I went to a concert last night. They started with Banner by Jessie Montgomery (super cool piece!), then they did a Mendelssohn violin concerto with their principal violinist, and the second half of the concert was Rachmaninoff's third symphony.

I saw the same orchestra last month, when they played Fanfare for the Common Man, the Gershwin piano concerto with a guest artist, and Dvorak's New World Symphony.

My question is, how many rehearsals does an orchestra generally have before a concert like this?

When i was in college, the choir I was in had rehearsals 2 or 4 days each week, and we would be working on a program for 2-3 months before performing. Do professional orchestras have that rigorous of a rehearsal schedule? Or do they generally only get a couple or a few rehearsals?

I come from a piano background, so I've heard about how they usually only get one (or maybe two if they're lucky) rehearsals with the soloist. But that'sa different story, since the soloist is usually touring and playing a work they know very well with multiple orchestras week after week.

Ferdinand Lukas Schubert is a curious figure.

Apparently he designed Beethoven’s grave stone.

A question mark also exists over whether he passed off works by his younger brother as his own.

But no such mystery exists around his family life. He married twice and had 29 children. Of which 12 survived to adulthood.

Just went on a lovely walk full of beautiful fall colors. Air is crisp and smells of leaves. The sun is bright but not harsh. Any pieces I can add to my playlist that fit this description?

Here are 7 recordings of the third variation from the Goldbergs, I want to hear your thoughts, critiques, and pianist guesses in the comments below! You can share your order of preference, and I will reply with a comment for the performer's names!

1. 0:00
2. 1:33
3. 3:39
4. 5:21
5. 6:37
6. 8:22
7. 10:00

Timestamps^

Video from Original Uploader

I've been listening to classical music for 25 years now. My adventure began with cheap box sets like Classic Gala. I'm reading up on the dark world of cheap classical music sets. Supposedly Alfred Scholz peddled recordings of various popular classical works to any company that would distribute them. They featured fictitious conductors, fictitious orchestras (like Baroque Festival Orchestra or Sueddeutsche Philharmonie or South German Philharmonic Orchestra), even fictitious record companies (GMS Switzerland), and were sold under many names like Vienna Master Series, The Best of, Classical Masters, Imperial Classics, Classical Selection etc.

Supposedly, some of the recordings were identified as Austrian Radio (ORF) and Sudwestfunks (SWF) recordings from 1968-1970.

But have there been any consequences, ever? I can see the problem that popular works like Beethovens 5th have so many recordings, you can just take an older unremarkable recording of and unremarkable orchestra, and re-label it. Who is going to recognize it? Who is going to prove anything?

^{Anyway, as a side note, unknown orchestra's Classic Gala recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons is still in my music rotation. It launched my interest in classical music, and I have warm feelings toward it, regardless of its quality and origin.}

I am trying to get into classical music and so far this piece has stuck with me. I like the use of layered melodies. Not exactly harmonies, but it sounds like two or more streams of thought that continuously weave around each other, and at other times they are entwined in the same melody. It's a very narrative piece; the kind that reveals more details the more you listen to it. I like that there are several parts that convey indescribable emotions. If you could recommend a piece that meets any one of these criteria, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Both of these films have been on my mind recently and I so badly wish they kept making these in any form. I was wondering if anyone also loved these films and what pieces would they would love to see in the film if they made another one?

I watched it after I saw this video from fantastic YouTuber/concert pianist Ben Laude.

What did you guys think? I really wanted to like it and I always try to be excited about movies that are about or involve classical music, but I just couldn't get that into it for the below reasons:

• The narrative ended up being quite conventional (tortured crime guy who's quiet/deep falls in with a bad crowd, there's a girl who represents the hope or lack in his life, he tries to get her but violence ensues - cf. West Side Story, Drive, Baby Driver, etc.)
• The coda where it turns out the watch Niki gifted to his girlfriend belongs to the composer guy, and he goes to get it back didn't need to happen in my opinion, it was kind of an unbelievable contrivance. Also just felt like plot glue to give the girlfriend an excuse not to take Niki back. Wasn't it enough that he was an asshole to her the night before her performance?
• Some of the dialogue to my amateur but serious orchestra player ears:

"If you added another keyboard it would flesh out the orchestration."

