Julien St. Pierre wrote:

>...  Judging by the title, you have probably guessed that I am a new
>listener to classical music.  I have been brought up listening to it,
>but just recently have a really started listening whole-heartedly, and
>am starting to really enjoy what I am listening to.  My question is this
>- where do I begin? What I really enjoy is a choral piece with rich
>accompanying music.

Wow - you have some great experiences waiting for you. For starters
you might try Verdi's Requiem and his Four Sacred Pieces.  They fit the
choral + rich accompaniment criterion.  There is also Vaughn Williams'
Sea Symphony and Walton's Belshazar's Feast, and Honneger's Joan of Arc
at the stake, and it goes on and on.  And if happiness in a measured amount
entices you try Beethoven's Ninth.  But you say you don't want happy?
Mahler awaits you.  Try the Second Symphony which has lot's of choral
stuff.  But for sheer unhappiness (but no singing) there is the Sixth
Symphony.  And the crowning glory is the Ninth.

Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University