When you first start exploring classical music, there's a pretty well-established path to tread: Beethoven. Bach. Tchaikovsky. Chopin. (You get the idea.) But once you fall in love with that very core repertoire, it can be daunting to map out the next steps on your journey. One way is to look for other music written by the same composer; another is to seek out music by composers of the same era, or same nationality. But sometimes, making even more surprising leaps can result in marvelous rewards. Here are some suggestions as you make your way through the classical music soundscape.
If you like Gregorian chant, then try Arvo Part's Da Pacem Domine. The music of Estonian composer Part reveals an aesthetic that is in many ways closer to the ancient than to the modern, although he was born in 1935; the a cappella vocal style that he cultivates is ethereal and utterly transporting, and but at the same time Part has a sophistication and nuance than some other contemporary choral composers totally miss. By any century's marker, the devotion and beauty of Part's music is present--and unmissable.
If you like Handel's Water Music, then try Corelli's Concerti grossi, Op. 6. The music of Arcangelo Corelli was a great model for Handel's own music; as one of the early masters of the modern violin in the form we know it today, Corelli brought an exceptional grace and nuance to his writing for string instruments. In addition, both Vivaldi and Bach were admirers of Corelli, and studied his work closely. Furthermore, not only are these pieces charming in their own right, recent medical research shows that they're good for your mental health.
If you like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, then try Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. That might sound like a strange leap, but this ballet, first written in 1919-1920 and then revised in 1965, is from the composer’s “neoclassical” period, and is indeed modeled after Baroque sources that were once attributed to Pergolesi (though later research proved that this was not so). In any case, this highly witty, and yet extremely listenable, piece has become a modern classic.
If you like Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, try his String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131. Admittedly, this string quartet unfolds on a far more intimate scale than the Fifth Symphony, in all its sweeping grandeur, but the questions Beethoven poses--and the affirmations he makes--in this piece are among the most profound gestures in all of classical music, and well familiar to anyone who finds meaning in the Symphony No. 5. (And if you're new to string quartets as a form, this piece alone may well hook you for life.)
If you like Copland's Rodeo, then try Korngold's Violin Concerto. If you like the sound of Copland's orchestral writing, it would be a shame to miss Korngold's lush textures, or the jaunty, "all-American" wholesomeness of the concerto's finale that strongly brings Rodeo to mind. Korngold, born to a Jewish family in Brno (now in the Czech Republic), arrived in Hollywood in 1934, and went on to become one of the great film score composers of the 20th century; he wrote the music for such classics as "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "The Sea Hawk."
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
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