Hello!

[Zizekian]

Hi, everyone!

My name is Eric and I teach English and philosophy at a community college in Maine.

Although I've had an interest in classical music for many years, in recent months I've started to become more obsessed and have gradually lost interest in the indie rock to which I used to devote so much time. I still have a lot to learn about composers, recordings, and pieces, but I am very excited to learn!

I'm currently reading Solomon Volkov's Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator, which is excellent. Each time one of Shostakovich's works is discussed at length, I buy it and give it a listen.

As someone who's been into jazz since I was a teenager, my first introductions to classical music came via jazz. Bud Powell's "Bud on Bach" and Darius Milhaud's "La creation du monde" first sparked my interest.

As of right now, I've been acquainting myself with Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Penderecki, Britten, Bartok, and a few others.

I'm always looking for recommendations, too, by the way!

[Brian]

Welcome to the board! I see you're Slavoj's boy

[Zizekian]

Welcome to the board! I see you're Slavoj's boy

Correct! I just got my copy of Zizek's new Less Than Nothing in the mail this week but it seems pretty daunting for a summer read...900+ pages of Hegel and dialectical materialism is no joke!

[Mirror Image]

Welcome aboard! A fine list of composers you have chosen to acquaint yourself with. Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Bartok are three of my absolute favorites. Any favorite works by each of these composers you enjoy?

[madaboutmahler]

I'm always looking for recommendations, too, by the way!

Mahler!

Welcome to GMG, hope you enjoy yourself here. Very interesting list of composers!

[david johnson]

hi! 

try some john adams and some bruckner.

[mc ukrneal]

Welcome and enjoy! You've already gotten some good recommendations. If you want to stay in roughly the same time period, you might try Ravel, Medtner, Debussy, Copland, Pierne, Delius, Richard Strauss, Sibelius, or Ives. There are many more, especially if you are looking to branch out closer to modern times or follow some of the greats back in time.

[North Star]

Welcome! Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Bartók are among my very favourites, too.
Definitely try Ravel, he should be right up your street. The solo piano music (2 CD's worth), piano concertos, chamber music, La valse, Ma mère l'oye, and the operas are all great.
And Sibelius, too - the tone poems and the symphonies are the essentials.
Stravinsky...

[Lisztianwagner]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you'll have a great time here! Nice list, I really love Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartok and Britten too, they are definitely wonderful composers.
About some recommendations, you should try Wagner, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Holst, Ravel, Sibelius and R. Strauss.

[DavidRoss]

As someone who's been into jazz since I was a teenager, my first introductions to classical music came via jazz. Bud Powell's "Bud on Bach" and Darius Milhaud's "La creation du monde" first sparked my interest.

What?! Not Sketches of Spain?! 

Welcome, Eric. And thanks for giving us your name -- "z" is a difficult character for some of us to type.

Your list of composers doesn't include the usual suspects. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart aren't dead yet (well, they are, but their music isn't!) and offer plenty for a lifetime of listening, along with many others. The "big names" in classical music are big names for a reason and their work has stood the test of time because generation after generation finds that it speaks to something essential in the human spirit. (And it sounds good, too!)

Cheers, dude! 

[Zizekian]

Thanks for the kinds words and the recommendations, everyone! My Emusic account will be refreshing at some point today, so I will be grabbing several albums today. I've been buying so much music this past month that they restricted me from buying any more "booster packs" on Emusic! Maybe that's their way of staging an intervention and telling me I have a problem...

To answer Mirror Image's question, the pieces by Shostakovich, Bartok, and Prokofiev that I have enjoyed the most so far are:
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 (Leonard Bernstein/NY Philharmonic)
Bartok's 6 String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet)
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos 1 and 2, Violin Sonata (Gil Shaham/London Symphony)

To madaboutmahler: I forgot to include Mahler in my initial post, but I've definitely loved what I've heard so far! The Mahler albums I've listened to several times so far are:
Symphony No. 9 (Herbert von Karajan/Berliner)
Symphony No. 7 (Leonard Bernstein)
Symphony No. 2 (Sir Simon Rattle)
Actually, one of the early jazz/classical crossover pieces that really interested me was The Uri Caine Ensemble's Mahler in Tolbach, which I still return to from time to time.

