Among these melodies there is a motive for any mood: romantic, positive or dreary, in order to relax and not think about anything or, conversely, to collect thoughts.
twitter.com/ludovicoeinaudThe Italian composer and pianist works in the direction of minimalism, often turns to ambient and skillfully combines the classics with other musical styles. He is known to a wide circle for atmospheric compositions that have become soundtracks for films. For example, you probably recognize the music from the French 1 + 1 tape, written by Einaudi.
themagger.net Glass is one of the most controversial personalities in the world of modern classics, who is sometimes lifted to heaven, then to smithereens. He has been with his own band, the Philip Glass Ensemble, for half a century and has written music for over 50 films, including The Truman Show, The Illusionist, Taste of Life and Fantastic Four. The melodies of the American minimalist composer blur the line between classical and popular music.
latimes.com He is the author of many soundtracks, the best film composer of 2008 according to the European Film Academy and a post-minimalist. Conquered critics from the first album Memoryhouse, in which Richter's music was superimposed on poetry reading, and in subsequent albums, fiction was also used. In addition to writing his own ambient compositions, Max arranges the works of the classics: Vivaldi's Four Seasons topped the iTunes charts in his arrangement.
This creator instrumental music from Italy is not associated with the sensational cinema, but without that he is known as a composer, virtuoso and an experienced piano teacher. If you describe the work of Marradi in two words, it will be the words "sensual" and "magical". His compositions and covers will appeal to those who love retroclassics: the notes of the last century shine through in the motives.
twitter.com/coslive The renowned film composer has created musical scores for many high-grossing films and cartoons, including Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, Inception, Sherlock Holmes, Interstellar, Madagascar, The Lion King. Its star flaunts on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and on its shelf there are Oscars, Grammy and Golden Globes. Zimmer's music is as different as the films listed, but regardless of the key, it takes to the living.
musicaludi.fr Hisaishi is one of the most famous Japanese composers, who has received four Japanese Academy Awards for Best Film Music. Joe became famous for writing the soundtrack for the anime "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." If you are a fan of Studio Ghibli or Takeshi Kitano's tapes, then you will surely admire Hisaishi's music. It is mostly light and light.
twitter.com/theipaper This Icelandic multi-instrumentalist is just a boy compared to the listed masters, but by his 30s he managed to become a recognized neoclassicist. He has recorded an accompaniment to the ballet, won a BAFTA for the soundtrack for the British TV series Murder on the Beach, and released 10 studio albums. Arnalds' music is reminiscent of a harsh wind on a deserted seashore.
yiruma.manifo.com Lee Rum's most famous works are Kiss the Rain and River Flows in You. The Korean New Age composer and pianist writes popular classics that can be understood by listeners on any continent, with any musical taste and education. His light and sensual melodies became the beginning of love for piano music for many.
fracturedair.com The American composer is interesting in that, but at the same time writes the most pleasant and quite popular music. O'Halloran's tunes have been featured on Top Gear and several films. Perhaps the most successful soundtrack album was for the melodrama "Like Crazy".
culturaspettacolovenezia.it This composer and pianist knows a lot about the art of conducting and how to create electronic music. But his main field is modern classics. Cacchapaglia has recorded numerous albums, three of them with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His music flows like water, it will be great to relax under it.
Concerts for soloists and orchestra
Each part of this list is accompanied by a playlist with all the works mentioned in it.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg concerts
Simultaneously large-scale and compact cycle of six chapters from ten to twenty minutes long. Six completely different concerts, united by a purely Bach's joy of life, each of which was the first of its kind: for example, the Fifth Brandenburg Concert, the first ever concert for clavier and orchestra.
Alban Berg
"In memory of an angel"
If the opera "Wozzeck" is one of the highest achievements of the new viennese school in the field of musical drama, the Violin Concerto is a masterpiece of lyrical expression. It will not leave you indifferent, although there are no catchy melodies here; but the concert finale is based on a quotation from Bach, organically woven into the fabric of the piece.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for violin and orchestra
Forget everything you've heard about the ponderousness of Beethoven's symphonies - this concert seems to be talking to you personally, and there is not a penny in it. If you get bored in the middle, you will be rewarded in the finale: he will give you such a beautiful and sad melody that you can hardly resist crying grateful. One of the greatest violin concertos ever.
Johannes Brahms
Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra
While there are not so many concertos for cello and orchestra as for violin or piano, there are even fewer concertos for violin and cello, and the more valuable each one is. The brightest among them is Brahms' Double Concerto, which incorporates the best features of his symphonic and chamber works. It is full of beautiful melodies and, with all the external restraint, is unusually emotional.
Antonio Vivaldi
"Seasons"
One of the most popular pieces of classical music, an absolute hit known to everyone. Four seasons - four violin concertos, each better than the other.
George Gershwin
Blues Rhapsody
The first successful attempt to cross the classics and jazz, which gave rise to more than one new direction and yet remained unique.
Antonín Dvořák
Concerto for cello and orchestra
One of the first large-scale compositions with a cello in the lead role, where the harmony and sophistication of the composition are combined with the incredible accessibility of melodies that fit the ear without any effort.
Felix Mendelssohn
Concerto for violin and orchestra in E minor
Everyone knows the wedding march from A Midsummer Night's Dream, although it is by no means Mendelssohn's main work. He owns excellent Italian and Scottish symphonies, beautiful trios, quartets and oratorios, as well as the Violin Concerto: no less important than Beethoven's, but much more intelligible.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3
The music of Rachmaninoff and Mahler does not have much in common, but it was Mahler who conducted one of the first performances of the concert. Although the Third Concerto at first remained in the shadow of the famous Second Concerto, it also belongs to the highest achievements of the genre and is one of the most serious tests for participants in pianistic competitions. And its main theme is one of the best melodies in all musical literature.
