If you are a fan of classical music.....what draws you to it and why?

Try Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” and Handel’s “Water Music.”

I listen to a lot of instrumentals. I absolutely love the sound of the violin and the intensity that it can bring to any piece of music.
I find a lot of classical pieces to be relaxing and beautiful and the main reason why I listen to them is for inspiration when I write.

You might enjoy Clair de lune by Debussy and Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.

If you want something more intense, let me know.

I think Bach was really something special…

His music is holographic to me. I am totally immersed in imagery from listening to it.

The cello suites.

I think you either like it or you don’t. I didn’t know or fall in love with it until I saw disneys Fantasia. I love all the music selected. The beautiful stories painted along with the music gave it a different dimension for me. It allowed me there after to visualize music and feel it in a different way. Its the emotions that certain pieces draw out of you that makes it so appealing.

I like it because it has a much larger capacity for variation than most popular music. 17th century dance music is very different from 20th century atonal Shostakovich symphonies. And I like both of those things. I like it all. Opera, ballet, string quartets, symphonies, concertos, sonatas, marches, they’re all so different from each other and yet they’re in the same large genre. It is also much more complex than most popular music. Instead of just a few instruments playing together, there can be over 100 and many many different voices and sounds that somehow, when put together, work perfectly.

There’s something great about music that can instill an emotional response in you without the need for lyrics. It makes me feel all kinds of emotions; it depends on the piece. Pieces liek “Claire de Lune” are more sentimental and nostalgic for me. Pieces like Respighi’s “Pines of Rome” make me feel like I’m on top of the world. Pieces like Orff “Carmina Burana” oratorio are just plain powerful and fun, even a little mysterious.

I am partial to all sorts of music. I like classical, jazz, and most other melodic music, including chanting. I don’t like the yelling, speaking, rap type.

It often feels more fuller in range from highs,mid and lows. The music itself seems depending on the piece or person take you on a journey of sorts.

I’ve preferred classical music since childhood. I like the orderliness of it. While some of the avant garde variety (Eliot Carter, et al) can be jarring, on the whole it leads to peaceful, orderly thinking.

I’m also a fan of “New Age” or “Space” music, which is designed to create a background mood and not listened to closely; ideal for reading or studying. Some of the 18th century “background” music by Mozart or Hayden can serve the same function.

Many composers evoke or compliment my moods: Vaughn Williams’ quiet pastoral mood, Sibelius the rugged loner, the introspective Brahms, the bombastic Strauss and Wagner, Phillip Glass or Vivaldi as running accompaniment, the self-pity of Tchaikovsky, the mathematical precision of JS Bach; one can even attempt to keep up with Ravel’s “Bolero” in bed.

I am a musicphile and I love listening to whatever type of music suits my current mood. In addition, I am/was a classically-trained flutist and being immersed in classical music this way has given me an even deeper appreciation for the genre.

I love a lot of things about it. One, it’s highly emotionally expressive, yet, without words, you’re able to take and interpret it as you like. It uses your imagination to do this. Another thing is that the instruments and the mastery of their players are highlighted, so generally when you hear a classical piece, it’s played by people who have toiled to be one with their instruments and their passion comes through. Some classical pieces are so moving, so stirring, they can induce goosebumps or tears due to their overwhelming beauty, or even get you riled up and make you feel energetic.

If I had my laptop and could look through my classical collection, I’d have a lot more recommendations, but I’ll link some of my favorite pieces. @gailcalled has great suggestions; “The Four Seasons” is one of my favorites.

* Johann Sebastian Bach – Cello Suite No.1 Prelude in G Major
* Rossini – William Tell Overture (I particularly like the conclusion, which I’ve linked, and I pretty much guarantee you’ve heard this one before!)
* Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony 40 in G minor (I’m probably partial to this because I’ve actually played this one)
* Pachelbel – Canon in D
* Mozart – Bassoon Concerto B flat major Movement 1 & Movement 3 (I played bassoon briefly, as well, and I am so in love with the sound!)

Anyway, I’ve got loads more to recommend if you’d like, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. :)

There are very few musical genres that I dislike, but having said that, I am particularly fond of classical music. I share the views of the other people above, in that I find some pieces of classical music overwhelmingly powerful in emotional terms, and I think that is why I am drawn to playing and listening to classical music.

Here are some pieces of music that I have been listening to a lot recently, perhaps you will enjoy them too.

Ubi Caritas by Maurice Durufle (2 mins 43 seconds)
Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Faure (6 mins 42 seconds)
The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams (6 mins 52 seconds)
Gymnopedie No. 3 by Eric Satie (2 minutes 36 seconds)
Reverie by Claude Debussy (5 minutes and 1 second)
Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven (5 minutes 44 seconds)

Most of these pieces of music are fairly well-known and well-loved, and you may have heard them before. I’ve been lucky enough to sing them with my choir or play some of them on the piano, which I think makes me especially fond of them. I hope you enjoy them!

This is extremely helpful and interesting. I appreciate all the suggestions and links, as well as the brief personal backgrounds from some of you. Better answers than I even imagined I’d get. Not to end it, but just to thank you.

Ok. You want more. These are all attention-getters and goose-bump-makers.

Mendelssohn’s violin concerto (he wrote only one, but what a piece.)
Beethoven’s odd numbered symphonies; 1,3,5,7,9.
Schubert’s Trout Quintet
Mozart’s four concerti for French horn.
Mozart’s trio, quintet and concerto for clarinet.

Classical music does not need words to show emotion. It’s pure. love, sorrow, joy…emotions.

Clair de Lune is romantic and lovely. and Pines of Rome is powerful.

yes, there is opera and beethoven 9th. Marriage of Figaro by Mozart is quite humorous.