Classical Music Suggestions for a Metal Head

I don´t like the piano very much. I do like Moonlight Sonata, though. I preferr the piano version over the guitar versions.

Those two sure can play, though! I would have liked it a lot more without all the backing tracks. It was hard to hear just the guitar.

That piece from Arne sounds nice. Another composer that I have never heard of! I´ll check his stuff out. Thanks for the tip :)
 
As I just posted in the Today´s Classical Playlist, I just listed to Tchaikovsky´s 6th Symphonie, and it was AWESOME!

I am realy enjoying the world of classical music. I still have SO much to discover!
 
JP,

It has been fun enjoying your journey with you. Your post has touched a lot of people. Back in October you expressed a desire to hear a piece being played live. Have you had a chance to go to the symphony yet? You don't need a tuxedo.Germany is a great country for live classical music. I know Gustavo Dudamel is going to bring the entire Beethoven symphony cycle to Hamburg in March. It will be an awesome event. Wish I could go. Here in Los Angeles, we have an opportunity to hear local orchestras for absolutely free. Dress code is frequently blue jeans and t-shirt for these events. I would like to suggest looking for some concerts in your area. I was 26 years old when I first started going to see the symphony. 33 years later I'm still going.
 
Hi! I haven´t had the chance to see a symphonie live yet :(

Where in Hamburg will the Beethoven Symphonies be playing? I know the new Elbphilharmonie ist COMPLETELY sold out until at least June :(

Money is a bit tight right now, but if I get my tax refund by March I could probably afford a concert. They are not that expensive, but gas here in Germany is :(

As far as local concerts go, The Stadttheater in my town doesn´t have anything on their programm that interests me. I want my first live classical experience to be EPIC.

I´ll probably be the only one there headbanging with tears rolling down my cheeks :)
 
Look towards some local community-based ensembles. Support the local gigs.
I had a friend of mine who was in the US military, based somewhere there in Germany. He did lots of recordings in small churches there. The small church halls can support small baroque orchestra and chamber ensembles, and provide some of what I consider to be the best of classical musics for a metal head.
Talk about mayhem... Music from the days of the inquisition, torture dungeons, conquests, etc. Those renaissance and baroque cats knew about mayhem, and how to put it to music.
A little baroque chamber music to cover up the sounds of the dungeon? Why of course. You wouldn't want your guests to be put off by the sound of that, would you??

The community-based, and, small ensembles, are amongst my favorites.
 
Classical suggestions for a metal head?

Well there is a reason why they call Wagner "the metal of classical". But he is maybe not the most easily accessible or "beginner-friendly" of composers. For something "peppy", I'd recommend Mozart or Rossini.
Otherwise, I really think you should give Tchaikovsky (my favourite composer) a listen. He had a bit of a different thing going on than his western European contemporaries, which at times actually got quite close to the blues harmonics, that we are used to hearing in much more modern (pop, rock, metal) music. Plus, he was a master at speaking to our emotions with his music - I have seen Swan Lake seven or eight times, and listended to the record countless, and I still get teary-eyed when the swan dies. One piece in particular by him, that you should check out, is Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra, which contains some serious shredding that most metal guitarists could only wish to play.

Also, as someone else mentioned, do yourself the favour to seek out the better versions of each piece. A classical score is very open to interpretation, and most of the music is technically quite difficult, so it takes both a great conductor, and a great orchestra to make a great piece sound great. And even then, every great conductor will still have styles that he does better than others, so it can quickly become a jungle.
That being said, it's hard to go wrong with Herbert von Karajan (who had a very firm, and precise style) + Wiener Philharmoniker, or Michael Schønwandt (who is much more loose, and organic) + The Royal Danish Orchestra.
 
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Thanks for your suggestions. I have listened to quite a bit of Mozart, and even more Haydn. Most of it is very, very good!

I have also listened to Tchaikovsky´s 1st and 6th symphonies so far, and they are AWESOME! I am looking forward to hearing the rest of his symphonies.

So little time, and so much great music to discover!
 
