5 recordings that have affected you musically

The other day I was listening to an awesome composer (Paul Dresher) talk to me and my peers about awesome composery stuff, when he mentioned 2 recordings that really affected him. (In C and then Indian Classical Music)

This gave me the idea to ask you guys this question

5 recordings that have affected you musically, name them:

in this order for myself:

Philip Glass - Glassworks (original recording) particularly opening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDN8NzIGz-Y

Gabriel Faure - Piano Quartet No.1 (Quatuor Yasye and Pascal Roge)

Ravel - Piano Concerto in G (Argerich)

Jonathan Newman - Vivid Geography

http://www.jonathannewman.com/music.php?id=042

John Adams - Shaker Loops (San Francisco Symphony

I look forward to seeing what recordings have influenced you guys too!

Kenny Wheeler - Music For Large And Small Ensembles

Charles Mingus - Ah Um

that's pretty funky if I do say so myself (also, I'm liking your album, though I'm too cheap to buy albums right now :( )

Very interesting topic

Well, here's my list:

Bruckner's 7^th Symphony

Dvorak's 9^th Symphony

Bach's Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543

Brahms's 3^rd Symphony

"Caccini's 'Ave Maria'" by Vladimir Vavilov

If you don't mind, I moved this to Composers HQ since it certainly is musically relevant and not OT.

My recordings, in order:

Mahler: Symphony No. 3, Philharmonia Orchestra with Ben Zander.

It was the first Mahler album that I really got in to and really solidified my adoring love of the composer. Zander's commentary was also very helpful for a fledgling composer to understand what was going on internally within the piece. Not to mention, the performance itself is rather stellar.

Bach: Goldberg Variations, Glen Gould - Zenph Re-Performance Edition

This recording made me fall in love with Bach, more-so from an intellectual level, but still made me understand exactly what Bach was trying to do. Also, the pristine clarity of the re-performance is very good and I think better than the original recording.

Tchaikovsky: The Symphonies, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta

This great set includes almost all of Tchaikovsky's major concert orchestral works. The performances of the Symphonies are some of the best I've heard (esp. the 2nd, 4th, and 6th) and Mehta gets a great deal of passion out of them. They really brought Tchaikovsky to the level of my second favorite composer.

Beethoven: The Symphonies, Berlin Philharmonic - Herbert von Karajan

This box set is probably the finest recordings of the Beethoven symphonies ever recorded (with Harnoncourt's a close second). They really gave me a new eye to what Beethoven's music was all about.

Handel: Messiah, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham, arr. Goosens

This over-romanticized arrangement of Handel's Messiah is truly divine. Certain movements are far better in their over-done versions than their Baroque counterparts, and some aren't. But what I love about this recording is the absolute passion coming from the singers, especially tenor Jon Vickers. It is still my favorite recording of Messiah even though there are some very good Baroque-style ones (like Gardiner, who does everything amazing).

BONUS:

Mahler: 10 Symphonien, Leonard Bernstein with New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Concertgebouw

I couldn't leave this one out. It is probably the best compilation of Mahler recordings out there. Some of my favorite recordings of Mahler are on here and they really shaped my view of Mahler years ago.

Karajan's Beety symphonies are my favorite! :D Nice pick!

It's great seeing the differences that everyone has!

Here's mine. Sorry there's no fancy pictures to go with them. :P

Gustav Holst: The planets

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

ThomasTallis: Spem in Alium

Tomas Luis de Victoria: Requiem

Henryk Gorecki: Symphony number 3 (a symphony of sorrowful songs)

Runner up:

Arvo Part: Cantus in memoriam of Benjamin Britten

Tallis makes me SHIVER when I hear the 40 billion voice motet. haha. So. Many. Choral. Parts.

Tallis makes me SHIVER when I hear the 40 billion voice motet. haha. So. Many. Choral. Parts.

Yeah, it totally blew my mind away when I first learned about it. Made my 4 part voice leading (that I was proud of at the time) seem very insignifigant...

I just found Tallis as well. FML I WILL NEVER BE THAT GOOD :'(

Glen Gould J.S.Bach. "Two and Three Part Inventions "

J.S.Bach cello suites, Pablo Casals

Antonis Ntalgas : "Songs from Asia minor"

Skip james : "The complete early recordings"

Charles Mingus ; "Blues and Roots"

Sir Wik's Top Five!!!

5) Earth Wind and Fire, Gratitude

4) Earth Wind and Fire, All n All

3) Quincy Jones, The Wiz

2) Michael Jackson, Thriller

1) Quincy Jones, "Sounds and Stuff Like That"

1)

You're so black!

(That's a good thing.)

more than 5 but this one, these bells here:

Shosty, Sym11, Rostropovich

How could I have left out MJ??!!

You're so black!

(That's a good thing.)

HAHAH!! I was wondering if someone was going to say something! But hey, it's true! They influenced me the most!

(*user reads bible; repents for jealousy!)

1 - Glenn Gould: Well Tempered Clavier Book I (J.S. Bach)

2 - Cziffra: Mephisto Vals (Liszt)

3 - Pinnock: 39 symphony (Mozart)

4 - Argerich: Piano concerto no. 3 (Rachmaninoff)

5 - Madge: Opus Clavicembalisticum (Sorabji)

Jeremy Soule - Sunrise of Flutes

One of the greatest flute melodies ever written! This piece never fails to evoke a sense of relaxation in me.

Paul Anthony Romero - Valhalla

An excellent display of the triumph and majesty that can come out of a melancholic melody.

Paul Anthony Romero - The Last Battle

Amazing use of the progressive building of tension to a dynamic climax

James Horner - Heritage of the Wolf

This piece has an element of nostalgia to it for me because I remember hearing it along with the animated film Balto. It remains as one of the most special pieces of music to me - it contains the entire range of human emotion, from fear and desperation to triumph and happiness.

Ennio Morricone - State of Grace

One comment on the video for this piece is "It sounds like something is breaking my heart," and that's a perfect description of what it sounds like. The contrast of the flute playing major scale notes with the minor scaled saxophone mirrors the protagonist's conflict of his fantasy of how things will be with the way things actually are.