Anx said:

See Mozart's Requiem played live and try to not feel it, unfuckinbelievable. Classical music has all of the emotions I get from popular music but I've got to be in one of the moods. Some of Vivaldi's music is like the opposite of the dark requiems to me.

minneapolisgenius said:

So would that mean, in your case, it's easier to become familiar with the music first and then learn the choreography?

That would seem to make sense.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I took a class in college called "Death in Romantic Music" and the whole semester we studied requiems and dirges.

The ones I remember most were
Mozart Requiem
Faure Requiem
Brahms Requiem

Also, take a listen to Chopin's Funeral March in B flat Minor. Though the second movement has become a cliché, it is one of the most profound pieces of music that exists.

My other favorite is

March to the Scaffold by Hector Berlioz from the Symphonie Fantastique

You might also love Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky from Pictures at an Exhibition. Very stark.

theAudience said:

Well, sort of. There's no other way to do it though. I wish choreographers would let us take home a copy of the music sometimes, because it would help. At least we'd know what to expect. Usually, I'm very musical and it's no problem though. I'm just thinking about last year, for example, when we did Cinderella to the Prokofiev score. Everything was very fast and precise (choreographically) and I'm sure we looked like a bunch of idiots at first trying to learn the counts. After a while though, we just gave up on counts when we knew the music, because then it wasn't necessary to count it.

But usually it's just thrown at us, and if we're lucky, they'll play it for us maybe once before we learn the choreography. It's quite comical to see us stumbling around the studio trying to retain everything AND do it on the right counts.

heartbeatocean said:

I mentioned that.

Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony might also fit this category. I'm kind of Schubert fan.

minneapolisgenius said:

This is one of those threads where I post first and read later. I totally botched an audition once, sightreading the intro to that piece.

heartbeatocean said:

(laughing about the not reading the thread first thing, not your botched audition of course. ) I do that all the time too. I mean, not reading through a thread.

And botching auditions too I guess.

minneapolisgenius said:

I don't think anyone answered this, but in music a Requiem is a song or composition for the dead.

Mozart's is my favourite. I studied it big time in music school... I also sang in a performance of it.

Beautiful.


.
[Edited 2/24/06 21:46pm]

Some more "darkness"... Enjoy!

Sarabande in D-Minor by Handel, 1733. Often used in movies (Barry Lyndon by Kubrick for example was VERY effective)... and in a jeans spot!

SenseOfDoubt said:

i'll check it out! and keep going with the recommendations...i just downloaded faure's requiem last night and i think it's gorgeous.

theAudience said:

i think berlioz is going to be next for me after faure, thank you!
[Edited 2/25/06 8:41am]

Anx said:

I am glad to hear that!!! I remember hearing an excerpt of it for the first time on the Microsoft Encyplodia (*g*) - and I tell you: it was only a 30 seconds or so and I knew I had to spend some money in a cd shop.

I'm sure that u know the mentioned piece by Handel - it's a standard-funeral song. Simple, but striking!

If you like so called "Early Music" (which I love), then I have this for you: "La Guardame Las Vacas", by an unknown spanish composer. Must have been composed in the 15th or 16th century. It's one of my favourite pieces; actually I do have a version played on the lute, and it's one of my all-time guest on my mp3 player.

If you don't mind, check also:
-) Stabat Mater by Giovanni Pergolesi, the Stabat Mater dolorosa is pretty famous.

If you like Bach, you MUST try the chorals from the Matthew and Johannes Passion.

For Schubert you should check out "Der Tod und das Mädchen", esp. the 2nd Sentence (I think it's the Andante con moto, the beginning is incredible).

I'll check out my archive for some more, if you like that stuff.

sinisterpentatonic said:

kind of like the Source Awards.

SenseOfDoubt said:

thank you, thank you! this is exactly what i was looking for when i started this thread! i know next to nothing about classical music, but i know there's a lot i'd like if i knew how to look for it. this is a great start!

Great thread guys. Please keep the suggestions coming 'cuz I'm taking notes. I love a lot of classical pieces, (the darker, the better) and I want to expand my knowledge.

Anx said:

if you like the dark and brooding stuff, you might like some of the Brahms sonatas for cello and piano.

This is a good start:



I am not a huge classical fan, but this was my study music when I was in school.

babynoz said:

You want some more? - Well here's some more. [(c)Frank Zappa ]

I have to warn you, since it's not really a classical piece, but beautiful as anything.

It's a compostion by Ennio Morricone, called "Chi Mai". Now there is ONE outstanding version done by John Zorn. It's released on the extended version of "The Big Gundown" (the album has a red cover, if I remember correctly). Many british folks will know it, since (a different version) was used for a famous BBC series back in the 70s.

