# Most "Metal" or "heaviest" classical composer



## scottro202 (Jan 9, 2009)

what are you're thoughts? Mine would have to be Richard Wagner, I got into him after hearing about him in "Heavy: The Story Of Metal". His music was so dark, he used a stringed instrument that took 2 people to play it was so big!!!

what about you? 

EDIT: ok, somebody suggested me making a list, so I shall do so. I will post a youtube video with each composer, first the ones that already have them with the post. I will try to categorize them, but to be quite honest I don't know much about classical (well not as much as some people here). so if some people would help me, that would be really appreciative!!!



silentrage said:


> OP, please assemble a list from the replies, this can become a valuable resource.
> And if you have the time, might I request a youtube link to go with each selection?




OK, to start:

Overall "Metalness" (also anything that I don't know where to categorize it will go in this category.)

Richard Wagner
Antonin Dvorak
Penderecki
Shostakovich
Rachmaninoff
Howard Shore
Vivaldi
Schoenberg
Brahms
B&#233;la Bart&#243;k
Bach
Gustav Mahler

"Bombast Metalness" 

Berlioz

"Shreddy Metalness"

Panganini
Stravinsky
Liszt

If anyone would like to help me with this, it would be very appreciated. I am a n00b to classical, to be quite honest.

3 categpries seems kind of small, how about some suggestions for more categories?

ALSO:

credit to everybody who posted a composer in this thread, I don't have time to name them all, but you can read through the thread and see for yourselves!!


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## Anthony (Jan 9, 2009)

Paganini shreds like a mother fucker.


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## TonalArchitect (Jan 9, 2009)

For all around metal-ness: Richard Wagner. He's also the reason that opera singers are bear-folk. 

For bombast: Berlioz (the dude has a requiem calling for, like, five separate orchestras, and one work calls for cannons)

For stuff that transitions well to being metal: Vivaldi (Listen to Summer's 3rd movement and tell me that can't be metal.) 

For crazy stuff: Stravinsky (dig _Rite of Spring_)

For virtuoso stuff: Liszt; Paganini

Perhaps also Chopin, his "Revolutionary Etude" especially

For terrifying stuff: Schoenberg (gives me nightmares)


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## Ze Kink (Jan 9, 2009)

Stravinsky. What's more brutal than the intention to "send them all to hell" with your music? And what's more metal than the first performing of your ballet turning into a riot?


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## silentrage (Jan 9, 2009)

ill be captain obvious here and say beethoven's 5th.


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## Carrion (Jan 9, 2009)

Richard Wagner was tr00 NSBM before there was ever any NSBM.


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## failshredder (Jan 9, 2009)

Brahms. His string pieces are absofuckinglutely brutal, as are Dvorak's.


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## Ishan (Jan 9, 2009)

B&#233;la Bart&#243;k could be avant garde metal


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## ZeroSignal (Jan 9, 2009)

Gustav Holst: Mars - The Bringer of War:



Watch it in high qualiteh, here.

[/ENDTHREAD]


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## Variant (Jan 9, 2009)

Chopin, not for the bombast, but his runs on the piano are mind boggling!


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## stuh84 (Jan 9, 2009)

I can't suggest anything, as everyone in this thread has already mentioned it


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## Esp Griffyn (Jan 9, 2009)

Antonin Dvorak's "Slavonic dance no 7" is the basis of prog metal, and its focking mint!


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## silentrage (Jan 9, 2009)

OP, please assemble a list from the replies, this can become a valuable resource. 
And if you have the time, might I request a youtube link to go with each selection?


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## Esp Griffyn (Jan 9, 2009)

ok I dont know how to embed this, but here is a link to Slavonic dance no 7

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QAFYQJsWJwA

Glorious


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## Dudley (Jan 9, 2009)

Penderecki - Threonody for the Victims of Hiroshima (one of the most emotional and compelling pieces ever composed, tonal clusters FTW)
Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 4 (2nd and 3rd Movements, the version by the Emerson String Quartet is BY FAR the best version of it out there I've ever heard though quite hard to track down)


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## ZeroSignal (Jan 9, 2009)

Dudley said:


> Penderecki - Threonody for the Victims of Hiroshima (one of the most emotional and compelling pieces ever composed, tonal clusters FTW)



I have to say, that is metal as all hell thanks to dissonance but Sweet Zombie Jesus I hated that piece almost as much as any output by Gerard Barry.  To be brutally honest I think Fear Factory's 540,000 Degrees Fahrenheit was far more effective in conveying the emotional feeling of horror and loss. In my opinion at least. 


