Debussy - Reverie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79UfWizjGiQ

I'm a massive fan of a lot of the more modern Russian composers, primarily Shostakovich, but also some earlier ones like Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. Shostakovich's Symphony #7 ("The Leningrad Symphony") is a must-listen for anyone interested in military history, or in WWII. I mean, it got finished and was performed in the middle of a frozen warzone, with Hitler knocking on the door of the Russians - how badass is that?

Glenn Gould doing Beethoven? Fucking awesome.

Little Fugue in D Minor was my introduction to Baroque, and is still to this day one of my favorites.

Bach and Vivaldi are some of my favorite composers from the past, while John Williams, Shinomura Yoko, and Sakuraba Motoi are among my favorites from the present.

but do post Erich Korngold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-RPzAbW7No
lol
Loved it, what a great transition for her to such a label, many fans of classical still buy actual compact discs and more so fans of that specific label. It would be a surprising notion if it wasn't effective in sales.

The controversy surrounding Shostakovich is rather interesting. People still argue about whether he was just a communist puppet or a "voice of the people." He made comments that suggest that pieces like the 5th Symphony (I think it's the 5th? I don't quite remember. He's not one of my favorites, although I also really love Russian composers) were full of anti-communist subtext, but he also did a lot of outrageous butt kissing. Then again, what choice was there?



Another piece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-YT3Rd4ZJg

Hindemith composed a lot of crap, and did so with alarming speed and consistency. But he also turned out a few gems (and had some really cool ideas theory-wise). The first movement of Mathis der Maler is one such gem. Absolutely beautiful.

Not to sound too much like a fanboy, but I had the impression that it was understood that he pretty much had to pander to the State censors and arbiters of acceptable culture, lest he face censure or get sent to Siberia (which happened to some of his fellow composers, IIRC). He did still criticize the state, but in a really hidden, indirect, subversive way; he pretty much admitted later on that the Leningrad Symphony was about the people's struggle not with the Nazis, but with Stalin's Russia itself.

From what I recall it was only later when his criticism of Soviet Russia was more explicit in his work, but by that time there was less fear of state censure; either that or he just got too fed up with it and stopped caring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HjWIr80ln4

Scary Classical Music

That sounds about right to me, but I'm not really an expert. I just know some people still debate about it.

Just found an unlisted link for the latest piano piece I've written (wrote it last semester):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhpI9ffhylg

Of course it pales next to some of the masterpieces here, but I'm proud of it anyway. I was experimenting a lot with clusters and what sort of overtones they'd generate. You can't hear it very well in the video, so the beginning is a little... lame sounding.

Performer is Kristine Denton, the piano instructor at my university.

(video takes awhile to start. Give it time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5ken3RJBo

another of my favorite choral pieces

I like Tchaik :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPSjsCTWzf0&feature=related