I have been getting into classical music alot over the past few months, and this site has been very helpful in learning about some of it 
. However, I feel that the selection of things I've been listening to has been fairly narrow (75% of it is beethoven/bach/chopin...not that I think thats bad, but I feel like I'm missing out on alot of it) I was just wondering if anyone had some suggestions of some different composers or pieces that I might look into? I find it a bit overwhelming trying to discover new classical music to listen to, as so much of the names of pieces are just numbers like op. 103 no. 3, etc....it gets confusing and hard to keep track of! I strongly prefer slower and more relaxing pieces or movements as opposed to the faster and louder ones....mvt 2 of both the appassionata and pathetique sonatas are probably my favorites! Thank you all in advance for any help provided, it is much appreciated.
One of the important things to remember about classical music is that there's really no easy way into it. Just close your eyes and pick a composer and start to listen. My first classical recording was Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra," "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta," and "Hungarian Sketches" on RCA. Bartok, Ravel, Debussy, Vaughan Williams, and Bruckner are some of the first composers I really got into and fell head-over-hills for. From these composers, I got into Stravinsky, Dvorak, Janacek, Elgar, Mahler, Respighi, Martinu, R. Strauss, Berlioz, de Falla, and Smetana. From here, I just wanted to start exploring countries individually. I found a whole wealth of great composers by just singling out a specific country. When I was exploring England, I was already aware of Vaughan Williams, Holst, and Elgar, so I got into Delius, Alwyn, Walton, Arnold, Ireland, Bax, Rubbra, Howells, Butterworth, Bridge, Parry, Brian, etc. One composer just led to another and before you know it I had a great survey of England just by exploring this one country. I did this with most countries in Europe, then I moved onto Russia. After Russia, I started exploring my own homeland (the Unites States), then I moved onto Latin America, which has proved to be an incredible discovery for me.
One other thing that has helped me out considerably is reading and researching. I'm constantly reading about composer's lives and their music. As I said, there's no easy way to get into this music, you just have to keep searching. Most of my interest in classical music lies in the Romantic Era and the 20th Century. Most if not all of the composers that I like come from these two periods. I do like a few Baroque composers like Vivaldi, Rameau, Corelli, Telemann, etc, but I enjoy the more Romantic and Modern periods much more.
