I heard a story once that there was a pianist (composer?) that had all sorts busts of composers in his room, but Bach was supposedly the only one top of the piano. Anyone remember the context? It may have been a painting, too. Not sure where I read it, probably some of the usual suspects like Kaiser, Dahlhaus, Greenberg or Adorno. I'd would appreciate any hint!

Was there a defining moment in your life when you started taking interest in classical music?

Sometimes it seems like Mozart works so much better for me for working on something and less for reading about something. Thoughts??

In March 2025, Irish National Opera presents its first-ever Wagner production – The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Holländer) – at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin. INO wants to welcome international opera (and Wagner!) fans to a unique event combining thrilling live performances, in-depth discussions, and the chance to connect with fellow Wagner lovers in one of Europe’s most vibrant cities.

Whether you’re a true Wagnerian, or simply want to experience world-class, cutting-edge opera in a vibrant city, this package is for you. For €150 per person and with special hotel rates for those booking, INO offers a prime ticket for The Flying Dutchman on Tuesday 25th or Thursday 27th March, plus access to the exclusive Wagner event on Wednesday 26th March.

For more information on this special offer and to book tickets: https://bit.ly/WagnerInDublin

For inquiries, please contact:
📧 Email: development@irishnationalopera.ie

We hope to welcome you to Dublin in March 2025 for what promises to be an extraordinary celebration of Wagner!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JS91p-vmSf0&pp=ygUSc2NodWJlcnQgZXJsa8O2bmln

Fantastic Erlkönig video with animation put together by Oxford Songs. 11 million views speaks for itself.

I've listened to this one piece like a million times and only now I realised that you can listen whispers, it's low but you can hear it, and this is present in most versions of this piece I've found online.

I have so many questions, why, what does it mean, is it part of the lyrics, did Thomas Tallis write that down, did other classical composers do this, does this have a name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQOn6ABQHPM

In the latest tSticky Notes podcast episode 249 Berg Violin Concerto, there is a piano excerpt at 6:40. Can anyone tell me the composer and title? Thank you

The literature world has many many people who make their living editing. Often new works published include extravagant but seemingly sincere praise of their editors, who "made the book possible".

Any suggestions for music editors who are that good at what they do? I'd love to find someone.

My particular interest is for someone in the classical world, good at notation but not especially focused on that, and especially someone who has independent interest and experiences in making music "work", whatever that means.

This is basically a clarinet piece in an adagio tempo. It is a very slow almost serene piece. I composed it cause I had a cool progression or whatever. So i just went off what I could hear in my head, as well as what sounded the best. I hope you Enjoy!

https://preview.redd.it/gra2y712adge1.jpg?width=582&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a04246bdda28d494795381f694b1b236a53b1668

Recently I've been diving into Copland's “What to Listen for in Music” and I just read his comments about “expressiveness” - In the book the author dwelves in the concept that music isn't more expressive when it is more exact. Meaning that a composer shouldn't try to express an idea or feeling relying on sounds that will objectively bring certain emotional reactions, and that music composed that way would be “stylistically dictatorial” forcing the audience to react at a predetermined way and blocking any subsequent reinterpretation based on listening again. He then finishes with the affirmation that real expressiveness can (and should) be built without a clear dialogue with logic, allowing the audience to feel it without necessarily understand it.

I then listened to one of my favourite classical pieces - "Holst: The Planets" and realized that Copland's remarks could totally fit here: Even though the songs are great they're too bound to a specific set of emotions which one cannot escape, regardless of how many times one listens. We're forced to rethink the same every time.

This thought leave me unquiet. Would music be more expressive if its meaning wasn't so obviously contrived? Should music (especially classical music) perceive itself as an “intellectual maze” to be explored by its audience?

I personally think that we can't attribute functions to art and say that “Music SHOULD be X” or “Music SHOULD be Y” - but comparing both ideas I'd say that to abandon the “objective” side of music in favour of “total subjectiveness” would poison compositions by giving technical aspects an exaggerated value while forgetting the more human side of music…

What d'y'all think?

Hello r/classicalmusic , I'm trying to find a specifc symphony on YouTube which is named "Arctic Symphony", but I can't find the composer. What I do vaguely remember is that the video in question was more than one hour long, and it had a painting of an arctic cruiser of the early 20th century on it, battling a storm.
I'd be glad if you could send me the link to that very rare piece.

It is true that when you look at it, the brush strokes stand out. However, it is particularly realistic.

