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Message started by Dominick on 07/08/23 at 08:16:34

Title: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 07/08/23 at 08:16:34

Everyone,

I am looking for recommendations on Classical music that will compliment studying for a promotional exam at work. This will be music that will be played in the background as I grind away for the next 4 months.

I know Classical music can be very powerful and invoke specific feelings and emotions. I need the recommendations to be flowing, peaceful, non controversial, on the softer side, and nothing that will shock the senses. Ideally music that also does not have a huge change in volume. The idea is to for the music to aid in my cognitive ability to help absorb material.

I normally listen to jazz, rock, and single instruments like the violin, piano, guitar, and the harp. For this specific purpose I need for the music to be somewhat unfamiliar to me ( hence no jazz) so that way I don’t find myself paying attention to the music and distracting me from concentrating on the material I am studying.

I know that there are countless studies out there showing how classical music can increase cognitive ability. This music will also serve as exposure to my daughter who will be going into middle school this year where the homework and studying will be ramped up. So this request is two fold. I know there are some forum members who listen to Classical music as their mainstay, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Lon on 07/08/23 at 13:47:29

Dom, what works for me in this regard is. . . Beethoven. The piano sonatas and the string quartets. Stimulating but allow me to focus into "work." I have several versions of the complete of each, and there's beauty and involvement in either and any I've encountered.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 07/08/23 at 14:36:17

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 07/08/23 at 20:20:23

Lon….thanks!! I’ll throw on the Beethoven piano sonatas and see how they work out.

CAJames….yes I stream both Qobuz and Tidal. Thank you for the extended list of albums. I’m going to start streaming them and I’ll let you know which ones I like and don’t like. I had originally tried some music for Reishi healing, a lot based on the 563 Hz frequencies…but they make me feel like want to go to sleep.

I’ll keep you guys posted. I will doing a crazy amount of studying in the upcoming months along with a study course. Sadly just sitting back for hours spinning vinyl and enjoying my system is going to have to take a backseat.

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Tony on 07/08/23 at 20:38:16

Hello CAJames,

Thanks for posting your music list. I downloaded them all from Qobuz and started listening to them this AM.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 07/08/23 at 21:16:49

I'm happy to help. A lot of "classical music people" object to the idea of "serious music" as background. But much of it was written for that exact purpose. Of course since many of the guys writing it were geniuses it rewards careful listening as well, but nothing wrong with having it on while reading/studying/doing housework, at least IMO.

Tony, the same deal goes for you. If there is stuff you like I'm happy to make further recommendations in that direction. I like the Qobuz links because you can easily pick the performance as well has the piece. Since so much of baroque and classical music is now recorded by the so called Historically Informed Practice movement, and since it seems like the goal of many in that movement is to create the most annoying possible sound, it is hard to make recommendations without knowing who is playing.

I don't stream, but I've bought several albums from Qobuz.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Doug on 07/08/23 at 21:50:22

Classical music sucks me in hard and fast, and there’s no escaping it’s attraction. If it’s playing, that’s where all my attention goes. However, I do find early lute music to be quite peaceful and calming. Here are a couple of recordings that will provide 8 hours of serenity to study by.

Evangelina Mascardi - Bach Complete Lute Works - very mellow 2 hour lute performance

Paul O’Dette - The Art of Lute - 6 hours of beautiful renaissance and baroque lute music

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 07/09/23 at 00:00:06

Thanks Doug…. I’ll give the Lute albums a listen.

CAJAMES…. Just started your list…and the Chopin Nocturnes album is great. This one’s a keeper. Just got my books delivered today, gonna clean out the office and start hard tomorrow.

I have been using this album with the works of Debussy that I like. It’s more mellow…unfortunately a lot of the tracks on this album are only samples.

http://open.qobuz.com/album/0090266342426

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 07/09/23 at 15:41:25

Quote:

Posted by: Dominick Posted on: Yesterday at 16:00:06

…the Chopin Nocturnes album is great.

That was an easy first pick. Now if you run into any classical cognescenti all you need to do is mention you like the Moravec (pronounced More-a-vitz) Chopin Nocturnes and you've got instant street cred.

Quote:

I have been using this album with the works of Debussy that I like. It’s more mellow…unfortunately a lot of the tracks on this album are only samples.

