Genius work of Chopin

• I think his Préludes are georgeous, personally, and perfect for beginner listeners. If I had to take only one piece of music to deserted island, it would be that.

• Nocturnes are absolutely beautiful, as well.

• If you’re into bigger stuff, then Ballades, Scherzos, Piano Sonatas (No.2 is my favourite)

• Zimmerman performing all the ballads. Here is No.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCW3631sxkw

• His polonaise in F sharp minor op. 44 is lovely. Op 53
• Grande polonaise brilliante over the Andante spiniato.

• This (Nocturne no.20) :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ZdlI4cOwo&list=FL2_qFA5_TNn0kt9dYgUDVrw&index=3&feature=plpp_video

• His Piano Concerto No. 1. It’s my favorite piece of music ever, and that moment at around the 2 minute mark is absolutely sublime.

• the cello sonata! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t29vc6PBey0

• Find a recording on a pleyel piano. You won’t regret it.
•  I love his second scherzo op. 31 (the other three are great too, powerful and lovely, no 3 for example) and his fourth ballade in f minor op. 52

• I also love the barcarolle op. 60 which is a great piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU-5u2dmXdM

• My favorite Chopin pieces are his ballades. There are four of them, the most famous one is the first in G minor but the best (and most difficult) Chopin ballade is the 4th in F minor.  This piece in my opinion is the best piece that Chopin ever wrote.

• Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61 – Chopin’s greatest emotional work

• Ballade No. 4 Op. 52 – Chopin’s greatest compositional achievement

• Fantaisie in F minor Op. 49 – Probably his most epic piece

• Sonata No. 3 Op. 58 – For the incredibly complex first movement, the gorgeous Largo, and the amazing finale

• Nocturnes Op. 62 – Probably Chopin’s most mature work in terms of expression

• Mazurka Op. 56 No. 3 – His best Mazurka imo

• Piano Concerto in F minor Op. 21 – A beautiful summary of his early life in Poland

• Few performances in the history of music are as special and touching to me as Richter doing the Gm Ballade in Prague. Do check that recording out, if you haven’t, will you? Zimmerman is my 2nd fav interpretation tho, so I’m with you on him!

• Berceuse Op. 57. I name this one simply because I didn’t know beans about Chopin until a few years ago, when I heard that performed as a piano/violin duet, and it blew my mind. So it will always have a special place in my heart.

 

Genius work of John Philip Sousa

• Sound off, it’s a bit unusual for a Sousa march (at least to me anyways) but it’s a good time
• Hands Across the Sea, George Washington Bicentennial, El Capitan and The Occidental
• classics like Stars and Stripes, the Liberty Bell and Fairest of the Fair are excellent.
• “Looking Upward Suite” it’s pretty epic, especially the third movement even though it’s not technically a March.

Genius work of Victor Herbert

• Victor Herbert Cello Concerto No 2 Slow Movement

Genius work of Ossip Gabrilowitsch

• Ossip Plays
• Ossip 

 

Genius work of George Gershwin

• Rhapsody in Blue
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RdmR_5kbDc Second Rhapsody
• An American in Paris
• Piano Concerto in F
• Cuban Overture
• Oscar Levant

• Summertime

• Bess you is my woman

• Ella Fitzgerald – the Gershwin Songbook

  (1) George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue – Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic (1976) (2) An American in Paris ~ Gershwin ~ Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic (3) George Gershwin Piano Concerto in F major Wang Yuja – HD (4) George Gershwin – Cuban Overture

  1) Oscar Levant – Rhapsody In Blue (2) Gershwin, Concerto In F For Piano And Orchestra, Oscar Levant, Piano

  (1) Leontyne Price “Summertime” (2) Leontyne Price, William Warfield: Porgy & Bess duet – “Bess, You Is My Woman Now”.wmv

   

Genius work of Leopold Godowsky

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZGM_IY_Gug
• Ravel’s Miroirs suite

Genius work of Paderewski

• Check out his piano sonata. It’s pretty damn cool. Much more harmonically adventurous than the Minuet, for sure!

