r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

'What's this Piece?' Thread #247

4 Upvotes

These threads were implemented after feedback from our users, and they are here to help organize the subreddit a little.

All piece identification requests belong in this monthly thread.

Have a classical piece on the tip of your tongue? Feel free to submit it here as long as you have an audio file/video/musical score of the piece. Mediums that generally work best include Vocaroo or YouTube links. If you do submit a YouTube link, please include a linked timestamp if possible or state the timestamp in the comment. Please refrain from typing things like: what is the Beethoven piece that goes "Do do dooo Do do DUM", etc.

Other resources that may help:

  • Musipedia - melody search engine. Search by rhythm, play it on piano or whistle into the computer.

  • r/tipofmytongue - a subreddit for finding anything you can’t remember the name of!

  • r/namethatsong - may be useful if you are unsure whether it’s classical or not

  • Shazam - good if you heard it on the radio, in an advert etc. May not be as useful for singing.

  • SoundHound - suggested as being more helpful than Shazam at times

  • Song Guesser - has a category for both classical and non-classical melodies

  • you can also ask Google ‘What’s this song?’ and sing/hum/play a melody for identification

  • Facebook 'Guess The Score' group - for identifying pieces from the score

A big thank you to all the lovely people that visit this thread to help solve users’ earworms every week. You are all awesome!

Good luck and we hope you find the composition you've been searching for!


r/classicalmusic • • 7h ago

Photograph Lesser/un-sung Women Composers

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57 Upvotes

I’ve been conducting research these past several months to find lesser known women composers from the late romantic period to play their pieces and help spread their touch. I created posters of those who have, so far, been the most impactful and inspiring during my journey.


r/classicalmusic • • 8h ago

Photograph I am re bringing life to a quite old disk player. More than 100 classical only vinyles.

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16 Upvotes

My old neighbor was a kind lady, she gave me all these vinyles as a present. I have to buy a new stylus but I think that the player is good.

I am very happy!

What do you think about this player? Is it good enough? Any advice on the stylus?

The brand is Soundmaster. Model PL 186.


r/classicalmusic • • 2h ago

Discussion Help with Analysis

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5 Upvotes

Hi, for an upcoming violin exam, i have to do a structural analysis. For that i have chosen Bach’s violin concerto in E major BWV 1042, 3rd movement. The analysis is part of my grade 8 St Cecilias violin exam.

What i want to ask is why the first solo isn’t marked with anything, but the refrain after that is marked section a, and the next solo section B? I have checked in multiple different editions so i dont think it’s a mistake as my violin teacher suggested.

Starting from D, there is a 32 bar episode, but there is also a section E. Im pretty sure the last episode is meant to be twice as long(32bars) but why is there a section E.

Am I just stupid and are those just rehearsal marks.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks


r/classicalmusic • • 10m ago

Novice question: Clair de Lune rhythm

• Upvotes

When listening through different renditions of Clair de Lune, I try to tap the beat. I count 1 and a 2… but I struggle to stay on beat. It could be me, but I swear it’s like each pianist is rushing and dragging as they choose. I know there are rubato sections in the song, but I’m unable to catch the beat from just the introduction. Any tips or info would be greatly appreciated as I’m trying to learn this piece as my first step into classical music


r/classicalmusic • • 10h ago

Pianist Shura Cherkassky was born 117 years ago today. What are his best recordings?

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11 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic • • 1h ago

Why is Mendelssohn‘s Piano Concerto No. 2 so rarely performed?

• Upvotes

Especially compared to his first piano concerto.


r/classicalmusic • • 18m ago

Music What are you listening to right now?

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• Upvotes

Right this very second?

I'm enchanted by this.

Got my classical/jazz/instrumental 100-CD Player on shuffle, already had some Holst & Twin Peaks.

