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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Getting Back into Classical

Owl, do you have any classical suggestions for OftenBen given he's after something a bit more "piano-centric" than the Mahler he's currently listening to?

OB, I'm a fan of Eric Satie due to Owl's introducing me to him. His most famous piece is a great start, I'm guessing you may already know it:





Owl  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  x 2

Oh hey there. I haven't been on in a while (mostly busy with real life stuff), but I'm always up to share some classical music I love to others.

If piano pieces are what you want, OftenBen, here are a few pieces that I absolutely love:

Ravel - Miroirs no. 3: Un barque sur l'ocean:

This is a wonderful piece by ravel in a series of piano pieces, all of which are good, but this one is my favorite of the bunch. It's calm, melodic, meditative and very oceanic if I do say so myself. A wonderful piece by one of my favorite composers.

Ravel - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

As a lefty, it is almost an obligation to post this wonderful piece by Ravel. Would you believe this piece was composed for famous Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's brother? Didn't even know he had a brother before discovering this piece! Paul Wittgenstein lost his hand in a war but still wanted to play piano, so he got Ravel to write this piece for him. Unfortunately Ravel was incredibly displeased at Paul when he performed it, because Paul decided to change a few things in the piece to make it more palatable to his musical tastes. This is a wonderful, heroic sounding piece, just like Paul.

Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata no. 5

I've listened to a lot of versions of this piece, but Sultanov imo does it best. When I first listened to this I felt as if I was listening to some cosmic otherworldly music. Really amazing stuff here.

Simeon Ten Holt - Canto Ostinato

Got two hours? This piece is really something beautiful. Whenever I listen to this piece it's like my mind wanders through medieval labyrinths. It's a very minimal, meditative and almost transformative piece. My favorite part of the entire piece has to be section 88.

A very dark and lonely sounding, but beautiful part. Unfortunately this isn't my favorite version, but it's the only one on youtube. The one I first listened to, and is my favorite, takes it much faster and spends more time repeating 88 quite a bit.

Kasputin - Piano Sonata no. 8

This piece is very jazzy. Kasputin is a perfect blend of jazz and classical that is really worth a listen if you like either genre.

Valentin Silvestrov - Last Love

Silvestrov is a wonderful Ukrainian composer. His sixth symphony is one of my favorite symphonies of all time, but this isn't about symphonies, lol. This piece in particular is terrible. Yeah right; It's stunningly beautiful. As is this piece by him:

He's well worth a listen to, but be forewarned, he is a modern composer. Other pieces by him might be a bit more inaccessible for those who dislike modern music, but if you give him a shot, I think you'll grow to like it. Try this piece:

Walter Abendroth - Piano Concerto

The stuff you find on youtube, I tell ya. I don't know much of anything about this guy, but I found this when randomly listening to obscure composers on youtube and really like it. Perhaps it's not Tchaikovsky, but I found it nice enough in any case.

Granados - Valses Poeticos

Very melodic and beautiful waltzes.

Theodor Adorno - Piano Piece

A very interesting dream-like piece.

Debussy - Images I: Reflets dans l'eau

Debussy is another favorite of mine, and this piece in particular is a favorite of mine. The first piece of his I ever listened to was his suite Bergamasque:

Which is very beautiful and contains the famous Clair de Lune, which you've probably heard somewhere else before in a movie or game or maybe mentioned by someone in a book. A very beautiful piece.

Steve Reich - Piano Counterpoint

A beautiful minimalistic piece. Minimalism might not be for everyone, but this piece, among others by him, are really something great. Watching the work slowly alter, evolve and change is really something that's a treat to my ears. His Music for 18 Musiciansis also a minimalist masterpiece, albeit not entirely piano, though it plays an important part in the piece in any case:

My favorite part has to be his section IIIA

The piano is performed by Reich himself, btw.

...I think that's enough for now. I could go on, but I think that's enough piano tunes and places to search for more piano tunes... Well, actually, one more:

Camille Saint Saens - The Swan

The piano is mostly in the background compared to the violin that just tugs at your heartstrings, but I think it still belongs here. It's a very beautiful piece.

OftenBen  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You sir, rock. Really really hard.

Kaius  ·  3555 days ago  ·  link  ·  
beezneez  ·  3557 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You have made my week, Owl.

humanodon  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Owl is definitely the one to ask. In fact, in this post Owl recommended some piano sonatas at my request.

user-inactivated  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Add this post which I've had saved for a really long time and we're basically done here.

ecib  ·  3558 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I came here to shout out to Owl on OftenBen's behalf. If you're into classical, you best be into Owl :)