Debussy is (IMO) the greatest writer of piano music after Beethoven. Some of it is almost unspeakably beautiful, but, like Beethoven, I find it is too distracting to be background music overall. Erik Satie would be my choice for background music in the impressionistic style, you can compare and contrast:

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/debussy-preludes-satie-gymnopedies-gnossiennes-fazil-say/fez3f88b4dkqa

Some of Satie's stuff you may recognize from movies and commercials.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Doug on 07/12/23 at 04:00:12

Another fantastic recording of simple but beautiful piano music is Nicholas Roth’s recording of all 66 of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces. It’s an excellent recording and Roth’s playing is top notch. Total run time on this recording is approximately 3 hours. Roth is a midwest guy, lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and teaches at Drake University.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 07/20/23 at 17:10:23

So after 2 weeks of studying I have enjoyed the entire list that CAJAMES had recommended. I have noticed that for my needs I have gravitated towards Aria’s and choral arrangements for background music. The following list is what has been my mainstay…

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/rachmaninoff-vespers-all-night-vigil-op-37-robert-shaw-robert-shaw-festival-singers/fj62sko82d9jb

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/rachmaninoff-vespers-all-night-vigil-op-37-robert-shaw-robert-shaw-festival-singers/fj62sko82d9jb

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/chopin-nocturnes-complete-ivan-moravec/0603497107469

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/tallis-sacred-choral-works-the-sixteen-harry-christophers/nbk598u1hgjyb

https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/haydn-string-quartets-op-55-panocha-quartet/m3hz7dwrzcxoc

http://open.qobuz.com/album/fez3f88b4dkqa

I have noticed that when I’m trying to study for retention, the aforementioned albums have been great.

James…if you have any more recommendations that are in alignment with what I had mentioned, I’m all ears ( no pun intended).

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 07/22/23 at 01:06:08

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 07/22/23 at 16:22:09

Thanks James!!

I will go through these albums today/tonight!! The music has been a huge help!!

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Same Old DD on 07/22/23 at 22:04:00

CAJ, I thank you for your efforts and the time it takes to offer us so much.

I use Tidal and I've not had any trouble finding what you suggest on that platform at all. The playlists, obviously I have to figure out my own way.

There's enough info I find just snooping or lurking qubuz that I get close to where you are going and I find material that thrills me for each listen.

Not always listening to classical, but when the time comes, I have a large selection to peruse from your recommendations.

Keep it coming!

[smiley=tunes29.gif]

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 07/23/23 at 15:10:04

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 08/01/23 at 22:00:26

James,

Thanks for this new list. Going to start listening to them tonight and tomorrow morning when I study. This new exploration into classical music has really given me inspiration to make this part of my regular listening alongside jazz.

Thanks again!!

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 08/02/23 at 04:22:06

That's great Dom, I'm glad you're enjoying this enough to "give classical a chance." It's funny that there is always concern about how to attract new listeners for classical music, but it usually boils down to presenting masterpieces as "Holy Relics" that deserve nothing less than our undivided attention, and probably some prior coaching as to what to expect and how to appreciate it. Maybe the key is just to have it on in the background.

Keep me posted if you find new stuff you like and I'll put together one more list of "serious music" that is still on the mellow side but maybe too distracting to be good background music. I'm also curious if any of this has made an impression on your daughter?

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 08/03/23 at 17:03:55

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Tooppy on 08/13/23 at 11:13:09

To me I think to concentrate, silence is the best but it all depends on your environement, in town, in the countryside etc.....

Now, I would go for Bach (piano with Glen Gould), Vivaldi, Satie, Chopin

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Rap on 10/14/23 at 16:35:14

Nothing like the Études of Philip Glass to grind-away to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P0SW0VskaQ&list=PLrIRbytwpAMnuVImf4AFwmwi5dxk_3Dx6

image upload

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 04/19/24 at 04:52:11

Congratulations Dom on passing the big test!

I think your hard work gets the credit, but if classical music played a small part in your success then that is all to the good.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 04/19/24 at 14:37:27

Thank you James!! Yes my hard work for the last 8 months has paid off in spades. I can attest that the classical music did play a role in my studies. When you are pulling long hours of daily reading of dry material you have to absorb, I found that your mind tends to loose focus. Having classical music in the background let’s your subconscious mind attach to the music, so you can work to focus on the material. Thank you again for your recommendations, as well as all other forum members; it was truly appreciated!

I tried with Jazz but it just didn’t have the same affect as the Classical music did. The only aspect that I had to control was to find music that didn’t change much in volume levels….I found that to be a bit of distraction for study purposes. While I do love that aspect of classical music…it wasn’t a good fit for purpose.