Dark, dramatic, melodic, sometimes (even oftentimes) violent:

Richard Strauss (Don Juan, Also sprach Zarathustra, Salome (opera), lots of other works)

Tchaikovsky (Symphonies 4, 5, and 6, particularly, and Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture)

Rachmaninov (Symphonies 1 and 2, Isle of the Dead, Piano Concerti 1 through 4, other works as well)

Verdi (Requiem Mass, particularly Dies irae, Tuba mirum, Libera me; lots of sections of his operas, including the storm that opens Otello)

I didn't see these pieces in the thread, but I may have missed some recommendations.

Here are a few youtube links, not sure if they are blocked for Germany or not, I'm in the United States:






Hope you enjoy these!
 
wow, 5 pages in and no one has mentioned Glenn Danzig's classical album!?

I would also check out works by Arvo Pärt:

last year, the Ajna Offensive released a recording of his "Passio" on 2X LP, which i picked up:
http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/products/arvo-part
it sounds great!

i guess just last weekend there was a candle-lit performance of this in Portland, OR at St Mary's church... that must've been incredible.

here's the Passio, but NOT that PDX performance...
 
I'm surprised nobody suggested Anton Bruckner. Try Symphony #8, and go on from there if you like it.

Like the man said, "So little time, and so much great music to discover!"

So here it is, a youtube playlist of most of the music you all suggested.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo_D7a9XcM6TUNaT0Dd6BPlyl0e8_lvlO

If you want to join Judas Priest on his journey of discovering classical music, you can. I didn't get it all. I didn't try to pull down the music on those messages that linked to another list. I found youtube links for a lot of specific pieces that were mentioned. I tried to get a smattering of good performances, when conductors and orchestras were not named. There may be some long pauses between some of the selections and also some delays for recorded applause. I also didn't look for the opera. After all, we don't want to lose anyone. He he.

The playlist duration is 1 day, 10 hours, 44 minutes and 22 seconds long. Happy listening!

Daddy Bone
 
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as a metal head, this is what got me to open my ears to classical, and opera...many different versions of this classic...I included this version as it has the translation...it could've been written by many metal bands...my 2 cents
 
Just an update here; so far I have listened to all of Mozart´s symphonies ( all very good, some ****ing AWESOME!). I am working my way through Haydn´s symphonies; I am currently around No. 48 and enjoying them all.

I have also listened to all 9 of Beethoven´s symphonies, Tchaikowsky´s 6 symphonies and Dvorak´s 9 symphonies. All of them are FANTASIC!!!

Mahler´s 1st, 2nd and 5th are good, but very long.

I also love some Boccerini and Albinoni.

I have also dabbled in some Bach. Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor is also AWESOME!!

I have also listened to a lot that I don´t care for at all.
 
I like Rachmaninov a lot, and Mendelsohn, both have some wonderful music.

If you don't like piano stay away from Chopin's stuff, but thankfully I love the piano as he was a master of the piano.
 
Just an update here; so far I have listened to all of Mozart´s symphonies ( all very good, some ****ing AWESOME!). I am working my way through Haydn´s symphonies; I am currently around No. 48 and enjoying them all.

I have also listened to all 9 of Beethoven´s symphonies, Tchaikowsky´s 6 symphonies and Dvorak´s 9 symphonies. All of them are FANTASIC!!!

Mahler´s 1st, 2nd and 5th are good, but very long.

I also love some Boccerini and Albinoni.

I have also dabbled in some Bach. Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor is also AWESOME!!

I have also listened to a lot that I don´t care for at all.
Has anybody suggested the Sibelius symphonies, yet?
I don't have any music knowledge to back this up, but it seems like a fan of the Beethoven symphonies would also dig Sibelius. I know I'm one.
 
Sibelius symphonies are another great recommendation, the 2nd is a good place to start*. Worth checking out other shorter works such as "Valse Triste" and of course "Finlandia"


*However, Virgil Thomson wrote for the New York Herald Tribune that the symphony was "vulgar, self-indulgent, and provincial beyond all description." ( Per Wikipedia. Gotta love how some now iconic works were viewed when first released! See Rite Of Spring... )
 
It looks like I might get to see a live symphonie in October in Bremen, only 30 or 40 minutes away from where I live.

Here´s the program:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Ouvertüre zu Coriolan op. 62
Johannes Brahms: Konzert für Violine, Violoncello und Orchester a-Moll op. 102
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sinfonie Nr. 5 c-Moll op. 67

I don´t know the firsrt two pieces, but it would ROCK to see Beethoven´s 5th live :)
 
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