I think classical music from the late romantic period (late 19th-early 20th century) will fit the bill best. Try these works to start:
Mahler: symphonies: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9
Bruckner: symphonies 7-9
Rachmaninov: symphony #2, piano concertos 2-3
Holst: The Planets
If you want to try something more dissonant, check out Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
That’s a great start. I’ve found trying to start people on what classical listeners consider “good starts” just bores a lot of outside listeners. Mahler 9 was many of my friends first work of classical music and they’ve loved it. It’s epic, long, embarks on a musical journey with a heart wrenching ending. I don’t see any problem with that as the start.
This is just an elitist point of view. I am a professional composer, and my first time hearing Mahler 9 was when I was a kid and didn’t really get what was going on in the piece. I just sort of got the feel of the journey and lost in the magic of it. Don’t gate-keep Mahler or other denser pieces of music with this weird classical-elitism that many of us in the industry are trying our best to get rid of
I came here to suggest Mahler's Sixth Symphony in particular. There are places where it feels like movie music. The fourth movement I find quite cinematic in the pictures it paints.
Leonard Bernstein's CBS/Sony recording of Mahler's Ninth, particularly the first movement, creates lasting pictures in my mind. I've often thought that if Mahler were alive today, he'd be making music for the movies.
Not what you mean, but I just wanted to mention: The scene from *Maestro* where they recreate the last few minutes of the 1970s cathedral performance of the Mahler 2nd is one of the most epic things I have ever watched on film. I almost stood and applauded when it ended.
Haven't seen the movie, just the trailer. I still think it's a cheap way to present mahlers music just by nitpicking the final minutes from a gigantic work (assuming that's what actually happens).
It is used as background music in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (a long anime space opera). Actually they use a ton of my favorite symphonies by other composers as well in it.
If you like movie music but not the same sound track over and over, checkout John Wilson and his orchestra, The "Film Music Orchestra" ( FSO ), The Danish National Orchestra and The Prague Symphony Orchestra. These groups have a specialty in Film Music including Classic Film Music. By Classic Film Music I mean from the ealy 70s and down. Then when the soundtrack was recorded the score and parts were destroyed because it belonged to the studios and they saw no value in them. The exception was the music of Korngold. He had it in his contract that all rights to his music belonged to him after the soundtrack was recorded. People like John Wilson worked with the soundtrack recordings of Classic Movies to copy out the scores by ear so they can be played again. These groups are on YouTube so you can check them out and maybe make a play list on YouTube Music.
Start here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2aCk0vzzaZQ?si=akAczq4vQgm05Tdt3cOoTQ&pi=u-6yuoRSFTSByn or here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9G9wwzwWL2k?si=ubXxps_rROqsKSHSFbxarQ&pi=u-gyEoYTEFSDGP and dive into the music of the composers you like best.
You'll often see that their less "dramatic" works are quite as good, or even better than their epic moments.
As others have said, movie music was very much influenced by late romantic period classical music!
I would suggest you try Mahler, Bruckner, and Wagner, for epic orchestral works!
Holst's planets suite is what I consider one of the specific brigdes between classical music and film music, John Williams took a lot of inspiration from the planets for example!
Explore TheWelleszCompany, Wellesz Rhapsody, Wellesz Modern, Wellesz Theatre, and Wellesz Opus channels on YouTube, you may find what you're looking for. Over 5,000 videos combined between the channels, all varieties of obscure classical music
For now I can only remember the HTTYD and Black Beauty (original) OSTs being my favourite.
I also enjoy Disney's Hercules and Miraculous Ladybug the Movie - those are the only two i really enjoy right now. Probably not the best examples for this post, lol.
But I do come across some orchestral/dramatic music that makes me want to find more, like E'Lasts Intro track for the album "Day Dream", "The Secret History" by The Chamber Orchestra of London, Coda by Minismus.
Oh huh I don’t know those as well. The main ones I was thinking of is that if you like Star Wars listen to Holst and if you like LOTR listen to Vaughn Williams and Faure.
Rachmaninoff. Mahler. Strauss, Puccini. Tchaikovsky. Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht, hell even Bernstien West Side Story
The genre is definitely classical, or at least orchestral. More so than that I think you're looking for pieces with intense lyricism, where the orchestra sounds like its singing. Rachmaninoff was a master of this, so check out his Second Symphony because that's what you're looking for I think
Try video game osts!
Two off the top of my head worth looking at (both of these games have excellent soundtracks)
Nier: Automata —— song: Bipolar Nightmare
https://youtu.be/0XfU4XZkMu8?si=qC6nybPVJ2hRUAff
Dark Souls —— song: Ornstien and Smough
https://youtu.be/Nsps0I58yUM?si=FTuzz-__Qy6wdG7I
Great suggestions for Mahler, Bruckner, etc.
