{"id":47666,"date":"2024-09-18T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/0600531f-f255-46fe-880b-ba82604a527d"},"modified":"2024-09-18T12:07:16","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T10:07:16","slug":"which-piece-got-you-hooked-on-classical-music-from-bach-to-gershwin-here-are-27-inspiring-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/which-piece-got-you-hooked-on-classical-music-from-bach-to-gershwin-here-are-27-inspiring-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"Which piece got you hooked on classical music? From Bach to Gershwin, here are 27 inspiring suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 18 September 2024 at 09:00 AM<\/p>

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Back in 2014, we asked BBC Music Magazine<\/em> readers to tell us about their own experiences of the pieces that first inspired them to listen to classical music. Here are some of the many responses we had.<\/strong><\/p>

The overture from Rossini<\/a>‘s William Tell<\/em><\/strong> is the ideal piece for introducing people to classical music. It is the ultimate programmatic music and if you explain to the listener what is going on, the whole thing can be visualised instantly – endless fun! Yiannis Katsaounis, Athens<\/em><\/p>

I remember sitting in the hall at school and the teacher put on ‘Mars’ from Holst<\/a><\/strong>‘s The Planets<\/strong><\/em> and I was immediately grabbed by the tension and building excitement. That began the exploration of a world of magic. Mike Jackson<\/em><\/p>

