Nutcracker, 9th Symphony, Clockwork Orange soundtrack introduced me to the raw power of classical music, but sitting down and listening I was first taken by the works of Stockhausen, namely Kontakte and Hymnen

One of the first classical works that made an impression on me was a symphony by Shostakovich but I didn't take note of which symphony it was or who recorded it and frankly all those I have heard since have left me rather unmoved.

I've always listened to classical music here and there for as long as I can remember but what got me truly fascinated was a CD with a few of Chopin's piano works (most notably Scherzo No. 2 and 'Raindrops' Prelude) along with a playlist with almost all of his nocturnes that I would put on shuffle and listen to for hours in bed.

For me, it was either Holst's The Planets suite or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Overall, Stravinsky's had a lot bigger of an influence on my classical tastes and predilections. I've definitely leaned more toward heavily dissonant 20th century works, and generally, those are also the works that influence my compositional style.

listening to a hell lot of Copland, lately

Personally, I got into classical music via first ELO, when they rearranged "In the hall of the Mountain King" by Greig on one of their albums, then through Holst's "The planets suite", which you couldn't avoid hearing really, with "Mars" being used for just about every dramatic show or scene possible.

Later I just sort of drifted towards other composers, mostly though compilations --- "The Great Composers", "Guide to Classical Music" and so on --- and so learned to love Liszt, Chopin, Debussy, the three Bs, Mozart, Thcaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and others, but my all time favourite would be Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 --- just love that piece, end to end.

wil be getting some Messiaen, Mussorgsky and Sibelius

this Saturday

I've listened to a lot of Beethoven which I adore. Currently I am looking to expand my tastes to both modern and older works.

Mostly Beethoven's music.

I'm gonna have to go with Howard Shore's soundtrack to Lord of the Rings. I still find it incredibly enchanting.
Also, I've taken a liking to Ravel and Debussy. I guess that's defined as impressionism?