Where to go next?

[nesf]

I'm looking for a few new symphonies from a new composer to try. At the moment I listen to Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler and Brahms. Also I'm looking for some new choral works (pretty new to this side of things). A slight favouring towards the Romantic period and later but not a very strong preference. Any help greatly appreciated.

[mahler10th]

I'm looking for a few new symphonies from a new composer to try. At the moment I listen to Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler and Brahms. Also I'm looking for some new choral works (pretty new to this side of things). A slight favouring towards the Romantic period and later but not a very strong preference. Any help greatly appreciated.

Welcome...er...'nesf' !
Orchestral (beautiful) music with wordless choir - Daphne et Chloe - by Ravel.
Also...Tchiakovsky!

[Karl Henning]

Welcome to GMG!

Top-o'-my-head suggestions:

Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette
Rakhmaninov, All-Night Vigil (a/k/a Vespers)
Stravinsky, Mass

And the Henning Passion According to St John — it'll knock yer socks off! : )

[nesf]

Thanks very much for the quick recommendations. I can't believe I forgot Tchaikovsky given I spent about a month solid listening to him in the Autumn!

[Opus106]

Hi, nesf. Welcome aboard. Here's a 20th C. choral work that I like: Leoš Janáček's Glagolitic Mass. It's not purely choral -- it has parts for soloists as well and one wild, virtuoso part for an organist

[mc ukrneal]

Many choices. For symphonies you could try Bruckner or Sibelius. But there are also early romantics like Mendelssohn, Schubert or Schumann. But so many other choices including Bizet, Copland, Elgar, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, and Vaughan Williams to mention a few.

For choral, a number of choices, including
Verdi Requiem
Faure Requiem
Prokofiev Alexander Nevsky
Brahms Requiem
Orff Carmina Burana
Elgar Dream of Gerontius

[North Star]

Welcome to the forum, nesf!

Another recommendation for Sibelius
More Rachmaninoff to go with Karl's suggestions: Symphonic Dances, Isle of Death

[Karl Henning]

Oh, I see I somehow latched onto the choral angle ...

[nesf]

There's enough to keep me busy for a good while there,  thank you very much guys.

[Wanderer]

I second everything proposed so far, especially Bruckner. In fact, I think that's where you should go first (along with Sibelius, Berlioz, Vaughan Williams, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Elgar).

More choral works, off the top of my head:

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Mozart: Requiem & Great Mass in C
Berlioz: Grande Messe des Morts (aka Requiem)
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast
Haydn: Die Schöpfung
Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim's Progress
Franck: Les Béatitudes
Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln
Foulds: A World Requiem
Martin: Golgotha
Liszt: Christus

[Florestan]

For symphonies try Joachim Raff, Max Bruch, Hans Huber, Niels Gade, Eyvind Alnaes, Natanael Berg, Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Kurt Atterberg, Helmer Alexandersson, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Hugo Alfven, Ture Rangstrom, Erkki Melartin, Vasily Kalinnikov, Mili Balakirev, Alexandr Glazunov, Alexandr Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Erno Dohnanyi, Luis de Freitas Branco - Romantic and late Romantic stuff, melodic, well-crafted and beautiful.

[nesf]

Sorry for bothering ye again, through many, many listenings to Beethoven's symphonies under various conductors I've found myself wary of trying just anyone's interpretation of a piece (or the sound engineering for that matter!). Any recommendations on particular recordings in this area, especially regarding symphonies? I'm doing searches of the forum trying to find discussions about this kind of thing but it might be faster for me to ask here as well.

[mahler10th]

Sorry for bothering ye again, through many, many listenings to Beethoven's symphonies under various conductors I've found myself wary of trying just anyone's interpretation of a piece (or the sound engineering for that matter!). Any recommendations on particular recordings in this area, especially regarding symphonies? I'm doing searches of the forum trying to find discussions about this kind of thing but it might be faster for me to ask here as well.

lol !!  Good on yer nesf, expect a small avalanche of suggestions.   

[mahler10th]

Tchaikovsky - Muti or Karajan
Mahler - Inbal (just my own bias preference there)
Debussy , Ravel and the like - Boulez

Thats just the start...I bet everyone soon piles into this!   

[Opus106]

lol !!  Good on yer nesf, expect a small avalanche of suggestions.   

Small?

[Mirror Image]

Here a few of my favorite composers and my favorite symphonies by them:

Shostakovich - # 5, 6-8, 10-12
Vaughan Williams - # 3-6, 8
Villa-Lobos - # 2-4, 6
Bruckner - # 4-6, 9
Sibelius - # 2, 4, 6, 7
Prokofiev - # 5-7
Dutilleux - both
Honegger - # 2, 3
Stravinsky - all of them
Milhaud - # 5, 6
Myaskovsky - # 24, 27
Szymanowski - # 3, 4
Chavez - # 1, 2, 4
Martinu - # 4-6
Ives - all of them (5 total if you include Holidays Symphony)

This should keep you busy for awhile. Please keep in mind that a lot composers didn't even compose a symphony. Some of my other favorite composers like Ravel, Bartok, Berg, Debussy, Revueltas, Ginastera, among others had no interest in the symphony. So while I think learning a symphony from this or that composer is important as a starting point, it should be noted there are other routes one can take.

Happy listening!

[nesf]

lol !!  Good on yer nesf, expect a small avalanche of suggestions.   

That would be the plan, yes.

Orchestral (beautiful) music with wordless choir - Daphne et Chloe - by Ravel.

It's glorious...

[nesf]

Please keep in mind that a lot composers didn't even compose a symphony. Some of my other favorite composers like Ravel, Bartok, Berg, Debussy, Revueltas, Ginastera, among others had no interest in the symphony. So while I think learning a symphony from this or that composer is important as a starting point, it should be noted there are other routes one can take.

Oh I appreciate that, I'm just going through a big major orchestral work phase at the moment. I'm sure I'll be back to piano sonatas, string quartets and solo harpsichord stuff in a few months and I'll be bugging ye again for recommendations.

[Mirror Image]

Oh I appreciate that, I'm just going through a big major orchestral work phase at the moment. I'm sure I'll be back to piano sonatas, string quartets and solo harpsichord stuff in a few months and I'll be bugging ye again for recommendations.

You're welcome. I never cared too much about chamber or solo instrumental music, although there is some amazing music in these genres. I'm really more into orchestral music (mostly ballet, symphonic poems, symphonies).

[nesf]

You're welcome. I never cared too much about chamber or solo instrumental music, although there is some amazing music in these genres. I'm really more into orchestral music (mostly ballet, symphonic poems, symphonies).

I've been headed in that direction for the past year, spending more and more listening time on orchestral works (and some chamber works) and less and less on solo instrumental music. I'm curious if it's just a phase or a permanent change in my tastes due to maturing as a listener or similar. Sometimes chamber or solo music really catches my attention but I'm rarely as moved as I am with orchestral pieces. I think I might blame Beethoven's 9th being my sole piece of classical music for about a year in my teens and its influence on me!