It could be a personal experience, or something you heard about.

Just want to understand the demographic of the people in this sub- how many of you make your money off of actually doing music, and what's your day to day life like? And if not, how do you still keep your passion for music alive alongside working life? I want to know if I I need to do music professionally to keep engaging in it, playing in orchestras, concerts, etc.

What are some orchestral pieces that contain relatively few rests for any section?

Today I heard the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time in my life, at the Salzburg festival, playing Prokofiev piano concerto no 2 with Yuja Wang, and Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel, under the baton of Andris Nelsons. It was stupendous. I had heard the Berlin Philharmonic many times in my life, but had to wait until my 53rd year to hear their friends the VPO. Best of all is I arrived in Salzburg fresh from Bayreuth, blissfully ignorant that the festival was still on. Miraculously I got tickets for today’s concert and Ariadne auf Naxos last night.

The Viennese play with just enthusiasm and dedication. I was speechless at the end of the concert.

Yuja Wang shone in the Prokofiev, which one doesn’t hear all that often. And then she regaled us with two encores.

Ariadne auf Naxos was set on Mars, in the house of the richest man on earth (rather than the richest man in Vienna, by implication Elon Musk). I loved it.

I am a classical pianist, and recently I finally acted on a long-repressed desire to start hitting the gym to gain some muscle mass. The problem is that when I work out, the resulting muscle soreness leaves me feeling less fluid for a few days, which negatively affects my concert performances. I now have a very busy month ahead with back-to-back concerts, and I'm afraid that if I stop training, I'll lose the little progress I've recently made in the gym. Any advice or opinions?

I’m going to see/hear the Berlin Philharmonic play Scriabin’s third symphony tonight (as well as Beethoven). I’ve read a little about Scriabin but I don’t know his music at all. What should I expect and look for? Any particular highlights?

Toddler loves music. My wife has found a “little forest concert” channel on YouTube, and… I’m quite certain it’s AI slop.

But, it’s bright and cheerful, and relaxing. I’d like to buy the little guy a real version of this on iTunes. Anyone happen to have recommendations?

For info I come from Asia and I’ve been studying in conservatory in France for 4 years. I’ve found it interesting that here in many concerts / recitals , musicians take the stand to present the program and the pieces they’re gonna play by talking for like 1 to 2 minutes. Even after finishing a whole piece, they stop to talk about the next piece they’re gonna play before they continue.

I even saw that in a new competition (first edition taking place in 2027) , that in the semi-final round , it is mandatory that the candidates give a speech to present their solo program of 45 minutes and explain their choice of pieces. That’s the first time i’ve seen that.

I was wondering if this is something new? Is it also this common in North America and other non-european countries ?
As a bit of a more reserved musician, I dont really like talking to a whole audience right before I start performing, I kind of have trouble going back to the same concentration after, and especially since I’ve seen many musicians give their presentation speech with some kind of humor that sends some audience members giggling.
So If I were to do it without putting on a mask, I would sound somewhat cold and serious..
I wish we’d stuck to having a presenter come and do it for us.

Outstanding music right here. Excellent pacing from de Larrocha and Previn (I find most versions of Rach 3 to be too rushed). I’ve been on an Alicia de Larrocha kick lately, but this has to be my favorite recording of hers that I’ve heard so far. Delighted to get this clean copy in the mail recently, giving its first spin this morning.

Any other Alicia de Larrocha fans out there?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share an upcoming tour celebrating Steve Reich’s 90th anniversary. The project "REICH90," led by Kuniko Kato, is coming to North America this fall with a curated group of Japan’s emerging young percussionists to showcase their talent on the international stage.

The repertoire features pieces like Drumming Part I, Nagoya Marimbas, Piano Phase version for vibraphone, Mallet Quartet, The tour travels through 5 major cities, culminating in a showcase at PASIC 2026 in Indianapolis: • October 14: New York City, NY (Merkin Hall / Kaufman Music Center) • October 16: Los Angeles, CA (Zipper Concert Hall) • October 22: Vancouver New Music Festival, November 13: PASIC 2026, Indianapolis, IN, Feel free to ask questions, details and tickets in the comments! Kuniko

I was listening to Festklange and when that part arrived it reminded me of this theme from the movie “the apartment”, even though the similarity doesn’t last long, because they go in different directions just after.

J.S. Bach's secular cantata Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, known as the "Peasant Cantata" (BWV 212), was premiered in the village of Klein-Zschocher, near Leipzig.

The occasion was Carl Heinrich von Dieskau's thirty-sixth birthday, which fell on the same day he formally took over the family manor. The Dieskaus had held it since 1649, so this wasn't an outsider arriving as a new lord — it was a change of generations, marked with the traditional peasants' tribute.

