Immortal Beloved

I recommend his 3rd symphony, Scottish, you will find some of the same themes as Fingold's Cave,  developed more fully and some interesting variations. It is not light and airy as the 4th, which I gather you found a little tedious. In texture the 3rd and 5th, reformation, are very similar.

I’m listening the the Berlin Philharmonic with Herbert von Karajan for Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3.

His A Midsummer Night’s Dream is surprisingly modern-sounding. Or is that because Disney reached back for his music a time or too? Anyway, it’s certainly a good soundtrack for a play (on stage or ice). And you can tell it was written precisely for that type of venture, thus it’s good for its purpose. But I have no desire to listen to it again as a stand-along piece of music.

My favorite Classics

In no particular order



Beethoven

Piano concertos

All

Overtures

Fidelio

Symphonies

3,5,6,7,9



Brahms

Hungarian dances

Symphonies

1-4

Variations on a theme by Hyden



Mozart

Symphonies

40, 41

Overtures to

All the operas

Eine kleine Nachtmusik



Dvorak

Symphonies

9th New World

Slavonic Dances all



Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue

Porgy and Bess



Greig

Peer Gynt



Tone poem

Morning



Sibelius

Valse Trist

Symphony 5

Finlandia





Mahler

Symphonies

1, 8, 9

Adagio from symphony 10



Mendelssohn

Tone pomes



Midsummer night

Hebrides

Fingal’s Cove

Romeo and Juliet



Symphonies

3, 4, 5



Rimsky Korsakov

Shahrazad



Saint Saens

Harold in Italy

Carnival of the Animals

Symphony 3, Organ symphony



Shubert

Symphonies

8th (unfinished)

9th (the great)



Strauss

Also, Sprach Zarathustra



Stravinsky

Rite of Spring



Holst

The Planets



Tchaikovsky

Waltz from ballets

Symphonies

1,4,5,6

Romeo and Juliet


Wagner

Overtures from operas (incredible moments, tedious hours)



Brunstein, Elmer

West Side Story



Bruckner

Symphonies 1-9



Frank

Symphony 1



Elgar

Pomp and Circumstance



Ralph Vaughn Williams

London Symphony



King Henry 8th

Greensleeves



Grofe

Grand Canyon Suite

Dvorak Symphony Number 9 (From the New World)



This is one of the great romantic symphonies of the 19th century. Anton Dvorak (1841-1904) wrote this to highlight his trip to North America in 1892. Dvorak spent three years in the US in association with the National Conservatory of Music. One of his reasons for traveling to North America was to explore the music of America. He was fascinated by two unique forms of American music, jazz/ragtime and hill music/bluegrass, both of which he found uniquely American. The 9th symphony incorporates many of the themes he heard.



This recording is the London Symphony with Colin Davis conducting. The first movement introduces the main theme which in several variations occurs throughout the symphony. It is introduced slowly. You hear it begin in the bass and violas, horns take up and the rest of the strings with the entire orchestra begin the first statement. The orchestra states the theme while woodwinds play with a variation and back to the main theme.



A secondary theme is introduced played by the wind section and countered by the strings. Both themes argue but the main theme remains dominate. It keeps getting restated stronger and stronger. The second theme recures but is beaten back to the violin section. Horns play a mild variation and the entire orchestra counters. Finely, the horns and violins join in the main theme and romp with the rest of the orchestra to playing with the theme. Working to a close the entire orchestra joins in.



The second movement, traditionally the slow movement begins with a beautiful orchestral cord and introduces the theme, a Black spiritual, Going Home. There is a secondary theme played at first on the horns that interwinds the main theme both this and main theme are the most American in the symphony. Dvorak develops them it to their logical conclusion. However, the theme from the first movement will not rest and is restated with great power as the movement ends as it began on the strings. In many ways this is an American version of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances which he uses as a second movement in his other symphonies.



For fans of Beethoven the introduction to third movement is familiar. This scherzo cannot help but remind a listener to the scherzo from the other 9th. If you’re a timpani player this is your chance to shine. Dvorak counters every theme with the timpani. Your going to hear the themes from the first two movement wrapped around rapid strings. Other then the introduction the scherzo pays no homage to Beethoven and the themes tend to remind one of German beerhall songs. After playing with all the themes from movements one and two Dvorak moves to his conclusion in movement four. Romer has it that the timpani player does survive.



There is nothing subtle to the fourth movement. The main theme is stated by the entire orchestra. Then each section state it and the strings take up a variation. For the rest of the movement the orchestra counters and restates the themes from the first three movements woven around the ever more compelling main theme. Slowly Dvorak builds the orchestra to a conclusion like the tide it flows back and forth until the horns take it up followed by the rest of the orchestra. This is where the timpani player passes out from exhaustion.

There is always room for ol blue eyes

I suggest Sibelius, Finlanda. It is a short piece, about 15 minutes. Sibelius composed it early in the 20th century. In the 30s when the Soviets occupied parts of Finland they outlawed its playing because it was too nationalistic. Later the Nazi influence in Finland during WW II did the same. Therefore, it is a kind of second national anthem. 

It begins rather slow in the bass section and transfers to the strings, all the time holding a deep bass cord, and as you are just about to think, "how long can this go on" the tempo changes and the poor timpani player goes to work again. The rest, as they say, is history. There are two versions, one with vocals, and the more popular, in the west anyway, without. For a short work it is quite complex. 

Another short work you may not have heard is The Moldau symphonic poem by Smetana. Another contemporary of Dvorak. Dvorak Slavonic dances and the cycle of My Vlast (My Country) are often paired together. The Moldau is on of this cycle. 

Artler, I found Sibelius: Finlandia on an album which also features the Karelia Suite and the Lemminkäinen Suite (there will be a spelling test). It’s conducted be Petri Sakari with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

They play in a very fetching building called Harpa Concert Hall.



I think it’s shared with one of the Norse gods when they’re not using it.

I didn’t even know there was an Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Don't you have to have at least two times zones before you qualify?

This turned out to be an 8 minute version.

Moldau and Vltava are the respective German and Czech names for the river that runs through Prague.