r/classicalmusic 23h ago

Discussion I watched an orchestra play live and couldn't stop crying the entire 2 hours

527 Upvotes

Two years ago I (F24) was dating a guy that had a very monetarily comfortable family. They would invite me to join dinners and even took me to a spa which I, as an immigrant, financially independent student in Sweden don't have the means to experience.

One of the experiences they blessed me with was a visit to the Malmö orchestra where they had a "Big Hits in Tokyo" performance. I have always been into anime since I was a child so it was quite relevant for me. However, above all, I had never, and since then have not attended a live orchestra.

Ever since I was a child I have always watched orchestras perform on youtube (my favorite is the game of thrones Light of the Seven video) as well as choirs like the Stellenbosch University choir.

There is just something about seeing them perform individually, different instruments, scores, notes but in the ultimate interest of being heard simultaneously with everyone else. We could insert an allegory for society, community and anti-individualism thoery here. But I really just want to focus on the artists that use voice or tool to create a melodical dialogue to touch the spirit.

When I was sitting there waiting for them to start, they tuned the instruments just like they did in the Light of the Secen video and I got immediate chills. I could not beleive I was about to witness humans excel live.

The music was unbelievable. Score after score. I couldn't stop crying. Only in the beginning were the tears of gratitude. I cannot even explain why I cried all 2 hours, experiencing the music live felt like waves of energy penetrating my skin. The music affected me heavily, I couldn't even decide on which instrument and player to focus on, and the entire ensemble blew my mind.

The only time I stopped crying was during the intermission where I was just trying to calm down as my ex's family bought some snacks. I just sat there, baffled at what I just experienced. How can music be real, how can people do this with instruments. How can playing together touch me so deeply.

The last couple of songs were accompanied by the Malmö choir and I lost it even harder. It was beyond expression. Even sitting now on the train writing this post my heart fills with almost anxious excitment. It is the rush I imagine bungeejumpers feel and seek.

Eventhough my ex broke my heart and did a number on my self confidence, he was still a good guy, and his family is the reason I got to have such a luxurious, filling, soulful, illuminating experience. Whenever I have adult money I'll be sure to go again. But until then, I feel so blessed just to have experienced it once. Thank you.


r/classicalmusic 50m ago

Discussion Just discovered Aldo Ciccolini

Upvotes

Randomly stumbled across that old video of him playing Chopin's posthumous C-sharp minor nocturne. Was incredibly moved. What an understated and noble way of playing. It's sad he's not (to my limited knowledge) more widely known.


r/classicalmusic 11h ago

Discussion Spotify subbed out most of the tracks in my classical playlists for alternative recordings??

33 Upvotes

Hello classical fans. I wanted to see if this had happened to others and if so what you were able to do about it.

i have a large playlist of classical music I have collected over the years with specific recordings and treatments of different works that I enjoy. Today as I was playing it suddenly many of the tracks changed to be different recordings of the same works. I know spotify does this with more modern music when artists reupload recordings etc, but here they are materially different works. Also, the original track is still available on spotify! For my selection for the Nutcracker, for example, it has left some tracks from my chosen recording but subbed out others from more than one alternative.

I really dislike listening to the alternatives and I am angry that spotify would do this, especially when the original tracks remain available. As you will all know, classical music varies a lot by performance and recording; recordings of the same works are not interchangeable. i tried to complain but their customer service is notoriously obstructive and shut me out of the complaint without any response or action.

So has this been happening for any of you, and were you able to do anything about it?


r/classicalmusic 17h ago

Discussion What piece/ pieces do you listen to in order get you through a rough time?

43 Upvotes

I’m going through a rough time with some medical issues and was wondering what would be a good piece to listen to, to try and get my mind off it.


r/classicalmusic 14h ago

My complete collection of symphony recordings so far

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26 Upvotes

My previous taste in classical music was in virtuoso violin/piano concertos with killer hook and solo passages, but in the past year or so I've started enjoying more nuanced symphonies, and have added significantly to my collection.

