>>48
What you recommend someone new to classical music to start with?

>>51
Depends on what specifically appeals to you. What got me into it were Bach's organ compositions, which I started listening to due to my love for said instrument.
What ill recommend is listening to some of the greats and seeing whose style you like best, as far as genres go you cant go wrong with Concertos and Sonatas, listen to pieces in those genres composed for instruments you like. If you don't have a specific preference id recommend listening to some piano works in said genres due to how much there's been composed for it.

Biggest thing ill recommend is: Don't worry too much about listening to the "essentials". Listen to the music that specifically interests you. Also I wouldn't recommend listening to playlists of classical music as one important thing is familiarizing yourself with the composers style, and playlists kind of go counter to that and treat it like background music, which some of it CAN be, but 99% of it requires at least some level of attentive listening to be fully enjoyed.

>>63
>>51
Forgot to mention, make sure to find good players when you listen to solo instrument works
For keyboardists my favorites are
Andras Schiff (very precise and pleasing to listen to; piano)
Glenn Gould (has his own way of playing and sometimes entirely reinvents pieces with his playing, I think that he is worth listening to but not great to start with due to how much he turns the pieces into his own; piano)
Helmut Walcha (Fantastically precise organ player whose recordings are the best Ive heard; Organ and Harpsichord)
Karl Richter (Also a great organist, almost at the same level as Walcha; Organ and Harpsichord)

Also make sure to remember that "classical" is a bit of a blanket term that can describe music from the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras. Most of the most iconic composers are in the later 2 eras. Though my personal favorites generally come from the Baroque. To describe it in very, very, VERY brainlet terms, the Classical and Romantic eras simplify the harmonic complexity seen in the Baroque. Whereas Baroque music experimented with harmony quite a bit with genres like the Fugue, the classical and romantic eras stripped it back slightly and prioritized other aspects.

I love this to bits:
https://files.catbox.moe/p5m3j4.mp3 [Play]
Also this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_36x1_LKgg [Play]
The performance adds a lot here.
I really like Rachmaninoff's first piano concerto.
When it comes to bach, my favorite stuff is the first two cello suites, for no reason other than I ended up listening to them a lot when I was around 11 years old. I will say though, that having just one instrument does make things feel more personal and intimate as opposed to orchestras that often sound grandiose. I prefer the former, but then again I do love rachmaninoff's first piano concerto.

Overall, my enjoyment of classical music is pretty spotty. Sometimes something can really drag me in, but then I won't necessarily dig the composer's other works. Maybe it's just a matter of many repeated listens, I don't know.

Generally something I don't really like about classical is the fact that it can be hard to find good recordings. The greatest performers seemingly came when recording technology was still developing, so often the recordings aren't that good. Unfortunately, for some reason recording quality matters a lot to me and affects my enjoyment of music a lot.

I don't know shit about classical music but Beethoven's Grosse Fuge has been interesting to me ever since I stumbled upon it. It was composed by Beethoven when he was almost completely deaf and it was panned by critics at the time. Every critic hated it but it's now considered one of his best works which just goes to show you how retarded critics are.
I think the Grosse Fuge is interesting because it doesn't sound like any other classical works I've heard. It can even feel a bit hard to listen to, it sounds all over the place but in a good way. I wonder how it sounded to Beethoven with him being nearly deaf. What was it like composing it? That's also very interesting to think about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAgdd2VqLVc [Play]

>>67
> I will say though, that having just one instrument does make things feel more personal and intimate as opposed to orchestras that often sound grandiose..
i reccomend you checking out bach's violin sonatas and partitas, the harpsichord partitas, French and English suites and the lute partitas if you want some good solo instrument music. Especially check out his violin sonatas, they got some really cool fugas and his second violin partita got the Chaconne which is considered one of his greatest works.

>>73
Listening to Chaconne now, and it sounds neat. I'll check these out, thanks

Classical music is therapeutic to me. I actually had to use it in therapy for medical reasons and it always helps me focus and when I'm tired, it soothes me to sleep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsdP9zmibUU&list=OLAK5uy_kZLwa-uJIGOglIg-W5JRQ4kPSLQdOEJ_A&index=5
More ravel goodness!

>>83
Most classical music is rather intense, i dont know what you're listening to man.

>>120
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_therapy
even intense music has relaxing qualities.