The Planets<\/em>: a guide to this cosmic work and its best recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
<\/div><\/figure>When I was a child our music teacher played us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\">Beethoven<\/a>‘s \u2018Moonlight\u2019 Sonata<\/strong> on the piano and I was absolutely entranced. I have loved classical music ever since. Margaret Miller Smith<\/em><\/p>As a young boy I was captivated by Beethoven’s ‘Egmont’ Overture<\/strong> and the ‘Pastoral’ Symphony<\/strong>. The Egmont had a special meaning for me as a Flemish boy who learnt about the Spanish occupation during which the Duke of Alva had the counts of Egmont and Hoorn decapitated. The ‘Pastoral’ Symphony was something my Dad bought when we lived in Bujumbura, on the shores of the Tanganyika Lake in Africa. Luc Colpaert<\/em><\/p><h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The music that sticks in my memory is the beautiful and haunting plainchant we sang in my school choir some 65 years ago. Perhaps as church choirs diminish, there is a case for reviving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/plainchant\">plainchant<\/a><\/strong> as simple music to be sung in schools and churches. George Russel<\/em><\/h5>There were two compositions that inspired me to a love of classical music: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/franz-liszt\">Liszt<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Les Preludes<\/em><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/tchaikovsky\">Tchaikovsky<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s First Piano Concerto<\/strong>, played by Van Cliburn. cdbloomerphd<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/who-invented-the-piano-recital\">A thousand wild concerts: how Liszt invented the piano recital and became a 19th-century pin-up<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Les Pr\u00e9ludes (Franz Liszt) Daniel Barenboim mit Berlin Philharmoniker - Staatsoper Berlin (1998)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jb2bkVQwtBs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure>When I went to study Economics at the University of Athens and joined the University Choir, my life changed. We sang classical music – often masses by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/joseph-haydn\">Haydn<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/charles-gounod\">Gounod<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/mozart\">Mozart<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/gabriel-faure\/\">Faur\u00e9<\/strong><\/a>. A whole new world opened for me. Vassili Louziotis, Athens<\/em><\/p>My youngest daughter asked me if I knew of a piece of music with a funny name by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/nikolay-rimsky-korsakov\">Rimsky-Korsakov<\/strong><\/a>. Her Turkish husband had heard it on his car radio and it reminded him of music from his home country. Guessing it to be Scheherazade<\/em><\/strong>, I played my BBC Music Magazine<\/em> copy of it for her. Yes \u2013 that was it! I told her that this piece of music was responsible for fifty years of me being totally passionate about classical music. Terry Brace<\/em><\/p><h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Without doubt: the Overture to Rossini<\/strong>\u2019s The Thieving Magpie<\/em><\/strong>. Alf Fortnam<\/em><\/h5>When I was six or seven years old, I discovered a portable record player at the back of a cupboard with two old 78s beside it. One completely captivated me and I played it endlessly \u2013 it was the original Paul Whiteman Orchestra playing Rhapsody in Blue<\/em><\/strong> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/george-gershwin\">Gershwin<\/strong><\/a> himself on the piano. David Wilson, Isle of Lewis<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/rhapsody-in-blue\">Rhapsody in Blue<\/em>: 100 years of Gershwin’s jazz-classical marvel – and the 5 great recordings you need<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>When I was around ten years old, the only classical music I heard was the Lone Ranger<\/em> theme. Then one day my mum found three albums that she thought I might enjoy. I listened to Mozart\u2019s Symphony No. 41<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/johann-sebastian-bach\">Bach<\/a>\u2019s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2<\/strong> and \u2013 my favourite \u2013 Beethoven\u2019s Symphony No. 3<\/strong>. That is when I got hooked on classical music. Courtney Morrow,<\/em> Connecticut<\/em><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 | Claudio Abbado & the Orchestra Mozart\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VC24gV1o7XQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I was a teenager at the end of the war so all we had was an occasional symphony concert \u2013 I saw the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.halle.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hall\u00e9 Orchestra<\/a><\/strong> playing Beethoven\u2019s \u2018Eroica\u2019 Symphony<\/strong> and it was just wonderful. Arthur Kay<\/em><\/h5>When I was eight, my parents took me to hear my violin teacher playing the ‘American’ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/string-quartet\">String Quartet<\/a> Op. 96<\/strong>, by Anton\u00edn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/antonin-dvorak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/a><\/strong>. It was hugely inspiring to me. Rod Fisher, Huntingdon<\/em><\/p>When my father bought me a tape recorder I recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/johannes-brahms\">Brahms<\/a>\u2019s Second Symphony<\/strong> just to try it out. It was a thrill to hear \u2013 few finales are as exciting \u2013 and that encounter has led to my having practically all of his music on disc and digitally. Bernard Fields<\/em><\/p>I remember my mother opening our French windows so wide that, from our wind-up gramophone, the strains of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/edvard-grieg\">Grieg<\/a><\/strong>‘s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ could be heard in the garden where I was dancing on the lawn. I still love that piece \u2013 and I\u2019m over seventy now! Norah Sinclair<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/five-essential-works-grieg\">Best of Grieg: five essential works<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>When I was in primary school there used to be music playing each morning as we went into assembly. Two pieces were essential listening as far as I was concerned: the Trumpet Voluntary<\/em><\/strong> by Jeremiah Clarke<\/strong> and the Hebrides Overture<\/strong> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/topic\/felix-mendelssohn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Felix Mendelssohn<\/strong><\/a>. Alan Green<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/instruments\/best-trumpet-music\">Best trumpet music: classical music’s finest works for trumpet<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mendelssohn - Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) (Abbado)\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zcogD-hHEYs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure>I was moved and inspired to listen to classical music by two pieces. When I was nine I heard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/jean-sibelius\">Sibelius<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Finlandia<\/em><\/strong> for the first time and, shortly afterwards, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/edward-elgar\">Elgar<\/a>\u2019s<\/strong> Enigma Variations<\/strong><\/em>. Coming, as I did, from a non-musical family it was by pure chance that I heard these two works and now, 70 years on, I am an avid listener and student of the keyboard. John Bird<\/em><\/p><h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For me two pieces stand out: The Mikado<\/em><\/strong> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-gilbert-and-sullivan-operettas\">Gilbert and Sullivan<\/a><\/strong> and Grieg\u2019s Piano Concerto, first heard live from the proms in my early teens. Michael de Grey<\/em><\/h5>When I was at junior school our headmaster played us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/jules-massenet\">Massenet<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s \u2018Meditation\u2019 from Tha\u00efs<\/em><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/camille-saint-saens\">Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Carnival of the Animals<\/em><\/strong>. When I became a teacher myself, I often played the ‘Entry of the Toreadors’<\/strong> from Carmen<\/em><\/strong>. I always asked the children to tell me what they thought it was about and the most usual response was that it was circus music. Barbara Pickering<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/bizet-carmen-what-listen-next\">Love Bizet’s Carmen<\/em>? Try these six works next…<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>I grew up in a home where classical music was always playing. The were three pieces that made a big impression on me early on. First of all was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-vaughan-williamss-symphony-no-5\">Fifth Symphony<\/a><\/strong> (the first movement in particular) by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ralph-vaughan-williams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vaughan Williams<\/strong><\/a>‘. Following that were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/gustav-mahler\">Mahler<\/strong><\/a>‘s Symphony No. 2<\/strong> (again, the first movement) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/hector-berlioz\">Berlioz<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Symphonie Fantastique<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 I was thrilled by the depiction of a beheading in a piece of classical music! Ken Ogilvie, USA<\/em><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/which-is-the-best-mahler-symphony\">Which is the best Mahler symphony?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/which-is-the-best-vaughan-williams-symphony\">Ranked: all nine Vaughan Williams symphonies<\/a><\/strong> <\/li><\/ul>My father didn’t have a large classical music collection, but it did include Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/strong>‘ Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso<\/em><\/strong>. This piece has so much energy that it is difficult not to be inspired by it. Felipe Mellado, Mexico<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Published: Wednesday, 18 September 2024 at 09:00 AM Back in 2014, we asked BBC Music Magazine readers to tell us about their own experiences of the pieces that first inspired them to listen to classical music. Here are some of the many responses we had. 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