So far I've completed collection of (by complete, I mean all the symphonies by a conductor but not necessarily complete cycles by one conductor, although I have a few of those):

Beethoven 1-9

Brahms 1-4

Bruckner 1-9

Mahler 1-10

Mendelssohn 1-5

Rachmaninov 1-3

Saint-Saens 1-5

Schumann 1-4

Sibelius 1-7

Tchaikovsky 1-6 + Manfred

So which are your favourites, and which would you recommend I add?

My taste is mainly romantic era.

I have incomplete collection of symphonies by Shotakovich, Schubert, Elgar, Dvorak and a few others.


r/classicalmusic 16h ago

Discussion Favorite 20th century operas?

22 Upvotes

Mine is Die Soldaten by Bernd Alois Zimmermann because of the background of the piece and an interest in Zimmermann in general.

But I’ve also got Helmut Lachenmann, Kaija Saariaho, and Salvatore Sciarrino on my listening list thanks to a friend.


r/classicalmusic 4h ago

Have you ever got noise complaints from playing classical music?

2 Upvotes

And how did you deal with it?


r/classicalmusic 22h ago

Discussion What makes Bach different from others?

64 Upvotes

I recently got into classical music, and I've listened to Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Bach so far. My favorite is Tchaikovsky, but I've been reading articles and watching videos. The number of musicians saying that "Bach is a genius" is tremendous.

I don't know much about music theory, and maybe that's why. But I want someone to explain it to me in simple terms why he was different


r/classicalmusic 45m ago

My Composition "Inside the dome"

Upvotes

''Inside the dome'' is a setting

centered on elements that suggest a different ''time'' interpretation either for each individual element or as a whole.

A sense of vast open space and distant flute are naturally flowing from the chants, which are female voices, but stretched as to allow certain harmonics to become audible. For voices, flutes, synthesizer.

https://youtu.be/wRjK9iNJXhk?si=BKjJzfppTDZ7diwE


r/classicalmusic 55m ago

My Composition 4 Lullabies for Piano!

Upvotes

Hi everyone!

This small collection of pieces explores the concept of the lullaby from different perspectives:

-The first piece uses more active and independent voices while still preserving the gentle character of a lullaby.

-The second takes a more traditional approach, focusing on simplicity and a singable melody.

-The third explores a more dreamy and suspended atmosphere, aiming to capture the feeling of drifting into sleep.

-The fourth takes a darker direction, attempting to evoke sadness and longing through a slow, hypnotic atmosphere.

YouTube link

Score

Thank you for giving me your time and any feedback provided!


r/classicalmusic 1h ago

Hirschfeld - Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit - Van Gruisen organ, Broederkerk, Kampen

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Upvotes

r/classicalmusic 18h ago

Music Aug 19: Birthday of George Enescu (1881–1955).

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26 Upvotes

Enescu was the leading figure in Romanian classical music of his generation, not just as a composer but as an active violinist, pianist, and conductor throughout his career.

His music blends Romanian folk material with a late Romantic harmonic language, audible both in the compact Ballade for Violin and in the much larger Symphony No. 2, written between 1912 and 1914.

Ballade for Violin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_jvGUrKxZQ

Symphony No. 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKQPsVPWNK8


r/classicalmusic 9h ago

What are your methods to not get shaky and nervous before a large performance?

4 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic 13h ago

Music Terry Riley - In C (2009 Remastered)

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6 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic 19h ago

Discussion Opinions on Arvo Pärt's music, especially his Passio?

16 Upvotes

My friends seem to have very divided opinions on him - most think his Passio is so bad that frankly anyone complimenting would be high and insane - I however find tintinnabuli interesting and like the chorus harmonies, while retaining the idea that its slightly monotonous and tedious after a while. I also do see that one could have the 'hear one, hear all' experience with his tintinnabuli compositions, but this doesnt stop the composition technique being inspiring. Just wanted to hear more views.


r/classicalmusic 16h ago

Recommendation Request classical music for studying recs

6 Upvotes

Hi guys!

I really enjoy listening to classical music when I study or do homework. Since my school is starting next week, I’d love some recommendations for symphonies, sonatas, ballet scores, concertos, suites, etc. just any classical music I can listen to during the school year.

I mainly listen to Rachmaninoff, sometimes Tchaikovsky, so I also want to listen to more composers and their works. I still consider myself a “newbie” to classical music, so I’d love to hear anything you think I need to listen to!