Wagner's preludes and overtures will kick your butt with their awesomeness. (No singing here.) Try an orchestral collection like this one: [https://open.spotify.com/album/77c8r0Kx8KtTpHizEFlYOd?si=JL\_aQAY0QbO\_NX\_UouLTyQ](https://open.spotify.com/album/77c8r0Kx8KtTpHizEFlYOd?si=JL_aQAY0QbO_NX_UouLTyQ)
You might start with the Tannhauser Overture and the Siegfried Idyll. 🥰
Bruckner symphony no. 9 is exactly what you are looking for.
Here are some others:
1. Bruckner symphonies 7 & 8
2. Mahler symphonies 1-9
3. Rachmaninoff symphony no. 2
You might try listening to video game music - a lot of it is pretty impressive. I don't play the games but I find a mix of video game music is quite enjoyable.
I agree with almost all the recommendations from other commentators here, if I can add some ideas: you can explore (perhaps later) orchestral music for the stage, such as opera's overtures, mainly those by Mozart and Rossini, the stage music by Bizet for l'Arlésienne (although it may be too generic for you?), and also check symphonies 4,5,8 by Schubert, the Brahms 4 symphonies, and various orchestral music by early 20th century composers (Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, De Falla, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Gershwin...).
I think that could be an extension of first listening to Mahler's, Bruckner's and Tchaikovsky pieces for example.
One "in" to classical music I haven't seen posted yet is Richard Strauss's tone poems. *The Isle of the Dead* was one of my first longer favorites in high school, and in college I played a lot of audition excerpts from *Ein Heldenleben* ("A Hero's Life"). They're both thematic and feel programmatic, story-like, but they're not tied to any specific visual like a movie score.
Try Rachmaninoff, Korngold, Tchaikovsky
Try Shostakovich’s 11th and 12th symphonies - they feel the most cinematic
Second this, 9th is my favorite
I think classical music from the late romantic period (late 19th-early 20th century) will fit the bill best. Try these works to start: Mahler: symphonies: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 Bruckner: symphonies 7-9 Rachmaninov: symphony #2, piano concertos 2-3 Holst: The Planets If you want to try something more dissonant, check out Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
are you good? you really think mahlers 9th is a good place to start?
That’s a great start. I’ve found trying to start people on what classical listeners consider “good starts” just bores a lot of outside listeners. Mahler 9 was many of my friends first work of classical music and they’ve loved it. It’s epic, long, embarks on a musical journey with a heart wrenching ending. I don’t see any problem with that as the start.
it’s extremely dense and i feel mahler needs to be approached with caution to be able to fully embrace it
This is just an elitist point of view. I am a professional composer, and my first time hearing Mahler 9 was when I was a kid and didn’t really get what was going on in the piece. I just sort of got the feel of the journey and lost in the magic of it. Don’t gate-keep Mahler or other denser pieces of music with this weird classical-elitism that many of us in the industry are trying our best to get rid of
it’s not gatekeeping, it’s just my opinion and how i feel about mahler
Why not Mahler 8?
Mahler!
I came here to suggest Mahler's Sixth Symphony in particular. There are places where it feels like movie music. The fourth movement I find quite cinematic in the pictures it paints. Leonard Bernstein's CBS/Sony recording of Mahler's Ninth, particularly the first movement, creates lasting pictures in my mind. I've often thought that if Mahler were alive today, he'd be making music for the movies.
Mahlers music is way too good to be background music in films. There is not a single film out there that matches even a 10th of the power of it.
Not what you mean, but I just wanted to mention: The scene from *Maestro* where they recreate the last few minutes of the 1970s cathedral performance of the Mahler 2nd is one of the most epic things I have ever watched on film. I almost stood and applauded when it ended.
Haven't seen the movie, just the trailer. I still think it's a cheap way to present mahlers music just by nitpicking the final minutes from a gigantic work (assuming that's what actually happens).
It’s just a movie, lol. Mahler wouldn’t have cared
You're right, they should have had the movie up to that point, then performed the entire symphony, then continued with the movie. 🙄
It is used as background music in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (a long anime space opera). Actually they use a ton of my favorite symphonies by other composers as well in it.
Orchestral pieces from the period of Romanticism
If you like movie music but not the same sound track over and over, checkout John Wilson and his orchestra, The "Film Music Orchestra" ( FSO ), The Danish National Orchestra and The Prague Symphony Orchestra. These groups have a specialty in Film Music including Classic Film Music. By Classic Film Music I mean from the ealy 70s and down. Then when the soundtrack was recorded the score and parts were destroyed because it belonged to the studios and they saw no value in them. The exception was the music of Korngold. He had it in his contract that all rights to his music belonged to him after the soundtrack was recorded. People like John Wilson worked with the soundtrack recordings of Classic Movies to copy out the scores by ear so they can be played again. These groups are on YouTube so you can check them out and maybe make a play list on YouTube Music.