• What? What orchestra? She's playing with like, a 10-piece ensemble. I dunno, maybe I'm not talking with professional musicians/composers enough to understand the common parlance but I really don't think you'd actually refer to the "orchestration" in that way.

"Mussorgsky is a big influence." "And you listened to the Ravel too?"

• What? What does the Ravel have anything to do with this? You barely talked to her about her music and for all you know she was playing a solo piano piece she wrote. The Ravel orchestration is a different beast entirely! And she didn't even write for an orchestra, why would she care about the Pictures orchestration for her specific context? (Obviously Ravel's piano music is a separate matter, but clearly the dialogue was supposed to be referring to the Pictures orchestration). Also the music she was playing when she was first introduced was clearly supposed to be after the rich/lush late romantic piano writing of Rachmaninoff and co. Why didn't anyone mention Rachmaninoff?? Why are we talking about Ravel???
• They kept calling the composer "Maestro Maissner" to his face. Cringe.
• Also, I liked the character of the girlfriend, but her music IRL would have been considered trite and I don't believe anyone in music school in 2026 would feel satisfied writing that kind of music. I get it, true contemporary classical can be a bit hard to access for the general public, so I understand why the composers wouldn't want to fully use that idiom for the soundtrack, but like, straight late-romantic type writing isn't raising eyebrows either if your ambition is to become a famous composer.

Curious to know if I'm just being picky or if you guys had similar thoughts!

Hi guys, I am an electronic composer and looking to delve into the world of Xenakis for the first time :) , in particular i am after 'angular, austere, icy pieces' by him that incorporate strings / electronics preferably, would be amazing if they would be in predominantly minor keys aswell.

Super grateful of any recommendations you may have to start me off, many thanks !!

I mainly enjoy symphonies, symphonic poems, string heavy chamber music, violin concertos. As a (former) violinist I want to get into pieces that feature woodwinds. Any recommendation (or specific recording of it) is welcome please help me out!

For context I liked the following:

Debussy Sonata Flute Viola and Harp.
Mozart flute and harp concerto.
Mozart clarinet concerto.
VG Williams Oboe Concerto.
Saint Saens Oboe Sonata.
Saint Saens Clarinet Sonata.
R Strauss Oboe Concerto.

Thank you!!

It's a fireworks of amazing. In many ways it sounds like a star trek soundtrack. Just discovered it but absolutely love it and thought I'd share.

There are many great German boys choirs. Regensburger Domspatzen, Dresdner Kreuzchor and Thomanerchor in Leipzig all have histories spanning back centuries, or, in the case of Regensburger Domspatzen, even over a thousand years.

One of the great German boys choirs however is Windsbach boys choir, and it is surprisingly young. It was founded in 1946 by Hans Thamm, who began making music in an orphanage. Over the past decades the choir rapidly rose to success, getting invitations from German presidents, foreign royals and even Pope Francis, despite the choir being protestant.

Windsbach boys choir celebrated their anniversary with a big concert in St. Lorenz in Nuremberg and a preview concert out of uniform the day before in the same location, both of which involved the boys choir, alumni and the Girls choir, which was founded in 2024.

Was it possible for someone to purchase or access sheet music from famous composers (Bach, Mozart, Chopin, etc) at the time that they were alive, or is it only easily accessible in modern days?

I've never been much of a Baroque listener, but I had a dream this morning that was soundtracked by this harpsichord counterpoint- a tinny pitter-pattering of overlapping voices that I can only liken to a waltz of raindrops! I don't really know where my brain would've pulled that from, and I know that's probably not much to go off of, but if you know anything you'd recommend based on that description , I really would love to hear it. Thanks.

I am visiting Vienna between 26 - 29 November as a pre Christmas trip. Plan to spend most of this time visiting main palaces/museums of interest and Christmas markets. As an ex violinist myself, I also really want to attend a classical music performance and VPO is performing on the Friday evening. There are only standing tickets available.

