The Lounge  
Created
06 Dec 1998

Classical Music
for all times and moods


Music for special moments...


...just before dawn...

  • Debussy: Preludes Book I: La cathedral engloutie (The Engulfed Cathedral)

  • Ives: Three Places in New England

  • Respighi: Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)


...at sunrise...

  • Hovhaness: Prayer of Saint Gregory

  • Wagner: Lohengrin: Prelude to Act I


...in fairy-lands of ice, snow, and mist...

  • Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kizhe Suite

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor, "Winter Dreams"

  • Vaughan-Williams: Symphony No. 7, "Sinfonia Antarctica"


...as the shimmering mists flee before the rising sun...

  • Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture

  • Wagner: Die Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods): Dawn and Rhine Journey

  • Wagner: Siegfried Idyll


...as the golden orb ascends to the zenith...

  • Nielsen: Helios Overture

  • Saint-Saëns: Phaéton

  • Wagner: Die Meistersinger Prelude


...on a warm afternoon...

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F, "Pastorale"

  • Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé

  • Respighi: Impressione Brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions)


...on a gray day...

  • Britten: Peter Grimes: Four Sea Interludes

  • Debussy: Children's Corner Suite

  • Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor

  • Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin

  • Satie: 3 Gymnopedies


...after a thunderstorm...

  • Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D

  • Franck: Symphonic Variations

  • Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2, "Mysterious Mountain"

  • Wagner: Das Rheingold: Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla


...at twilight...

  • Debussy: Nocturnes

  • Falla: Noches en los jardines de Espańa (Nights in the Gardens of Spain)

  • Holst: The Planets

  • Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture

  • Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra


...in the evening by the fire...

  • Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D

  • Beethoven: Quartet No. 16 in F

  • Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 6 in B=flat, "Archduke"

  • Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F

  • Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor

  • Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor

  • Dvorák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor

  • Hindemith: Symphony Mathis der Maler

  • Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor

  • Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 in A

  • Mozart: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"

  • Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat

  • Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez

  • Schubert: Piano Quintet in A, "Trout"

  • Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in D minor

  • Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D

  • Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)


...late at night with all the lights out...

  • Bach: Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor

  • Bartók: Music for Percussion, Strings and Celesta

  • Beethoven: Große Fuge

  • Brahms: Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny)

  • Dukas: L'Apprenti Sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice)

  • Franck: Symphony in D minor

  • Liszt: Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H

  • Mussorgsky: Night on the Bare Mountain

  • Poulenc: Concert Champętre

  • Prokofiev: Aleksandr Nyevski Suite

  • Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances

  • Ravel: Piano Concerto in D (for the left hand)

  • Ravel: La Valse

  • Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night)

  • Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor

  • Stravinsky: Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)


...for the sheer joy of music...

  • Bach: Chromatic Fantasy

  • Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor

  • Bach: Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C

  • Bach: 2-Violin Concerto in D minor

  • Beethoven: Choral Fantasy in C minor

  • Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, "Eroica"

  • Brahms: Alto Rhapsody

  • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat

  • Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor

  • Brahms: Violin and Cello Concerto in A minor

  • Bruch: Scottish Fantasy

  • Holst: Saint Paul's Suite

  • Liszt: Les Preludes

  • Mendelssohn: 2-Piano Concerto in A-flat

  • Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat

  • Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor

  • Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, "Organ"

  • Schumann: Symphony No. 1 in B-flat, "Spring"

  • Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D

  • Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

  • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

  • Wolf: Italian Serenade



Music I like to listen to...


...to get my blood pumping...

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor

  • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor

  • Debussy: Pour le Piano

  • Franck: Le chasseur maudit

  • Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor

  • Liszt: Mazeppa

  • Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture

  • Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor

  • Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila: Bachannale

  • Sibelius: Pohjola's Daughter

  • Strauss: Don Juan

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor

  • Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D

  • Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) Overture

  • Wagner: Die Götterdämmerung: Brünhilde's Immolation


...to stand my hair on end...

  • Alain: Litanies

  • Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin

  • Cherubini: Medea

  • Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor

  • Puccini: Tosca

  • Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre

  • Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8

  • Strauss: Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils

  • Stravinsky: Petrouchka

  • Verdi: Il Trovatore

  • Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer


...to soothe my nerves...

  • Albinoni - Giazotto: Adagio in G minor

  • Bach: Goldberg Variations

  • Barber: Adagio for Strings

  • Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D

  • Copland: Appalachian Spring

  • Gounod: Ave Maria

  • Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus

  • Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C

  • Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)

  • Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances Suites 1 - 3

  • Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, "Unfinished"

  • Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1


...to drown my sorrows...

