# Cool classical music?



## Charles (Feb 25, 2010)

Guys,

I'm trying to get into classical guitar, but the music I'm finding is not really terribly encouraging at all.

In my limited viewings, I haven't found a composer I like. Now, I dig all the solo piano stuff from Rachmaninov (Prelude in C# minor is so, SO metal), Shostakovich, Chopin, Liszt, guys like that, but it seems the classical guitar stuff steeps too deeply towards the Classical period for me. I tried listening to some Sor and stuff, but I just didn't dig it.

Anyone got some suggestions?


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## Dystopia (Feb 25, 2010)

i dont really listen to classical music, like, at all, but what i can say is that bands like Necrophagist and The Faceless have a lot of classical influences, and are still extremely brutal bands, so if you are into metal at all, i would definitely check them out


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## 13point9 (Feb 25, 2010)

try and find classical guitar players (all the ones of note have left my head right this second) and try and find what pieces they were playing, ive always preferred Baroque era stuff like Vivaldi and JS Bach...


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## Keytarist (Feb 26, 2010)

'The Warrior's harp', from the 'Black Decameron', composed by Leo Brauer.

An excerpt from 'Pictures at an Exhibition', arranged and played by Kazuhito Yamashita. He has made other arrangements of piano and orchestral stuff such as 'The Firebird' by Igor Stravinsky and 'Scheherazade' by Rimski-Kórsakov.


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## Deadseen (Feb 26, 2010)

Leo Brouwer - Estudio Sencillos

Some pieces are easy some are a bit harder, but many of them have a more modern style then renaissance music. Brouwer also has some darker pieces but they are pretty hard to play.

You can also check out Toru Takemitsu, Witold Lutoslawski and Frank martin.


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## guitarplayerone (Feb 26, 2010)

13point9 said:


> try and find classical guitar players (all the ones of note have left my head right this second) and try and find what pieces they were playing, ive always preferred Baroque era stuff like Vivaldi and JS Bach...



yes quite strongly.

imo modern metal has much more in common with baroque music than 'blues' or 'rock', especially with a lot of the european bands


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## Chickenhawk (Feb 27, 2010)

I want to hear Rachmaninov's Prelude in C# minor (bells of moscow) arranged for guitar. REALLY want to hear that.

And I'm not 100% sure where this song came from originally, but its worth listening to. Another one I'll learn when I finally sit down to a piano again.


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## Mexi (Mar 2, 2010)

I studied classical from a fairly early age, and you can generally find similar difficulty of certain pieces based on the composer. most of my early classical guitar stuff were pieces from guys like : Carcassi, Paganini, Giuliani (you'll find a lot of intermediate difficulty pieces by him) and maybe when your technique is down, anything by Francisco Tarrega (Adelita, Lagrima, Capricho Arabe and Recuerdos de la Alhambra are my favs) and Julia Florida by Augustin Barrios Mangore is a gorgeous piece
YouTube - Classical/guitar, Jim Greeninger, Recuerdos de la Alhambra
(Recuerdos de la Alhambra)
YouTube - Julia Florida - Agustín Barrios Mangoré
(Julia Florida)


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## bulletbass man (Mar 19, 2010)

Black Decammeron is one of my favorite pieces

Anything by Agustin Barrios Mangore is good. La Catredal is once of my favorite pieces.

Villa Lobos is always worth a look. Tons of great stuff. I like pretty much all his guitar music. His preludes are pretty easy compared to his other stuff though in my opinion.

Thom Yorke is great if you want something more contemporary.

Bach's cello suites on guitar are pretty easy if you adjust keys but i doubt you'll find them inspiring. 

Bachs BMV 999 and 1000 is great.

Sor has a ton of pieces. Opus 6 no 11 is one of my favorites.


