes