Most inspiriting works (three allowed)

[vandermolen]

Ok - what do you listen to if you need cheering up, inspiration etc.
I remember when I was working in a big store (Harrods) in London when I was a student during my holidays one of my classical music loving colleagues told me that he always listened to Rachmaninov's Second Symphony if he wanted cheering up. It was also my mother's favourite symphony along with his Piano Concerto No.3.

So, what does it for you?

Here are my choices:

Damase: Symphonie (1952) - do listen to it if you get the chance - it is quite short and is, IMHO, a charming and inspiriting score. I suspect it would appeal if you like the music of Ravel.

Hilding Rosenberg: Symphony 3 (wonderful last movement - there are several recordings).

Allan Pettersson: Violin Concerto No.2 (the way out of Hell is through the centre - this is the meaning for me) - a couple of recordings.

PS I originally entitled this thread 'Most Inspiriting Symphonies' and then realised I'd included Pettersson's Violin Concerto No.2. 

[James]

Hmmm I was inspired by many great musicians through the course of my life, that I took up an instrument in my late teens (self taught) and have a home studio where I create my own stuff for fun & pleasure. The most inspiring musician I've encountered is J.S. Bach .. it's hard to put into words, but for me he's the epitome of what it is all about. So you can pick virtually anything there .. suppose I'll go with the landmark '54 Goldberg Variations recording played by the incredibly inspiring Canadian genius Glenn Gould .. Gould was my way into Bach of which I'm deeply indebted.

I'd have to give Frank Zappa props, at an early age he was my gateway into the jazz & classical worlds. His music draws heavily from both of course, stretched my ears, and he always paid lip service to his favorite classical composers & recordings in interviews .. his vast body of work is incredibly exotic & entertaining. I would pick Roxy & Elsewhere .. but since you're looking for classical works, The Yellow Shark is probably one of the best sounding/engineered classical records I've come across, it's his most successful classical effort overall - however, I'll go with Sad Jane's 1st Movement from the earlier London Symphony Orchestra Volume 1 album, simple but so effective.

My third choice would be Bartok. Hands down my favorite 20th century composer. When I first heard his Piano Concertos  on the old Fricsay/Anda DG album (an early Zappa recommendation) I was floored. When I finally got around to his String Quartets (1964, Juilliard Quartet) I was completely moved and mystified, filled with wonder .. it was unlike anything .. how each work, each bar progressively surprises and seems to get better & better .. until the 6th String Quartet, the zenith of the cycle, which moves me like nothing else.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I would have to go with some late Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel. It's jolly good fun and it certainly helps to enliven me.

Birtwistle: Silbury Air. Has a very tribal kind of feel in its use of rhythm. There are particular methods of rhythmic composition in this that I find especially interesting and inspiring. The opening is also a very magical moment; it is one of the few truly magical moments I can think of in any piece of music.

Boulez: Répons. Even though this is probably my absolute favourite piece of music I do feel I have to list this piece as whenever I hear it I feel like I could conquer the world.

[vandermolen]

Hmmm I was inspired by many great musicians through the course of my life, that I took up an instrument in my late teens (self taught) and have a home studio where I create my own stuff for fun & pleasure. The most inspiring musician I've encountered is J.S. Bach .. it's hard to put into words, but for me he's the epitome of what it is all about. So you can pick virtually anything there .. suppose I'll go with the landmark '54 Goldberg Variations recording played by the incredibly inspiring Canadian genius Glenn Gould .. Gould was my way into Bach of which I'm deeply indebted.

I'd have to give Frank Zappa props, at an early age he was my gateway into the jazz & classical worlds. His music draws heavily from both of course, stretched my ears, and he always paid lip service to his favorite classical composers & recordings in interviews .. his vast body of work is incredibly exotic & entertaining. I would pick Roxy & Elsewhere .. but since you're looking for classical works, The Yellow Shark is probably one of the best sounding/engineered classical records I've come across, it's his most successful classical effort overall - however, I'll go with Sad Jane's 1st Movement from the earlier London Symphony Orchestra Volume 1 album, simple but so effective.

My third choice would be Bartok. Hands down my favorite 20th century composer. When I first heard his Piano Concertos  on the old Fricsay/Anda DG album (an early Zappa recommendation) I was floored. When I finally got around to his String Quartets (1964, Juilliard Quartet) I was completely moved and mystified, filled with wonder .. it was unlike anything .. how each work, each bar progressively surprises and seems to get better & better .. until the 6th String Quartet, the zenith of the cycle, which moves me like nothing else.

