Classical and Metal

[oldboy]

I do not know much classical music, but recently I heard a very heavy and fast version of Beethoven's fifth symphony and it made me realize how heavy classical music can be. And it can also be dark, and disturbing, which are some of my favorite attributes in a composition (I guess that's why I am a metalhead). Does anybody have any suggestion about classical pieces sharing these qualities (without being dissonant)? Some of the ones I know are:
Berlioz-Symphonie Fantastique (particularly the final movement), and the second movement of the Requiem
Vivaldi-Summer from the Four Seasons
Dvorak-New World Symphony (final movement)
Beethoven-Ninth (second, and final movements), and Fifth (first, and third movements).
Thanks

 

[Jurakan]

I am not an expert either, but I have heard metal or hard rock versions as well as the classical arrangements of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Mozart's 40th & 25th Symphonies. I've heard others, but these are the ones I remember from the top of my head. I'd love to hear a metal version of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, as it is one of my favorites.

Have you checked out Apocalyptica? These are the guys who brought me back to metal.

 

[oldboy]

Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain I know and that would be another favorite. Mozart's symphonies I do not know but I will check them out. I bought the last Apocalyptica and did not like it at all, but perhaps I need to check their earlier albums.

 

[Burnout]

Rage's 'Suite Lingua Mortis" (from Speak Of The Dead) is something I've always enjoyed and I think they have done a few albums with orchestral accompaniment, but I am not sure which is which.

 

[ALowerDeep]

Henryk Gorecki- Smyphony No. 3 and Miserere
Dvorak- Stabat Mater
Holst- The Planets (Mars)
Mozart's Requiem
Ralph Van Williams- Fantasia
Samuel Barber- Adagio for Strings

 

[RiffDaemon]

When I was in band and orchestra in my highschool/college days, I remember Wagner pieces being pretty doomy and brooding. Die Walkure (The Valkyrie) comes to mind.

 

[Gunstar9]

Check out Savatage - Prelude to Madness

 

[Magius]

Ravel- Bolero
Mozart- Symphony #40 1st and 3rd movements.

 

[Cheiron]

Check out Savatage - Prelude to Madness

Which is Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. Which kicks some ass. Check out The Who's version as well.

 

[Cheiron]

And check out Odin's Court. especially Paradise Lost. \m/ And their other classical pieces they've done.

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

Mahler 2nd Symphony \m/
Rachmaninoff "Isle of the Dead" also

 

[KahlanRahl]

Have you checked out Apocalyptica? These are the guys who brought me back to metal.

Apocalyptica had got to be one of my favorite bands of all time. I've been a cellist for 14 years, call me bias. Manipulating the cello into what these guys have is truly amazing to me. Never had the honor of seeing them live, but if I did I imagine I would be this guy

 

[KahlanRahl]

Apocalyptica had got to be one of my favorite bands of all time.

Pardon me: Apocalyptica HAS got to be one of my favorite bands of all time

 

[oldboy]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll be checking all of those compositions.

 

[jkohn]

Generally speaking you want to look at the Romantic era composers; guys like Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Mahler, Hebert, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, etc. Especially look for works in minor keys. A few of my personal favorites:

• Brahms - Symphony No 4 (all of his symphonies, really)
• Brahms - Piano Quintet in F Minor (probably the heaviest chamber music ever)
• Brahms - Concerto for Violin and Cello
• Mahler - Symphony No 6 (about as dark as classical gets)
• Mahler - Symphony No 2 "Resurrection"
• Dvorak - Cello Concerto
• Beethoven - Symphony No 9. Most conductors drag this out into a 75 minute snooze fest. But the 'period' version with John Eliot Gardiner with the ORR totally rocks.
• Schubert - String Quartet #14 (Death and the Maiden)
• Mozard - Requiem
• Brahms - A German Requiem
• Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No 2
• Also many of Beethoven's late string quartets

Different performances of the same work can actually vary quite a bit in mood and 'power'. If you want recommendations for a specific recording of one of the above, PM me.

 

[Entropiastrife]

Chopin- Revolutionary Etude
Mussorgsky- Danse Macabre
Stravinsky- The Rite of Spring

 

[OdinsCourt]

Which is Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. Which kicks some ass. Check out The Who's version as well.

Thanks for the plug.

Our new CD has Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 4th Movement. It's also on our DVD...

 

[spag]

Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 in E minor "New World Symphony"

 

[LunaTEKKE]

Beethoven-Ninth (second, and final movements), and Fifth (first, and third movements).

TSO does a kick-ass version of the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 9th in the CD “Beethoven’s Last Night.”

Also, if you like the metal/classical combination, definitely check out “Occulus Infernum” from Van Helsing’s Curse.

Here are a few other very dramatic classical pieces that I don’t think have been mentioned:

**Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring (although there are *definitely* some dissonant passages in this one)
**J.S. Bach, Toccata & Fugue in D minor
**Orff – Carmina Burana (TSO does “O Fortuna” every year on tour…although at least they have stopped promising that it will be on the Nightcastle CD “next year”)
**R. Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra (the intro became the theme for “2001: A Space Odyssey”)
**Rossini - Guillaume Tell (William Tell)

 

[Ascension]

If you like shred...check out Niccolo Paganini's 24 Caprices. Yngwie, Vai, Uli Jon Roth, & Michael Angelo Batio have all been influenced by this classical violinist.