Jan Sibelius
Concerto for violin and orchestra
By the end of the 19th century, the supremacy of the Austro-German tradition in music became questionable: one after another, new national schools - Hungarian, Czech, and Polish - announced themselves. The founder of another, Finnish, and today one of the most advanced in the world, was Sibelius, whose concert is unlike any other and still hits the heart.
Opera: from Monteverdi to Bizet and twentieth century masterpieces
Georges Bizet
"Carmen"
It is hard to believe that the premiere of Carmen was not a success: hits here follow one another with such a density that no other great opera can boast of. Overture, habanera, Toreador couplets, segidilla, "Gypsy dance" - just to name a few. One can only envy those who have not heard them yet.
Richard Wagner
"Tannhäuser"
You must have flinched as a child at the sound of "Flight of the Valkyries" and heard many unpleasant things about Wagner. Try to form your own opinion about his music; if Wagner's operas are too long for you, orchestral fragments are enough to start with. The incredibly beautiful overture from the opera "Tannhäuser" is a masterpiece in itself that you will surely enjoy, regardless of your sympathy for the socio-political views of the author.
Giuseppe Verdi
"La Traviata"
Don Juan, Carmen and La Traviata are among the top three operas in the world. It is impossible to resist the charm of La Traviata, even if you are indifferent to Italian opera: the music is so delightful - light and at the same time imbued with a foreboding of trouble. The famous love story that is born and dies before our eyes.
Claudio Monteverdi
"Orpheus"
It makes no sense to place any of the three operas of Monteverdi on any list of the best operas: this Italian genius is so original, who actually founded opera as a genre. Start with "Orpheus", especially since the toccata that opens it sounds from everywhere and you probably know: you will not be able to come off.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Don Juan"
Opera of operas, the main one for all times and peoples. No other great opera has such a balance between tragic and comic, high and low, the will to live and the inevitability of death. As Svyatoslav Richter said, “Così fan tutte” is a greater mysticism than “Don Juan”. There, the statue is to blame for everything, that it came to life ... And here the woman is to blame for being born in general. "
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"All women do this" ("Così fan tutte")
The middle-aged cynic Don Alfonso undertakes to prove to two young men that the fidelity of their brides is a relative concept. The guys seem to go to war, return in the guise of strangers in love, and each looks after the other's bride. The girls, not without pleasure, submit to their new destiny and are going to get married, but then the real suitors return. They decide to play two weddings, although no one looks happy. An opera that women are more mysterious and more unpredictable than men.
Leos Janacek
"The Adventures of a Cheating Fox"
According to the writer Milan Kundera, Janacek accomplished a feat by opening the world of prose for opera. Indeed, Janáček's melodies are based on human speech in all its full psychological nuances. "The Adventures of a Cheating Fox" is the most lyrical opera by a Czech composer, telling about the coexistence of two worlds - the world of humans and the world of animals - and calling for their rapprochement.
Alban Berg
"Wozzeck"
Music unlike anything you've heard before. On the second or third try, you will discover that the language of this opera about the mad soldier is not so strange: the composer simply does not compose melodies, but puts the natural intonations of human speech into the basis of the music. The difference with Janacek, according to Kundera, is obvious: “German Expressionism is distinguished by a preferable attitude towards excessive states of mind, delirium, and insanity. Janacek's expressionism is a rich fan of emotions, a close opposition of tenderness and rudeness, rage and reassurance. "
Kurt Weill
"Threepenny Opera"
The work, formally belonging to the classics of the twentieth century, was sold to hits, sung dozens of times, starting with the ingenious "Mackie-Knife" - one of the melodic symbols of the century. Although Weill is a major innovator in the field of academic music, no composer of his generation has received such attention from pop and rock artists.
Igor Stravinsky
"King Oedipus"
The dissimilar "Petrushka" and "The Rite of Spring" still do not seem to be the works of two different authors, whereas in the opera-oratorio "Oedipus the King" you certainly do not recognize the creator of "Petrushka". It is no coincidence that Stravinsky was called a chameleon and a man of 1001 style. In "Oedipus" they sing in Latin, and the music - perhaps the most beautiful in Stravinsky's - goes back to the late Baroque: no Russian archaic, no pancakes.
Dmitry Shostakovich
"Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District"
Sex and violence were the main themes of one of the key operas of the 20th century; that is why, shortly after the triumphant premiere in 1934, it was officially banned by Stalin himself in 1936. Pay special attention to the dancing of the guests in the third act and the singing of convicts in the fourth - having heard it once, it is already impossible to forget it.
Richard Strauss
"Electra"
The opera is based on the story of the death of King Agamemnon, killed by his wife and her lover. The king's daughter hates her mother and lives in the hope of retribution. Driven by noble motives, the heroine feels like an instrument in the hand of God, and this obsession turns her into a monster. In the first moment of such a dark story, the orchestra unleashes such hopeless music on the audience that the hair stands on end. The opera, which runs for almost two hours without intermission, is like a grandiose symphony, from which you cannot tear yourself away.
Solo. Piano and violin
Charles Ives
"Sonata" Concorde "
More than a sonata, a whole study on the topic: can music express anything beyond what it sounds like? One of the most important piano works of the 20th century remained unfinished only because the author himself decided so: “The sonata seems to me incomplete every time I play it. Perhaps I will not deny myself the pleasure of not finishing it at all. " The sonata is imbued with Beethoven's "theme of fate", which restores order in the midst of chaos, then unfolds the story by 180 degrees.
