orchestra people of tumblr. i come to you humbly asking you send me your favorite orchestra songs. please. i just discovered something about myself and its that i really enjoy orchestra/classical music
so. uh yeah if you happen to really like orchestra or perhaps just a really specific song please yap at me. my inbox is there.
i’m listening to a playlist of apparently popular orchestra songs and this one is my favorite so far if you want to send similar ones it reminds me of a sunny day
tagging this with a bunch of shit so the right people find it
p.s. i’m very sleep deprived sorry if this post was nonsensical idk i just like music
Haydn:
Symphony no 101 in D, "The Clock", all movements are good but I especially love the first movement (this album also has another of his symphonies, but I haven't listened to that one)
Trumpet Concerto in Eb, especially the first movement
Mozart:
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik first movement (you know this one, overplayed but great)
Symphony no 40 in G minor, another classic
Clarinet quintet in A, I only discovered this the other day and haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but the first movement was so good it made me kinda mad (?)
Schubert:
Unfinished Symphony, the second movement is absolutely gorgeous
Strauss II:
Blue Danube Waltz, cheesy and overplayed, but my personal favourite piece of music of all time
Kaiser Waltz, another great one
Waldteufel:
Les Patineurs (Skater's Waltz), I play timpani and there's a bit towards the end where the music stops and the timps go BONG which is one of my favourite things to do on timps (also can you tell I'm a waltz guy yet)
Grieg:
Peer Gynt Suite no 1, you'll recognize the first and fourth movements (Morning Mood and the Hall of the Mountain King, respectively), but the second and third movements are lovely too. Morning Mood definitely fits your "sounds like a sunny day" thing the most out of anything on this list.a
Liszt:
Un Sospiro, first piece of solo piano music on this list (I recommend watching a youtube video, the spectacle of the hand crossings is part of the fun of this piece)
Brahms:
Hungarian Dance no 5, what a banger
Chopin:
Nocturne no 2 in Eb, maybe the second-most famous piece of piano music ever written, you'll know this one
Nocturne no 20 in C# minor, this has some history; it wasn't published during his lifetime, but gained wide recognition when a Jewish-Polish pianist's live radio performance of this piece was interrupted by the Nazi bombing of Warsaw (Chopin's hometown) in 1939
Grande Valse Brillante, what a bop
Gounod:
Funeral March of a Marionette, I just think it's really fun
Leroy Anderson:
The Typewriter, it's just so incredibly fun (and it quite literally uses a typewriter as an instrument)
Debussy:
Claire de Lune, possibly the third-most famous piece of piano music ever written and absolutely gorgeous
Beethoven:
Piano sonata no 14 in C#m, "Moonlight", the second movement is forgettable on its own but it's a perfect palette cleanser between the first and third movements (this album also has his Pathetique and Appassionata sonatas, which I hear are incredible, but I specifically haven't listened to them yet because I know if I hear them I'll get obsessed with learning them and I'm not that good yet lol)
Symphony no 5 in Cm, you'll recognize the opening of the first movement immediately, but the rest of it completely holds up too. (Most people would recommend Beethoven's 9th symphony over his 5th, but I'd only recommend the 9th if you're going to see it in concert, so much of the effect is lost when you're not in the room. Plus it's really, really long, like over an hour in total IIRC).
Tchaikovsky:
Waltz from Sleeping Beauty, a beautiful piece of music that got arranged as Once Upon a Dream for the Disney film
Saint-Saens:
Carnival of the Animals, it's just so fun. Don't be intimidated by the fact that there's 24 movements, they're mostly really short. Highlights: Introduction, The Elephant, Aquarium, Fossils, The Swan, Finale
Poulenc:
Flute Sonata, I discovered this by asking our principal flautist who I should study to compose music that flutes love to play, the first movement especially is really great
Holst:
The Planets, especially Mars and Venus but all of them. Sounds like Star Wars (because John Williams was directly cribbing off Holst when composing the Star Wars OST, at Lucas's request, apparently he originally just wanted to use The Planets as the soundtrack)
















