Posted on 03/01/2006 7:54:55 PM PST by Reaganesque
I was sitting here tonight listening to Mozart's Requiem and I got to thinking: what do I consider to be the best work of music ever? For my part, Mozart's work really does the trick for me when I need to be re-energized. Therefore, I believe that his Requiem is the greatest work of all time. There just isn't another work that is as powerful and passionate. When the chorus sings the final "Amen" at the end of "Lacrimosa" I get the feeling that he knew it was the last thing he would ever write. It gives me chills at times.
Other favorites are:
Handel's Messiah
The 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky
Not just that, but "Sull Aria" after Shawshank Redemption has gotten the recognition it deserves. "Voi Che Sapete" is a great one. I'm working on "Deh, Vieni non tardar", IMO one of the most beautiful love arias ever written. There's so much there. And we, the singers, love it above all - even La Boheme. That says something.
I thought that might be it.
How the heck are you keeping up with this thread? It is moving pretty quick.
I like this thread.
Alright!!!!!
You love Elsa too! How cool!!!!
It's my all time favorite peice of music!
Honestly, the blasted thing is so long, he thought it was over and stood to leave. At least, that's what we hear in musical circles. The "Amen" at the end of Part III is actually the best part.
What I put down in the reply is what I was taught in Public School, in Sunday School, later in College, and by my British Military Counterparts.
Mahler's Eigth - Georg Solti / Chicago Symphony
Beethoven's 9th - Bernstein /New York Philharmonic
Anything by Mozart, but especially the 40th and 41st - Neville Marriner / St Martin's-in-the-Fields
Ralph Vaughn Williams - Sinfonia Antarctica, Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, A Lark Ascending
Nielsen - 4th Symphony
J.S. Bach - take your pick.
Thank God.
George Gershwin of course and executed beautifully his piece at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles on 84 grand pianos!
"Incense and Peppermints, Winnie the Pooh..."
I'm sure it is. What tradition says among musicians is something else.
Who knows. A chunk of the audience leaves after "Hallelujah" every time we sing it without realizing that there are 9 movements to come and two of them are, IMO, the best parts of the whole thing.
Sound of Music
And it's getting past my bed time...
How about the original Dolly Parton's version of "I will always love you"--much better than Whitney's
Many excellent recommendations on this thread. I'm partial to classical and would add the following:
Beethoven's Violin Concerto
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel
in the non-classical category -
just about anything by Scott Joplin
Sousa marches
Bridge over Troubled Water by Paul Simon
Everytime I hear it I have to force myself not.... to Salute.
Very nice indeed.
Well, too much Faure Requiem this evening at rehearsal for me (somehow I'm singing two different parts and the "Pie Jesu") and "Too Many Sopranos" practice tomorrow night. I need my beauty sleep.
'Night.
Symphony # 9.
End of story.
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