Johann Sebastian Bach
"Well-Tempered Clavier" (HTK)
Probably the most perfect work in the history of music: two cycles of 24 preludes and fugues in all existing keys are like two colossal Gothic cathedrals, each more beautiful than the other. Almost anyone can pick up the first prelude in C major on the piano; however, gradually the cycle becomes more complex. And more and more interesting.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonatas and partitas for solo violin
Isn't it boring to listen to a lonely violin for a long time? Not at all - she can do much more than we can imagine. By at leastBach seeks to fully embrace its capabilities. The pearl of the cycle is the famous chaconne, the shrill of which there is no music in the world.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 14
Among Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, Moonlight may not be the best, but certainly the most famous; it has been quoted by many, from Shostakovich to The Beatles. Few writing in the world has outgrown its framework to such an extent, becoming a symbol of unrequited love.
Claude Debussy
Preludes
A compressed encyclopedia of the great composer's work, a bizarre combination of romanticism and impressionism, long tradition piano music and paradoxes of the twentieth century. The names of each prelude are not at the beginning, but at the end of the notes, as if they ask the listener riddles, checking if he has correctly captured the mood of the play, be it Sails, Footsteps in the Snow, Fogs or Fireworks.
Olivier Messiaen
"Twenty Views of the Baby Jesus"
One of the main opuses of Messiaen, even in the year of his century, was more often played in fragments than in whole: this cycle requires too much dedication. The largest piano work of the era, with which only 24 preludes and fugues by Shostakovich can be compared, is an atypical creation for the mid-twentieth century: where is irony and reflection, where is rigor and calculated? This is a grand prayer, two and a quarter hours of mostly major music with numerous repetitions.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata No. 11
The well-known Turkish Rondo is actually not an independent piece, but the finale of one of Mozart's sonatas, the other parts of which are no less delightful. As, in fact, others piano sonatas Mozart, not to mention his Fantasies.
Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition
This cycle is known primarily in the orchestration of Maurice Ravel, which is perceived today as a genius, but very pop hit. Listen to the original version of Pictures, originally written for piano: you will be amazed at how unusual and not at all hit music it is.
Niccolo Paganini
24 caprices for solo violin
A new word in the discovery of the possibilities of violin and violinists, which for the third century has remained a test for virtuosity. Best known is the last, twenty-fourth caprice - a short but brilliant theme, variations on which were written by many great composers.
Eric Satie
Gymnopedias and other works for piano
Although Sati is a 20th century composer, many of his works appeared in the previous century: in 1888 hymnopedias were written that anticipated the genre of easy listening. Sati also had the idea of \u200b\u200bmusic as an unobtrusive background - today there is nowhere to go from it, but a hundred years ago it was new.
Frederic Chopin
24 preludes for piano
An encyclopedia of musical romanticism and at the same time a colorful kaleidoscope of genres: elegy, mazurka, march, song without words and much more. The main means of expressiveness that rivets the listener's attention is the contrast of major and minor in each adjacent pair of preludes.
Robert Schumann
"Kreisleriana"
A cycle of fantasy plays, the name of which was given by the image of Johannes Kreisler - a mad bandmaster invented by Hoffmann, who frightens those around him with his devotion to music. One of the finest works of Schumann, the most romantic composer who ever lived.
Masterpieces of vocal music
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantatas
In addition to the magnificent Passion and Mass in B minor, Bach wrote over two hundred cantatas. Even more so than this entire list, they deserve the words "best music ever." You will fill the playlist many months in advance if you decide to gradually listen to them all. For the impossibility to single out the best from the best, we note three: "Heavens rejoice, earth rejoices" (BWV 31) with a magnificent trumpet solo in the finale, "Who will believe and be baptized" (BWV 37) with a wonderful aria "Faith gives us wings for the soul" and probably the most famous “I've had enough” (BWV 82).
Luciano Berio
Folk songs
A truly universal composition; Berio, the most prominent avant-garde artist of the second half of the twentieth century, processed a number of original songs from Europe and Asia, adding a couple of his own. The listener, who is far from the avant-garde, will be delighted that avant-garde artists have compositions that seem simple and understandable.
Benjamin Britten
War Requiem
An unusual line-up: two orchestras with two conductors, two choirs, three soloists and an organ. The tenor, baritone and chamber orchestra are responsible for the "military" part of the requiem, which is based on the poetry of a poet who died in the First World War. The symphony orchestra, choir and soprano perform traditional parts of the requiem from Requiem æternam and Dies irae to Agnus Dei and Libera me. An amazing result, unlike both the funeral masses of previous eras, and the non-traditional requiems of the 20th century.
Antonio Vivaldi
Arias from operas
You should listen at least in order to know: "The Seasons" is not the only one and, perhaps, not even best piece Vivaldi. At least the collection of his arias performed by Magdalena Kozhena will make you forget about the evergreen hit for a while.
Valery Gavrilin
“Russian notebook. German notebooks "
The Russian Notebook reflected the experience of Gavrilin as a folklorist, and this deeply national composition is an analogue of the great cycles of Schubert and Schumann. But with what to compare "German Notebooks", written on the verses of Heine - the most that neither is Schumann's material? How can one explain the appearance of such a wonderful cycle as "The First German Notebook" in a sophomore, from whom the professor, under the threat of a deuce, demands "something vocal"? Probably only a miracle.
Georg Friedrich Handel
"Messiah"
On the eve of religious holidays "Messiah" is performed all over the world; connected with this is the true story of one orchestra player. To the question "What happened to you?" he replied: “I had a nightmare! I dreamed that I was playing "Messiah" again! Moreover, when I woke up, it turned out to be true! " The best performances of "Messiah" have nothing to do with this reality, it is truly divine music. After finishing the "Messiah" in three weeks, Handel said: "I thought that the heavens had opened and I see the Creator."
