Have you ever listened to classical music?

[eljr]

@Pogre

Classical music, in many cases seems to be rebuffed at the mere mention... like trashing a new thread dedicated to it. (although it was funny)

But who has taken the time to listen?

It's nothing but Pop music from the past.

Personally, I am a classical novice. I spent 50 years in Rock as many folks my age have.

But about 2000, as alternative waned and indie seemed to take it's place I began to feel lost.
How many old tired Bob Dylan albums was I going to buy? I mean, at this point listening to Dylan took a real effort. You had to try and like the stuff. Not at all like when Blonde on Blonde blew you away on first listen.
So many old rockers that did not know enough to walk away.

Anyway, in a constant quest for new sounds, continually bumping my head as I aimlessly went from genre to genre, I heard a few things that I liked in classical.

Now I'd say, 80% plus of my listening is of classical.

So my question is, have you ever taken the time to listen?

 

[Audiosaur]

I was turned on to classical watching the movie Amadeus as a teen. Right sounds at the right time, I suppose.

Now I'd say 20% of my listening is classical, 20% alternative, 20% classic rock, and 40% jazz. My classical tastes are almost extensively baroque or classical. Just can't seem to find anything modern I like (unless I venture into movie scores - John Williams is a master).

 

[Pogre]

@Pogre

Classical music, in many cases seems to be rebuffed at the mere mention... like trashing a new thread dedicated to it. (although it was funny)

But who has taken the time to listen?

It's nothing but Pop music from the past.

Personally, I am a classical novice. I spent 50 years in Rock as many folks my age have.

But about 2000, as alternative waned and indie seemed to take it's place I began to feel lost.
How many old tired Bob Dylan albums was I going to buy? I mean, at this point listening to Dylan took a real effort. You had to try and like the stuff. Not at all like when Blonde on Blonde blew you away on first listen.
So many old rockers that did not know enough to walk away.

Anyway, in a constant quest for new sounds, continually bumping my head as I aimlessly went from genre to genre, I heard a few things that I liked in classical.

Now I'd say, 80% plus of my listening is of classical.

So my question is, have you ever taken the time to listen?

Eljr,
I have not really sat down and given classical music a fair day in court. I don't live under a rock tho, so I have done some listening. Hsu provided a disc when I bought my subs that has some classical music on it and I did listen to the whole thing (I've even looked up some of the stuff you've posted).

It's just not my style of music currently. That being said, I'm a music lover and have a great appreciation for how well written a lot of that music is. It's very dynamic, intricate and sometimes quite complicated. I've often wondered how Mozart or Bach would write music today with modern equipment and instruments. They were the rock stars of their day. In it's own way, some classical music I would even consider to be "heavy" sounding.

I say it's not my style currently because tastes change and I could very well someday develop a love for it. I made that post in your thread not to trash it, I thought it was funny (and you agreed ) so I posted it. I'm not really about beating up on any style of music. Even if I don't necessarily like it, I can still appreciate the musicianship and talent that goes into it. I played drums for a few years and understand time signatures, polyrythms and intricate music. I like bands that employ those techniques.

 

[Irvrobinson]

It's nothing but Pop music from the past.

If only that were true, but it's not the case. What we now call classical music was mostly musical art & entertainment for the rich and educated. Pop music, if you want to call it that, didn't really exist before the recording era began, and anything in that category would have been more like regional folk music and traditional hymns.

 

[eljr]

Eljr,
I have not really sat down and given classical music a fair day in court. I don't live under a rock tho, so I have done some listening. Hsu provided a disc when I bought my subs that has some classical music on it and I did listen to the whole thing (I've even looked up some of the stuff you've posted).

It's just not my style of music currently. That being said, I'm a music lover and have a great appreciation for how well written a lot of that music is. It's very dynamic, intricate and sometimes quite complicated. I've often wondered how Mozart or Bach would write music today with modern equipment and instruments. They were the rock stars of their day. In it's own way, some classical music I would even consider to be "heavy" sounding.

I say it's not my style currently because tastes change and I could very well someday develop a love for it. I made that post in your thread not to trash it, I thought it was funny (and you agreed ) so I posted it. I'm not really about beating up on any style of music. Even if I don't necessarily like it, I can still appreciate the musicianship and talent that goes into it. I played drums for a few years and understand time signatures, polyrythms and intricate music. I like bands that employ those techniques.

I love this post!

You and I are friends, at least to me.

Thanks for the sincere, open minded post.

 

[eljr]

If only that were true, but it's not the case. What we now call classic music was mostly musical art & entertainment for the rich and educated. Pop music, if you want to call it that, didn't really exist before the recording era began, and anything in that category would have been more like regional folk music and traditional hymns.