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## The Somberlain (Mar 20, 2010)

Scarlatti is a very fiery and quick minor key Baroque composer

Stravinski, Wagner, and Paganini are along your Eastern European Romantic/Contemporary lines

Gerswhin and Ravel are great contemporary composers who took folk and jazz influences

3 great avant-garde composers are Stockhausen, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley

Hope that helps


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## chucknorrishred (Apr 12, 2010)

if ur not into classical music then dont learn it, instead learn the harmonic minor and diminished scales since they have a classical feel ( mainly the harmonic minor) from there just work with a metronome


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## unitas (Apr 14, 2010)

It's more flamenco, but more modern than your typical baroque or classical guitar pieces.

EDIT: I couldn't post the Aranjuez concerto without also posting the second movement of Rodrigo's fantasia:


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## concertjunkie (Apr 16, 2010)

Fernando Sor has some pretty cool pieces as well!

The band Fleshgod Apocalypse (and if I'm not mistaken, has the same singer from Hour of Penance, reminds me of an italian Behemoth, either way, both bruuuutal bands)
has moments of brutality mixed with some really cool classical inspired pieces between songs, a lot I was not expecting but very well written!

If I think of more I'll post em up


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## All_¥our_Bass (Apr 16, 2010)

Bartok, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Mussorgsky, Berg, Debussy

I'm mainly into the end of the romantic era and the modernist period.


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## chucknorrishred (Apr 16, 2010)




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## Teal (May 5, 2010)

Check out Frederic Mesnier:


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## Jeepers (May 5, 2010)




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## ittoa666 (May 5, 2010)

I didn't see Segovia on here. Probably shouldn't try his stuff though. Its insane.


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## Trespass (May 5, 2010)

Charles-Valentin Alkan. Recluse virtuoso pianist who was considered second in technique only to Liszt. Lived beside Chopin until Chopin's death, after which he took on the poet's students as his own.





And I'd like to take this moment to say that Kaikhosru Sorabji was the most metal composer around:

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His works revolve around metaphysics, the occult with extreme use of polyrhythms and extreme complexity. He even wrote a "Tantrik Symphony".



> His work Opus Clavicembalisticum (1930) for solo piano takes between about 3¾ and 4¾ hours to play and consists of three sections, each divided into several movements, and each larger than the last. It was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest piano piece ever written. The accuracy of this claim has been disputed as Sorabji himself wrote works of even greater length. His fifth piano sonata Opus Archimagicum, Sequentia Cyclica Super Dies Irae ex Missa Pro Defunctis, and the complete set of 100 Transcendental Studies&#8212;all have substantially longer durations than Opus Clavicembalisticum. His longest work Symphonic Variations occupies 484 A3-pages of manuscript in three volumes and could take about eight hours to play.





> Sorabji was extraordinarily reticent about his life. He was notorious for almost always refusing requests for interviews or information, often with rude messages and warnings not to approach him again. He was equally notorious for refusing permission for his works to be publicly performed. Since he had independent financial means, he felt no need to be tactful in his dealings with the public, critics, and musicians interested in performing his works.[1] His home, which he named "The Eye", had a sign at the gate: "Visitors Unwelcome."


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## oneiromancer (May 7, 2010)

Wow, Sorabji's stuff is amazing. His piano sonata no. 1 really evokes a schizophrenic Gershwin. I wonder if either heard the other's works...


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## shadowlife (May 9, 2010)

Check out John Williams' recording of Bach's lute music.


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## telecaster90 (May 9, 2010)




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## AcademiaNervosa (Jun 8, 2010)

For classical guitar I would suggest finding a performer you really like and experiencing the composers through them. John Williams, Pepe Romero, Kazuhito Yamashita, and Ana Vidovic are people you should check out if you want to go in that direction. I originally got into classical guitar from flamenco guitarists like Juan Serrano and Paco de Lucía, so you could go that route as well.


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## Izebecool (Jun 9, 2010)

Wow thanks Trespass! I really like Sorabji's stuff. Its really weird sounding which is a pluss


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