Mixed Moss

The other day Eric posted a list of things about himself (a pretty cool one at that), and one of the things he said was that Baroque and Classic Rock were the golden ages of music. I commented in defense of the Romantics and Impressionists. So, without further ado, here are the reasons Romantic Classical is better than Baroque Classical. (as if one could ever be called better than the other! This is more a list of the things I particularly enjoy.)

1.) The Flower Song Duet in Lakme, by Delibes.
2.) The Peer Gynt Suite, aka “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Grieg. My dad had a record of this and played it for me when I was a kid. It was my favorite then and is still probably in my top ten list.
3.) Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky. For that matter, almost anything by Tchaikovsky.
4.) Chopin. My real introduction to classical music was through piano lessons.
5.) Debussy: Printemps, Fantaisie, Claire de lune, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune.
6.) Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky. As spooky as the Peer Gynt Suite and stormier. These are two you really need to listen to after dark on Halloween to get the full impact of. Or, alternatively, during a thunderstorm with the lights out and candles.
7.) Ravel.
8.) Dvorak.
9.) Berlioz.
10.) Bizet.
11.) Liszt.
12.) Wagner.

Enough said, yes? That said, there are some modern composers whose work I adore as well: Aaron Copeland, George Gershwin, Gustav Holst. And the great composers of today? Well, in centuries past either the church, the Crown, or individual patrons paid composers to create their works. Somebody always has to pay. I have heard it said that today’s great symphonies are the motion picture soundtracks. If that is the case, then we are living through a great age for classical music, I think.

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