[PB2K]

I am just orienting but I get lost in the adagio's, adante's, d-major's and in A's.

what I like in particular are simple pianotunes and violinconcertos

i am sure there are people who know some great relaxing classics, please help

[Dakar]

By far my favorite piece is Canon in D Minor. I have wonderful bare version from Neon Genesis Evangelion, and I enjoy the rendition found on Gran Turismo 4 as well (My friend said, "Hey its Vitamin C!" the first time he heard that they added a beat to it).

Edit 2: This thing ate a beautiful edit I had going on.

Recreation of edit: Actually it's called Pachebel's Canon, though its listed as Canon in D for the NGE mp3. I have no idea where I came up with the in a minor part.

Since I'm at it, I'll add Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Holsts' The PLanets to your to get list.

Also, if you're daring, you might try some opera. I found the tracklist from GTA III quite suitable for beginners/newcomers.

[dav]

beethoven: piano sonatas (rubinstein)
bach: the well tempered clavier (gould)
bach: cello suites (rostropovich)

[Rewes]

If you are into violinconcertos then Sibelius is the way to go.

[anthonyvthc]

Leos Janacek - House of Dead

There was just a topic like this a little while ago. Do a search and you'll get some good recommendations.

[Sage]

I’m a big fan of Rachmaninoff, particularly his 3rd Concerto.

[CharlesS]

^ That should be spelled Leoš Janáček. And agreed, Janáček's piano music is great stuff.

I also love Prokofiev - if you are new to the piano music of the early 20th century, check out Prokofiev's Seventh Sonata or his Third Piano Concerto - those are both really popular pieces with melodies you'll recognize.

For the seventh sonata, you want Pollini's recording, and for the Third Piano Concerto, it's Argerich.

For some stuff that just really kicks ass, listen to his Sixth Sonata and Second Piano Concerto. There are lots of good recordings of the Sixth - I like Ashkenazy for the 2nd concerto (there are recordings of all the concertos or just the piano concertos).

Also, Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin, Miroirs, and of course Gaspard de la nuit are masterpieces.

[Briareus]

Originally Posted by Dakar

By far my favorite piece is Canon in D Minor.

Maybe a typo or brain cramp (it's in D Major), but it would certainly surprise the wedding guests to hear it in minor (natural, harmonic, or melodic?)

Back to topic before this becomes a favorites thread, given the criteria (adagios, andantes, relaxing, simple, piano/violin tunes) the obvious option is slow movements of Mozart concerti.

For serious CD-on-auto-repeat-REM-sleep-relaxing, nothing beats the long-form soundscapes of Steve Roach

[CharlesS]

Oops, I didn't see the word "relaxing" in his post. I guess most of my suggestions are not very relaxing.

Most of Ravel's Le Tombeau would still qualify, though.

[Briareus]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

^ That should be spelled Leoš Janáček. And agreed, Janáček's piano music is great stuff.

Relaxing-ness aside, you get a bonus point for taking the time to enter the extra keystrokes for the composer's name

[MrForgetable]

not really classical, but David Lanz on piano is extremely relaxing. He has a variation on Pachebel's Canon which is amazing. usually that gets me more relaxed than most classical music (and I listen to a lot).

but here are some other relaxing pieces of classical music:
1. Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor, 2nd movement. Mstilav Rostropovich has my favorite recording.
2. J.S. Bach's Unaccompanied Suites for Cello, Suite 6 in D major, Sarabande (4th "movement" if you will). DuPre, Rostropovich, and Yo-Yo Ma all have excellent recordings!
3. Le cygne (also known as "The Swan") from "The Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saëns
(noticing a trend here? not a cello player at all!! )
4. Mozart (French) Horn Concerto's #1-4 work pretty well as relaxing music as well.
5. Some of Holst's "The Planets Suite" are pretty refreshing, I think other than "Mars" and "Jupiter."
6. Any kind of Classical Guitar is relaxing to me, Andrés Segovia or other people like him.

there's a lot more, but that's a start!

[wataru]

For Christmas I bought my father an Airport Express and ripped all of his music for him. 90% of his collection is classical, and the one composer he had by far the most of was Schubert. I don't know if his work is relaxing, but I guess it must be good.

[CharlesS]

^ Schubert, who lived at roughly the same time as Beethoven, was an extremely prolific composer of lieder (German art songs), which are of extremely high quality (basically, they're at the top of the heap as far as lieder are concerned). He is basically one of the founders of the German art song tradition. He also wrote nine symphonies (actually, it's really eight - #7 exists as nothing but sketches, but numbering it #7 makes Schubert have nine symphonies, and of course musicologists will count it that way, because after Beethoven it's way more fashionable to have nine symphonies than eight). He also wrote a lot of piano sonatas, and a good deal of chamber music as well. Schubert, like Beethoven, is a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic periods, so his style undergoes a huge change when you compare his early work against his late work. Schubert is sometimes considered the "gentle" counterpart to Beethoven's storminess. He is also one of the greatest melodists of all time, up there with Mozart, which is incidentally why he was so good at writing art songs. This is also a large reason why his music is so pleasant to listen to.

Unfortunately, Schubert also had the shortest lifespan of the great composers, dying from syphilis at the age of 31.

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by CharlesS

He is also one of the greatest melodists of all time, ...

Agreed with that. Each time I listen to his music I marvel at the beauty of his melodies. For relaxing music from Schubert , listen to the adagio of his string quintet with 2 cellos (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...3441&i=746901), as well as the 'unfinished' symphony (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...43441&i=746624 and http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...3441&i=746645). Also the 4th impromptu (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...41&i=71212877). Also if you are not afraid with some singing, some lieder from Die Schöne Müllerin, especially 'Wohin?'. Finally listen to 'Der Hirt auf dem Felsen', amazing lied where a soprano sings with an clarinet (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...41&i=19483496).

iTunes links given as audio examples : not endorsing the versions.

[dav]

since we're on a schubert kick,
schubert: sonata in a minor (d845) (radu lupu)

[Stradlater]

I find Mozart boring, but relaxing. It's a good place to start, most likely.

[wdlove]

I'm a Classical Music fan.

[gethigh]

Bach Double Violin Concerto in D Minor is a standard classic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_...rto_%28Bach%29



And the probably overplayed Four Seasons by Vivaldi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fou..._%28Vivaldi%29

The Winter Concerto is my favorite. Spring is so overplayed that it's become a cliché.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Sage

I’m a big fan of Rachmaninoff, particularly his 3rd Concerto.

I agree wholeheartedly on this one. Rachmaninov’s piano concertos are wonderful. I’m listening to one as I type this, in fact.

[Judge_Fire]

Michael Nyman has composed a lot of good, flowing piano+strings stuff for film. Check out Water Dances: Dipping / Stroking for an example.

Not exactly 'Classic', but orchestral.

J

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by gethigh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fou..._%28Vivaldi%29

The Winter Concerto is my favorite. Spring is so overplayed that it's become a cliché.

I agree that they have been played too much, but a good musician can still surprise with these concertos. Listen this version by Fabio Biondi. It is surprisingly refreshing.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174