Welcome to Music Banter Forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with over 70,000 other registered members. After you create your free account, you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 1,100,000 posts.
anyone have any recommendations for highly intense classical? I really enjoy classical but I am not into fluffy Nutcracker type classical. It doesn't necessarily have to be dark, just something with intense counterpoint and power.
Pretty much any of Beethoven's later works are extremely intense. I'd recommend specifically checking out his last few piano sonatas and string quartets. Here's two pretty well known ones:
The Appasionata Sonata, movement I
This is the last movement of his last string quartet, his last published work:
During the Romantic period, many composers were creating extremely intense pieces. One of my favorites being Liszt, he composed some of the most technically challenging yet beautiful piano pieces. Here's an example:
Threaded Mode