On music

Table of contents

Introduction

I have been a music listener for as long as I can remember. For the past 17 or so years I have also been an avid enjoyer of classical music. It originally started off with the easy-to-listen-to stuff like Mozart symphonies and piano sonatas, Vivaldi concertos and Beethoven piano sonatas. Gradually, as I started playing the piano, my tastes changed. I started disliking what I previously liked, Mozart and Vivaldi seemed really boring to me at the time (and tbf, still are) and I gained a new taste for more harmonically complex and melodically intriguing music from the romantic era. I consider Beethoven to be among other things the greatest composer to have ever lived and I have been enjoying his piano sonatas in particular for over half of my life now. Beethoven was kind of my introduction to romantic music. He is full of emotion and has the Sturm und Drang goodness that the 10 year old me liked. After Beethoven came Schubert with his impromptus, symphonies and piano sonatas. Then Debussy, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and so on. With age, I became more interested in complex music and I was no longer put off by dissonance, I welcomed it in moderation. Then, at some point I first heard Scriabin. At first I was a bit hesitant but his music grew on me. And from then it was Rautavaara, Berg, Ginastera, Schoenberg and all of the major 20th century composers.

What I listen to now

As I am writing it, I am listening to Britten’s Violin concerto. Currently I have been into concertos in particular and I look for strong emotional language, long melodies, dramatic cadenzas and lush orchestral writing. For the past 2 weeks or so, I have been enamored by Barber’s Violin concerto. That thing is the most delightful violin love song. It sounds like a heartbroken Barber longing for his Menotti, remembering all the good times. Not that it has such a meaning but it definitely could. The first two movements have some of the finest scoring, the violin shines through, orchestra gracefully supports it and the whole thing sounds like it could have been sung. The third movement, being written at a different time, is a whole another beast but genius in its own right. Pure fireworks!

Next on the list is Rautavaara’s violin concerto. Rautavaara’s violin concerto is in many ways similar to Berg’s. Both are 2-or-4 movement pieces with a rather slow and angelic first movement and menacing second movement. Technically, Berg’s is 4 movements in 2 pairs, both pairs attaca. I enjoy both but recently, I have taken a liking to Rautavaara’s first movement ending. It is sort of a cadenza but not a big flashy one like Berg’s. It is a very powerful but quiet climax and it never fails to give me goosebumps.

Lastly, my favourite piece of all time. Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto. That thing is a beast, just listen to it. It ticks all the boxes and some more.

As you can see, there are quite a few 20th century names. My advice to classical music listeners new to the hobby is: Don’t be scared. Just because Schoenberg sounds terrifying at first, doesn’t meant that you won’t come to like him in the future. Take your time, listening to music is all about enjoying the process. Some pieces are easygoing, some are like old friends you have known your entire life, some are like an ancient grandfather that only you like and some are like a tortured artist only seeming healthy and mentally safe surface level.

Recommendations

Here I have compiled a few unranked lists. Easy to listen to means that it is a good introduction to classical music or for those that don’t listen to it regularly.

Easy to listen to

  • Beethoven: Piano sonata no. 26
  • Beethoven: Piano sonata no. 31
  • All Beethoven’s symphonies
  • All Beethoven’s piano concertos and his violin concerto
  • Brahms: Opus 116, 117, 118, 119
  • Both Brahms’ piano concertos and his violin concerto
  • Scriabin: Piano concerto
  • Chopin: Préludes
  • Both Chopin piano concertos
  • Ravel: Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphonies no. 1 and 6
  • Barber: Violin concerto
  • Rachmaninoff: all piano concertos

Intermediate pieces

  • Beethoven: Piano sonata no. 29
  • Dvořák: all concertos - violin, cello and piano
  • Debussy: both books of preludes, Suite Bergamasque, Images and L’isle joyeuse
  • Bartók: both violin concertos and concerto for orchestra
  • Britten: Violin concerto and Piano concerto
  • Saint-Saëns: Organ symphony
  • Franck: Prélude, Choral et Fugue
  • Shostakovich: 24 Preludes and Fugues
  • Shostakovich: both piano and both violin concertos
  • Rautavaara: Symphony no. 8
  • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue and Piano concerto
  • Sibelius: Violin concerto and all 7 symphonies
  • Szymanowski: anything
  • Prokofiev: both violin concertos
  • Liszt: symphonies, Piano sonata, Transcendental Etudes and Années de Pelerinage

Advanced pieces

  • Berg: Violin concerto and Drei Orchesterstücke
  • Ginastera: both piano concertos and violin concerto
  • Khachaturian: Piano concerto and Violin concerto
  • Bartók: Piano concertos and Piano sonata
  • Busoni: Piano concerto
  • Stravinsky: Petrushka, The Firebird and Rite of Spring
  • Messiaen: Turangalila-Symphonie and L’Ascension
  • Messiaen: Préludes pour piano, Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus and Quatre Études de Rythme
  • Prokofiev: Piano concertos no. 2 and 3
  • Prokofiev: Symphonies no. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
  • Prokofiev: Piano sonatas no. 4 to 8
  • Barber: Piano concerto and Piano sonata
  • Schoenberg: piano and violin concertos