Gustav Mahler
Songs about dead children
One of the most terrifying compositions in the history of music: whether we believe in fate or not, but soon after the creation of this vocal cycle, Mahler lost his beloved daughter. Five incredibly beautiful and unspeakably sad songs.
Gustav Mahler
"Song of the Earth"
The first symphony, where they sing from beginning to end, and the large orchestra sounds chamber - so that all the instruments are heard. The author considered the last part - "Farewell" to be suicidal, but one would like to return to it again and again.
Olivier Messiaen
Three small liturgies of the Divine presence
Catholicism, the study of the language of birds and attention to non-European cultures - these features make up Messiaen's work, a separate direction in the music of the twentieth century. Although Messiaen's language is unlike anyone else's, his music is extraordinarily infectious: listen to the liturgy at least once and you will notice that you are humming them.
Alfred Schnittke
"The Story of Dr. Johann Faust"
Schnittke's cantata has nothing in common with Goethe's Faust: it is based on the 16th century “The People's Book of Faust”. An ingenious find is Mephistopheles, acting in two guises: the devil seducing (countertenor), the devil mocking and punishing (contralto). Although the planned participation of Alla Pugacheva in the Moscow premiere was canceled, the mounted police were on duty at the hall. The hero's humiliation culminates in a swaggering tango with saxophones, unexpectedly intruding into harsh music.
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 14
Although Shostakovich's penultimate symphony is dedicated to Britten, it is more closely associated with Mahler. It is essentially a sequel to his Songs of the Earth, a symphony-cantata with two singers, entirely dedicated to death. Even among Shostakovich's gloomy symphonies, this one is especially full of depression and a sense of loneliness. Two voices unite only to sing in the finale: “Death is so powerful. She is on guard and at the hour of happiness. "
Franz Schubert
"Winter way"
The pinnacle of world vocal music: 24 songs united by a common bitter mood and gloomy images of nature. The final one, "Organ Grinder", is one of Schubert's most hopeless songs (and he has about 600 of them!): A melancholy melody sounds against the background of the dull, monotonous sounds of a barrel organ.
Great symphonies
Hector Berlioz
Fantastic symphony
One of the first - perhaps the most striking - examples of program music: that is, music that precedes a specific scenario. The story of Berlioz's unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson formed the basis of the masterpiece, which includes Dream, Ball, Scene in the Fields, Procession to Execution, and even Dream on Sabbath Night.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7
Of the three most famous symphonies of Beethoven, it is better to start not with the Fifth with its "theme of fate" and not with the Ninth with its ending "Hug, millions". In the Seventh there is much less pathos and more humor, and the ingenious second part is familiar even to listeners far from the classics in the processing of the Deep Purple group.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 3
Brahms's First Symphony was called Beethoven's Tenth Symphony, meaning the continuity of tradition. But if Beethoven's nine symphonies are unequal, then of Brahms's four symphonies each is a masterpiece. The pompous beginning of the Third is just a bright cover for a deeply lyrical statement that reaches its climax in an unforgettable allegretto.
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7
Mahler is believed to be Bruckner's successor; against the backdrop of his canvases like roller coasters, Bruckner's symphonies can seem boring - especially their endless adagios. However, each adagio is followed by an exciting scherzo, and the Seventh Symphony will not let you get bored from the very first movement, brooding and drawn out. The finale, the scherzo and the adagio dedicated to the memory of Wagner are no less good.
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 45 "Farewell"
It seems impossible to write easier than Haydn, but in this deceptive simplicity lies main secret his skill. Of his one hundred and four symphonies, only eleven are written in minor key, and the best among them is Farewell, in the finale of which the musicians leave the stage one by one. It was from Haydn that the group Nautilus Pompilius borrowed this technique for the song "Goodbye, America".
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 90
Against the background of the impetuous Farewell, Haydn's later symphonies are much more balanced and positive. They are full of special warmth, artless beauty and harmony. And, of course, humor: the last part of the symphony is crowned with a "false" ending, which even a sophisticated audience takes for a real one and begins to applaud while the orchestra is still playing.
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"
Collecting material for the symphony, Dvorak studied the national music of America, but he did without quotation, trying to embody its spirit in the first place. The symphony in many ways goes back to both Brahms and Beethoven, but lacks the pomp inherent in their opuses.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5
Two best symphonies Mahler seem to be similar to each other only at first. The confusion of the first parts of the Fifth leads to the textbook adagietto, full of vexation, which has been repeatedly used in cinema and theater. And the ominous fanfare of the introduction is answered by a completely traditional optimistic ending.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 6
Who would have thought that Mahler's next symphony would be the darkest and most hopeless music in the world! The composer seems to be mourning all of humanity: such a mood is affirmed from the very first notes and only aggravates towards the finale, which does not contain a single ray of hope. Not for the faint of heart.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 7
The trilogy ends with a mystery symphony. It is considered to be inconvenient for performance and perception, although it is a real celebration of music: if in the rest of Mahler's symphonies, willy-nilly, you still look for a conflict, here it is almost impossible to find it. It remains only to guess why, between the extreme parts of the Seventh, there is, as it were, another inner symphony of two octurnes and a central scherzo.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 25
Among Mozart's more than forty symphonies, only two are written in a minor key, and in the same one: G minor unites a number of his key works. The twenty-fifth and the Fortieth are separated by fifteen years, in the case of Mozart - almost half a life. Both are equally sad, but if the Fortieth unfolds thoughtfully and unhurriedly, the Twenty-fifth falls upon you with all the swiftness of the "storm and onslaught" era.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 40
Another super hit, the beginning of which causes involuntary irritation. Try to tune your hearing as if you are hearing The Fortieth for the first time (even better if you are): this will help you experience the ingenious, albeit utterly hackneyed first part and learn that it is followed by the equally beautiful second, third and fourth.
