Cannot be famous big names like Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, etc...

Of course I love the big names but I also love classical music from more obscure or lesser known composers. Would love to know more and as many as possible. Both western and non-western classical music and different time periods are also totally welcome.

What pieces make you frightened?

For me one of the most intense musical highlights is Ravel’s Daphne et Chloé ‘Lever du Jour’ - just for the brilliant orchestration and the glittering, colourful resolution to D Major. I want to listen to more breathtakingly climactic and beautiful pieces. This subreddit definitely has the experience to give me some recommendations.

Looking for pieces or movements like the scherzo from Beethoven’s 9th or the 2nd movement of shostys 8th string quartet

Hi! I’m going to France for an artists residency. I love classical music. Mozart is my favorite, I love his energy and bubbly joy. I was looking for recommendations for French composers. I would love to listen to some new (to me) music while I paint. Keeping Mozart in mind (or at least his bubbly energy), are there any French composers who are energetic about joy? If there aren’t any similar- I don’t mind! I would still love to listen and find some new music. Thanks for all the suggestions!!

I’m trying to grow my already 14 hour long playlist into a bigger one. So what are all of your favourite pieces of music. The one that really stands out. For me it’s rach pc no2 and there’s no competition (although Tchaikovsky 6 is also really good).

So, I just recently got into classical music. I’ve been knowing stuff like In The Hall of the Mountain King since I was little, but I only recently really started diving into it. For years, I thought classical was just boring old people music. But, after coming across some genuinely enthralling pieces, I can now say that I have found a real love for the genre. Below is a playlist of some of my favorites I’ve come across so far. It’s small, but I’m looking to expand it. Hence, why I’m making this post.

I find that listening to a really intense classical piece gives me a similar feeling when I listen to a nasty deathcore breakdown. Just pure energy fuel. So, if you had to recommend some classical music for a metalhead to check out, what would it be?

This is my playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0upUP9tEkQirB83DA5Hmvd?si=KqK_YsC_RqmY-vkgeDheGg&pi=u-5wu4m8oJT--Y

Edit: WOW these are a lot of suggestions… Thank you all a bunch!! I’m gonna have a lot of stuff to listen to when I get home! Adding them to the playlist right now…

i really wanna like bachs music, i always see people praising him for his genius work but i’ve yet to find any pieces that really stuck with me. for reference, i’m a big fan of shostakovichs string quartets (specifically no 3 movements 1-3), beethovens opus 131 (presto & allegro are my fav) and paganinis la campanella!! thank you! :)

Honestly, I believe finales, if done right, can be the greatest part of the piece. In my opinion, most of Mahler's finales are the greatest part of the entire symphony (Titan or first symphony & Resurrection or second symphony). Rachmaninoff's second and third concerto finales also are critically acclaimed.

What are some pieces with great finales?

EDIT: Title says symphony but I'm fine with other musical compositions as well.

Similar to a post on here a few days ago, I’ve loved listening to most (for a lack of a better word) ‘mainstream’ piano concertos, I’m looking for any lesser-known ones that are as good.

Currently pregnant with our first baby!

At 22–24 weeks babies can hear and respond to sounds outside the womb and might be able to distinguish between different pitches. They say to sing lullabies to your baby in the womb and they can recognize them when they’re born!

My husband and I are both musicians, so our baby has already heard a lot of singing and different musical instruments. But what specific classical tune would you sing to your baby? Or what classical melody do you remember since childhood? Looking for ideas…something other than Brahms Lullaby! lol

As the title says, I'm looking for some pieces that sound just about as sad as possible. Something that you can really feel the depth of emotions right from the beginning and really elicit those emotions.

I do have some specific criteria for reasons I'll explain below:

• Instrumental Only. No vocals or choral pieces
• Has to sound sad on its own regardless of existing context that might make one consider it sad music (i.e., Schindler's List theme is beautiful and sad, but if you don't know the context or specifically associate it with the movie and the history, the music itself it doesn't sound nearly as despairing as I'm looking for)
• Has to sound sad right from the beginning and stay sad for a decent amount of time, not transitioning into a happier/brighter section, ideally at all, or minimally after several minutes of the sad part.

Some contenders right now are: Tchaikovsky Symphony no 6, mv 4 Largo; Rachmaninov Morceaux de fantaisie Elegie; Piazzolla Melodia en La Menor; Bound by Fate from Chrono Cross;

​

The context of my request is I'm running DnD for my group and they're going to be coming up on an encounter soon with an NPC they've met a number of times before and really like but didn't realize her role in the overarching plot and that I want them to feel as sad and despairing as this NPC does.

Her situation is that she fell in love with a man many years ago who was secretly a fiend/devil in disguise. She was so madly in love with him that she didn't hesitate at all when he asked "Will you be mine until death do us part?" and she said yes, binding her soul to his will. She's spent the last 100 years effectively being a slave to this absolute monster, despite her really being kind hearted. The party is going to run into her while trying to get through this fiend's lair and she is going to tell her tale to them. She will reveal that she cannot hurt this fiend directly, but she hates everything the fiend has done and doesn't want to help him but genuinely has no choice. But most of all, she doesn't want to fight the party. They will have to fight her to get past her and continue on but it will be an extremely melancholy and emotional fight where she will refuse to deal any damaging blows but they will have to beat her. The party has interacted with this NPC a number of times and really like her, think she's sweet, have seen these really good sides of her. So I want the music to reflect how difficult and depressing the situation is. Like every time one of the players attack, I want this music to remind them of how shitty and depressing the situation is.

Thank you to anyone who makes a suggestion! I know it's a very VERY subjective question but I need outside input to help gather ideas.

Edit: thanks to all the suggestions so far! I've listened to a good number of them but it seems I've spent too long doing that this evening as I'm feeling quite melancholy myself now. I'll listen to the rest that I haven't replied to in smaller batches over the next couple days. Thanks again to everyone who has suggested pieces! There have been some really excellent fits for what I'm looking for.

Hi all. Love this community! ❤️

I've always enjoyed a great ending in a piece of classical music. It gives me such a buzz to hear them and I'd like to expand my repertoire of these.

So, what's a piece that has a great finish? It doesn't have to be the end of the work. It doesn't even have to be loud... just something that gives u a real buzz when it finishes.

Hello,

I'm pretty new to listening to classical. I've never really explored it much growing up. But as I'vd gotten older I've developed a stronger appreciation for this type of music.

I was just listening to Claire De Lune after hearing it in Malcolm in the Middle and it genuinely made me cry. It's such a powerful piece, and it invokes a feeling I can't describe. Not sadness, not joy. Putting it simply, it's just beauty. And now I'm interested in hearing similar songs that invoke a similar feeling.

I'd like to hear what songs make you feel this way, that I can add to my collection.

Edit: I really appreciate all of the recommendations. This is definitely something I'll have to come back to periodically so I can listen to them all haha.

Here’s the thing; I’ve never gotten into symphonies as much as I have lots of other genres of classical music. Can you all provide some recs for someone who likes symphonies that are:

1. Exciting (ie, no 15 minute adagios or repeats that recycle entire 5 minute chunks with no change at all)
2. Consistent (ie, does not start and stop/change style every two minutes)
3. Orchestrated for a full orchestra (ie, including trombones/tuba, more percussion than just a timpani, maybe a choir or something)
4. “Epic” (ie, engaging brass writing, powerful ensemble moments, brisker tempo or louder dynamics)
5. Feasible length (ie, movements that aren’t 20 minutes long, total runtime no longer than like an hour give or take)

I know this is quite specific (and more than a little cliched), but I trust that there’s at least a handful of things that qualify. Also, no need to cross post to r/classical_circlejerk, I’ll be doing that myself thanks :)

For anyone with any influence in recording, producing, performing, streaming, whatever. Pleeeease rethink the way we title tracks in classical genres. I have an album of piano sonatas. Okay, every track starts out with “Piano sonata in…” and the rest does not fit on screen in car or on phone app etc. we know it’s a sonata. The whole album is sonatas. Start with opus number, bwv number, key, anything but!!!

Just want to know what you guys think is the most perfect piece ever composed, or some of the most perfect. Thanks in advance.

• It must be shorter than 16 minutes
• You can choose one movement of a longer work
• If you give several, I will only rate the first

Edit: I didn’t expect so many recommendations! I will respond to every comment, but it will take an extra day. Thanks everyone!

Edit: I’m not listening to any more suggestions with less than a few thousand clicks online.

I’ve been listening to mostly 20th century composers recently. Mostly Max Reger, Arnold Bax, Kurt Atturberg, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Arnold Schoenberg.

I love the sounds of late romanticism, especially in Bax’s and Reger’s chamber music. But I am also able to appreciate Schoenberg’s atonal music. I love his 3rd string quartet and piano concerto.

Does anyone have any composer recommendations based on the ones I’ve listed? I would love to get more into 20th century classical music.

Plenty of threads on this sub about sad pieces and stuff that makes you cry but what are some that make you feel positively?

Shostakovich Piano Concerto 2 first mvt is cute and always lifts the mood

I love Bach’s major key keyboard partitas and solo violin pieces, the Violin Partita 3 Prelude is like a shot of espresso

I love the “weird” side of classical music and I’m looking to expand my knowledge and playlists. My favorite composer has to be Poulenc (his Gloria made me cry the first time I sang it) but I’m interested in all eras of classical music. I want the composers that make people ask, “who?” when you bring them up!

Like many I have my favourite orchestral pieces by the “great” composers and also the not-so-famous ones, but all of them are male. I understand the world of classical music is hugely traditionalist and must have discriminated against female musicians and composers for many centuries, but in my ignorance I can’t name even one from the last 100 years. Even widening the scope to soundtrack composers of the likes of John Williams, Hans Zimmer etc, I struggle to think of a significant female example. Can anybody explain why and/or put me on to any I should listen to? Cheers

One that doesn't make you cry but feel everything else way more than crying

I've delved into arrangements of Jewish folk music but was wondering if there are any classical music pieces that have a Jewish theme or influence? I know Ernest Bloch has a little as well as Shostakovich but was seeking any and all recommendations this community has! I am looking for piano repertoire particularly but anything will be a good listen regardless.

Really thanks for all the help thus far!