And - since this post is "not so much classical", I'll not hesitate to mention Paolo Conte's Sparring Partner

I'll be back

Mozart's reqium is awesome. It has a Carl Orff "carmina Burana" feel to it in places.

This thread still sucks though.

Anx said:

I strongly recommend the Verdi Requiem to you - listen to the "Dies Irae" on full volume, though that might get you in trouble with your neighbors! Also very recommendable: the Requiem by Gyorgy Ligeti (if you're interested in "modern" classical music). Bits of it were used in the Stanley Kubrick movie "2001".

If you're generally interested in "dark" classical music, the St. Matthew and St. John passion by Bach will be your type of thing (already mentioned, I think). A lot of Schubert's music might be interesting to you too ("Winterreise" for example, but I don't know if it loses effect if you don't understand the German lyrics). "Der Tod und das Maedchen" (2nd movement) has already been mentioned, incredible music!

If you're interested in more "dark" music by Mozart: the two symphonies in g minor (Nos. 25 and 40) are fantastic. You should also check out the opera "Don Giovanni" (the scene where the comtur takes Don Giovanni to hell at the end is great, can be heard/seen in the movie "Amadeus") and some of the piano concertos - those in d minor and in c minor (Nos. 20 and 24, I think, though not completely sure). The concerto in A major (No. 23, K. 488) is not supposed to be dark (as written in a major key), but the 2nd movement (in f sharp minor) is incredibly dark (it will blow you away), followed by a light-hearted, joyful finale (the combination is unbelievable).

Anx said:

Thanks from me, also. Getting into classical music can seem so daunting and confusing -- I'm really appreciating all the great recommendations and discussions on this thread.

@Anx, Willy, & everyone else

DO NOT MISS THAT:
Tomaso Albinoni - Adagio In G minor For Strings And Organ
(I think this was Jim Morrisons favourite classical composition - he even "covered" it.

Anton Bruckner may not have been a genius (okay, I'm anything but an expert, but that's what I read ), but there is something that makes me shiver:
2nd movement of his 7th Symphony (Adagio), I like the first one a lot, too

Can Astor Piazzolla mentioned in here, too (okay, since Paolo and John Zorn were mentioned)? If so, I instantly recommend him to everyone.
Gidon Kremer recorded some of his works back in 96, it's called "Hommage A Piazzolla". The compositions are very polished (unlike the originals), but it's a very good starting point,
esp. -) Oblivion (track 3), -) Soledad... and... -) CELOS!

So, and finally something very popular:
Intermezzo from the Cavalleria Rusticana, by Pietro Mascagni. Indeed, this always reminds me on the tragic lost of Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna in 1994. Very sad for me.

EmancipationLover said:

The piece "Lux Aeterna", or?

And I see it - we all will suffer from depression just in a few minutes

SenseOfDoubt said:

Yeah, that was used, too. Ligeti's "Lux aeterna" is a capella while the "Requiem" is solo and choir with orchestra (I think both pieces were used for the film but the "Requiem" less than the "Lux aeterna" - I may be wrong as I haven't seen the movie for a while).

And, how could I forget him - Gustav Mahler! He hasn't written a Requiem, but a lot of fantastic music. If you really want to enjoy a ride, get the complete symphonies by Mahler! My personal favourites are Nos. 2, 3 and 8, and if you look for "dark" music in it, Nos. 5 (in parts), 6, 9 and 10 might be your cup of tea as well as some of his orchestral songs, especially "Kindertotenlieder" and "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen". I recently learned on this site that Prince likes him too btw.

Alban Berg's violin concerto is not exactly a Requiem, but it was written in memory of Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler (Gustav's widow) and her new husband, who tragically died at a very young age (18 or 19 I think). It's subtitled "Im Andenken eines Engels" ("In memory of an angel"). If you think that 12-note music (is that the correct English translation?) can't be touching, this piece might change your mind (but it is challenging).

For funeral marches: the second most famous in music history (beside the Chopin piece) might be the funeral march for Siegfried in Wagner's "Goetterdaemmerung" - incredibly dark!
[Edited 2/26/06 5:12am]
[Edited 2/26/06 5:13am]

What a cool thread ~ I'll look into several of these. Classical music can be daunting and it seems as though there is so much uninteresting and difficult to travel through that I never quite get there. Thanks everyone!

RipHer2Shreds said:

RipHer2Shreds said:

Reminds me of this section from Our Text for Today by Richard Pryor...

White church is too scary for me. They make that weird noise when you go in there.
Have that same, Oooo weeee oooo. Aaaah aah aaaah aah. Pictures of Jesus hangin' around lookin' at your ass.
Black church you get a show with your money see.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

SenseOfDoubt said:

Thanx. Happy hunting to me!