Sorry if that was a little off topic.


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## Trespass (Jan 9, 2009)

Rachmaninoff's Etudes Tableaux, 24 Preludes (Op. 3 No. 2 in C# Minor especially), his Symphonic Dances, Isle of the Dead. (These will not dissapoint)

Great pieces already mentioned, +2 for Berlioz, the first virtuoso conductor (I conduct a young 25 piece concert ensemble). I disagree on Chopin, he's much more lively. The revolutionary etude is one of his few 'dark in the context the OP is looking for' pieces he has.

Pickup the compilation "Classical Thunder". Not nessecarily "heavy", but its all 'thunderous' and powerful classical music, mostly romantic.


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## Wi77iam (Jan 9, 2009)

YouTube - The Uruk-Hai - LOTR The Two Towers Soundtrack
I'm not sure if this counts as "classical" but yeah, you get the point.
Howard Shore
I reckon some of the stuff on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is pretty brutal.


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## p0ke (Jan 9, 2009)

I'm kinda suprised no-one mentioned Bach yet...


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## TonalArchitect (Jan 9, 2009)

Gustav Mahler

The Opeth of classical composers (long, emotionally intense, long, epic, beautiful, long symphonies)


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## failshredder (Jan 9, 2009)

Someone mentioned Chopin "not for the bombast."


Go listen to the Revolutionary Etude. Chopin is brutal tech-Romanticism.


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## Daemoniac (Jan 10, 2009)

Sergei Prokofiev.

A true master of atmosphere, and really emotionally intense pieces.


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## Guitarwizard (Jan 10, 2009)

Arthur Honegger:




And, although not heavy at all, a really special performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E


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## Groff (Jan 10, 2009)

Ze Kink said:


> Stravinsky. What's more brutal than the intention to "send them all to hell" with your music? And what's more metal than the first performing of your ballet turning into a riot?



Beat me to it.


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## ZeroSignal (Jan 10, 2009)

Demoniac said:


> Sergei Prokofiev.
> 
> A true master of atmosphere, and really emotionally intense pieces.







3:40


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## reptillion (Jan 10, 2009)

Most metal song ever


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## Trespass (Jan 10, 2009)

failshredder said:


> Someone mentioned Chopin "not for the bombast."
> 
> 
> Go listen to the Revolutionary Etude. Chopin is brutal tech-Romanticism.



That was me



> I disagree on Chopin, he's much more lively. The revolutionary etude is one of his few 'dark in the context the OP is looking for' pieces he has.



Chopin has literally written several hundred compositions in a large variety of different genres, don't choose just one Etude to justify Chopin as part of the list. Sure, the piece is definitely romantic, (though I wouldn't say "brootal tech romantic", it isn't in any odd time signature) but it doesn't even come close to reflecting the majority of his works. The Revolutionary Etude is an exception to the general rule. 

Really, even his darkest Prelude's and Nocturnes don't really compare.



> Sergei Prokofiev



Concerto 2 in G is brilliant! One of my favourite composers. Also, the film score to Alexander Nevsky, and if you can find it, Zdravitsa (A Toast to Stalin!) is actually an awesome piece, despite being ostracized by the Western world.



> Stravinsky. What's more brutal than the intention to "send them all to hell" with your music?



Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that was only Alexander Scriabin's intention, I don't believe Stravinsky ever tried that (feel free to correct me)



Wikipedia said:


> Mysterium is an unfinished musical work by composer Alexander Scriabin
> 
> Scriabin planned that the work would be synesthetic, exploiting the senses of smell and touch as well as hearing. He wrote that
> 
> ...



