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Owl  ·  4349 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Best Classical composers -Who are yours? What's missing from the list?

Excellent! I didn't even realize he said it, and I call myself a Zappa fan!

Of course, in retrospect, I could have googled the quote and figured that out... I'm stupid.

Well, since you provided something, I may as well just post some more classical stuff I like, as a way to say thank you, and also because I wanna share some composers I really enjoy, and I don't know any other place to post it but here:

Alexander Scriabin's 5th Sonata:

http://youtu.be/WqmOp_rKRqo

Perhaps the most beautiful piano Sonata I've ever heard in my entire life (That part at 1:30... God!). This piece inspired me to make a crazy new years resolution to learn the piano and play this piece. I know it's impossible, since famous concert pianist Sviatoslav Richter said this was the hardest piano piece he's ever played, but hell, why not?

Samuil Feinberg's 1st Piano Sonata:

http://youtu.be/uKXceUKEyOs

Melancholic piano piece. I found this composer when looking for more composers like Scriabin, which is actually a lot harder than it seems since Scriabin was really quite the odd composer, with his music inspired by his Synesthesia and religious/philsophic studies. This guy's stuff really gives off a very similar vibe though. Quite beautiful stuff.

Gyorgy Ligeti's Harmonies study #1 for Organ:

http://youtu.be/J3gVRPmx9cI

This piece, I really dig. Organs as it is often have this spooky atmosphere to them thanks to things like the phantom of the opera and cheesy horror movies using them, but this makes them sound downright unsettling thanks to his unconventional method of playing, which some youtubers describe on the video (makes for some interesting reading). The avante-garde classical composers often have a lot of stuff that I personally find unlistenable, even knowing the history behind it, but Ligeti stands out as one of the great ones worth listening to.

Gavriil Popov's 1st Symphony:

http://youtu.be/umr1FL65EpM

This Symphony apparently caused quite a ruckus in the USSR forcing him to "calm down" his composing, his later pieces taking a much more reserved, soviet friendly tone to them. Critics often find this to be his most interesting piece, and listening to it, you can see why: This is NOT a happy piece. It's sad his talents were suppressed a bit due to politics.

Philip Glass's Satyagraha Opera (I chose the last part)

http://youtu.be/CHKUt5fDbH0

Lhowon already posted a lot of Philip glass, but I'll post this anyways: I really have this odd love-hate thing with Philip Glass. I absolutely love his earlier works, like his famous three operas Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha, and Akhnaten, as well as his music in changing parts and music in twelve parts, but I personally don't like any of his symphonies or later works. I don't know, but his later works have this loss of flavor that made him so great. His early music was really some stunning stuff. Hyper minimalistic and repetitive music that just sounds fantastic. His later stuff is also like this, but it takes on a form that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Giya Kanchelli's Styx:

http://youtu.be/kyD_L5G_AFs

Simply put, a stunning evocative piece. Normally pieces like this don't "grab" me, but this one... Straight to the heart and mind.

And for the heck of it, here's a bonus Satie's Gymnopedie on a Synthesizer:

http://youtu.be/BNx_c1gyB2o

Damn, I could go all day on all the classical composers and pieces I love. This isn't even half of all the stuff I love... I really ought to one day study this stuff a little more in depth. But then again, this isn't even a big interest of mine, compared to my interest in computers, literature and Philosophy... Oh world, why must you tease me with all of this interesting stuff and then give me about 70 years to enjoy it. Can't I have an eternity to enjoy all of this wonderful stuff? One can dream...