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Classical music with strong hooks

Holdfast

Holdfast

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I'm a happy philistine who lacks the patience for long symphonies with complex narrative progressions. I can appreciate them intellectually but I just don't enjoy them. But I do enjoy classical music with the sort of melodic/harmonic hooks that infest popular music. I was wondering if any of you could recommend some classical pieces that fall into this irredeemably low-brow & catchy territory.

Obvious examples of the kind of thing I mean are Pachelbel's Canon in D, Bach's Air on a G String, Fur Elise, Mozart's Requiem, and so on. You get the idea. Trouble is, I reckon I know most of the obvious choices like those. Opera is obviously a feasting ground for this sort of catchy classical music and I love stuff like Marriage of Figaro, La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Barber of Seville, etc, etc, etc but today I'm looking for hook-laden instrumental pieces if possible rather than operatic arias and wondering if there is indeed much out there aside from opera?

Thanks for any suggestions. And the first person to embed a Blues Traveller music video gets roasted over an open fire. :p
 
My favorite classical composer is Philip Glass.

Not exactly a 'hook'-oriented thing - in fact, his music is almost totally devoid of hooks. Maybe that's why I like it so much. :D
 
It's a shame you're not into the big symphonies - the use of that famous motif throughout Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor is quite fascinating. :vulcan: :cool:

That said, if you're looking for something catchy, I'd recommend the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 7. (Fans of Charlie Brooker's shows will recognise it quickly. ;))

I'd also recommend any movement from Shostakovich's 5th symphony, if you like your harmonies and melodies to be Soviet with an indignant aftertaste. :bolian:

I'd also recommend any of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances if you like your classical music short, memorable and to the point - but especially dances 3, 5, 7 and 8 from the first set.

Similarly, you might like the various dance suites by Sir Malcolm Arnold. He wrote quite a few, but I like his English ones the best.

Finally, if you really want to look for the big brassy hooks, look no further than Sir Edward Elgar. :D
 
Zion Ravescene said:
It's a shame you're not into the big symphonies - the use of that famous motif throughout Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor is quite fascinating. :vulcan: :cool:

That said, if you're looking for something catchy, I'd recommend the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 7.
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*coff coff* I like the 6th...*coff coff*
 
ITL said:
Zion Ravescene said:
It's a shame you're not into the big symphonies - the use of that famous motif throughout Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor is quite fascinating. :vulcan: :cool:

That said, if you're looking for something catchy, I'd recommend the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Symphony no. 7.
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*coff coff* I like the 6th...*coff coff*
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Now I'm not as big a fan of the 6th. It's just so..... nice. :klingon:
 
Othello said:
I HIGHLY suggest the Time Life Classical Thunder three disk collection. Samples for first two dicks on page I link to.

http://www.amazon.com/Time-Life-Presents-Classical-Thunder/dp/B00081U6XC

Has a TON of great classical pieces that you hear regularly on TV shows, movies, commercials, etc.

Stuff like In The Hall of the Mountain King, Circus Maximus, Ride of the Valkyries, William tell Overture, O Fortuna and more!!
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I am not clicking on this link if it's going to show me dicks. Sorry, not my cup of tea.:shifty:


:guffaw:

Might I suggest Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
 
Certainly, Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. And while its a pop derivative, Joy by Apollo 100.
 
I'd recommend Mozart 40 and Piano Concerto No. 20 as some familiar pieces with good "hooks" that have acquired popular culture appeal. I also think that Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler might have some similar offerings.
 
Gabriel Faure's Pavane is a piece that has been following me for over a decade now, and it is a BEAUTIFUL piece.

While we're mentioning Mike Oldfield, I'd like to suggest his album "Voyager." It was my first official introduction to Oldfield, and it is AMAZING!

Joy
 
Ralph Vaughan Williams -- Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, Fantasia on Greensleeves, The Lark Ascending, Sinfonia Antartica, Songs of Travel, and many others. One of the famous "Cow Pat" school of composers.

Gustav Mahler -- Symphony No 1, 5 and 7, Das Lied von der Erde, Kindertotenlieder, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- Requiem Mass, Symphonies No. 13 and 41.

John Adams -- Shaker Loops, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Tromba Lontana, The Chairman Dances, The People Are the Heroes Now.