Sergei Prokofiev
Classical symphony
Prokofiev explained the name of the symphony as follows: "Out of mischief, to tease the geese, and in the secret hope that ... I will beat if over time the symphony turns out to be so classical." After a series of daring compositions that excited the audience, Prokofiev composed a symphony in the spirit of Haydn; it became a classic almost immediately, although his other symphonies have nothing to do with it.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony is not as popular as his ballets, although its melodic potential is no lower; from any two or three minutes of her could have made a hit, for example, Paul McCartney. If you want to understand what a symphony is, listen to Tchaikovsky's Fifth, one of the best and most complete examples of the genre.
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
In 1936 Shostakovich was defamed at the state level. In response, calling on the shadows of Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mussorgsky for help, the composer created a work that became a classic already at the time of the premiere. According to legend, Boris Pasternak spoke about the symphony and its author: “He said everything he wanted - and he got nothing for it”.
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 7
One of the musical symbols of the 20th century, and certainly the main musical symbol of the Second World War. An insinuating drum roll begins the famous "invasion theme", illustrating not only fascism or Stalinism, but any historical era, the basis of which is violence.
Franz Schubert. ** Unfinished symphony
The Eighth Symphony is called Unfinished - instead of four parts, there are only two; however, they are so rich and strong that they are perceived as a complete whole. Having stopped work on the work, the composer did not touch it anymore.
Bela Bartok.
Concert for orchestra
Bartok is known primarily as the author of countless pieces for music schools. The fact that this is far from the whole of Bartok is evidenced by his concert, where parody is accompanied by severity, and sophisticated technique is accompanied by cheerful folk tunes. In fact - Bartok's farewell symphony, as well as Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
"Symphonic Dances"
Rachmaninoff's last opus is a masterpiece of unprecedented power. The beginning seems to warn of an earthquake - it is both a harbinger of the horrors of war and the realization of the end of the romantic era in music. Rachmaninov called "Dances" his best and favorite composition.
Chamber music treasures
Johannes Brahms
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3
A chamber ensemble is one of the finest types of music-making: a violin sonata, a piano trio, or a string quartet can often express much more than a ballet or symphony. A synonym for chamber music is the name of Brahms, for whom each chamber piece is a masterpiece. Including this sonata, an unforgettable beginning of which is born from a phrase, as if interrupted in mid-sentence.
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 11 "Serioso"
Beethoven's later quartets are one of the pinnacles of chamber music. Before that, the composer had not written them for almost fifteen years, pausing after the brilliant quartet in F minor with the subtitle "Serioso" - "Serious". Despite its laconicism, it is incredibly rich in ideas and mood swings, especially the fast part, the intonation of which rushes non-stop between interrogative and affirmative.
Johannes Brahms.
Quartet for piano, violin, viola and cello No. 1
Another gem, where each of the chapters is full of surprises, especially the last two: isn't this jubilant march in the middle of the lyrical part surprising? Doesn't the final Hungarian Style Rondo leave any of the Hungarian Dances far behind? The quartet was created by Brahms long before his First Symphony, but four instruments have been gifted with such a wealth of melodies and accords that it would have been enough for an entire orchestra.
Antonín Dvořák
Quintet for piano, two violins, viola and cello No. 2
Dvořák's second quintet was created in 1887, a quarter of a century after the Brahms quartet. Another late romantic composition, even more contrasting and even more densely seasoned with Eastern European motives - there is a place here for both Ukrainian dumka and Bohemian dances. There are three main characters here: the cello and viola, whose solos open the first and second movements, and the piano, which connects the fabric of the quintet with invisible threads.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 21
The saddest music ever.
Cesar Franck
Sonata for violin and piano
One of the best violin sonatas ever written, it is quite a romantic piece, striving with all its might beyond romanticism. Without a doubt, you will remember the amazingly beautiful first phrase the first time, and not only her.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
"In memory of the great artist"
For many, Tchaikovsky - "The Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty", the First Piano Concerto. The trio "In Memory of the Great Artist" has nothing in common with these works - a tragic, deeply intimate statement, devoid of any ponderousness and pomp. You have never heard such a Tchaikovsky.
Dmitry Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 8
The title "In memory of the victims of fascism and war" is just a cover for the true name that Shostakovich had in mind: "In memory of the author of this quartet." By no means the last work of the composer, nevertheless, became his monument to himself: a mournful epitaph, layered with quotations from the best works of Shostakovich.
Franz Schubert
Piano Trio No. 2
Schubert's chamber compositions are no less expressive and heartfelt than vocal ones. An example of this is the trio for piano, violin and cello: the main theme of its second movement is remembered from the first time and for life, check it out.
XX century classics
Charles Ives
"Unanswered question"
A small masterpiece is the key to all the music of the twentieth century: the strings play one thing, the flutes play another, the trumpet another. There is no catchy melody, but it sounds beautiful and bewitching.
Arnold Schoenberg
Serenade
Another, along with "Wozzeck", is an example of "dodecaphony with a human face." Although hardly anyone will succeed in humming a few bars of serenade, it is full of drive and humor: among the instruments there are guitar and mandolin, giving the ensemble's cold sounding some informality and even nationality.