Scriabin also definitely fits on this list. He is like the "Revolutionary Etude" with his Chopin phase.


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## Daemoniac (Jan 11, 2009)

Trespass said:


> the film score to Alexander Nevsky



Yes. 

That film score is one of the most beautiful, rousing, disturbing, and epic sounding things of all time... Big fan of Prokofiev.


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## ghoti (Jan 11, 2009)

Demoniac said:


> Yes.
> 
> That film score is one of the most beautiful, rousing, disturbing, and epic sounding things of all time... Big fan of Prokofiev.



I sang that several years ago. Fun stuff.

I was going to say Wagner for the whole "wall of sound" thing he does...somebody beat me to it obviously. Everyone he influenced (most of his contemporaries) does similar stuff as well.

Verdi can get really heavy as well. Several parts of several operas, and the requiem he wrote.


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## Holy Katana (Jan 13, 2009)

Trespass said:


> That was me
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Damn, beat me to it. Scriabin was metal as all fuck.

Scriabin's "Prometheus: the Poem of Fire":

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Enjoy.


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## scottro202 (Jan 15, 2009)

Holy Katana, I reconize your username, are (or were) you a UGer?


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## Wisdom (Jan 15, 2009)

Carrion said:


> Richard Wagner was tr00 NSBM before there was ever any NSBM.



I agree with this post.


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## Totem_37 (Jan 16, 2009)

Michael Kamen. Obviously.


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## DavyH (Jan 16, 2009)

Gyorgy Ligeti (and the rest of the serialists) for the polyrhythmic stuff.

It's a little known fact that 'Johann Sebastian Bach' is not a name, but a phrase in an obscure Germanic dialect - it means 'shreddy as fuck'. Really.

Mussourgsky has some immensely heavy 'metal' pieces, and a lot of his Russian contemporaries were just Goths.


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## DatM (Jan 16, 2009)

Some of my fave "metal" moments in classical music:

Beethoven's 5th, second movement. Check out 8:00 in this video. That low bass note right before the theme always makes me do a slight headbanging motion.




There's also the intro to Schubert's Death and the Maiden quartet (check out my sig to see what I mean  ).


And last, but certainly not least, the last movement of Bartok's 4th string quartet:


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## Bait n Switch (Sep 30, 2013)

Necrophagist uses a bit from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet Dance of the Knights" piece at the end of "Only Ash Remains" 

If Prokofiev was metal enough for Muhammed Suiçmez then it is metal enough for you.

Necrophagist&#39;s Only Ash Remains sample of Sergei Prokofiev&#39;s Dance of the Knights | WhoSampled


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## Deathspell Omega (Sep 30, 2013)

Maybe this :


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## BucketheadRules (Sep 30, 2013)

Dudes, this is as heavy and as "metal" as it gets. F*cking superb.



That was written in 1961 by a little-known composer from Iceland, called Jon Leifs. It was written about the eruption of the f*ck-off massive Icelandic volcano, Hekla, which Leifs witnessed. 

It's very interesting-sounding music, which is broadly tonal but quite alien-sounding, with some very weird melodies... and it also requires a truly enormous orchestra, and has been considered "the loudest piece of classical music ever"... around 3 and a half minutes through, the massive rumbles come in. Not sure what instrument it is but it's obviously meant to represent the volcano erupting. Absolutely leaps out of even the huge orchestra on the recording, so it must be seriously f*cking loud in a concert hall.

7:40-8:50 is the best bit. Truly epic, could be used to soundtrack the end of the world. Then from 8:50 to 9:35-ish those massive blasts come in... I don't know what that sound is but it's awesome.

From Wikipedia - "The requirements for a performance of Hekla include four sets of rocks hit with hammers, steel plates, anvils, sirens, cannons, metal chains, choir, a large orchestra, and organ."

Rocks hit with hammers, steel plates, anvils, cannons, metal chains... need I say more? 

Metal as fvck. Turn it up, a lot.


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## fwd0120 (Sep 30, 2013)

Wagner!! I used this a lot. The first race to the lowest note! So heavy.