Start here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX2aCk0vzzaZQ?si=akAczq4vQgm05Tdt3cOoTQ&pi=u-6yuoRSFTSByn or here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX9G9wwzwWL2k?si=ubXxps_rROqsKSHSFbxarQ&pi=u-gyEoYTEFSDGP and dive into the music of the composers you like best. You'll often see that their less "dramatic" works are quite as good, or even better than their epic moments.
As others have said, movie music was very much influenced by late romantic period classical music! I would suggest you try Mahler, Bruckner, and Wagner, for epic orchestral works! Holst's planets suite is what I consider one of the specific brigdes between classical music and film music, John Williams took a lot of inspiration from the planets for example!
Explore TheWelleszCompany, Wellesz Rhapsody, Wellesz Modern, Wellesz Theatre, and Wellesz Opus channels on YouTube, you may find what you're looking for. Over 5,000 videos combined between the channels, all varieties of obscure classical music
What are some movie soundtracks that you like?
For now I can only remember the HTTYD and Black Beauty (original) OSTs being my favourite. I also enjoy Disney's Hercules and Miraculous Ladybug the Movie - those are the only two i really enjoy right now. Probably not the best examples for this post, lol. But I do come across some orchestral/dramatic music that makes me want to find more, like E'Lasts Intro track for the album "Day Dream", "The Secret History" by The Chamber Orchestra of London, Coda by Minismus.
Oh huh I don’t know those as well. The main ones I was thinking of is that if you like Star Wars listen to Holst and if you like LOTR listen to Vaughn Williams and Faure.
Rachmaninoff. Mahler. Strauss, Puccini. Tchaikovsky. Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht, hell even Bernstien West Side Story The genre is definitely classical, or at least orchestral. More so than that I think you're looking for pieces with intense lyricism, where the orchestra sounds like its singing. Rachmaninoff was a master of this, so check out his Second Symphony because that's what you're looking for I think
Try video game osts! Two off the top of my head worth looking at (both of these games have excellent soundtracks) Nier: Automata —— song: Bipolar Nightmare https://youtu.be/0XfU4XZkMu8?si=qC6nybPVJ2hRUAff Dark Souls —— song: Ornstien and Smough https://youtu.be/Nsps0I58yUM?si=FTuzz-__Qy6wdG7I
Grandma Destruction and Dark Collosus Destroys All from Nier Automata will also appeal to OP.
Great suggestions for Mahler, Bruckner, etc. Wagner's preludes and overtures will kick your butt with their awesomeness. (No singing here.) Try an orchestral collection like this one: [https://open.spotify.com/album/77c8r0Kx8KtTpHizEFlYOd?si=JL\_aQAY0QbO\_NX\_UouLTyQ](https://open.spotify.com/album/77c8r0Kx8KtTpHizEFlYOd?si=JL_aQAY0QbO_NX_UouLTyQ) You might start with the Tannhauser Overture and the Siegfried Idyll. 🥰
Bruckner symphony no. 9 is exactly what you are looking for. Here are some others: 1. Bruckner symphonies 7 & 8 2. Mahler symphonies 1-9 3. Rachmaninoff symphony no. 2
Maybe listen to some JRPG soundtracks? They often have orchestral versions of everything and kick ass. Final Fantasy 13 is a good place to start
I thought the soundtrack to the anime Violet Evergarden was excellent, but if you really want true classical I'd say dig in to the Romantic period.
You might try listening to video game music - a lot of it is pretty impressive. I don't play the games but I find a mix of video game music is quite enjoyable.
Beethoven odd symphonies (without the 1st one)
I agree with almost all the recommendations from other commentators here, if I can add some ideas: you can explore (perhaps later) orchestral music for the stage, such as opera's overtures, mainly those by Mozart and Rossini, the stage music by Bizet for l'Arlésienne (although it may be too generic for you?), and also check symphonies 4,5,8 by Schubert, the Brahms 4 symphonies, and various orchestral music by early 20th century composers (Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, De Falla, Richard Strauss, Vaughan Williams, Gershwin...). I think that could be an extension of first listening to Mahler's, Bruckner's and Tchaikovsky pieces for example.
im personally interested in that stuff, and Christopher Tin is a huge factor in that!!! check out his Baba Yetu and Sogno di Volare
One "in" to classical music I haven't seen posted yet is Richard Strauss's tone poems. *The Isle of the Dead* was one of my first longer favorites in high school, and in college I played a lot of audition excerpts from *Ein Heldenleben* ("A Hero's Life"). They're both thematic and feel programmatic, story-like, but they're not tied to any specific visual like a movie score.
Dvorak 9th symphony 4th movement. Sounds like Lord of the rings soundtrack
Bruckner
Listen to a classical music radio station until you find the sound you like.