Philip Glass -- Hymn to the Sun, Evening Song, Window of Appearances, Metamorphosis, Protest, Koyaanisqatsi.

ETA:
Ravel -- String Quartet in F -- much better than that Bolero bollocks.
Britten -- Playful Pizzicato.
Satie -- Gnossiennes, Gymnopédies, La Belle Excentrique, Croquis Et Agaceries D'Un Gros Bonhomme En Bois.
 
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Tim said:
I'd recommend Mozart 40 and Piano Concerto No. 20 as some familiar pieces with good "hooks" that have acquired popular culture appeal. I also think that Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler might have some similar offerings.
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I'd definitely recommend Richard Strauss if you're even a casual fan of the film scores of John Williams. Listen to R Strauss's Tod und Verkälrung and try not to think of Williams's score for Superman: The Movie. ;) :p :)

Joy said:
Gabriel Faure's Pavane is a piece that has been following me for over a decade now, and it is a BEAUTIFUL piece.
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This too. I'd also recommend Faure's famous Requiem - not as overly dramatic as those offered by Verdi and Mozart, but powerful nevertheless - and his Cantique de Jean Racine (it was featured in the film Babe).


To be perfectly honest, for these sorts of threads, I pretty much recommend the whole soundtrack to Sid Meier's Civilization IV. From Allegri's Miserere to a whole host of works by John Adams (including The Chairman Dances and The People Are The Heroes Now), via Dvorak's Slavonic Dances and 9th symphony, JS Bach's Cello Suite and Brandenberg Concerto music, Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherezade and various other works by Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven, it's stirring stuff. :bolian:
 
Zion Ravescene said:
To be perfectly honest, for these sorts of threads, I pretty much recommend the whole soundtrack to Sid Meier's Civilization IV. From Allegri's Miserere to a whole host of works by John Adams (including The Chairman Dances and The People Are The Heroes Now), via Dvorak's Slavonic Dances and 9th symphony, JS Bach's Cello Suite and Brandenberg Concerto music, Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherezade and various other works by Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven, it's stirring stuff. :bolian:
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Ain't that the truth -- you can rip the mp3 tracks directly from the installed software. As the complete edition of Civ 4 for the PC is available for £10 from play.com, it's worth it for the several hours of music even if you never play the game.
 
I'm a sucker for piano works, since they tend to have lots of hooks. Beethoven's PC 5 'Emperor'; Grieg's of course; Tchaik PC 1 is perhaps the definitive hook music of all time and Rach PC 2 if you're trying to romance a ladeee. Just about anything Chopin writes and Prokov PC 3 if you like something spiky and thrilling.

I could go on but I can see some of you nodding off at the back.
 
As a rock/hard rock/metal fan, I always liked classical music, but never went to great lengths to listen to it. Tuned it in a few times when I had Sirius, and even fewer times in the years before that.

I have become a huge fan of symphonic metal the last couple years. The different bands (many Finnish and other Nordic) vary as to how much of these symphonic elements are in the music.

Lots of strong hooks (to me, anyway). Some choral, some instrumental.
 
I'd recommend Beethoven's Piano Sonata #21 in C ("Waldstein"), as it's loaded with great energy and "hooks." If you can find a tiny bit of patience for a longer work, Sibelius's 2nd symphony is absolutely magical, especially the final movement. There is a certain amount of complex development going on, but the underlying motifs are really simple and accessible, IMO.
 
That ending is as rousing as anything Wagner wrote. The Barbirolli/Hallé recording is the definitive one IMO.

Sibelius 2 I'm talking about.
 
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Another vote for Faure's Pavane, Cantique de Jean Racine, and Reqiuem.

Vaughn Williams' Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis and Fantasia on Greensleeves are among my favorite works.

Also: Fanfare for the Common Man- Aaron Copeland; Adagio for Strings- Barber; and Pavane for a Dead Princess, Ravel.
 
Holst's Mars: The Bringer of War, Saint-Saen's Danse macabre, Bacchanale, and Rachmaninov's Prelude in C Sharp Minor are some titles off the top of my head which may be considered to have 'hooks' and quite accessible to fans of cinematic music and so on.
 
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