Thank you James. Much food for thought here. I certainly listened to some Frank Zappa in my youth and enjoyed it, although I can't recall the particular LP I heard. My brother bought me the Goldberg Variations a few years ago, so I must listen again. The Anda/Fricsay double LP album of the Bartok piano concertos has for long been a favourite and I have the CD too. I do not know of a better performance of No.3 (my favourite). Certainly the conclusion, finished off by one of Bartok's pupils, is wonderfully inspiriting, especially knowing how ill Bartok was while writing it.

[vandermolen]

I would have to go with some late Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel. It's jolly good fun and it certainly helps to enliven me.

Birtwistle: Silbury Air. Has a very tribal kind of feel in its use of rhythm. There are particular methods of rhythmic composition in this that I find especially interesting and inspiring. The opening is also a very magical moment; it is one of the few truly magical moments I can think of in any piece of music.

Boulez: Répons. Even though this is probably my absolute favourite piece of music I do feel I have to list this piece as whenever I hear it I feel like I could conquer the world.

Thanks - I know the '2001: A Space Odyssey' Ligeti and the Violin Concerto but nothing else. Areas for me to explore.

[James]

I would have to go with some late Ligeti: Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedüvel. It's jolly good fun and it certainly helps to enliven me.

Birtwistle: Silbury Air. Has a very tribal kind of feel in its use of rhythm. There are particular methods of rhythmic composition in this that I find especially interesting and inspiring. The opening is also a very magical moment; it is one of the few truly magical moments I can think of in any piece of music.

Boulez: Répons. Even though this is probably my absolute favourite piece of music I do feel I have to list this piece as whenever I hear it I feel like I could conquer the world.

3 inspiring figures for me as well. Boulez in my youth was like a tour guide through the best of 20th century music. A great conductor, a fine composer. Birtwistle's Secret Theatre is one of my favorite works, it still holds up for me. And Ligeti for me, is the best of the 2nd half of the 20th century, so much great stuff there. The Quartets, the Etudes (uneven, but great) & Melodien being 3 big faves.

[Karl Henning]

Nielsen, Sinfonia espansiva
LvB, Symphony № 4
Stravinsky, Symphony in Three Movements

[Ghost Sonata]

These have been good friends to me, bulwarks even, against bad times, imbroglios, downers, blues, terrors and funks.  One of them, I used to think had powers to ward off such things; that has since been disproven and though its preventive power has vanished, I remain convinced of the magical curative powers of these three :

Holst:  St. Paul's Suite
Fauré:  Masques et Bergamasques
Tchaikovsky:  Serenade for Strings in particular, the Waltz and the Finale

[Marc]

Bach's Johannes-Passion always lifts me up.
It was the first complete classical work that I listened to in my early teens, after I recorded it on BASF Normal Music Cassettes on TWO mono MC recorders: one recorder was normally used as my parents's clock radio and the other one was my mother's radio when she was ironing or householding somewhere in da house. I was very happy that I was permitted to use both modest recording equipments, because now I was able to avoid missing episodes.
Anyway, it was a good performance with Harnoncourt in the Concertgebouw (with Equiluz, Van der Bilt, Ameling, Wenkel, Oliver and Van der Meer). I fell in love with the opening chorus and with "Zerfließe, mein Herze", learned how to love the Evangelist and other recitativo parts, and after some thorough listening I was able to bellow along with the piece, thanks to my father's little text book.
Since then the piece is still a great boost for my mind. I still bellow along, horribly out of tune ofcourse, but that doesn't matter... as long as it makes me feel good (no compassion for the neighbours).

Another piece that seems to achieve the same positive results is Die Kunst der Fuge, again by J.S. Bach.
Always fascinating, never tiring, and a loyal companion during train and bus trips.

Rachmaninov's Vespers is a piece that has pulled me through difficult times more than once: comforting me and convincing me that human beings will always be able to create something beautiful that can move me.

[vandermolen]

Thanks very much to all for the very thoughtful replies. Coincidentally I recently bought my first CD of Rachmaninov's 'Vespers'. I'd have chosen Nielsen's 'Inextinguishable' for the triumph of light over darkness. Maybe Walton's 1st Symphony and Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams - a doomed plea for peace as war clouds loomed in the 1930s.

