Out of the top ten greatest classical composers, Haydn is probably the one I've given the least attention to, which is really ashame because what I've heard of his (Creation, Seasons mainly) is just great.

Almost any Haydn symphony or string quartet is worth hearing, but he wrote so many good ones that all but a few tend to get lost in the shuffle. And he is to a degree overshadowed by Mozart. Haydn, while a good composer almost from the start, steadily improved, so generally his later works are his best.

Currently looking for some "piano duo" pieces to attempt for my sophomore piano recital this spring... either one piano four hands or two piano four hands... I've got some ideas (Dvorak's Scottish Dances and Wagner's Polonaise in D) but I just wanted to see if y'all had some suggestions. Danke!

From the greatest duets thread:

1. Fantasie in F minor, D940 (piano 4 hands) - Franz Schubert
5. Scaramouche, Op.165b (2 pianos) - Darius Milhaud
6. Variations on a Theme by Haydn in B flat major (2 pianos) - Johannes Brahms
7. Slavonic Dances (piano 4 hands) - Antonin Dvorák
8. Variations on a Theme of Paganini (2 pianos) - Witold Lutoslawski
11. Hungarian Dances (piano 4 hands) - Johannes Brahms
12. Ma Mere l’Oye (piano 4 hands) - Maurice Ravel
17. Sonata for 2 Pianos in D major, K. 448 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Awesome. Are those your personal suggestions, Don-Alexei?

Nope they were submitted by Brian, so I only know a few of those.
However, I highly recommend the awesome Schubert Fantasia, great 1st choice imo:

So incredible.

http://open.spotify.com/track/6cSFGhowOdJ4A78QLIn2DP

If any of you have spotify, check this out. It's not really classical music, but whatever. Gets me in the mood for Christmas

this sort of thing blows my mind...

"A 3D sound spectrum analysis of a violin's G String using the OscilloMeter program. x=the frequency of pitch, y=the volume, and z=time. Observe the peaks at the foreground. The other low points are background noise. The interesting thing is that the pitch that we hear is the peak at around 200h, but the other peaks are overtones that contribute to the sound, greatly outnumbering the original pitch. You can make out the overtone series for the note G."




if i was more inclined towards physics, i'd dedicate my life to studying the overtones and their role in psychoacoustics. but as it is i can only stand from outside looking in, with my jaw on the floor...

So Hitler did have some sense in him after all.

Those Hitler videos are so terrible.

Really liking this site:

http://www.classicalnotes.net/

I've found that I really enjoy Serialism and Microtonal music, and I'm looking for more. I only have a couple releases so please recommend me anything in these two genres.

Have you heard Karl Husa's Prague 1968? It's exceptional (uses a 12 tone philosophy).