Oh hey there. I haven't been on in a while (mostly busy with real life stuff), but I'm always up to share some classical music I love to others.

If piano pieces are what you want, OftenBen, here are a few pieces that I absolutely love:

Ravel - Miroirs no. 3: Un barque sur l'ocean:

This is a wonderful piece by ravel in a series of piano pieces, all of which are good, but this one is my favorite of the bunch. It's calm, melodic, meditative and very oceanic if I do say so myself. A wonderful piece by one of my favorite composers.

Ravel - Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

As a lefty, it is almost an obligation to post this wonderful piece by Ravel. Would you believe this piece was composed for famous Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein's brother? Didn't even know he had a brother before discovering this piece! Paul Wittgenstein lost his hand in a war but still wanted to play piano, so he got Ravel to write this piece for him. Unfortunately Ravel was incredibly displeased at Paul when he performed it, because Paul decided to change a few things in the piece to make it more palatable to his musical tastes. This is a wonderful, heroic sounding piece, just like Paul.

Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata no. 5

I've listened to a lot of versions of this piece, but Sultanov imo does it best. When I first listened to this I felt as if I was listening to some cosmic otherworldly music. Really amazing stuff here.

Simeon Ten Holt - Canto Ostinato

Got two hours? This piece is really something beautiful. Whenever I listen to this piece it's like my mind wanders through medieval labyrinths. It's a very minimal, meditative and almost transformative piece. My favorite part of the entire piece has to be section 88.

A very dark and lonely sounding, but beautiful part. Unfortunately this isn't my favorite version, but it's the only one on youtube. The one I first listened to, and is my favorite, takes it much faster and spends more time repeating 88 quite a bit.

Kasputin - Piano Sonata no. 8

This piece is very jazzy. Kasputin is a perfect blend of jazz and classical that is really worth a listen if you like either genre.

Valentin Silvestrov - Last Love

Silvestrov is a wonderful Ukrainian composer. His sixth symphony is one of my favorite symphonies of all time, but this isn't about symphonies, lol. This piece in particular is terrible. Yeah right; It's stunningly beautiful. As is this piece by him:

He's well worth a listen to, but be forewarned, he is a modern composer. Other pieces by him might be a bit more inaccessible for those who dislike modern music, but if you give him a shot, I think you'll grow to like it. Try this piece:

Walter Abendroth - Piano Concerto

The stuff you find on youtube, I tell ya. I don't know much of anything about this guy, but I found this when randomly listening to obscure composers on youtube and really like it. Perhaps it's not Tchaikovsky, but I found it nice enough in any case.

Granados - Valses Poeticos

Very melodic and beautiful waltzes.

Theodor Adorno - Piano Piece

A very interesting dream-like piece.

Debussy - Images I: Reflets dans l'eau

Debussy is another favorite of mine, and this piece in particular is a favorite of mine. The first piece of his I ever listened to was his suite Bergamasque:

Which is very beautiful and contains the famous Clair de Lune, which you've probably heard somewhere else before in a movie or game or maybe mentioned by someone in a book. A very beautiful piece.

Steve Reich - Piano Counterpoint

A beautiful minimalistic piece. Minimalism might not be for everyone, but this piece, among others by him, are really something great. Watching the work slowly alter, evolve and change is really something that's a treat to my ears. His Music for 18 Musiciansis also a minimalist masterpiece, albeit not entirely piano, though it plays an important part in the piece in any case:

My favorite part has to be his section IIIA

The piano is performed by Reich himself, btw.

...I think that's enough for now. I could go on, but I think that's enough piano tunes and places to search for more piano tunes... Well, actually, one more:

Camille Saint Saens - The Swan

The piano is mostly in the background compared to the violin that just tugs at your heartstrings, but I think it still belongs here. It's a very beautiful piece.

I am about to get my drivers license, and hopefully after that a job working as a school lunch helper in some public school.

I'm actually pretty happy with how things are going so far. With this job (If I get it), I get about the same amount of vacation time as the students do, which gives me free time to pursue my interests, while also having the ability to work on other things and save up money for any investments.

I live a peaceful life where no one bothers me for rent or noise complaints.

I don't really care for college at the moment, since I don't wanna get in debt. Besides, I'd go to college to either study philosophy (something you can't really get employment from) or something in computers, which is a field that is replete with the do-it-yourself spirit. Everything I could want to learn about computers in a college, I could learn on my own.

I don't have that tick-tocking feeling you have, but that might be because I have a rather odd view of life. I have hopes and dreams like everyone else, but I don't mind if I never achieve them. I came into this life with nothing. I didn't even ask to be brought into this world, and I get to experience all the joys and horrors this world has to offer at no discernible cost. There seems to be no purpose to life, so all I want to do is make myself happy, and it turns out that doesn't require fame, fortune, a lofty position or anything really. I have tons of books on my bookshelf, perhaps 50 years worth of books and many more I don't have but want, and I'm sure I'll never be able to read them all while I'm also listening to tons of great music, playing tons of neat games, watching tons of interesting videos, and doing lots of cool stuff. My only regret is not being able to experience all of it. And that regret goes away when I realize I experienced at least some of it.

