I was recently asked to put together a playlist of my ten favourite Classical pieces, by Dilettante Music for its Celebrity Playlists section. So, I thought I’d share it here with you.
I also put together a Spotify playlist which you can access here, though you’ll need Spotify installed on your machine. Michael Nyman’s 3rd String Quartet isn’t on Spotify so I couldn’t include that.
1) Purcell – Dido And Aenas ‘When I Am Laid In Earth’ – “Hard to believe it’s over 300 years old, yet still one of the greatest ever aria’s … it’s timeless”
2) Kreisler – Praeludium et Allegro – “Could one piece of music have any more ideas in it !? The energy of this is so infectious, I never tire of listening to it”
3) Piazzolla – Oblivion – “Piazzolla seemed to effortlessly move between genres, so much so that some may even question whether any of his work is classical. This piece, one of his most well-known, has been played in so many different ways, by so many different performers I’m not even sure what it is anymore …. other than a simply stunning, intensely emotional piece”
4) Borodin – String Quartets – “The string quartet is both a joy to write for and to listen to and there are few works for it as lyrical as Borodin’s two quartets. I’m going to cheat, and call these one work, as they are best listened to back-to-back for an hour of bliss !”
5) Mozart – Requiem – “The counterpoint in the ‘Domine Jesu’, between the four soloists and then the choir, is simply awe-inspiring. I remember seeing this performed at St.Paul’s Cathedral in London during the bicentenial of his death. Just an amazing experience.”
6) Saint-Saens – The Swan – “The Cello has always been my favourite lead instrument and I write for it as often as I can. This must have been one of the first works I heard for cello and piano, when I saw it performed as a solo ballet at Covent Garden many years ago. I love it for remaining fragile to the end, avoiding a big climax”
7) Max Richter – On The Nature of Daylight – “There are a couple of pieces of his that I could have chosen, but I just love the way this one builds”
8) Alexander Balanescu – No Time Before Time – “A strict tempo, repetitive rhythms and simple, catchy top-line melodies. Manages to bridge the gap between classical & popular music without dumbing down or turning to pastiche”
9) Philip Glass – Orphee’s Bedroom from Orphee Suite – “It’s taken me years to get into Philip Glass. This one has such a simple beauty that I wish I’d heard it years ago”
10) Michael Nyman – String Quartet no.3 – “I remember when I first heard Michael Nyman, in the early 1990′s, with his score to the amazing French film “Monsieur Hire”. I was about 18 and like a lot of teenagers had never felt much affinity with Classical music. This was the start of my exploration of classical music, in all it’s forms”
NB: The observant amongst you will notice that when Dilettante published the above piece, they didn’t include Max Richter – so it ended up being my top 9. Perhaps they didn’t feel Max Richter was entirely classical ?
0 Comments / Leave a comment or question