What is your favourite classical music?

Are you serious with this question??????? There's no way I can come up with one favorite classical music!

There are just so many of them for many different reasons. But while there are so many great compositions, I think one that is the most majestic and timeless...

will be....

Johann Sebastian Bach!

And my favorite piece written by J.S. Bach will be this one - Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, here played by internationally well-known South Korean violinist Chung Kyung-hwa. She once said how she "mastered" this piece when she was little. And as she gotten older, she realized that she didn't mastered it as she thought when she was little and immature, even though she was playing note by note with perfect accuracy. This forced her to try to master this masterful piece. And she realized that more she "master" it, and more she understands the music, she was realizing that there was more to master. In her adult year, Chung Kyung-hwa the world-renounced violinist came to conclusion that she cannot master this piece fully. She declared that this piece is "infinite" and "Bach's music will go on existing even after all of us passes away." And here it s, Chung Kyung-hwa, playing Bach's Chaconne.

JunJun.fr wrote: Need help from German native speakers, please.
Sorry, I'm NOT fluent in German...
The video below shows French Soprano Colorature Natalie Dessay in W.A. Mozart 's The Magic Flute.
& I wanted to have your opinion on her spoken dialogues in German. She sounds quite fluent, doesn't she ?

(singing starts at 1'54 min.)

Her German sounds good but somehow if you listen carefully her pronunciation is not usual. Don't know if she is doing this on purpose or a part of theater language. If I would met her I would notice that she is not a German native speaker.

While there are so many other classical composers that I like, I will say I have special spot in my heart for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His music is like "home" to me. And while there so many pieces written by Mozart that I like, I love the following pieces which I often associates Mozart's music with cinema.

This piece is so well-known that I think even those who are not fans of classical music will recognize this piece. This piece was also used as background music for Swedish film Elvira Madigan.



Mozart is also my favorite opera composer. I'm also in the mood to listen to this piece during the winter because I first watched this film during the winter. And of course, I'm talking about the film Amadeus. This piece really makes me think of this film.



My favorite opera written by Mozart is The Marriage of Figaro. And this finale is my favorite from The Marriage of Figaro.(It was also played in the film Amadeus) This is just overwhelming.

I have many favourites in the "classical" genre (and I use "classical" in a very loose sense of the word) so it's hard to decide on just one piece of music, composer or even time period.

If there is one "Classical" composer I h.ad to choose over any other, it would have to be J S Bach.

I particularly like his Cello Suite Number 5: so grim and sullen.

For something more emotionally intense, I like Chopin's Ballade no. 4., maybe even Chopin's Ballade no. 1

Like others have said here, it's hard to choose just one piece of classical music. However, I've always been a fan of romantic-era composers (e.g., Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Dvorak, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Rimsky-Korsakov). To be sure, I also have a great love for Renaissance composers as well. However, there's something about music from the latter era that evokes such intense, beautiful, and sweeping feelings. In a few words, it touches the heart!

Rimsky-Korsakov's (Russia) "Scheherazade: The Kalendar Prince":


Ottorino Resphigi's (Italy) "Ancient Airs & Dances":


Vaughan Williams' (England) "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus":


I hope your ears enjoy!

Technically this is Baroque, but I digress! Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by J.S. Bach is my favourite piece of all time. I'm determined to play it on the organ one day.

Speaking of Bach's Partitas for solo instruments, I strongly feel the need to highlight Partita No. 2 in C minor, BWV 826, which I consider to be one of the finest keyboard compositions of all time.

This partita is actually made up of six parts, starting at a moderate pace with the i) Sinfonia, ii) Allemande, and the iii) Courante, before slowing down and almost grinding to a halt with the iv) Sarabande, but the pace picks up with an explosive v) Rondeaux and finally reaches a climax with the vi) Capriccio - which is highly enjoyable to the ears but at the same time technically demanding and notoriously difficult to play.

If you're listening to this for the first time, I recommend skipping the first three sections. Go straight to the Sarabande at 11:05 or the Rondeaux at 14:38 - that is where the action starts. The best part begins at 15:56 and ends 3 minutes later with the Earth shaken to its core.



I learned to play the Sarabande and Rondeaux when I was just 13 or 14 years of age. At that time, I did not even know that these two sections were part of a larger composition and I certainly did not in my wildest dreams imagine there could be a climax appearing in the form of a Capriccio right after the Rondeaux. It was only when I reached adulthood and stopped playing the piano for some time that I discovered there was much more to just the Sarabande and Rondeaux.

Some day in the future, once I'm done with science, I'll go back to playing the piano and will make sure the Capriccio doesn't get left out from the music scores.

My favorite era in the history of classical music is Romantic era. And I'm especially fond with spirits of Russian nationalism. Here are two of my absolute favorite Russian compositions(and composers) from that era.





These pieces are so Russian.

my personal favorite is the bibimbap overture sonata no.12 oppa 4 in C-cup major