Concept Idea

And the nights, bigger than imagining: black and gusty and enormous, disordered and wild with stars.

why is that so heartbreaking

“I read a passage in an ancient poem, and I seem to understand my own heart.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from ‘The Sorrows of Young Werther’

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

sleep (eric whitacre) (added by thelonecomposer)

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

symphony no. 5 mvt. 4 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

marche slave (tchaikovsky) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

vocalise (rachmaninoff) (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

egmont overture (added by shayshay526)

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

jazz suite no. 2 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

concierto de aranjuez (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

moto perpetuo (paganini)

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

le tombeau de couperin (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

carnival of the animals (added by shadowraven45662)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

violin concerto in d minor (sibelius) (added by eternal-cadenza)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology, iwillsavemyworld, shayshay526, eternal-cadenza, tropicalmunchakoopas, shadowraven45662, and thelonecomposer for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

The Brothers Karamavoz, Fyodor Dostoevsky //The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt // Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh

Things, I'm madly in love with:

books (classic and modern, poetry and novels, old and new)

penmanship

art (looking for art, creating art, being art)

vintage porcelain (especially with golden lines)

combine my clothes for that special look that I need today

Oscar Wilde

religious studies

tattoos

flea markets, second hands, vintage and antique stores, where I can find pieces with their own history

music halls with tall ceilings and great shiny chandeliers

Greece, Italy, United Kingdom

collecting different strange things – from animal bones and dry flowers to glass bottles and old greeting cards

natural history

botanic

creating my own beautiful world

bridge of sighs, cambridge | ig: studyplants

listen bro. u gotta have frivolities or else life is meaningless

dark academia life is just [reads book in one sitting] [tries to memorize shakespeare quotes] [scribbles unintelligible greek words on back of hand] [quotes arthur rimbaud] [commits murder] [drinks 5 cups of coffee] ["looks like you missed your latin lessons today!" ft. a terrifying owl] [quotes oscar wilde] [wears poofy clothes] [quotes the secret history] [writes bad poetry in notes app] [yearns to be understood]

The sheer beauty of being truly invested in a book is what I live for. Your eyes fervishly scan the words desperate to know what happens next. You feel the characters and it’s like they’re an extension of you. Every word, every letter is deeply ingrained as it becomes a part of you

Greetings and Salutations, I’m new to the Dark Academia community. And I’ve absolutely fallen in love with what being a dark academic is about. But, I’ve had some trouble fully implementing dark academia into my lifestyle. Are there any tips to clothing?(styles and shops)things I should do or say? Just would love to have all tips and tricks! I love your page by the way!

how to implement dark academia into your life: the ultimate guide

fashion

if you look up dark academia fashion, you should find a lot of tweed, wool, corduroy. this is good. you want that.

things to keep an eye out for: 

a tweed blazer (of course). buy it secondhand so it already has that ratty feel. some (like my beloved @thoughtcriminals ) wear it very fitted and rock it, some others (like myself) like it just a tad too big. It ultimately depends on how and with what you’ll wear it. If you plan on wearing over sweaters, don’t get one that’s too tight, especially around the sleeve area; conversely, if you layer it under a winter coat, the sleeves should not be too thick so that it doesn’t bundle up.

a few woolen trousers. try to have around four or five. they must all fit you perfectly. bonus if they have belt loops (belts are A Staple of androgynous da students). I personally have a corduroy one, a check one, a striped one and a plaid one. keep the colour scheme in the earthy tones (cream, brown, forest green), and if you are like me and you like to eat/drink a lot, make sure that they have extra room. optimal cuts include, but are not limited to: straight, tapered (’cigarette trousers’), sailor, and palazzo. you also want to be able to crouch in them, it’s much easier in case you’re involved in a murder :)

button-ups. a lot of them. these, along with the trousers, are your wardrobe staples. i absolutely adore victorian/edwardian inspired blouses, with cool lace collars and all, but you also need simpler, sleeker ones. large billowy sleeves are an absolute yes too. they can be white, cream, ochre, brown, bordeaux... take your skin tone into account and your ability to not stain your clothing whenever you eat.

cool socks. do NOT underestimate what socks tell about your character. they should keep your feet warm and toasty, and also have quotes on them. or you can be like me and be too lazy to match socks: if so, just buy a 15-pack of short plain white socks. but if you’re really cool, buy these.

a woolen coat. to wear atop your button-ups and blazer. the popular choice seems to be long and black, but red or houndstooth also work super well. what you want is potential to be noticed, whether by having it swish behind you when you hurry past people in the corridors, or just popping out in the middle of all the common folk dressed in black with your bright red. extra points if you do both at the same time.

other essentials include: mid-length circle skirts, an off-white fisherman’s sweater, a full suit, WAISTCOATS, ties, and bowties. also jewellery: a watch, a locket, some rings... keep it minimal. 

decor

dark academia room decor is surprisingly much harder to find. in general what seems to be popular is: chaotic but with one colour scheme, Full Victorian or basic furniture but stylish accessories. in general i’d say staples are: white bedsheets, wooden desk (bonus if it has ink stains), piles of books everywhere, a collection of old books definitely won’t go amiss, half-finished chess games, coffee stains. basically you want to look careless but still moderately tidy.

lifestyle

this one is a subject of controversy. if you want to live a true-to-the-books dark academia life, then drink, be elitist, be rich, smoke, gamble, kill a man. i do not agree with this. here is my version of the dark academia life.

always thirst for knowledge. whether it be by watching that documentary with the cool birds, or by reading the memoirs of the duc de saint-simon, try to expand your knowledge in all the directions you can. 

be hedonistic, but never put yourself in danger. drink wine if you want to. smoke cigarettes/weed if you want to. stay up late if you want to. but always know what you are doing. never get wasted on alcohol or other things; you must always be in control of yourself and your actions. 

read books! lots of em. if you can, never leave your house without a book. come back with more books. read classics, non-fiction, poetry... anything you can! thirst for knowledge

quote stuff. quoting authors in a conversation will immediately make you seem more cultured. on that note, try to expand your vocabulary as much as you can, to be well-spoken. Bernadette Banner is your goals.

don’t conform to society’s standards. take up a stupid hobby. experiment with your image. hack into the school to make vivaldi your new bell tone. meditate at four in the morning. stain that book from the 1900s with coffee. seize the bloody day, make the most out of life the way you want it  want to be an antequary? want to have a sugar daddy who you can escape but is strangely smitten by you? want to play saxophone at three in the morning? do it. and fuck anyone who tells you otherwise. dark academia is about being eccentric in a world of sheep.

a lot of people say that being gay is an inherent part of da. i disagree. do what you want! kiss your best friends. be heterosexual. have a liaison with nb folk. da is about hedonism. if you want it and the other person wants it, then i see no issue.

for more lists of any kind head to my blog! i will lengthen this in time when i feel the courage to; for now, i don’t. my inbox is always open if you have questions or requests.