I recently played this set of Shostakovich's String Quartets by the Borodin String Quartet for the first time and I have become completely obsessed with it. I think it's some of the best music I have ever heard. Shostakovich is new to me and I need recommendations on which of his other works I need to check out and QUICK!! Thanks.

https://preview.redd.it/ilzxmq6ggcge1.jpg?width=594&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b84100f5a74f78ca7ae41758a529eb0ba9cb8ab

After having such a lovely discussion here a couple of days ago, I'm back and hungry for more!

What I'd like to hear about are recordings (or live performances, of course, though being able to listen to the recommendations is at least half the fun) that suddenly made sense of pieces which felt inaccessible to you beforehand. So I'm specifically not asking for your favourite recordings of music you love(d) anyway, but those pieces which you couldn't get into until you found that one particular interpretation...

For example, I wrote my first master's thesis on Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto and couldn't really make sense of the piece (nor did I pick the topic, to be fair), despite listening to countless recordings by Oistrakh, Kogan, Kremer, Milstein, Kavakos, Vengerov... all until I heard Kopatchinskaja's recording which quite literally blew my mind. I don't think that her recording is the most 'authentic' one, nor would I (a violinist myself) ever play it like she did, but her interpretation uncovered facets of the music for me which I felt to be entirely invisible before hearing her performance.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and especially the recordings you'll recommend! :)

Recently, I've been listening to Adolf Busch's Violin Music recording. Where can I find more recordings like this? I'm looking for something like a list of recordings, non-remastered, just raw, old and unrefined recordings. A good example would be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_m7PN5sn1U
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17yQEYc9gdI

The hissing in the background, etc. Something that is THAT old. Thanks.

This album includes includes Chopin's Ballade No. 4 In F Minor played by Cziffra distributed by Philips Records music label.

Just listening to spotify (which I very rarely do) and I lookup sibelius and end up in a beautiful playlist of recordings by the Lahti

How come a fairly small town like Lahti has such an amazing orchestra? I mean I used to think that Simon Rattle's series of Sibelius symphonies was good until I heard these people.

Mozart's requiem Mass is my favorite piece of all time but i don't really like the interpretation of any of the conductors I've heard exept for Karjan who's interpretation I love (he's also by far my favorite conductor of all time) the problem is all the recordings I've found of karjan conducting the requiem are either terrible quality or poorly arranged (Mikes are positioned in such a way that the male voices are way louder turn the female ones) So i came hear to ask you guys is there a recording of karjan conducting the requiem? Is there a conductor who has a similar interpretation to karjan? Also just in general what is considered the best recording of Mozart's requiem Mass? And what recording is your guy's favorite?

I recently discovered and played the Fantasy in D minor K 397 from Mozart. The thing is, I particularly liked the opening (basically the eight first measures that consist in arpeggios), much more than the rest of the piece. The issue is: it's quite short, since it's only eight measures, everything that comes after is completely different.

So I was wondering: are there any piano pieces that are similar to that intro, but last longer ? Ideally, an entire piece that is like that, or at least the largest part of it is.

It's hard to tell exactly why I like this in particular, but here are some the reasons. I think it's because it combines these:

• It's in minor. Should you transcribe that part into its major counterpart, chances are I would find it somewhat bland and boring. It would definitely not have reached my attention and I wouldn't have written that post about it if it was in major key.
• It sounds dramatic, because of the very quality of chords used and progression, combined with sustain pedal.
• But it still has feeling of delicacy, because it's arpeggios and you are building the chords progressively, note by note, rather than abruptly, which seems unusual to me for a piece that sounds dramatic.
• Despite what I just said, it's still somewhat simple, straight to the point : chord arpeggios build one note after the other, and it's basically the same phrase repeated every measure, only the chord change, which makes it somewhat obsessive and accentuates the dramatic feeling. No overly complicated melody or harmony with tons and tons of notes. It's just really efficient at reaching its effect, with the right amount of melody going up and down to avoid it being exercise-level simplistic.

So, thank in advance if you have any idea.

please enjoy :) https://youtu.be/_DWNhmICf0M?si=uxO7kHCYCppEqtuG

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-68778847.amp

What is it about classical music that allows it be effective in deterring loitering? My guess is that classical music can contain dissonance whereas pop music sticks to nice sounding chords. Also the unfamiliarity of classical music compared to pop music could lend itself to be used as a psychological weapon