Has there been a piece that has changed your life?

Originally Posted by Corbin The Violist

Man... that's said that Chopin did that for you... let alone his piano concerto.

My teacher always says that the writing in the piece is quite poor (except for the piano) - I must admit i've heard better concerto's since then but that piece was my starting point - the only classical music i really listened to was chopin's piano pieces to begin with, but after hearing the concerto I wanted to listen to more orchestral stuff which meant listening to different composers. I'm quite a fan of chopin in general still though ^.^ each to their own i guess

There was a piece of music that changed tons of things for me, but most people probably have never heard of it...It's a piece by Gary P. Gildroy. It was written specifically for my band in memory of a dear friend's death. It was really what got me into the entire idea of composition.

Originally Posted by firsty_ferret

My teacher always says that the writing in the piece is quite poor (except for the piano) - I must admit i've heard better concerto's since then but that piece was my starting point - the only classical music i really listened to was chopin's piano pieces to begin with, but after hearing the concerto I wanted to listen to more orchestral stuff which meant listening to different composers. I'm quite a fan of chopin in general still though ^.^ each to their own i guess

Yeah. His piano concertos aren't masterpieces when it comes to the handling of the orchestra (I've played horn in the second once... weirdest horn line I've ever seen - except that one cool horn signal!), but if you don't approach them as piano concertos but just as piano pieces with some "orchestral aura", they are quite beautiful. I still prefer his pure piano pieces, but I can enjoy the concertos too.

Maybe it is cuz I'm a violist and I've never had to deal with Pag or Liszt or Chopin that I feel "untainted" by all of them.

Beethoven changed my life with the fact that he brought me into a world of music I never knew existed.

Shostakovich changed my life by helping me find my voice.

Shostakovich's 4th inspired me to start writing music. My life was being consumed by online gambling; a few days after seeing it being performed I purposely lost my bankroll. I've spent thousands of hours playing poker (over 100K hands) and trying to improve; in one night I threw it all away and did not look back. Not knowing at the time exactly why, but now I know.

mozart piano concerto k 466 and k 467

and

rossini's ouvertures

changed my life and made me start composing, this goes back in 1999
and i thank my father that bought those cassette accidentally!

Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg (especially "Mondestrunken", "Galgenlied", and "Enthauptung")
String Quartet No. 1 by Ives
String Quartet No. 8 by Shostakovich
Symphony No. 7 by Sibelius

Dvorak-"New World Symphony"-2nd Mvt.
Beethoven-9th Symphony-4th Mvt.
John Williams-Across The Stars

Mahler's Symphony No. 2 when I was 16. It was my first time to see and hear a professional orchestra with a thundering chorus with organ and huge orchestra. One of the best memories of my life. I had never experienced anything like it before and felt I understood what Mahler was trying to say in way words could never explain...only music could.