Genius work of Tschaikovsky

• Pathétique Symphony
• Souvenir de Florence – is a fantastic piece and so much fun to play. He agonised over it, but he ended up being very proud of the finished product! Theres a great recording of it played by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble on Spotify, or Janine Jansen and Friends on YouTube. Enjoy!
• Piano Trio
• Queen of Spades

• Swan Lake.

• Serenade for Strings. It’s Tchaikovsky’s raw emotion and schmaltziness cranked up to 11, in the best possible way.
• Piano Concerto No. 1, it’s playful and fluttery because it’s flute heavy but often offset by huge brassy bits that give it a bigness that I haven’t found in many other composers.
• fantasy overure to Romeo and Juliet.

• Valse sentimentale is great!

• Try the Bruch violin concerto. If you dont know it then give it time. The first movement builds up expectation then totally delivers at about 6’00. The second movement is (IMHO) the most beautiful of all violin concertos. The final movement is just exciting fun.
• Symphonies 4, 5, and 6; Nutcracker ballet/suite (Pas de deux is my fav movement); Piano concerto no. 1; Souvenir de Florence (string sextet); Piano Trio; 1812 Overture; Capriccio Italian; Rococo variations; Romeo and Juliet; String quartets
• You must listen to his Piano Concerto #2–undeservedly less famous than his first, it is nevertheless a magnificent work with two outer pyrotechnic movements surrounding a middle movement that is for all practical purposes a triple concerto that is heartbreakingly beautiful and moving. The link is to a brilliant performance with Igor Zhukov and Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the USSR RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, probably one of the finest recordings of this work ever made…

• His Second Symphony is absolutely beautiful and one of his (arguably) lesser known works. I played it on Violin I a few years ago and loved it.

• Variations on a Rococco Theme is one I haven’t seen recommended yet. Starker / Dorati recording is excellent

• No mention of Eugene Onegin? One of the greatest operas ever written.

   

   

Genius work of Rachmaninoff

(In order, just my opinion for someone new to Rachmaninoff)

• 2nd piano concerto
• 2nd symphony
• 3rd piano concerto
• Vocalise
• Isle of the dead
• Literally any prelude
• Everything else

I would recommend you start by listening to his orchestral works- some highlights are his 2nd piano concerto as well as his 2nd symphony- the latter of these has a well known and incredibly beautiful [movement 3] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvuitFzDxDg&t=1893s). The [first movement] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_asI5WvGVQs&t=47s) of the 2nd piano concerto is probably his most famous/well known concerto (except for maybe the [18th variation] ()from his rhapsody on a theme)- after listening to these I would recommend you listen to his other concertos ([1] (https://youtu.be/F7a9K4lvVn8), [3] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOOfoW5_2iE&t=1s), maybe [4] (https://youtu.be/ts3Q4VIkLv0)) which aren’t as accessible imo. I would also reccomend listening to his [Symphonic Dances] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9bzulhXfQ), which are also an orchestral work but have a much different feel from his 2nd Symphony. [Isle of the Dead] (https://youtu.be/dbbtmskCRUY) is also accessible though I don’t like it as much as his symphony.

If you’re not into orchestral music then you should for sure check out his famous solo piano music. I would start with his Preludes op [23/2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RICGqS2UtmU), [23/4] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj84l05xWg0&t=627s), [23/5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj84l05xWg0&t=206s), [32/5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywaW0mZ0hg&t=4796s), and [32/12] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywaW0mZ0hg&t=4301s). Next would be his sets of Etude-Tabeux, from op 33 you should listen to no. [2] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=178s), [5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=892s) and [7] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWgdc0vfbs&t=3035s). His next set would be his op. 39, and it’s by far my favorite set of pieces by Rachmaninoff- each piece has incredible harmonies and lyrical melodies- they go from angry to peaceful to march life and they show his versatility really well. I would recommend that you listen to the entire set by [Lugansky] (https://youtu.be/8L6CxUpBZlY) but if I had to choose I would recommend no. [5] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAV3Zj5Qngo) and [8] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIAEimMSPc).

Some of his larger works are his Piano sonatas- they’re maybe not as accessible but I would recommend listening to his [2nd sonata] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YPSoOYwLOo) if you do end up getting into Rachmaninoff.

Sonata for Cello and Piano!!!

