help: classical p i a n o. or symphonies?
 

i asked more or less the same question last year and got loads of replies and suggestions, alot of which turned out to be very good, but i didnt actualy find what i came for.
so i think i can explain a little better now using examples rahter than just adjectives.
i was trying to find dark, powerfull piano music. i was thinking classical and probly sonatas. a very dark haunting quality.
id say beethovens moonlight sonata (no14 in c sharp minor, the really famous slow one) ... thats a good indicator of the kind of thing im thinking of.
also,
anyone whos into classical symphonies: are there any really good ones that are more repetative?
any with less horrible french hornes?
any suggestions for some really terrifying ones like beethovens 9th?
i just cant handle music that has truly amazing bits that are played once and then never repeated. so many ideas in symphonies and before you can take it in its moved on, never to return.
i like to dwell on the amazing bits.

any kind people wanna throw some ideas at me, please do. ive been sifting thru so much and im such a fussy cunt. ive found some good things on the way, but im tired now. i need help.

I've noticed that as well. Quite depressing.

The different forms used in classical symphonies are defined by repetition, particularly sonata form, so I'm not really sure what you all are getting at. But here are some of my faves that you can't go wrong with:

Haydn No. 92
Mozart No. 39
Beethoven No. 2
Schumann No. 1
Brahms No. 4

For stuff that's more repetitive on the surface, and I guess that's what you're getting at, you're going to have to look at the 20th century. Maybe something like Prokofiev's 2nd or the 3rd movement of Shostakovich's 8th. For terrifying like Beethoven's 9th, you should look for some Bruckner or Mahler.

Dark, powerful piano music. Uh, I don't know, Scriabin? What's wrong with joyful, prance-around music?

Speaking of Rhys Chatham, his Die Donnergotter is pretty cool. And it's repetitive. Not a symphony though. If you really want repetitive, why not listen to some Steve Reich?

"Dark, powerful piano music" -> Alfred Schnittke's sonatas.

I just remembered!
Steve reich.

most have recurring motifs??? and why the distaste for the horns, i love that instrument

For terrifying like Beethoven's 9th, you should look for some Bruckner or Mahler.

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and all of holst 's the planets, wagners ring cycles are brilliant but you have to listen to opera singing which isnt for everyone... feeney's dracula and more dunrken ramblingssss

Beethoven: n°17 "The tempest" and n°23 "Appassionata". He surely has plenty of other sonatas worth checking out.

As for the symphonies: Beethoven's third and seventh have dark and haunting themes. I also second the Mahler suggestion.

mahler's 5th

bartok's symphonies are extremely haunting, almost dissonant.
chopin's nocturnes are melancholy and beautiful and contain plenty of repitition. also his ballades, especially the G minor one.
perhaps you could explore some more beethoven piano sonatas... the Pathétique's middle movement is an obvious example of a powerful, slow piece, but also very uplifting, it has a hymm like quality to it. there are also less obvious ones, for example no. 27 opus 90 in e minor. it only has 2 movements and the first sounds mysterious due to an unusual time signature. the last movement is a rondo in a major key therefore contains plenty of repitition...

you can't go wrong with much of Liszt's piano work. (the Mephisto Waltzes maybe?) he mainly wrote in minor keys.
same with Chopin.
same with Rachmaninoff as well.

the last Beethoven Piano Sonata is pretty dark and powerful,
definitely one of his best.
check out all his piano sonatas.

also, listen to Chopin's Prelude No. 24 in D Minor
talk about powerful and evil.
when anyone strikes that second to lowest D on the piano
it's a signifier of death.
hardcore.

I have a worrying obsession with this man... well, his music at least. Schnittke is probably my favourite 20th century composer of the moment.

Can I stick a reccommendation for Lutoslawski [sp?] to whom I've also been listening to a lot? Thanks.

Not related to the first post, but Bartok's string quartets come highly recommended.

cheers everyone.
i will be checkin these out soon as i get time.