Classical for creative inspiration

[Prayer_Warrior83]

Okay, I know next to nothing about classical music, so please be patient.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is both a Worship Leader at my church and a trained opera singer (cool combo, eh?) about the kinds of classical music people listen to to get creative inspiration. I simply told her "lately, the only music I play for inspiration when writing my fantasy novel is Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails."

My friend suggested Wagner (apparently pronounced Varg-ner), dark, sometimes violent, emotional. Not just "Ride of the Valkyries", but the whole Ring Cycle.

Any other suggestions?

 

[christianchoirgirl]

Wagner kind of scares me.... I listen to music with out words. Music without words evokes creativity without being a distraction. I listen to Moulin Rouge 2 because most of the songs don't have words. Sometimes I jsut turn on the classical channel. They also have some awsome strings CDs that have done popular music from past decades and have turned them into inspiring works. Haydn is also a great strings composer who did some amazing works like The Four Season and Water music, I think. Each symphony has I think 4 movements that are about 5-7 min each.
I hope this helps!!

 

[amazed_by_grace]

Well, I listen to classical radio a lot so I'm never really sure who it is that I'm listening to but I give classical three thumbs up for being inspirational... it really helps me to write. I know that I love Shostakovich... some of Debussy is supposed to be good but Tchaikovsky remains my personal favourite.. yeah thats the guy that wrote all of that ballet music!!! I know thats not very appealing to a guy but if you just get a cd of some of his most popular pieces you might like it... his ballet music was famous for a reason: his music really is very creative and inspiring... very emotive also...

 

[Dikki]

Choices in classical music are very personal. Before you choose the music, ask yourself a few questions:

1. Do you like orchestral music or do you go for chamber music?

2. Per country there are little differences (You know the funniest thing about Europe...?). Choose which ones you prefer. German music for instance is a little more heavy than French. The last one is more dancelike in nature.

3. What period do you prefer. Early romantic (Beethoven) is very different from late romantic like Stravinsky, let alone barock.

4. What about opera, ballet, romanitc songs and the like?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, first try some kind of sampler. Deutsch Grammophon used to have them. Get information from your local record dealer.

Finally: there's a lot of people like you. Ask around and listen to each opther's music. You learn most by listening, by trial and lots of errors.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Classical music helps me when I am writing...it gets the juices flowing.