 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
I love all kinds of music. And while I spend a lot of my day around classical music,
I do not necessarily spend all my time listening to it =)
CLASSICAL |
NOT SO CLASSICAL |
|
Bach – Six Suites for Solo Cello (I personally love both the Yo-Yo Ma Version and the Janos Starker version) It’s six suites of just solo cello music. Can you say awesome? |
The Ditty Bops – The Ditty Bops They are a modern day duo of women that take 50s music and modernize it. They are cheerful, and have extraordinarily clever and unique harmonies to all their songs. They really are a throwback to the 50s, and I love them. |
Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 Nicknamed EROICA! It was actually first called NAPOLEON, but then Beethoven saw what kind of things Napoleon was doing, got upset, scribbled out the title and renamed it EROICA (Heroic). It starts with cello melody! It’s the first piece, as far as I know, to show some real cello love and trust us with melody. |
Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block You probably know YOUNG FOLKS, and maybe AMSTERDAM. They are quirky and Indie (I’m a sucker for indie music), and energetically mellow. |
|
Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 Everybody knows this one. It’s the dark, it’s happy. It’s depressed, it’s manic. It’s bipolar, really, which is what Beethoven is rumored to have been himself. It’s the symphony with the “Fate knocking at the door”. This was when he was going deaf, and really wanted to overcome his fate. Hence, the symphony is about overcoming fate! |
Beatles - Michelle (The Red Album) Unexpected harmonies, random French lyrics….what more can you ask for? |
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7 To be fair I only really like the slow movement. I’m not normally a slow movement kind of gal, but I LOVE THIS ONE. It’s SO BEAUTIFUL. Whenever I’m seriously bumming, I listen to this, because it starts out miserably sad, then goes to angry, and ends happily. |
Beck is such a cool guy. He’s constantly coming up with different ways to reinvent his music and make it more unique. |
Come on, it’s “ode to joy”! It doesn’t get better than this. Strings, winds, brass, percussion, choir…it has something for everybody! The last movement is the best, but the whole thing is amazing |
This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to play. |
I think I like this one because of the cello love. It has really nice melodies =D |
Fastball - All The Pain Money Can Buy Not too fast, not too slow. But still quirky J |
Dvorak - Cello Concerto in b minor I was obsessed with this piece. Seriously seriously obsessed. I started it in the 7th grade, and it has been my Everest ever since. I have 10 different versions, and I also have a video tape of a Casals masterclass. This is my favorite cello concerto of all time. It’s a monster, and I love it. |
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Lauryn Hill, of the Fugees, has an amazing voice (in both ways). You really hear her life through this album |
CELLO MELODY! This is all about cello love. This piece is exciting beyond belief. It’s very romantic and emotional and it’s one of my favorite pieces to play. |
Ah, I love grunge rock. A band of enormous popularity during the 90s, this is the angry emotional music that started in Seattle and started an entire new rock movement. |
Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 Yes, the 4th movement is what John Williams stole to write Jaws. And yes, this is a huge work, and probably the 2nd most recognizable symphony (after Beethoven’s 9th) |
They’re just happy |
Elgar - Cello Concerto in e minor (With Jacqueline Du Pre) There is no better version than the Jacqueline Du Pre one. This concerto is pure emotion. |
I think I was just looking for SOMETHING that wasn’t Britney. Thank goodness The White Stripes came along when they did. |
A little something for everyone! This is one piece made up of a whole bunch of different movements. |
I’ll say it. I love Weezer. Say what you will, but I have every single album. |
Hindemith - Symphonic Metamorphosis When I first played this piece, I hated it. It confused me. And once I was done hating it, I loved it. It’s quirky, it’s unexpected. |
This is their most recent album. I think it most recaptures the old Weezer sound but balances it with a poppier sound than Pinkerton. |
Holst – The Planets One movement per planet (excluding Earth). Each movement represents a planet. Listen hard, as many current composers have taken movie themes from this work. |
Cake has such a different sound. I love the main singer’s low voice… |
Khachaturian – Masqurade It’s so wacky! I really will fall for anything that’s pleasantly unexpected. |
French music! I LOVE this movie, and I love the soundtrack. It’s happy and classic and is really the only French music I own… |
Speaking of quirky, Hary Janos Suite is one oddball composition. I think that’s why I like it so much |
Harry Potter - Sorceror's Stone When Harry Potter first came out, I was obsessed. I was SO excited. I watched every single web clip numerous times. I listened to the soundtrack before the movie came out over and over and over, and used it to get me excited about the movie. Yes, I’m a nerd. And proud of it. |
Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition Majestic. Programmatic. It tells a story of the different paintings you’re supposed to be “seeing”. |
Harry Potter - Prisoner of Azkaban The period instruments are AWESOME. I heard the music, and I thought “John Williams couldn’t have composed this. This must be a different composer!” But he DID write it. Go figure. It’s so un-John Williams-y. It’s actually original… |
Prokofiev - Symphony No. 7 in C Sharp Minor This symphony is HARD. There are strange key signatures, and the key changes every 8 measures. But it’s so unexpected. |
Cello players playing cello renditions of Metallica songs. Seriously…how cool is that? |
Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio Espagnol Very Spanish (Espagnol), dancy, and overall happy. And there’s a cello solo ;) |
The first album! This is the Green Day I know and love. This is the album that came out when I was a kid. Well…kind of a kid. Kiddish. |
Schumann - Cello Concerto in a minor This is for the attentive cello lover. |
Oh Gwen Stefani, why did you get so lame? Why can’t you be the Gwen Stefani I remember from the late 90s? When your music was all Ska (a genre that has become rather obsolete now). |
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 in D minor Violent, moody, it’s pure Shostakovich. |
They can’t sing in real life. They sound awful in real life. BUT I DO NOT CARE. They are happy and their songs make you dance and…listen to them while you’re cleaning your room, and I promise it will be a more enjoyable experience. |
Tchaikovsky - Capriccio Italien This is my guilty pleasure. NOBODY else seems to like this piece but me. I think I played it for the first time in high school…maybe junior high. It is so unabashedly happy (it takes a while to get to that part, though). Everyone else thinks it’s cheesy, but I think that’s what makes it great. |
I really like Eminem. I think he’s one of the few rappers these days who raps about his life and about his issues and history rather than….money, women, and cars. And he has a really interesting rhythm and rhyming scheme. Don’t always agree with what he says, but I respect that he expresses himself. But don’t use that argument to get your parents to let you listen to him |
Tchaikovsky - Serenade for String Orchestra in C Major Op. 48 A string classic. Pure Tchaikovsky: lush, romantic, light and heavy at the same time…I never get tired of this one. |
I’ll admit, I don’t listen to this one over and over. But I do like them…. |
I played this when I was 12. Well, I played the last movement. I looked at the page and wanted to cry, it was so hard. But once you get it down, it’s a rush to play! |
Another one I don’t listen to constantly, but I really like their sound. And they use string instruments in their songs |
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 I love the slow movement for this one, too. Easily in my top 10, Tchaikovsky 5 is much happier than the 4th Symphony. Again, at times it can be cheesy, but I DON’T CARE! I still love it. |
This is one I do listen to over and over and over. This is music that is, again, Indie (though it has found a place in main stream music and culture). The main singer is a girl, and I generally just love this group. They are genuine and have a variety of styles. |
Interpol has a dark sound, but can be surprisingly soothing at the same time. I particularly like “Evil”. |
|
Dr. Dre – The Chronic (listen to it when you’re 18) Man. This is really the album that legitimized gangsta rap. And specifically, west coast rap. This is also Snoop Dog’s debut performance. So many famous rappers have come from Dre…you just have to step back and recognize. |
|
Before you judge, let me just say that the soundtrack is far superior to the movie itself. It is folksy and just….heart of America music. It’s perfect road trip music. |
|