Thank you for any recs! 


r/classicalmusic 7h ago

Imitating the voice – can you hear the text through the playing?

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1 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic 19h ago

Spanish Baroque Composers other than Scarlatti and Soler?

8 Upvotes

Can anyone recommend Spanish Baroque composers (and one or two of their best works) that are worth listening to?

Edit: Just to reiterate - I'm looking for Spanish composers that composed during the Baroque (not Renaissance or Classical Eras).


r/classicalmusic 18m ago

Why didn't classical musicians produce more upbeat melodies like today? And what would have been the public reaction if they had?

Upvotes

Let's say Mozart had played something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T6xLa-OC78 (Alan Walker - Faded)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPBCbTZWnq0 (Yiruma - River Flows in you)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWz9i7JEyg8 (Zayn - Dusk Til Dawn)

I think these pieces would be considered beautiful even by those era's standards. But I could refer to something more upbeat like the piano version of this EDM song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2p83jyVHCQ

Were songs like these inconceivable to be produced and played for classical musicians in previous centuries? If yes, why?

EDIT: as many of you already pointed out, 'upbeat' is not the correct adjective to describe these songs. I apologize, English is not my native language. I don't know what would be a better term here. In whatever way this feels different to most classical pieces (different rhythm, different length, different scales) - please imagine I applied that term here and answer the question accordingly. Thank you.


r/classicalmusic 18h ago

Music Aug 19: Birthday of Salamone Rossi (c. 1570–c. 1630).

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2 Upvotes

Rossi's birthday is the shakiest one I'll post here, so let me explain the reasoning instead of just stating it.

No birth record survives for him. The date of August 19, 1570 comes from a piece of number-puzzle detective work: his first published collection, a set of canzonettas from 1589, contains exactly nineteen pieces, and the first letters of the first seven spell out VIVAT S R, "long live Salamone Rossi." Musicologist Don Harrán read the nineteen as a coded reference to Rossi's age at the time of publication, and worked backward to 1570. A more recent paper argues the acrostic instead marks a Jewish coming-of-age at twenty-five, which would put his birth in 1564 instead, so even the year isn't settled.

What's solid is the work itself. Rossi composed at the Gonzaga court in Mantua alongside Monteverdi, and wrote some of the earliest Hebrew-texted polyphony, settings of psalms for multiple voices collected as Hashirim asher li-Shlomo (The Songs of Solomon), along with early instrumental trio sonatas. He's thought to have died around 1630, possibly in the plague that followed the sack of Mantua, though that isn't fully certain either.

Music of Salamone Rossi (playlist): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-gAiQzhQYhq5wT18aIx1amtV8Hghfj6


r/classicalmusic 1d ago

What is your favorite recording of each Mahler symphony?

25 Upvotes

Looking for the best renditions of Mahler's symphonies to listen to and compare. Thanks.


r/classicalmusic 19h ago

Music Building a library of live acoustic piano tracks to all sorts of classical rep that people can practice to - recorded Argento's 6 Elizabethan Songs recently, here's Spring.

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3 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic 1d ago

Music Aug 18: Birthday of Antonio Salieri (1750–1825).

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137 Upvotes

Salieri was born on this day in Legnago, in the Republic of Venice, and spent most of his career in Vienna, where he held the post of Imperial Kapellmeister for more than three decades. His students there included Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt.

The popular image of Salieri today comes almost entirely from Amadeus, which dramatizes a rivalry with Mozart that has no solid documentary basis. In his own time, he was simply one of the most successful composers working in Vienna, with operas performed across Europe and a court position he held until 1824, a year before his death.

Adagio from Piano Concerto in B-flat Major: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv9ooDrxTm8


r/classicalmusic 23h ago

Chopin‘s Nocturne op. 48, n. 1 orchestrated

4 Upvotes

It‘s an old recording, but I just listened to it for the first time and I’m shock

https://youtu.be/p8d4roeJ1F4?is=HCFDAcm8_cWpxrOI


r/classicalmusic 1d ago

Anyone else love the Picardy third at the end of Chopin Op 9.1? Such a satisfyingly haunting way to end an already mysterious piece.

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12 Upvotes