Login
You're viewing the wargamers.social public feed.
  • Cait the Proud Trans Womanoldladyplays
    Jun 12, 2026, 4:31 PM

    I've discovered that listening to familiar symphonies while going to sleep is a reliable way to put myself down for the night.

    I have a shortlist of symphonies that work for me - made a YouTube playlist of them, so I can hit shuffle and lie down to see what's coming.

    The shortlist so far is:

    1) Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhbition
    2) Mussorgsky, Night on Bald Mountain
    3) Holst: The Planets
    4) Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf

    So. Can anyone suggest me more symphonies in this kind of vein? I know it's a weird list for sleep, but it works for me.

    I feel like if there's a common thread here, it's that each work is trying to express an idea, a story, and I enjoy hearing the story, kind of.

    Now I think about it...Tchaikovsky's 1812 symphony is good, I should add that. I know it super well, it was part of our stock repertoire when I was in the concert band in high school.

    💬 10🔄 3⭐ 11

Replies

  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 1
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 0
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 1
  • Cait the Proud Trans Womanoldladyplays
    Jun 12, 2026, 4:46 PM

    @Mendie_Taoma

    Yeah, I'm mostly aiming at symphonic music. I like the interplay of the classical instruments (and I used to play euphonium as first chair).

    💬 0🔄 0⭐ 2
  • zahlenzauber*inZahlenzauberin@dresden.network
    Jun 12, 2026, 4:55 PM

    @oldladyplays

    Smetana's Vltava comes to mind, a journey along the Czech river from the sources to Prague. But that's only twelve minutes. It is part of the greater work "Má vlast" (my fatherland) so perhaps the whole thing would be something for you.

    Another one we heard in school when we heard "pictures of an exhibition" was Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite". Which tells the story of Ibsens play "Peer Gynt"

    💬 1🔄 0⭐ 1
  • 💬 1🔄 0⭐ 2
  • zahlenzauber*inZahlenzauberin@dresden.network
    Jun 12, 2026, 5:05 PM

    @oldladyplays yes, he was part of the Czech national movement against the Austrian empire. And his "Vltava" somehow ended up as the standard piece German children listen to in primary school when they make their first acquaintance with classical music.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • verses :nonbinary_flag:onemoreday@critter.cafe
    Jun 12, 2026, 5:36 PM

    @oldladyplays I love Peter and the Wolf!! I used to listen to it on vinyl record with my family when I was a kid.

    I recommend "Fantasia on a Theme", by Thomas Tallis. It has a range of moods and I feel very much there is a story here of (this is my own interpretation) people waiting for their loved ones to return from war, and while some of them return, others must wait even longer, and lean on each other for support, until finally .. (i dont want to spoil it 😄) I have listened to it hundreds of times and that's what has manifested in my head as a result.

    I will be interested to see what story you hear/see when listening to it.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • 💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • Noa Resarenoa@unstraight.club
    Jun 12, 2026, 9:15 PM

    @oldladyplays how do you feel about choral music? Associating feels from what you mention there is Britten’s hymn to st Cecilia, for less modern but more meaty material I’m thinking Brahms Ein Deutches Requiem.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • Jenjetlagjen@gts.phillipsuk.org
    Jun 12, 2026, 9:48 PM

    @oldladyplays Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns.

    Each animal has its own theme and instrument, similar to how they do in Peter and the Wolf.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • DavidM_yegDavidM_yeg@beige.party
    Jun 13, 2026, 1:39 AM

    @oldladyplays

    That’s pretty good list… Dvorak’s 9th “From the New World” has always been a personal favourite of mine

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • Eleanor 🫖🍵📚eleanor@chaosfem.tw
    Jun 13, 2026, 2:38 AM

    @oldladyplays

    Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov is very story-driven. I can always feel the ocean waves when I listen to it.

    Also Stravinsky Rite of Spring and Firebird suites are in that vein.

    Dvorak's 9th is the more famous one, but I actually like Dvorak's 8th more, and it's just as melodic and story driven.

    Smetana, Ma Vlast are symphonic poems, and one of them, The Moldau, is a trip down a river.

    Those are the ones I can think of that are very much like the ones you mentioned and are organized around a story or idea.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • Maxkorenchkin@chaos.social
    Jun 13, 2026, 10:04 AM

    @oldladyplays perhaps Arvo Pärt's fourth Symphony, and Shostakovich's 7th and 11th Symphonies?

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1
  • dch :flantifa: :flan_hacker:dch@bsd.network
    Jun 13, 2026, 11:30 AM

    @oldladyplays Mendelssohn New Hebrides overture
    Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony

    I’m a huge fan of Bach Cello suites. There are many different styles of playing this, Yo-yo Ma, Rostropovich, Bruns. Maybe one of those clicks for you.

    💬 0🔄 1⭐ 1