Sunday, November 24, 2013

Classical Music for Goths

Classical Music! How I do love thee. Actually, I've found that a lot of Goths seem to have a certain fondness for classical music. It's very Goth-friendly. I'm not particularly well educated when it comes to composers so don't think me an expert by any means. I know my Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, etc. like everyone else, but I don't generally listen to those three unless the mood strikes. I typically have a fondness for Wagner, Strauss, Liszt, and Shostakovitch.

Classical music has had an influence on the Goth scene as well. Some bands involved in the scene rely on strings and the like very heavily. There are unmistakeable uses of orchestral music in Neoclassical Darkwave if we're going to get very specific. Three bands off the top of my head that utilize classical/orchestra type music in their own are Dead Can Dance, Love is Colder than Death and Soper Aeternus. I'm not big on the former, but classical music is what got me started listening to the other two. Then there are groups like Rasputina or Emilie Autumn who rely heavily on strings and they're pretty adored by the Goth scene themselves.

Of course, being a complete band nerd means that I've been exposed to classical music since middle school. It's ridiculous how exited I get over hearing the oboe played in a piece. I jump around like an idiot and go 'That! That's my instrument!'. And I tend to listen to classical while studying so I don't get sidetracked by lyrics.

Below I'm compiling a few videos from my Itunes that that could fall under the classical label and might appeal more to the Gothic crowd.

Danse Macabre- Saint-Säens



Faust Fantasy Op. 13- Sarasate




Waltz No. 2- Shostakovitch




String Quartet No. 8 Op. 110 Mvt. 2- Shostakovitch




Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1- Chopin




Dance of the Knights- Prokofiev




Lieutenant Kije/Romance- Prokofiev




Moonlight Sonata Mvt. 1- Beethoven




Cello Concerto Mvt. 1- Walton



So this kind of music might not be everyone's cup of tea. But hey sometimes if you feel like enforcing a fun cliche, such as reading a vampire book by candlelight, I figure you might as well have some music to back you up ;)

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