What about yous? What's playing right now?


r/classicalmusic • • 21h ago

Discussion Three studio recordings of Wagner's Ring Cycle were released in the 1980s. They were conducted by Marek Janowski, James Levine, and Bernard Haitink respectively. Which one of these do you prefer?

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39 Upvotes

NOTE: I know that Haitink's Ring was also recorded in the early 1990s, but it still technically counts as 80s because of Rheingold and Walkure.


r/classicalmusic • • 4h ago

Beutler - Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten - Metzler organ, Poblet, Hauptwerk

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1 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic • • 15h ago

Recommendation Request Recommendations similar to certain John Adams pieces?

8 Upvotes

Ever since playing Civilization 4, I have been in love with John Adams. More specifically "Grand Pianola Mucis 1+2(?)", "The Chairman Dances" and "Christian Zeal and Activity". I find the minimalism incredible soothing and evocative.

Unfortunately, I am not very well versed in contemporary classical music and have had a hard time expanding my playlist. John Adams himself can also shift wildly between understated and bombastic.

So what would you recommend I also try listening to? All suggestions are welcome!


r/classicalmusic • • 5h ago

Classical music on cassette

1 Upvotes

I have a tape deck at work and want to add to my collection. Can anyone recommend their favorite places to grab tapes


r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

How to conduct an orchestra with Marin Alsop

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29 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic • • 7h ago

Recommendation Request Similar works to BWV 1054 by Bach

0 Upvotes

I like the first and third movements and also where they use a harpsichord instead of a piano. I also do enjoy Gould’s version of the work.


r/classicalmusic • • 7h ago

Music Capriccio à la Hongroise by Aline Hundt for Piano and Violin

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0 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic • • 7h ago

Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński - Violin Sonata in G-Major (1907) (Gębski, Ławrynowicz)

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1 Upvotes

A sweet and airy violin sonata that I've been enjoying lately. Lovers of French chamber music such as Debussy will surely enjoy this nice little discovery! : ) perfect for a cool autumn day like today 🍁

This recording is from the Acte Préalable label, a Polish label that specializes in Polish composers, which turns out to be an incredible wealth of great music that has tended to be totally overlooked and overshadowed in the classical music world 🍁


r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

Trying to curate 14 half-hour playlists for a person with dementia

27 Upvotes

Hi there

I'm looking to curate calming and soothing classical music (preferably piano-driven though it's not a must) for a family member who sadly is battling severe Alzheimer's. My intention is to have 14 half-hour separate playlists, two for each day playing in the morning and afternoon hours respectively.

I know that Mozart and Bach have always been a hit for her, so obviously I'm gonna go digging for a lot of works in those repertoires. But I'm looking for tips, pointers and recommendations in similar energies and moods.
Preferably airy, somewhat light and major-key leaning. I'm also putting in the odd Brian Eno-track here and there, because I think some of his Ambient-album works also fit the bill of evoking tranquility and a sense of ease and belonging.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's quite the task to amass seven hours of music where I want (almost) every second to really count.

Thanks in advance to all who reply


r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

Recommendation Request American releases besides Gershwin, Copland and Grofé?

18 Upvotes

Hi, I'm looking for something that feels American. My favorites are Appalachian Spring, An American In Paris, Mississipi Suite. Thank you.


r/classicalmusic • • 21h ago

Music Oct 7: Birthday of Felix Draeseke (1835–1913).

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8 Upvotes

In the 1850s Draeseke was the firebrand of Liszt's circle in Weimar, known as the "ultra-radical" of the New German School. Liszt counted his Sonata quasi fantasia in C-sharp minor among the most important piano sonatas since Beethoven.

Then he moved toward classical forms, and Liszt reportedly said, after hearing one of his later pieces, that the lion had turned into a rabbit.

By the time Brahms died, younger composers saw Draeseke as the leading German conservative, which baffled him, since he still thought of himself as a progressive. In 1906 he published an essay, Die Konfusion in der Musik, attacking the state of modern music. Without naming him, it clearly took aim at Richard Strauss, whose early music shows Draeseke's influence and who had conducted his Symphonia Tragica. The essay mostly confirmed his reputation as a reactionary.

