An Ignoramus’s Guide To Classical Music

I would like to share some of my favorite albums of classical music. I make no claims to be an expert - I can't play an instrument and I can't read music. There are huge gaps in my knowledge, but I know what I like, and these recordings have given me hours of pleasure over the years. As I feature them, it will become clear that I have some definite favorites in terms of composers, conductors, and performers. I'm sure there are better performances available; all I know is what I enjoy. I have a definite bias towards 20th-century composers, because that's the century I've lived most of my life. That said, I'm not a fan of atonal music - if it doesn't have a nice melody, I'm not going to spend much time with it.

Let's begin with the earliest composer in my collection: Thomas Tallis (1505 - 1585).

This recording of Spem In Alium ("Hope in Any Other") is incredible. It is nine minutes of sheer heaven. Performed by 8(!) 5-part choirs, the music slowly develops and blends into a complex yet comprehensible polyphonic thing of beauty. If a Gothic cathedral could be transformed into music, it would sound like this.

Next is probably one of the most well-known pieces of classical music ever: Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

There is usually a good reason a work is enduringly popular, and The Four Seasons proves it. This is an immensely enjoyable suite of music that never fails to satisfy. Melodic and delightful, it will be eternally popular. My favorite performance of this very familiar work is by Gerard Schwarz and the LA Chamber Orchestra with Elmar Oliveira on violin. It is on the Delos label, and I have always appreciated their attention to recording details. When I hit "play", the music explodes out of my speakers (I still listen to music primarily via LPs and CDs on a conventional stereo system). This is a very lively and energetic performance that I never get tired of.

In the '80s, Christopher Hogwood started a bit of a craze for performing classical works in an "authentic" manner using period instruments and appropriate numbers of players in his ensemble. Handel's Musick For The Royal Fireworks was one of the first classical works that I "got." When I was in eighth grade (1974), my family spent a semester in Cambridge, and the long-suffering music teacher at the school I attended tried to instill a love of classical music in me and my classmates. We were completely into David Bowie, Bad Company, Queen, and other rock artists. However, when she explained the context in which Handel composed this music and asked us to listen to it, I found myself really enjoying it. I still do to this day, and I will always be grateful to her. This album also includes Handel's Water Music Suite, which was performed on barges as King George I and his court floated down the Thames to a dinner party. He enjoyed it so much, he had them play it twice (now we just hit <-)! I would do the same in the circumstances.

I'll conclude this post with the composer whom I consider to be one of the three greatest in human history: Johann Sebastian Bach.

In 1955, a young Glenn Gould exploded onto the classical music scene with his recording of The Goldberg Variations. They were written for a solo harpsichord - the piano hadn't been invented yet - but Gould made them his own. According to legend, these variations were written to soothe a nobleman who suffered from insomnia. Whatever the true genesis, they are endlessly inventive and enjoyable. Gould's performance is wonderful, and this album is one of the all-time classics of the genre. I also have the Variations as performed by Murray Perahia, and they are excellent as well, but this album is the one I return to most often.

Bach was extremely prolific, so there is no way just a couple of albums could ever do him justice, but if you're just starting out, having his Brandenburg Concertos is a perfect introduction. I could listen to these six concertos and never plumb their depths completely. It is such an immediately pleasurable experience to hear them, even if you don't have any experience with classical music. The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, is outstanding in these performances. They were recorded in analog in the late 1970s, but they sound crisp, clean, and clear. This album also includes Bach's four Orchestral Suites and three Violin Concertos. What an embarrassment of riches!

As I laid out in the beginning, I am no expert when it comes to classical music; I just wanted to share some performances that I have enjoyed very much. In my next post, I'll tackle Mozart, Beethoven, and a couple other classical composers.