Thank you for your perspective and you are correct that the music was dictated by the rich, the church to be on point, but it was as rallied around and adored as no music is today.

 

[Pogre]

I love this post!

You and I are friends, at least to me.

Thanks for the sincere, open minded post.

Not bad for a foul mouthed cretin, huh?

Thanks Eljr, and you're welcome.

 

[KEW]

Eljr,
I have not really sat down and given classical music a fair day in court. I don't live under a rock tho, so I have done some listening. Hsu provided a disc when I bought my subs that has some classical music on it and I did listen to the whole thing (I've even looked up some of the stuff you've posted).

It's just not my style of music currently. That being said, I'm a music lover and have a great appreciation for how well written a lot of that music is. It's very dynamic, intricate and sometimes quite complicated. I've often wondered how Mozart or Bach would write music today with modern equipment and instruments. They were the rock stars of their day. In it's own way, some classical music I would even consider to be "heavy" sounding.

I say it's not my style currently because tastes change and I could very well someday develop a love for it. I made that post in your thread not to trash it, I thought it was funny (and you agreed ) so I posted it. I'm not really about beating up on any style of music. Even if I don't necessarily like it, I can still appreciate the musicianship and talent that goes into it. I played drums for a few years and understand time signatures, polyrythms and intricate music. I like bands that employ those techniques.

If you are looking for an "introduction", I would recommend Bach's Brandenburg Concertos directed ny Trevor Pinnock with the English Concert:
If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream it for free to check it out (w/o prime, you can still review the sample clips)!
https://www.amazon.com/Bach-Brandenburg-Concertos-Orchestral-Suites/dp/B0000057D8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1501289125&sr=1-1&keywords=brandenburg+concerto+trevor+pinnock

I find most people who have not listened to much classical enjoy this music on the first listen. If I had to guess two reasons (aside from Bach being great!):
It is somewhat ubiquitous - you've probably heard most of it either in movies or shopping or somewhere.
Much of it is upbeat with good energy - some classical can come off as just "too heavy" (like Wagner). I like Wagner, but I am not sure I would have ever developed the taste for it if I did not have a HS band director who loved Wagner. We (HS students in band) were pretty serious about playing it right, because we would joke about seeing if we could get him to "shoot his wad"! Fun times, but it was good having a director who was so intensely passionate about music (even as performed by HS Band), you could almost watch his eyes roll up into his head as the music built to its climax!

 

[KEW]

I should add that the reason for recommending the English Concert version is that they use the instruments from the same period as the music was written. In the case of this recording, and for me, that best comes across in the use of a recorder instead of the flute. It changes the character of the music quite a bit when it is played on flute!

 

[lovinthehd]

Sure, I have, but don't regularly listen, just occasionally I'll put on something I like, very occasionally experiment with something. My dad was a huge fan, but it never really rubbed off on me. I have to be in a particular mood but that kind of goes for whatever I play and that could be just about anything else...rock, jazz, blues, R&B, electronic, reggae, ska, folk, bluegrass, alternative etc...maybe even a little twang from Willie or Johnnie once in a while....

Holst The Planets I'm fond of not only due Laserium influence from way back but also one of his nephews (grand newphew?) was my music teacher in grade school. Have several versions of that, including modern synthesizer (Tomita). I like Pablo Casals' Bach Cello Suites, some other Bach as well, Beethoven, Mussorgsky, Mahler, Respighi, Tchaikovsky, and a few others I'm not thinking of at the moment. Really don't care much for opera at all, prefer the instrumentals, with one particular exception in that I do like the Orff cantatas (Carmina Burana, Carmina Catulli, etc).

I ushered at the San Francisco Symphony Hall at one point to see if that might help out my appreciation, but didn't really inspire me to stick with going to concerts or collecting more classical music.

 

[Irvrobinson]

If you are looking for an "introduction", I would recommend Bach's Brandenburg Concertos directed by Trevor Pinnock with the English Concert:

I own this version of the Brandenburgs, and I like them too.

 

[eljr]

I own this version of the Bradenburgs, and I like them too.

same here

I find I love Bach and neglect much other stuff (only so many hours in the day)

I enjoy Jordi Savall's early music releases along with about anyone performing Bach.

and.... Philip Glass. I am a Glass junkie. In some circles this disqualifies me as a serious classical music buff.

 

[Irvrobinson]

same here

I find I love Bach and neglect much other stuff (only so many hours in the day)

I enjoy Jordi Savall's early music releases along with about anyone performing Bach.

and.... Philip Glass. I am a Glass junkie. In some circles this disqualifies me as a serious classical music buff.