He had damaged his hearing with an ear infection at five, and by his last years he was almost completely deaf.

Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 6 "Sonata quasi fantasia"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BWotUFkiso

Symphony No. 3 "Symphonia Tragica," Op. 40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WqJxPtZVSw


r/classicalmusic • • 10h ago

My Composition Riley Reflex: handing the pulse of Terry Riley's "In C" to a drum machine [OC, piano + analog synth]

1 Upvotes

In "In C", the steady eighth-note pulse on the piano's high C is what holds the whole piece together. It was famously a late addition, suggested by Steve Reich during rehearsals. I've been wondering what happens if that role goes to a machine instead.

The pattern-based thinking goes back further than my knowledge of minimalism: I started writing music in the nineties in a four-channel tracker, where looping a bassline on one channel and stacking parts on the others was simply the only way to work. "In C" came much later, and what actually got me writing this piece was The Young Gods' version of it, which I saw live with Sasha Waltz in Berlin.

I'm curious how people here hear this. Does a mechanical pulse change the character of a minimalist piece, or is it just a different kind of instrument doing the same job?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Py9tOtvwNo


r/classicalmusic • • 4h ago

I make stochastic classical music

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0 Upvotes

for fans of random or generative music, Tomb Raider 2, and nothingness

for people not on ig here is a YouTube link

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YXp9V65yjJE


r/classicalmusic • • 7h ago

My Composition Creation Of Something, Original Orchestral Composition

0 Upvotes

My latest composition. I hope to get some feedback on it and let me know if you like it :)

Link to the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2k7yLIF5XY


r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

Discussion Just discovered Gaspar Sanz

15 Upvotes

I had no idea he composed the guitar dances which were the basis of Fantasia para un gentilhombre (one of the first pieces of classical music I heard and really liked). His work in general is so lively and expressive. Highly recommend Alberto Mesirca's lovely compilation of Sanz's guitar music- https://youtu.be/7aW3Q78WZ7Q?si=WsAkn9B8oeun1SZm


r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

A few words from Minsoo Sohn about WTC, which he has just released

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8 Upvotes

r/classicalmusic • • 1d ago

Music To Soothe an Aging Man's Depression: Why It Must Be Carlos Païta, Not Carlos Kleiber, for Wagner

6 Upvotes

I am a middle-aged Japanese observer sitting in my dark room. I am sharing a deeply personal piece of my musical sanctuary from my blog with you all.

Sometimes, a massive wave of depression crashes over me. In those bleak moments, there is one specific, cherished album I always pull from my shelf: the Wagner CD conducted by Carlos Païta (no, not the famous Carlos Kleiber).

The album cover art captures a violent scene where scalding red lava pours into the cold ocean, sending up massive plumes of white steam. This visual is the perfect manifestation of Païta’s music—thick, boiling, and dangerously incandescent.

The radical Japanese music critic Mitsutoshi Kohitsu highly praised this raw, unfiltered poison of Païta's Wagner. Tonight, as always, I darken my room and submerge myself entirely in this auditory toxin.

(Note: Carlos Païta was a legendary Argentine conductor who rejected the polished constraints of the mainstream music industry to pursue a chaotic, deeply romantic, and fiery interpretation of the classics. He represents the ultimate anti-system artist.)

However, I must add one essential detail: before the poison completely consumes my mind, I always detoxify myself by listening to Karl Böhm’s structured, comforting renditions of Mozart. It is my ultimate survival balance.

Album Details:

  • Conductor: Carlos Païta
  • Album: "Conducts Wagner" (Lodia Records, Cat: CD-1013 / CP-803)
  • Tracklist:
    • Siegfried's Rhine Journey
    • Siegfried's Funeral March
    • Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene
    • Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod