Classical music - chosen by Twitter
(Tumblr people click the post itself to see the videos.)
I’ve done Twitter crowdsourcing again. These here are the people who replied to me on Twitter’s favourite classical music pieces (loosely speaking), here in all their YouTube glory. Everything that was suggested has been included (I hope).
I’ll be honest. This post took a while.
Bear in mind each video is probably only part of each piece thanks to YouTube’s limitations.
In the order they arrived.
1. Claire de Lune by Claude DeBussy (1905)
“Claire de Lune” is French for moonlight.
2. Ecstasy Of Gold by Ennio Morricone (1966)
From The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
3. Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1791)
Was left unfinished when Mozart died.
4. Pachelbel’s Canon by Johann Pachelbel (written in the 1700s, discovered and published in 1919)
Might have been written for Bach’s wedding. I revised to this piece a lot when I was at school and university.
5. Carmina Burana by Carl Orff (1935 -36)
Everyone know’s this one - O Fortuna, the most famous bit from Carmina Burana. Based on the 24 medieval poems.
6. Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner (1856)
Part of Wagner’s Die Walküre opera, which is the second part of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Probably best known for being featured in Apocalypse Now.
7. Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns (1872)
It’s essentially about Halloween and made audiences rather nervous when it was first played. It’s also the theme tune to Jonathan Creek.
8. Symphony No 7 (second movement) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1812)
Beethoven considers this among his finest work and it was an instant hit with audiences.
9. Symphony No 3 (Eroica) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1804)
Beethoven was going to dedicate this to Napoleon but decided the money he’d get from Prince Franz Joseph Maximillian Lobkowitz was more tempting.
10. Prince Igor by Warren G (1997)
A bit of subversion here. Inspired by the Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin, this hip-hop version is by Warren G. There’s still sexual instructions to “bitches” and the “n” word in it though.
11. The Four Seasons (Spring) by Antonio Vivaldi (1732)
One of four, of course.
12. Symphony No 5 by Gustav Mahler (1901-2)
Apparently after its premiere, Mahler said “Nobody understood it. I wish I could conduct the first performance fifty years after my death.”
13. Symphony No 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich (1937)
During a time of intense social scrutiny by Russian authorities, Shostakovich had rather gotten into trouble over his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District - it was considered “a farrago of chaotic, nonsensical sounds” and the socialists didn’t like it. Fearing arrest and execution, Shostakovich composed his Fifth Symphony to comply with their standards, to begin with mocking Mahler in the process, but in the end created an unexpected triumph that pleased everyone.
14. Symphony No 2 by Johannes Brahms (1877)
Brahm’s thought it a tremendous joke to tell his publisher and all his friends that this jolly piece was: “so melancholy that you will not be able to bear it. I have never written anything so sad, and the score must come out in mourning.” He maintained this story right up until, and after, its premiere - forcing them to see it in great contrast to his first symphony.
15. Piano Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel (1929-31)
Has jazz influences which Ravel picked up in the old USA.
16. Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin (1830)
Used by Roman Polanski in The Pianist (at the beginning and the end). Chopin dedicated the piece to his older sister Ludwika.
17. Il dolce suono by Gaetano Donizetti (1835)
“Il dolce suono” means “the sweet sound” and is the opening aria from Act III scene 2 of the opera Lucia di Lammermoor. It’s also known as “the mad scene” as soprano Lucia stabs her husband on their wedding night. It’s also rather well known from this scene in The Fifth Element.
18. In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (1876)
Composed for the play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen. Its lyrics:
-
Slay him! The Christian’s son has bewitched
The Mountain King’s fairest daughter!
Ice to your blood, friends!
Slay him!
Slay him!
May I hack him on the fingers?
May I tug him by the hair?
Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me
Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?
19. The Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo (1939)
Check this one, a guitar with an orchestra. Rodrigo’s inspiration for this came from the gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjuez in Spain and his wife’s miscarriage of their first child. It’s also in Brassed Off.
20. Gymnopédies by Erik Satie (1888)
And finally…
Thanks to: @danwooller @Nicky_Bee @metallikat_LRG @johnmanthorpe @M_Fkill @robin_wiggs @jimboeth @joelcrookes @rosehypnol @chrissieranson @bmarshee @OliviaCoupe @finallyalex @Beesy83 @chriswhite_twit @slice_andice @katerina_hellas and Wikipedia for the factoids.
Twitter says… the best music websites are
Twitter’s exceptionally useful for many things. I’ve got around 2,800 followers so I like using it for crowdsourcing. So I may as well share it with Tumblr too. Some I’d already heard of, others I hadn’t.
The best music websites that don’t just cover trendy indie schmindy.
Punktastic
Run by a 23-year-old who works in an accountancy firm. It’s still good though.
Wears the Trousers
Ladies who make music but aren’t as famous as some because they don’t jiggle their ladyparts about.
The Girls Are
Ladies who make music but aren’t as famous as some because they don’t jiggle their ladyparts about.
Copy Cats
A Tumblr dedicated to covers and mash ups.
The Quietus
Straight up music site. I like them but I wish they didn’t have to use Times New Roman.
The Line of Best Fit
A bit on the trendy side but more than one person voted for this so it must be all right.
The Hype Machine
All the blogs.
Amazing Radio
Internet and DAB radio station which only plays new music as suggested by their Amazing Tunes website.