These recordings are also an interesting test case for how far DAC ICs and many speakers have come. Made in the 1980s on what was almost certainly the dreaded-by-audiophiles Sony PCM1610 digital recorder, on modern high-quality speakers and electronics it sounds very good. Not harsh at all on my system. I continue to think that hi-res formats are more of a scam than a boon to music lovers.

 

[Irvrobinson]

And I should also mention that Pinnock's English Concert version of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is far and away my favorite, and I own several:

 

[Alex2507]

What we now call classical music was mostly musical art & entertainment for the rich and educated. .

That period in history when 'you play me something nice or I cut your f^%&ing head off'.

No wonder the music was so good.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

If you want some newby-friendly Classical to see if you might want to explore more of it, I recommend:

Peter And The Wolf (various, if you have kids it's also excellent for under 10 YO's to listen with, but don't think of it as Kids music, it's like Bugs Bunny ... Adult friendly).

Gustaf Holst: The Planets (various) You've heard it before on movie soundtracks. There's a reason for that.

There is such a thing as good recordings, good performances, and good orchestras and conductors, but there is no need to go there for just a taste. Cheap Classical CDs are available for that.

If you have subwoofers, there is no better test than some Bach Pipe Organ records. The actual Organ used is important ... they are all basically one-offs. The only non-synthesized instrument that actually does go below 25 Hz. If you live in a big enough city, there might be a Church with a good pipe organ installed. Take in a sermon and have a listen; if you're not into the religious aspect just go for the sound performance. Incredible power and low frequency ability; if you can reproduce that at home then you truly have something in your HiFi.

Another thing I would recommend is to play whatever Classical music you might find on the HiFi at moderate to loud volume, and go about your daily or weekly house cleaning routine. You might find it makes housework quite enjoyable, and it might make you want to sit down and have a more involved listen when you find something you like.

The other thing that is recommended is to go out and listen to an orchestral work live; every city of reasonable size has a decent orchestra. Take alone someone you think would enjoy it ... an older relative, perhaps. They will appreciate it, maybe you will get listed in the will ... you never know what small act of kindness gets handsomely repaid some day.

 

[Blue Dude]

I was turned on to classical watching the movie Amadeus as a teen. Right sounds at the right time, I suppose.

Now I'd say 20% of my listening is classical, 20% alternative, 20% classic rock, and 40% jazz. My classical tastes are almost extensively baroque or classical. Just can't seem to find anything modern I like (unless I venture into movie scores - John Williams is a master).

I wore out the original Star Wars soundtrack on 8-track. That launched me on enjoying that symphonic sound. I started buying soundtracks on cassette a few years later, first for Sony Walkman playback, then car stereo. Amadeus was a natural purchase (2 cassettes, then a third follow-on tape), though I never saw it in the theater. VHS only at the time. My parents had a symphony cycle album set I transferred to cassette and I played the crap out of those. I wonder where they went?

 

[Audiosaur]

My classical tastes are almost extensively baroque or classical. Just

I just realized the dumbness I inadvertently wrote. Meant to say baroque or romantics. Sorry. These are not the droids you're looking for.

 

[Swerd]

I played clarinet in high school, both Concert Band and Orchestra, but dropped it afterwards. For years I did very little about classical music, but about 10 years ago I started going to see the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as they play both in Baltimore and Rockville, MD (nearby me). I'm totally hooked and get seasons tickets every year. There is nothing else like hearing a symphony orchestra live in a decent concert hall!

When I was much younger, I found Mozart and Vivaldi were good ways to cover the distance from rock to classical. A lot of their concertos come across well at home on normal sized home systems. If you find them a bit tame, try Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring or The Fire Bird Suite.

Some of my favorites are Beethoven (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, & 9th Symphonies, Violin Concerto, and much of his piano Concertos & Sonatas). Copland, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, and some Mahler aren't bad either. Did I mention that I like Beethoven?

I'm eventually going to tackle Bach properly. Everyone seems to like the Brandenburg Concertos. I have this version:

Earlier this summer I heard the BSO play all 6 concertos. The musicians seemed to be having lots of fun.

The other stand-out performance I heard this year was Gil Shaham playing Beethoven's Violin Concerto. He is probably the best violinist I've ever heard. He's young enough, born in 1971, to be in his prime now and for quite a few more years. He completely owned concert hall audience.

 

[eljr]

I just realized the dumbness I inadvertently wrote. Meant to say baroque or romantics. Sorry. These are not the droids you're looking for.

Now I am confused.

You do not prefer the Classical period, 1750–1820, instead you prefer the Romantic era, 1804–1910?

Everyone love Baroque, that I understand!