To DavidRoss: I absolutely love Sketches of Spain, as well as almost everything Miles-related (except for Doo-Bop and his Cindy Lauper cover, which I try to block from my memory). I'm also very interested in exploring the usual suspects you mentioned...I recently discovered Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations, which is pushing me towards exploring Bach more especially!

[North Star]

Your list of composers doesn't include the usual suspects. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart aren't dead yet (well, they are, but their music isn't!) and offer plenty for a lifetime of listening, along with many others. The "big names" in classical music are big names for a reason and their work has stood the test of time because generation after generation finds that it speaks to something essential in the human spirit. (And it sounds good, too!)

It might not be Eric's intention to not  listen to the pre-20th c. music, if he's only getting to know classical music. Other than that, I certainly agree with you, David. And, beyond discovering that the big names have something meaningful to say in these times as well, there are loads of other composers of (at least almost) equal quality.

[DavidRoss]

there are loads of other composers of (at least almost) equal quality.

We'll have to agree to disagree about that.

[Lisztianwagner]

Symphony No. 9 (Herbert von Karajan/Berliner)
Symphony No. 7 (Leonard Bernstein)

Excellent choices, especially about the 9th symphony.

[North Star]

We'll have to agree to disagree about that.

Well, maybe not 'loads'.

[DavidRoss]

Well, maybe not 'loads'.

You, sir, are a remarkable fellow (in the best possible sense). 

[Cato]

As of right now, I've been acquainting myself with Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Penderecki, Britten, Bartok, and a few others.

I'm always looking for recommendations, too, by the way!

Hello Mr. Zizekian!

(An Armenian name perhaps?)

With those composers you must include the incredible Karl Amadeus Hartmann.

[Zizekian]

Hello Mr. Zizekian!

(An Armenian name perhaps?)

With those composers you must include the incredible Karl Amadeus Hartmann.

Hello, Cato! My screen name is just a reference to Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. Thanks for the recommendation...I'm not familiar with Hartmann so I will look into his work as soon as possible. Is there a specific album or piece that might be a good entry point?

[Cato]

Hello, Cato! My screen name is just a reference to Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. Thanks for the recommendation...I'm not familiar with Hartmann so I will look into his work as soon as possible. Is there a specific album or piece that might be a good entry point?

Thanks for revealing the origin!  And check your messages!

The 8 Symphonies are the stars: if you can find the complete Hartmann symphonies on WERGO those are the ones to hear.  Otherwise, the newer performances with Ingo Metzmacher conducting will have to suffice.

This comes highly recommended:

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[Mirror Image]

To answer Mirror Image's question, the pieces by Shostakovich, Bartok, and Prokofiev that I have enjoyed the most so far are:
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 (Leonard Bernstein/NY Philharmonic)
Bartok's 6 String Quartets (Emerson String Quartet)
Prokofiev: Violin Concertos 1 and 2, Violin Sonata (Gil Shaham/London Symphony)

You have so much music to explore! Shostakovich wrote 15 symphonies, 6 concerti, and 15 SQs. Not to mention all of the other works he composed like The Golden Age and the operas Lady Macbeth and The Nose. Also, which Bernstein 5th do you own? The '59 or '79 performance? I vastly prefer the '79 Live in Japan performance. It's also better recorded and live, which gives a special energy. There are many great 5th performances though.

For Bartok, I would definitely try his ballets The Miraculous Mandarin and The Wooden Prince. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, the violin and piano concerti, Hungarian Sketches, Bluebeard's Castle, Dance Suite, and Divertimento are all worth exploring as well.

Prokofiev's output contains many gems. He wrote 7 symphonies, probably around 8 concerti, numerous ballets (a true highlight of his output IMHO), 6 operas, Alexander Nevsky, Scythian Suite, among other works for orchestra, chamber, and solo instrumental.

By the way, do you like Stravinsky, Ravel, or Debussy? Checkout these composers ASAP if you haven't already!