  • Beethoven: Coriolan Overture

  • Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem)

  • Brahms: Tragic Overture

  • Liszt: Variations on "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen"

  • Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in A minor

  • Puccini: La Bohčme

  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, "Pathetique"

  • Wagner: Die Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Funeral Music



...to raise my spirits...

  • Alfvén: Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, Midsommarvaka

  • Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G

  • Beethoven: Fidelio

  • Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, "Emperor"

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A

  • Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G

  • Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn

  • Debussy: Suite bergamasque

  • Elgar: Enigma Variations

  • Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1

  • Franck: Chorale No. 1

  • Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks

  • Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat

  • Liszt: Festklänge

  • Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4 in A, "Italian"

  • Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor

  • Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A

  • Mozart: Vesperae Solennes de Confessore

  • Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A

  • Nielsen: Symphony No. 4, "Inextinguishable"

  • Poulenc: 2-Piano Concerto in D minor

  • Rachmaninov: Variations on a Theme of Paganini

  • Respighi: Gli Uccelli (The Birds)

  • Schubert: Symphony No. 9 in C

  • Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, "Rhenish"

  • Stravinsky: Dumbarton Oaks Concerto

  • Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme


...for grand drama...

  • Bizet: Carmen

  • Franck: Chorale No. 3

  • Mascagni: Cavaleria Rusticana

  • Mozart: Don Giovanni

  • Mozart: Requiem

  • Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet

  • Puccini: Madamma Butterfly

  • Puccini: Tosca

  • Puccini: Turandot

  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C, "Leningrad"

  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 in G minor, "Year 1905"

  • Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony)

  • Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini

  • Verdi: Requiem

  • Verdi: La Traviata

  • Wagner: Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)


...to lighten the mood...

  • Bach: Italian Concerto

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F

  • Brahms: Academic Festival Overture

  • Britten: Simple Symphony

  • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

  • Hindemith: Organ Sonata No. 3

  • Kodály: Háry János Suite

  • Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

  • Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D, "Classical"

  • Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

  • Rossini: Semiramide Overture

  • Shostakovich: Age of Gold Suite

  • Smetana: Prodaná Nevestá (The Bartered Bride): Overture and Dances

  • Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks)


...when I need a kick in the pants...

  • Beethoven: Wellington's Victory

  • Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture

  • Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Weber

  • Ives: Variations on America

  • Liszt: Hunnenschlacht (Battle of the Huns)

  • Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D, "Titan"

  • Poulenc: Organ Concerto

  • Russo: Street Music

  • Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1

  • Stravinsky: Symphony in C


...for passion and romance...

  • Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique

  • Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor

  • Debussy: Prélude ŕ l'aprčs-midi d'un Faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun)

  • Franck: Psyché

  • Orff: Carmina Burana

  • Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor

  • Ravel: Boléro

  • Wagner: Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod


...to lose myself completely...

  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor



Though collecting and listening to classical music have long been primary pastimes of mine, I initially found myself at a complete loss as to how to present that interest on a web page.  Sending more than a few seconds' worth of sound over the net is still a matter of serious compromise among time, sound quality, and data storage.  And then there's the matter of copyright infringement.

A listing of what I might consider essential elements of a personal classical library would be certain to conflict with the opinions of those whose tastes and experience differ from my own. Ditto for a simple list of personal favorites.  And an alphabetical listing of all the music I enjoy would be both far too long for the medium and excruciatingly boring for the reader. What to do?

Then one day, as I was driving home through the morning mist, I found the Prelude to Act I of Wagner's Lohengrin spreading its tendrils through my brain. I was suddenly smitten by the idea that a compendium of music categorized by mood would be a novel and personal way to share with you some of the music I love. The problem here is only to decide when to stop.

Though not a single note has been played here, I hope you have enjoyed exploring my musical moods with me. Perhaps now you will be tempted to reach for a favorite recording to suit your own mood. Or possibly you have thought of something you would like to add to your collection...

 


IN MEMORIAM

Never before, and never again, will such as these charm our ears, and yes, our very spirits. For their unique natural gifts and personal dedication to their art have made them inimitable, and thus immortal in the memories of those who are privileged to have heard them perform.

Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957)

Richard Tucker (1914-1975)

Edward Power Biggs (1906-1977)

Maria Meneghini Callas (1923-1977)

Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987)

Victor Borge (1909-2000)

Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)

This brief listing makes no attempt to honor all great musicians, but only those who have had an extraordinary influence upon my personal enjoyment of the art.


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