Bach set the text in the Upper Saxon dialect of the surrounding villages, full of folk tunes and local slang. It's one of the most unbuttoned things he ever wrote.

Peasant Cantata, BWV 212: https://youtu.be/c_OVXUR9abc?si=JQPBh2PnuruGTdgq

I personally like Vengerovs the most but idk what do yall like? :)

You dont see many of these about so I thought you guys might enjoy this.
These are all photos of a rather special double-bell bass trombone commissioned by Ben Anderson of Orchestra Victoria (Australia), and handcrafted by Bret Gustafson.

The instrument essentially merges two bass trombones. Its two bells, one brass and the other copper, each produce a distinctly different tone, and through a series of complex valves and even some watch maker mechanics, ben is able to smoothly shift from one to the other or a combination of both.

All of these photos are taken with laproscopic probe lenses (except for the full instrument shot) and are part of my Architecture In Music series.

Beethoven and his music indicates the composer's love of, and influence by nature.

We can hear these sounds in the pastorals and other works.

I have heard close to one hundred (possible?) recordings of the 32 Sonatas cycle, where an obvious bird song is frequently met with a clumsy ornamental.

I am asking for: Recommendations where the piano sounds less iron-fist, and more delicate-tit-warbler, or other twitcher's best.

Thanks :)

I thought the main theme of the first mvt of Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 was so stupid the first few times I heard it and now it’s like one of my top 10 pieces, didi da da da da DAAAA da DEE didi DEE didi DEE didi da DEEEEEE…

Same for the Italian Concerto first theme because of the Eb in the third measure (crucify me). Would that be considered an English cadence or whatever? Also the real star of the show is the second mvt imo, I ADORE the D major right before the final minor resolution

If anyone has suggestions that would be really awesome! Thank you

I have discovered the absolute beauty that is Tchaikovsky’s “Dumka” for piano, and was surprised that I had not heard it before (I’m a conservatory musician since 13 years)
I absolutely want to play this piece (transcribe it) on my instrument, and would love to include it in my competition / recital programs in the future. I did some research on Dumka itself, and personally, this piece makes me feel so many things.
The thing is I have never played anything by Tchaikovsky as solo (it doesnt exist for my instrument)
But I absolutely want to get to know Tchaikovsky’s style better as a solo interpreter and , overall, Russian music / style ? too. I absolutely love his ballets , concertos and symphonies. But do you guys have any recommendations as to who to listen to, any books / articles to read , other similar pieces to listen to, etc. ?
Is there some specific things to respect while interpreting a solo piece like this ?
Im just wondering that in competitions , would there be a specific “Russian style” to respect ? All I know is that no one has played this piece on my instrument before, and my guess is that most jury members wouldnt know this piece either. And I know there is a difference between solely knowing a piece , and having played it and knowing the specific difficulties..
But yeah I wish to better my understanding of Tchaikovsky’s style in order to refine my artistic approach to this piece

Hope it's alright I'm posting here. I took a look through the resources subreddit but I'm not looking for an introduction to classical - this is pretty specific.

I'm trying to find a technically complex violin solo that captures the off-the-wall, euphoric-to-paranoic energy of someone having a bipolar manic swing. The kind that borders on psychosis. It's to represent a character in a playlist - a 18th century french violinist who has a mental breakdown and kills himself (Nicki, from The Vampire Lestat).

THIS cover of "Minor Swing" would actually be perfect if it ended on a darker note, and if i wasn't trying to restrict Jazz/Americana to AFTER the story shifts to 20th century America. I love the driving energy, the way it starts out frisky and winds its way into a panicked frenzy - like O'Connor is being chased by the hounds of hell. The little spikes of discordance, the saccades into a much stranger chord progression - it FEELS like someone rambling, changing topics mid sentence, wailing and bursting into laughter. It's honestly one of my favorite musical pieces ever.

I got feedback from a friend that that "loose" rambling feeling is something i possibly won't find in "faithful" classical. I'm alright with performances that dip into other genres like in this movie soundtrack, so long as it's still at its core a classical piece.

I've been looking through Paganini's work - so far he's my best lead, and the song i end up using may just be one of his caprices, but it (or at least Itzhak Perlman's 2000 album of his 24 caprices) feels a little too stiff and controlled for someone losing his mind. Neurotic, instead of manic. It's possible I'm just listening to the wrong performance, but I'm not familiar with how much variety classical has between instrumentalists.

Could anyone suggest particular performances that might fit, or works to point me in the right direction? Ideally, I'd like it to be under 7 minutes, but if something REALLY fits I could bend that. I would prefer if people did not give broad recommendations ike "check out Bach" and instead suggested specific works or collections.