I'd like to one day create something really great, be it a game, or some music, or write some long novel or play, or do some poetry, or maybe all of the above, and release it in the public domain one day. I don't know what it is, but I want people to experience it and really feel something they've never felt before. I want it to be something that really makes you feel human. But if I don't ever get a chance to do that, well, no harm done.

The only thing in life I'm particularly melancholic about is my love life. That's the one thing in life I feel really nervous about. It's even hard to explain what makes me so nervous, but I guess the best way to explain it would be a low self-esteem towards myself and being in a relationship with someone I love. I'll deal with that when it comes, if it comes, if I let it come.

Aside from that, everything is just fine and I wish for life to remain in this same easy-going mode, which, given the fact that it's life, is no guarantee. It takes one war and draft and I'm in prison (Because I don't want to fight in a war and hurt people) or hiding in some foreign country. I haven't decided which one I'd do yet. Who knows what life has in store for me? I sure as hell don't.

I got turned away from classical for the longest time because of these composers (With the exception of Beethoven and Bach, whom I've always liked). I was about to give up classical as something I'd never understand until I found out about Erik Satie:

http://youtu.be/atejQh9cXWI

This started it all. This piece, all of his pieces were so different from all other classical pieces I've ever listened to; This was no surprise as Satie never quite liked romanticism and the previous classical composers and their ways. He had an entirely different style, one that was a kind of predessecor to other musical genres (Muzak, "furniture music" and ambient of the likes of Brian Eno and friends). I suppose this is my Number 1. Here's a good documentary on Erik Satie:

http://youtu.be/rCacoDnHGe4

After Erik Satie, I wanted to look for similar artists, and many people have told me that he hung out with Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and they composed in a musical style inspired by the paintings of the impressionist painters, which is what they called themselves:

Debussy: http://youtu.be/ZdBjJZ0sAJQ

Ravel: http://youtu.be/amGl9Qmgu7E

These are my numbers 2 and 3.

After a while, I wanted to go back to the ones I disliked and see if I liked them now, at this point, I found a composer named Gustav Mahler:

http://youtu.be/URKGIa0b_jI

Now, this was some really heavy stuff. I went to listen to all of hy symphonies and all of them were great, and even moreso, all of them had that "link" I couldn't find in Mozart or the other usual folks. I guess at this point, I was well on my way to becoming addicted to classical. This is my number 4.

After Mahler, I better appreciated Mozart and friends but I still didn't like them, I just put away my issues with them. I wanted to go more modern, as it seemed that has never let me down. Enter Stravinsky and Shostakovich and my numbers 5 and 6:

Stravinsky: http://youtu.be/aGFRwKQqbk4

Shostakovich: http://youtu.be/ogJFXqYEYd8

From here, I wanted to go even more modern, to see what's going on so far, an I discovered Alfred Schnittke, my number 7, and oh man, was this a real mindscrew:

http://youtu.be/xNKWoo9Fe40

If you want to take a gander at the abyss, this guy will help you there. All of his works are so deliciously dark and demonic. Very excellent. From here I went to the Minimalists:

Steve Reich: http://youtu.be/fx27voOtpNs

Terry Riley: http://youtu.be/BHBvoBti_eg

I find it harder and harder to write. I don't know who said it, but someone said writing about music is like dancing about architecture. I'll just leave it to you to hear them and let them speak for themselves. Those are my numbers 8 and 9.

Long ago, I found out about John Cage and his radical 4'33'' and the more avante-garde classical at the time. I liked a lot of it, but there was one composer in particular that stood far out from the rest, and that guy was Morton Feldman:

http://youtu.be/MR4o9sjA1EE

http://youtu.be/x-9QcADiekY

http://youtu.be/myIvdeQH8hQ

This guy... He was a lot like Satie. He spend most of his time in music school arguing with his teachers about what music should be like. I found a kindred spirit in him. I never got classical music before when it was all Mozart and Schubert and Haydn so on. His music is so quiet, so meaningful, so sad. It's quite avante-garde, so it takes some buffering time for someone used to only Mozart or Beethoven, or even Mahler, Satie, Reich and everyone else on my list, to get into him but his work, imo, is really something special from all the other composers I've ever listened to. He's my number 10 favorite composer.

And now, some honorable mentions:

Perotin, a very OLD composer: http://youtu.be/bpgaEFmdFcM

This is a funny quirk. I actually like Medieval composers/Gregorian chant because they were actually similar to modern composers in a certain sense (Hard to explain, since I'm not musically educated). Somehwere along the line, composers like Mozart and Beethoven, the classical and romantic periods, changed their musical style.

Arvo Part: http://youtu.be/PzSlmWQuHFw

Modern composer, and very excellent.

John Luther Adams: http://youtu.be/g6wX1c-Zk9Q

Inspired by Morton Feldman and the natural areas of Alaska, so naturally, I'd like his work. Very beautiful stuff.

Simeon Ten Holt: http://youtu.be/f7yeIWne0iw

This piece is magnificent. This is my number 11, if I could add in a number 11. IT's a strange piece that just makes you want to reflect the longer you listen to it. It's a really amazing song.

And for now, that is it, because this is already a long list, but at least I gave you some recommendations that are more on the modern side, which I think more people should look into, as there's a lot of neat stuff there waiting to be found and enjoyed. As always, this is all my opinion, I have no musical background and the likes