Arnold Schoenberg
"Lunar Pierrot"
If the serenade is an example of a strict, established style, then Pierrot Lunar is just his quest: Schoenberg has not yet discovered dodecaphony, but has already abandoned the key, major and minor. To the accompaniment of a small ensemble, the vocal part sounds in the manner of speech singing - in the middle between singing and excited human speech. One of the most revolutionary works of the 20th century.
Pierre Boulez
"A hammer without a master"
The musician, who created the standard recordings of Schoenberg's works, responded to his death with an article with the defiant title "Schoenberg is Dead." And three years later, “The Hammer Without a Master” appeared for voice and ensemble, a kind of “Moonlight Pierrot” of the second half of the 20th century. Stravinsky, who defined "Pierrot of the Moon" as the solar plexus of new music, later would not hesitate to call "The Hammer Without a Master" the best contemporary compositionsounding "as if ice cubes were clashing in a glass."
Claude Debussy
"Afternoon of a Faun"
The day of the premiere of the work - December 22, 1894 - became the birthday of musical impressionism. The Faun begins with an unforgettable flute solo that has opened up new horizons in world music.
Zoltan Koday
"Dances from Galanta"
A spectacular piece based on authentic folk melodies, where slow tempos are replaced by such fast ones that it will take your breath away. This change of pace characteristic feature verbunkos, a Hungarian dance performed at recruiting points and on seeing off the army. Fifteen minutes of pure joy.
Darius Millau
"World creation"
French composers from the Six Group offered a European version of what Gershwin succeeded in: combining classical tradition with jazz and the sounds of the big city, turning to face simple forms and catchy melodies. Millau especially succeeded with his ballets The Bull on the Roof and The Creation of the World. "How, and this is also a classic !?" - you ask. Definitely yes.
Arthur Honegger
Pacific 231
Another musical symbol of the 20th century in general and technical progress in particular. Having finished an energetic orchestral piece, the author jokingly gave it the name of the most powerful steam locomotive in the world. The public took the joke seriously when they heard in the Pacific a sound portrait of a steam locomotive that accelerates, hums and then brakes; great music that gives a lot of room to the imagination.
Krzysztof Penderecki
Lamentation for the victims of Hiroshima
The play, like Pacific 231, was made famous primarily by its title. Written in the most advanced language for the middle of the twentieth century, the score was not successful under the original name "8.37", but under the new name it became very popular, although not a single note changed. As positive as "Pacific" is, just as depressing is "Cry", although you should certainly get to know him.
Sergei Prokofiev
"Romeo and Juliet"
The best of the musical incarnations of Shakespeare's tragedy, numbering several hits - first of all, the well-known theme "Dance of the Knights" (popular under the name "Montagues and Capulet"). It is surprising that the Bolshoi Theater, commissioned by which the ballet was written, at first rejected it, considering the music unstable and unthinkable for the theater.
Maurice Ravel
"Bolero"
Drum roll, flute plays a deceptively simple theme that is gradually picked up by other instruments in the orchestra. It seems to be a simple scheme, but the listener will still be left with an open mouth, even if he knows Bolero by heart.
Maurice Ravel
Waltz
A typical Viennese waltz gradually emerges from the indistinct hum. The dancers are spinning faster and faster, and finally the spring bursts at this enraged music box. An eerie and perfect depiction of the end of a beautiful era, which was replaced by the century of world wars.
Arvo Pärt
"Fratres"
Pärt is the most performed contemporary composer, his compositions are performed in the world hundreds of times a year. In the mid-1970s, Pärt moved from the avant-garde to quiet, slow music, which proved to be extremely in demand: many of Pärt's lovers are far from the classics and perceive his opuses as a kind of musical soothing. The reference composition is “Fratres”, which sounds differently in each of the numerous editions, but does not lose the intonation of the sad question mark.
Steve Reich
"Different Trains"
Another living classic, once known as an avant-garde artist. "Other Trains" is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust: Reich contrasts the trains of his childhood, on which he crossed America more than once, with others that sent his European peers to concentration camps. The work was written for a string quartet and a phonogram, which includes the clatter of wheels, locomotive whistles, and stories of Holocaust survivors. Fragments of human speech, recorded in notes, became the basis of instrumental parts. Ideal for the first meeting with Reich.
Igor Stravinsky
"Parsley"
One of the most perfect expressions of the Russian spirit in music: Shrovetide, street organ, accordion, gypsies, trained bear, "Along St. Petersburg", "Oh you, my canopy, canopy", carnival, fun, pancakes.
Igor Stravinsky
"Sacred spring"
The complete opposite of “Petrushka”: paganism, fear of death, slow gloomy round dances, sacrifice in the hope of appeasing the elements, completely blowing away the consonance - one of the most revolutionary and scandalous scores in the history of music.
Alfred Schnittke
Concerto grosso No. 1
The visiting card of the main Soviet composer after Shostakovich: elements of mutually exclusive styles merge here into a single whole. “As part of the Concerto grosso, I introduced a lively children's choral, nostalgic-atonal serenade - a trio guaranteed to be genuine Corelli (made in the USSR) and my grandmother's favorite tango, played by her great-grandmother on the harpsichord.”
Alfred Schnittke
"Revision tale"
An ideal way to get to know Schnittke's music for those who find it too complicated. The combination of the harpsichord with pop instruments creates a multifaceted space, where there is a place for Beethoven's "theme of fate", and parodies of Haydn, whose intonations are brought to sweetness, and the shadows of Mozart and Tchaikovsky, dancing tango and cancan.
Just masterpieces
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suites No. 2 and 3
Compared to the HTK, two suites sound like light music, especially since each contains at least one greatest hit: "Joke" and "Aria", respectively, which have long been sold out in ringtones and TV and radio screensavers. However, this could have happened with other fragments of these suites, which are replete with bright melodies.