And make sure to get an uncut version of Symphony No. 2. Most of the newer recordings are uncut, but older ones were sometimes butchered to fit on an LP.

• Piano concerto 3 – incredible
• The prelude sets are great as well.
• The Bells is a great choral symphony.
• The cello sonata is definitely worth a listen as well

Genius

You who sit in an audience and hear Rachmaninoff, and say, “Geniuses must be born,” or “there is no genius in me,”— or hear the music of Tschaikovsky or Beethoven— or any of the music which has the rhythms of heaven in it— the rhythms which make you forget your body as the composer forgot his body when he created it-you who feel thrills up and down your spine while you listen to it are a mirror which is reflecting that genius. His inspiration is being reflected in you. You are being re-inspired by him, and that is the evidence of your genius whether you perform it or not, or whether you have ever done anything in your life to express genius.
When you are thus inspired by another, you are multiplying your Self by knowingly becoming one with other Selves. You are unifying your Soul with the universal Soul through your increasing awareness of the universal Soul.
The very fact of its reflection in you is evidence of your own inner genius. You love it, and you walk alone afterward to be in the ecstatic aftermath of that wonderful harmony. For days it keeps recurring to you, whispering the reflection of cosmic rhythms back to you. For days they pulse in your heart and become a part of you, a permanent part of you. It is as though they said to you, “Be me. I am the Light.” The music you heard was the Inner Voice of the Light. It was the door to the Light through which you can enter. Wherever you hear good music or see good art— wherever you are inspired by anything whatsoever-and uplifted by it to any extent whatsoever-you are walking toward your own genius in the Light and away from mediocrity.
However, the fruit of genius does not drop into one’s lap. One cannot be a wishful thinker, sitting idly waiting for the material manifestation of one’s thought.

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All the great geniuses I have known have certain traits in common, and not the least of these is a great capacity for work. They find inspiration in their great reverence for Nature and a deep desire to be alone. Their awareness of God is born in “aloneness” with Self.
Personal contact with such men as Paderewski, Leopold Godowsky, George Gershwin, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Victor Herbert, John Philip Sousa, Caruso and others among musicians; with Coolidge, Shapley, Michaelson, Millikan, Jeans, Edison and others of the great scientists and inventors-was living proof to me that these men had unfolded their genius because of their cooperation with God.
In their oneness with the Source, they became immune from fatigue and their inner awareness is portrayed in a seemingly unlimited personal power of accomplishment.

 

 

 

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Just as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Beethoven, Shakespeare, and other geniuses gave us our older culture, so have five Americans predominated in preparing our American civilization for a higher culture and ethical code than we have ever known.
Five Americans whom I believe have made priceless contributions to this New Age which we are about to enter are: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Baker Eddy, Thomas A. Edison and Thomas J. Watson.

 

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All down through history, the leaders of men are inspired to achieve “impossibilities” against the resistance of those whose lack of vision limits them to their electric sensing which they mistake for thinking.
Their inspirations are always in the nature of an inspired “revelation,” which we call a concept. It is always the “vision” of one who pictures in a flash something which may take years of time to unfold, but who can never be swerved from his belief in his ability to unfold the pattern of his vision after he has conceived it within him.
Consider Mr. Watson’s vision of about thirty years ago. I know that he conceived this organization as a finished picture to which he must ad one brush stroke at a time over many years to perfect. I know that, for I know the mental processes of the genius-mystic whose every thought and action of life must be in balance with the electric rhythm of the patterns which he has conceived— and from which he will not be swerved.
Consider Jeanne D’Arc as an outstanding example. She had a ‘vision’ through which se saved FranceVagainst overwhelming resistance. Her consciousness could so insulate her from body sensing that sheVbecame wholly Mind. She exceeded the state which we call “genius” and arrived at that mentalVmountaintop of the great mystic, but there is nothing supernatural about that. When one transcends theVbody and becomes consciously aware of the Cosmos, one is then enabled to talk with God, for God andVSelf of man are One.
Her execution did not discount her achievement. For her death meant nothing, any more than it meant to Jesus. If she knew in advance that she would be burned at the stake, she would not have faltered for one moment. The mystic considers purpose alone, desiring only worthiness to fulfill it.