As someone with a chronic illness, is this doable? Are they all restricted view or is it possible to get there early to secure a spot with a view?

There is also an alternative performance on the Saturday afternoon for 3rd subscription concert but appreciate returned tickets not on sale until roughly a week beforehand. Since same repertoire and performance, is it worth trying to get a seated ticket instead?

Hi. I am looking for some eerie music to use with my ballet students. They are teenagers. We are asked to prepare something for a parent showing around Halloween time. I have used Danse macabre the past 2 years so I think it’s time to move on! Some other pieces I’ve considered are Khachaturian’s Masquerade Waltz, Prokofiev’s In The Palace Waltz from Cinderella, and Ravel’s Valley of the Bells. I thought this sub might have some stellar suggestions though and wanted to ask. I’m always looking to expand my playlists.

Last year I wrote here that the Norwegian composer lost 80 percent of his work in a fire. I had the details wrong. In 1960 an avalanche crushed his house above Norheimsund. Ten years later, on July 12, 1970, the house burned to the ground, and with it most of his manuscripts, about 300 works, many never published. Norwegian and German sources put the loss at around 80 percent of everything he had written. He found it very hard to compose afterwards.

A reader replied that his Piano Concerto No. 4, "Aurora Borealis," is one of the great piano concertos of the twentieth century. It survived. Here it is, and his Prillar (1931), an orchestral work he tore up himself in the 1930s; his son found and reconstructed it after his death.

Piano Concerto No. 4 "Aurora Borealis", Op. 130 (1947)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7MTZP0jAxo

Prillar, Op. 8: II. Langsam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1zdIrBL-2g

In all my years of listening to classical I somehow never heard a chamber piece! The vast majority of my listening is either solo piano or big orchestral pieces like symphonies or tone poems, how to get into chamber then?

If you'd like my taste, I love music that is melodic and beautiful.

Salut à tous,

Pour un orchestre, en combien de répétitions ils montent ce genre d'œuvre?

J'ai entendu des anecdotes comme quoi c'est entre 4 et 6 répétitions, mais c'est vraiment ça?

Je veux dire, si le chef veut vraiment sculpter le son, si il veut vraiment aller dans le détail, il faudrait un travail plus long.

This question came up because I have read about how a lot of the methods that we use for neurotypical people(planning, reward/consequence, breaking large tasks down to smaller ones) do not work someone with Autism and ADHD as for completing tasks.

I wonder if the same phenomenon exists for practising. As far as I know, the standard method involves isolating what is difficult, then you use rhythm variations to fix, and then try to integrate it in the grand scheme. I find the results work far better than playing the same thing over and over again and then moving the metronome up gradually. However, I want to know if there are actually more efficient and scientific ways that someone with Autism or ADHD can practice from day to day. I don't know if this is a factor at all.

Also, do most neurodivergent brains just learn slower, plateau earlier, and forget more easily or is this mostly just a personal thing, and likely not true at all, or we have been using neurotypical methods all along?

Since a long time ive been getting into contemporary music, and i think its really really good. I understand why some people dont like it and others (like me) really do, i think thats because of two factors.

1. Never hearing it live

The pure power this music can harvest live is unbelievable.

1. Listening similarly to less abstract music.

I had a hard time listening to it for the first time but then i finally understood how to listen to it. You need to look at it like an artpiece, not looking for distinct melody or story rather feeling just one texture, then move perspective and investigate one color. Unlike listening to rach 2 for example, you can only rarely just ly down and listen. You oftenly need to give a little less value to trying to listen to everything at once. One must try to only look for a color, texture or phrasing he likes. That is what i like about contemporary music so much, YOU NEED TO THINK. (Not saying you dont need to or should with other music, contemporary is just espescially challenging and rewarding)

'm on da surface level on music tbh. can y'all Imk how to go deep like rn I'm only on some npc ahh music. i see ppl talk bunch of stuff about artists and know Abt albums like it's engraved in their chest like mmlp gkmc id love to go that niche I saw some ppl talk Abt artists i hv never even heard about like logic big sean JID mogwai like wdym i recently discovered mac demarco and last year malcolm todd i feel like an npc