Johannes Brahms
"Hungarian Dances"
If symphony Orchestra plays an encore, in one case out of three the conductor will choose the First "Hungarian Dance"; in extreme cases - the fifth. Two dozen miniatures for two pianos, later arranged for orchestra, were created on the basis of authentic Hungarian melodies; result - 21 exemplary encore.
Edvard Grieg
"Peer Gynt"
Ibsen's drama Peer Gynt is world famous, and Grieg's music written for its premiere is even more popular: Solveig's Song and In the Cave of the Mountain King, you undoubtedly know. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of listening to "Pera Gynt" in its entirety.
Alexander Scriabin
"Prometheus"
In his last and, perhaps, his most significant symphonic work, Scriabin strove to express the idea of \u200b\u200bthe triumph of the spirit, to achieve the utmost radiance. Therefore, "Prometheus" (aka "The Poem of Fire") was written not only for orchestra, piano, organ and choir, but also for a light keyboard that immerses the concert hall in the radiance of one color or another. However, the music of Prometheus itself is literally overflowing with sunlight.
Bedrich Sour Cream
"My motherland"
The cycle of symphonic poems is a musical portrait of the Czech Republic, its history, nature and legends. Especially popular is the Vltava, in which one can hear the flow of the river, and hunting in the forest on its banks, and night dances of mermaids. The main theme goes back to the 17th century Italian song "La Mantovana". Later, the same melody formed the basis for the hymn of Israel.
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
"Scheherazade"
First, the author gave the parts of the suite the names: "The Sea and the Sindbad Ship", " Fantastic story Tsarevich Kalender "," Tsarevich and Tsarevna "," Baghdad Holiday. Sea. The ship crashes against the rock with the bronze rider. Conclusion ”, but later decided to remove them. Nevertheless, they are well known, and, listening to music, we involuntarily associate the violin with the voice of Scheherazade, the exclamations of the wind instruments - with a storm at sea, the flute solo - with the ship of Sinbad the sailor. One of the best examples of program music.
Richard Strauss
"Don Quixote"
Of the works of Strauss, the most famous poem "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", the introduction of which serves as a screen saver for the program "What? Where? When?". However, Don Quixote, where a cello sings on behalf of the famous knight, is much richer in unexpected twists and, like few other music in the world, resembles an exciting movie.
"Of the pleasures of a life of love alone, music yields; But love is also a melody". A.S. Pushkin "The Stone Guest"
Classical music
Classical music - this....? No, you are not reading a music history textbook. Everyone here knows what it is, otherwise you would not have entered this section with the ability to download classical music to your computer or listen to classical music online for free right on the site.
Stereotypes about classical music
At the mention of the words " classical works"each of us will present his images. For some, beautiful classical music is certainly associated with Vivaldi's" Four Seasons "and the opening chords of the First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. For others, it is Paganini's caprices or Mendelssohn's" Wedding March ". Arias and Romances, operas and operettas, symphonies, quartets, and this is not a complete list of those genres that come to mind when we talk about classics.
Nevertheless, most of the listeners participating in the polls to identify their favorite type of music prefer other directions. Only a small percentage of those surveyed would answer in favor of classical music. Based on this, there is a widespread opinion that this music is "elitist" - high music, that it is available to few, or even so - this is music for high-brow intellectuals and snobs.
What is this opinion based on? What facts? Or is it rather a consequence of the emotional reaction of people who did not delve into the essence of the matter, but just took the opinion of others for granted? Acceptance of stereotypes leads to rejection and unwillingness to get to know more about this broad and important, perhaps the most important of all musical directions... All this is reminiscent of an episode that happened in a restaurant, when a guest, not having time to taste the ordered dish to the end, already calls the chef to express his complaints to him.
Until the moment of real recognition of the essence of a thing, we have already formed our own opinion about it or we have borrowed it. Why do people use stereotypes that lead to such widespread beliefs that classical music cannot be understood without special education, or that it is boring and that it would be better to listen to something light and not waste time trying to understand the real possibilities of musical classics, which is the richest Can she offer a choice to everyone, for every taste and for every mood?
Classical music as a basis for other styles and trends
In order to understand the essence, you just need to open up to the music, discarding the preliminary conclusions made about it, clear your mind of previously perceived ideas, the roots of which you will no longer find and hear what is. Classical music has a lot to offer, because over the centuries its rich repertoire has been formed, consisting of instrumental and vocal works, solo and ensemble music, from a variety of styles and genres, complemented by the technical and stylistic personality of various composers.
It was she who laid the foundation for the development of modern music, such directions as minimalism, popular music and even electronic and many others grew out of it. Yes, how could it be otherwise? It could not be otherwise. We just have to trace the historical chain of development of music, and then all of the above becomes obvious.
As long as classical music has existed, it has perfected its means and stylistic techniques. It would be surprising if other musical trends, newer ones, which appeared much later, did not use the arsenal of tools available to the classics. She, like a kind parent, gives everything she has so that the younger generation can take advantage of the fruits and create something new and unique out of them.
Listen to classical music online
Listen to classical music for the soul
Why think that to listen to the classics you need to try to understand something, make some effort? They are not needed at all! Music itself through sounds, images and states will open to you. She is just waiting for this, wants to be heard. The site section contains a collection of classical music with its best examples, from baroque compositions by Vivaldi and Bach to concerts by Beethoven, as well as works by romantic and impressionist composers.