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## Discoqueen (Sep 30, 2013)

> brutal tech-Romanticism


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## Pweaks (Sep 30, 2013)

TonalArchitect said:


> For terrifying stuff: Schoenberg (gives me nightmares)



Can you suggest a piece?


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## BucketheadRules (Sep 30, 2013)

Pweaks said:


> Can you suggest a piece?



Try this for size, weird as all hell.



Schoenberg gets a bad rap for his interesting but hateful-sounding Serialist works, but some of his early tonal stuff is gorgeous:



I just love the first movement (0:00 to 6:34). The crescendo starting at about 6:15 and leading into the second movement at 6:35 is stunning.


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## SD83 (Sep 30, 2013)

Too much great music & too little time to listen...
EDIT: Convert this for guitar, add some riffs... 100 times better than most technical DM bands, at least to my ears  Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji.


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## Dr Zoidberg (Sep 30, 2013)

This is technically Baroque and not classical, but I think that just makes it even more impressive:


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## Spaced Out Ace (Sep 30, 2013)

Not exactly "Classical" but it is a string quartet and about as metal as you could get:


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## Perihelion (Sep 30, 2013)

Webern
Schoenberg
Bartok - especially the opening of string quartet no. 4
Penderecki 
Ligeti
Berg 
Xanakis
Elliot Carter


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## Richie666 (Sep 30, 2013)

Beautifully devastating.


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## ddtonfire (Sep 30, 2013)

Bruckner has many powerful and heavy parts. He was a great brass composer and really used them to blow out your ear drums. A good example is the Scherzo from his 9th Symphony. It has the imminence and drive of a freight train... dun dun DUNH DUNH DUNH 



They've been mentioned before, but it's worth reiterating these other composers who were pretty  are:
Holst
Shostakovich
Stravinsky

Dr. Zoidberg, I'd never heard of Rebel, but that's some crazy stuff, especially coming from the 18th century!!!


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## Polythoral (Sep 30, 2013)

Charles Valentin-Alkan


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## BucketheadRules (Sep 30, 2013)

Polythoral said:


> Charles Valentin-Alkan



Alkan is awesome.



The bit around 1:35 ish where the arpeggios shift into the left hand is pretty f'n heavy... then it just gets faster and more psychotic as it goes on.

Very metal, and I wish I could play piano so I could try and fail to learn it.


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## Osorio (Oct 1, 2013)

Just gonna leave this here...


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## Fat-Elf (Oct 1, 2013)

Interesting thread because I just read an article about Verdi's Requiem and how the writer compared it very strongly with Metallica and Iron Maiden. So I listened to it but it was not even close to metal. 

Now don't take this seriously but I think these two have something in common.


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## jimwratt (Oct 1, 2013)

Iannis Xenakis and his djentle rhythms and Morelloesque sonic events:


I like his mathematical edge (he is an architect by training before becoming a composer).


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## jonajon91 (Oct 1, 2013)

I hear lots of vivaldi influences in necrophagist's music. Also winter if ....ing heavy!


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## Igotsoul4u (Oct 1, 2013)

Stravinsky. Nothing more metal then the rite of spring. mahler 5 opening has a metal vibe. Shostakovich also can get down.


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## JustMac (Oct 1, 2013)

BucketheadRules said:


> Alkan is awesome.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Is that chromatic technique at 2:12 called something? I noticed the exact same movement is used in Astral Body by Between the Buried and Me, towards the end of the song, sort of at a climax point.


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## shanejohnson02 (Oct 1, 2013)

Mahler and Bartok...no question.


If anyone says Debussy I will telepathically slap them.


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## shanejohnson02 (Oct 1, 2013)

Dudley said:


> Penderecki - Threonody for the Victims of Hiroshima (one of the most emotional and compelling pieces ever composed, tonal clusters FTW)
> Shostakovich - String Quartet No. 4 (2nd and 3rd Movements, the version by the Emerson String Quartet is BY FAR the best version of it out there I've ever heard though quite hard to track down)



I wouldn't call it heavy, but I freakin' love Threnody. One of my all-time favorites.


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