Dvorak, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Holst, And Haydn

[kickassclassical]

One of the questions we sometimes get asked is...

"Hey, where's [insert name of composer here]?"

Usually, the composer is Dvorak. Or Shostakovich. Sometimes it's Stravinsky. Or Holst. Once it was Haydn, but that was your mom asking.

There's a reason you won't find these fine people listed on our site. You see, Kickass Classical is about more than just great classical music. It's about the classical music that has become so pervasive in pop culture that most people have heard it somewhere other than a classical music outlet.

Let's address these dudes individually...

Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, in E Minor "From the New World" (Op. 95), popularly known as the "New World Symphony," is great. John Williams even stole from the 4th movement for his "Jaws" theme.

Shostakovich, Stravinsky, great. Really. Check them out when you get the chance. Particularly (in our humble opinion) Shostakovich's "Second Waltz" and Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring."

Gustav Holst. Famous for his compositions about the planets, titled, oddly enough, "The Planets." Look for "Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity," and "Mars, The Bringer Of War," and "Uranus, The Bringer Of... Oh My God, What Did You Eat, Bro?" Heh, just a joke.

Joseph Haydn. "Father of the Symphony." "Father of the String Quartet." Aw yeah. Who's your daddy?

So why aren't they on Kickass Classical?

Because none of their works have transcended the genre like the other composers featured on the site.

"But..." we've heard it said, "Shostakovich is a much more important composer than say, that guy who did the Comet song we sang as kids, and he's on your site!"

We agree. And there are plenty of sites out there that focus on the depth of "important" composers. Kickass Classical focuses on a certain "brand" of classical music - the popular kind you've heard somewhere else.

That's not to say that we won't feature them someday. We will. When one of their pieces is used in an ad for candy. Or after shave. Or trash bags. Or in a movie trailer. And not just one. Several.

And don't even get us started on Schubert... Mahler... Sibelius... Faure... Schumann... Berlioz... Smetana...

[Dreamer]

And there are plenty of sites out there that focus on the depth of "important" composers.

Hm I think this is the only site with
- a collection of classical music
- you can listen to the main themes
- high quality recordings (although the mp3s are 96kb)
- not an exorbitant large collection (i.e. a top 100 list)

If anyone knows some other sites, list them please.

Hm and by the way… whats wrong with a
“kickass Top 100 list of the not so Popular Classical Music”

[kickassclassical]

Hmm... not a bad idea! We have a conversation going for "The Next 100."