In this selection, calm classical music is represented by compositions written in different eras and marked by stylistic diversity: the philosophical music of Brahms and Beethoven is juxtaposed with the pure serenity of Mozart's piano concerts or the pleasantly relaxing melancholy of Chopin's nocturnes, the nostalgic-spatial Rachmanin's opuses in distant lands will remind the living of distant lands , and the impressionistically shaky play of colors in Debussy's music will open to you in "Moonlight" and the piano prelude "Girl with Flaxen Hair".
A miniature, 3-minute masterpiece by Schumann "Träumerei" will open the door to a universe of dreams and classical music, which you can listen to over and over again, surrendering to dreams and letting the music gently envelop your mind like a fluffy cloud. Fairy enchantress, never before has classical music online been represented by the best examples of compositions from different historical eras, selected by the fine taste of a connoisseur, helping to create a mood and thereby have a beneficial effect on your psyche.
Music ... Perhaps the word itself already evokes a lot of pleasant associations: smoothness, melodiousness, tenderness ... This is how classical music seems to be. You can listen to it online for hours and do it completely free!
To the origins
Music created in the era of Classicism was originally considered classical. This "classical" period gave a lot to modernity. At that time great composers were creating, and their works, which have passed over the years, have overcome the test of time, survived and earned recognition among several generations at once, were called "classics".
Classic today
Modern songs, which you can download without registration, can also be classified as classics. Currently, the interpretation of this concept has changed somewhat. Classics are not only old instrumental compositions and works of famous maestros of the past, but also many mp3 performers living today.
The main distinguishing feature is the opposition to pop music, which is designed for the general public. The classics in most cases do not have a wide audience. It is understandable and pleasant only to a select few. Do you want to make sure for yourself that you belong to this group of connoisseurs? Then we suggest you listen to the free track directly on our website. Who knows, this discovery may be a real find for you or just a useful experience!
"Of the pleasures of a life of love alone, music yields; But love is also a melody". A.S. Pushkin "The Stone Guest"
Classical music
Classical music - this....? No, you are not reading a music history textbook. Everyone here knows what it is, otherwise you would not have entered this section with the ability to download classical music to your computer or listen to classical music online for free right on the site.
Stereotypes about classical music
At the mention of the words "classical works", each of us will present his images. For some, beautiful classical music is certainly associated with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and the opening chords of the First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. For others, it is Paganini's caprices or Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". Arias and romances, operas and operettas, symphonies, quartets, and this is not a complete list of those genres that come to mind when we talk about classics.
Nevertheless, most of the listeners participating in the polls to identify their favorite type of music prefer other directions. Only a small percentage of those surveyed would answer in favor of classical music. Based on this, there is a widespread opinion that this music is "elitist" - high music, that it is available to few, or even so - this is music for high-brow intellectuals and snobs.
What is this opinion based on? What facts? Or is it rather a consequence of the emotional reaction of people who did not delve into the essence of the matter, but just took the opinion of others for granted? Acceptance of stereotypes leads to rejection and unwillingness to get to know more about this broad and important, perhaps the most important of all musical trends. All this is reminiscent of an episode that happened in a restaurant, when a guest, not having time to taste the ordered dish to the end, already calls the chef to express his complaints to him.
Until the moment of real recognition of the essence of a thing, we have already formed our own opinion about it or we have borrowed it. Why do people use stereotypes that lead to such widespread beliefs that classical music cannot be understood without special education, or that it is boring and that it would be better to listen to something light and not waste time trying to understand the real possibilities of musical classics, which is the richest Can she offer a choice to everyone, for every taste and for every mood?
Classical music as a basis for other styles and trends
In order to understand the essence, you just need to open up to the music, discarding the preliminary conclusions made about it, clear your mind of previously perceived ideas, the roots of which you will no longer find and hear what is. Classical music has a lot to offer, because over the centuries its rich repertoire has been formed, consisting of instrumental and vocal works, solo and ensemble music, from a variety of styles and genres, complemented by the technical and stylistic personality of various composers.
It was she who laid the foundation for the development of modern music, such directions as minimalism, popular music and even electronic and many others grew out of it. Yes, how could it be otherwise? It could not be otherwise. We just have to trace the historical chain of development of music, and then all of the above becomes obvious.
As long as classical music has existed, it has perfected its means and stylistic techniques. It would be surprising if other musical trends, newer ones, which appeared much later, did not use the arsenal of tools available to the classics. She, like a kind parent, gives everything she has so that the younger generation can take advantage of the fruits and create something new and unique out of them.
Listen to classical music online
Listen to classical music for the soul
Why think that to listen to the classics you need to try to understand something, make some effort? They are not needed at all! Music itself through sounds, images and states will open to you. She is just waiting for this, wants to be heard. The site section contains a collection of classical music with its best examples, from baroque compositions by Vivaldi and Bach to concerts by Beethoven, as well as works by romantic and impressionist composers.
In this selection, calm classical music is represented by compositions written in different eras and marked by stylistic diversity: the philosophical music of Brahms and Beethoven is juxtaposed with the pure serenity of Mozart's piano concerts or the pleasantly relaxing melancholy of Chopin's nocturnes, the nostalgic-spatial Rachmanin's opuses in distant lands will remind the living of distant lands , and the impressionistically shaky play of colors in Debussy's music will open to you in "Moonlight" and the piano prelude "Girl with Flaxen Hair".
A miniature, 3-minute masterpiece by Schumann "Träumerei" will open the door to a universe of dreams and classical music, which you can listen to over and over again, surrendering to dreams and letting the music gently envelop your mind like a fluffy cloud. Fairy enchantress, never before has classical music online been represented by the best examples of compositions from different historical eras, selected by the fine taste of a connoisseur, helping to create a mood and thereby have a beneficial effect on your psyche.