[Mirror Image]

Three most inspiriting works? Hmmm...only three? This is quite difficult, but here goes nothing (in no particular order):

Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva"
Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra
Martinu: Symphony No. 4

[Marc]

[...] and Dona Nobis Pacem by Vaughan Williams - a doomed plea for peace as war clouds loomed in the 1930s.

That's a fine piece, and the introduction "Agnus Dei", especially when the chorus enters, is indeed a very moving movement.

Good memories, too: in the 1990s I worked for a short period as a volunteer at the local TV station, and a colleague was working on some kinda documentary that ended with a filmshot of two children's hands, one black & one white, reaching out for each other. She asked me what music would fit and I suggested the beginning of VWs Dona nobis pacem. She didn't know the piece, so I brought the disc with me (Bryden Thomson et al) and played it in the Edit room. She was virtually in tears and stammered something like: "OMG, that's exactly what I was looking for!"

Now we very rarely run into each other, say, once in 2 or 3 years, but we always kinda greet each other with "dona nobis pacem... remember?"

[Ken B]

Beethoven, Eroica first movement
Nyman, Synchronising

[vandermolen]

Three most inspiriting works? Hmmm...only three? This is quite difficult, but here goes nothing (in no particular order):

Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva"
Tippett: Concerto for Double String Orchestra
Martinu: Symphony No. 4

I don't know the 'Espansiva' well but totally agree about your other choices - my favourite works by both composers. What are your favourite recordings John? Mine are Turnovsky for the Martinu and Handley, Tippett or Andrew Davis for the Tippett. I may have mentioned before that one of my former work colleagues was a gardener for Tippett's when he was a student. One day Michael Tippett discovered my friend asleep in a wheel barrow!

[vandermolen]

That's a fine piece, and the introduction "Agnus Dei", especially when the chorus enters, is indeed a very moving movement.

Good memories, too: in the 1990s I worked for a short period as a volunteer at the local TV station, and a colleague was working on some kinda documentary that ended with a filmshot of two children's hands, one black & one white, reaching out for each other. She asked me what music would fit and I suggested the beginning of VWs Dona nobis pacem. She didn't know the piece, so I brought the disc with me (Bryden Thomson et al) and played it in the Edit room. She was virtually in tears and stammered something like: "OMG, that's exactly what I was looking for!"

Now we very rarely run into each other, say, once in 2 or 3 years, but we always kinda greet each other with "dona nobis pacem... remember?"

A lovely anecdote - thank you for sharing it.

[Mirror Image]

I don't know the 'Espansiva' well but totally agree about your other choices - my favourite works by both composers. What are your favourite recordings John? Mine are Turnovsky for the Martinu and Handley, Tippett or Andrew Davis for the Tippett. I may have mentioned before that one of my former work colleagues was a gardener for Tippett's when he was a student. One day Michael Tippett discovered my friend asleep in a wheel barrow!

I'd say Thomson/RSNO on Chandos for the Martinu always seems to light my fire. I really love Hickox's performance (w/ the City of London Sinfonia) on Chandos of the Tippett. That is an amusing story about your friend. You should try and acquaint yourself with the Nielsen 3rd (esp. the Bernstein performance). You'll find lots to love in this music I imagine.

[vandermolen]

Beethoven, Eroica first movement
Nyman, Synchronising

I've come to appreciate the Eroica in recent years. Don't know the Nyman although I have several CDs of his music.

[vandermolen]

I'd say Thomson/RSNO on Chandos for the Martinu always seems to light my fire. I really love Hickox's performance (w/ the City of London Sinfonia) on Chandos of the Tippett. That is an amusing story about your friend. You should try and acquaint yourself with the Nielsen 3rd (esp. the Bernstein performance). You'll find lots to love in this music I imagine.

Thanks John. I meant to say that my friend was the gardener for Tippett's mother when the composer discovered him in a wheelbarrow. I have the Thomson Martinu box which is very fine.

[NikF]

Brahms D minor Piano Concerto -
I don't think I often have doubts about myself, however the third movement reminds me that not only am I definitely going to make it, but that all of us are.

[Ken B]

I've come to appreciate the Eroica in recent years. Don't know the Nyman although I have several CDs of his music.

Here it is, with its usual companion, Stroking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRDCGoQ8xbk

MGV by Nyman too is pretty adrenalinating.