I know a 3rd grade school teacher who approached me one day out of concern for a few students who had trouble focusing in her classroom. I had recommended to play some mainstream classical music like Bach, Debussy, Mozart etc in the background. A few weeks later she told me that the music idea actually worked, and now she plays it all the time.

Fast forward to today..I have now found my daughter listening to classical music while studying for her tests. It must be working because she has made the principals list 3 marking periods in a row; and on her way to closing out this school year I with a near perfect GPA as a 13 year old.

So for those reading this thread….I would say to try and incorporate more classical music into your life…you won’t regret it. I will continue to post music recommendations to this thread every so often to keep it alive. I’m not looking to replace the “What Classical Music Are Your Listening To” thread….but to supplement it.

Dom

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Sean on 04/19/24 at 20:46:09

Congrats Dom x2, one on the work, 2nd for your daughter. Mine will be 13 in a couple weeks. Her latest report had a B. First one in about 3 yrs. Pre algebra, I let it slide. Parenting is ROUGH! Keep up the good work!

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Dominick on 04/20/24 at 04:49:26

Hey Sean…. Thank you x 2!! Yes parenting is no easy task. They keep you on your toes for sure. I’m glad that she is starting to explore some classical music.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Lon on 04/26/24 at 10:45:29

Spent some time yesterday going through my classical box sets and comparing the contents to single cds I have of the performances I like most. . . . A good portion of these box sets will be going up for sale. I just haven't and won't touch them for some time and I could use the space and the money. Probably my three Bernstein boxes will be proferred first.

One thing I took from this is that the Living Stereo SACDs I have sound only a tiny bit better than the redbook cd versions on my system. I was surprised at how wonderful the cds sounded.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 04/27/24 at 15:29:54

Quote:

Posted by: Lon Posted on: Yesterday at 02:45:29

...One thing I took from this is that the Living Stereo SACDs I have sound only a tiny bit better than the redbook cd versions on my system. I was surprised at how wonderful the cds sounded.

Yes. This is something I found to be generally true after upgrading my digital a couple of years ago. I was an early adopter of SACD, and hi-rez files, because I kept trying to close the gap between my (pretty nice) digital and vinyl. When I got my current transport/DAC/DDC I was shocked, shocked! at how good humble 16/44 sounded and now I'm (mostly) done chasing other formats. I think the only hi-rez that I've bought in the last couple years are few downloads from HDTT.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Lon on 04/27/24 at 15:56:18

I'm still (and going forward) disc centric and yeah, my DAC upsamples all Redbook (or other PCM) to DSD before conversion to analog via transformer, and cds sound FANTASTIC. It also accepts via my transport raw DSD from SACD and many of the SACD sound better than their Redbook layers as a result. These RCA Living stereo ones though (I have the box set of Redbook and a few dozen of the SACDs) --the cds sound super good and the contrast with the SACDs is hardly recognizable. A great series of reissues. I have pretty much all I listen to on SACD and the box has been gathering dust. This year I think classical things gathering dust are going to go!

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by TexJ on 06/22/24 at 02:06:40

I might have to flip over to qobuz. Tidal is mnissing many of the titals James posted.

Here are some from Tidal:

Heinrich Schiiff, Hagen Quartett - Schubert: string quintet in c major
Giazotto: adagio for strings & organ in G minor
Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No. 1
Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5
Sergei Rachmaninoff - Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G Sharp minor, Op 32, No 12
Mily Balakirev - A farewell to Saint Petersburg
Cesar Cui - Kaleidoscope, Op 50, No 9 Oriental
Modesto Mussorgsky - The old Castle
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Riimskly: scheherazade symphonic suite op 35

Now if you excuse me, I am going to copy down what James shared.

-J

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by CAJames on 06/22/24 at 18:30:36

I don’t stream myself, but those who do mostly agree Qobuz is best for classical. I have bought a number of downloads from them.

Title: Re: Classical Musical Recommendations
Post by Rextang on 02/15/25 at 22:31:55

I know this post is old, but I second the vote for Quboz. Not just for the quality and depth of volumes, but that they do not shove garbage music in your face. For endless streaming, however Pandora and it's genome engine is best. Pick one song and make a "station" out of it. You will be amazed at the variety of music it builds for you from that one song. This is where it trumps Quboz and the others for background listening.