Classical Music

[sergio]

How many people listen to classical music here and which genres do they like?

[Faust]

i have always wondered about people who come to a fashion forum and make their first post about other things.

[JoniF]

Here are the genres ():

Early
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Medieval (500–1400)
Renaissance (1400–1600)
Baroque (1600–1760)

Common Practice—"Classical Music"
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Baroque (1600–1760)
Classical (1730–1820)
Romantic (1815–1910)

Modern and Contemporary
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20th-century (1900–2000)
Contemporary (1975–present)
21st-century (2000–present)

[casem]

Nice one JoniF. There was a pretty good thread about classical music awhile ago, started by someone with the username Classique no less.

[sergio]

why be suspicious... I just go to a music conservatory and hence classical music is generally what preoccupies my mind and was just wondering if there was any interest around here.

[DRRRK]

I did not feel to start a thread about architecture just because I am an architect.
To answer your question, I do not listen to classical music. Any suggestions why I should?

[galia]

why shouldn't you ? It's incredibly beautiful, and so varied that you're bound to find something that speaks to you.

I used to have a hard time listening to classical music, because I was mostly aware of the german romantics, and while I thought the music beautiful, I never felt the need to hear it

Now that I got into early 20th century russian composers, I hardly ever listen to pop music at home (except for einsturzende neubauten)

Contemporary music is harder for me. I'll enjoy it most in a concert, but at home I don't have the concentration to really get into it. Except for the music of Pascal Dusapin, whose operas I love. But I have a crush on the man, so it may be groupie behvior, I don't know

[DRRRK]

I could listen to music 24 hours a day and would not feel the need to listen to classical music. Don't get me wrong, the amount of music I want to hear is already too much for me. I want to appreciate each record I like by giving it the time it deserves. The fact that I do not listen to it does not mean I am not interested. Most of the classical music I know is just too grandiose for me. Could you recommend a certain piece of the russian composers as a starting point?

By the way, Einstürzende Neubauten = pop???? Only if pop means non-classical.

[galia]

yeah, it was a mental short-cut, although I think Neubauten has become more listener friendly and almost "pop" in recent albums

I would recommend Rachmaninoff's preludes and Mussorgski's Songs and dances of Death.
Both are a series of short pieces, so you can listen to them almost as you would listen to an album, they don't need the level of immersion a symphony requires

[DRRRK]

Thanks Galia. Up to now I have not heard classical music which could evoke the same feelings in me as other music does, except for melancholy. Classical music always felt distant, not intimate. But I promise I'll give it a try.

[galia]

I can understand that feeling. However, some composers did have a good sense of humor, to me Scriabin is quite funny in a good way

but I don't want to seem preachy so I'll stop. I'm not the most knowledgeable person on the subject anyway, it's just that I understant how foreign this artform can be until you find a gateway

[jcotteri]

Classical music is something I find I can't live without, though I have only really been giving some quality time in my general musical listening for the past three years. Before that I would listen here or there. I guess I have like with most forms of music I listen to regularly become completely obsessed. I am absolutely obsessed with Chopin to start with, I think Idil Biret a Turkish pianist brings out the emotion in his music and therefore a recommendation. I think this is a great place to start for people new or not too familiar as you would have most likely heard many of his solo piano and orchestral pieces already. There are of course a list of artists you could also familiarise yourself with as well such as Vivaldi, I have have found personally I enjoy Daniel Hopes renditions as he delves into the lesser known violin concertos written by him. Bach of course as well. I feel that Jacqueline du Pré and sometimes Yo Yo Ma play him very well. I guess there could be many more here though these are who I listen to most.

As for Russian composers, there are many that I like (probably too many) though I only listen to a small group of them on a regular basis. I think many would be very familiar with The Five (Могучая кучка) though I enjoy some of it and have not really heard enough, i do enjoy some of Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov work as I'm most familiar with him (Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков). I honestly feel there are other composers that I enjoy much more. I will preferably listen to the likes of Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский) but not for his ballets (which you a probably most familiar with), operas nor piano concertos, I really like his choir (Songs Of Penitence For Russia) and the Piano Trio, also his teacher, friend and mentor Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein younger brother of the better known Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (Антóн Григóрьевич Рубинштéйн) whom I also enjoy listening too. A rather interesting quote that I just came across when wiki'd his name to get the proper Russian version.
“Russians call me German, Germans call me Russian, Jews call me a Christian, Christians a Jew. Pianists call me a composer, composers call me a pianist. The classicists think me a futurist, and the futurists call me a reactionary. My conclusion is that I am neither fish nor fowl – a pitiful individual”

A little more modern (Soviet Era) Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Дми́трий Дми́триевич Шостако́вич), Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Сергей Сергеевич Прокофьев) and Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский).

The list could go on, as I enjoy classical music in most of it's forms, though I am more partial to solo, duo or trio than orchestral or opera.

When I listen to modern composition/contemporary, though I delve into many types and forms such as minimal, experimental, shoegaze electronic fusion and drone and ambient. Just in it's purer form I would recommend artists such as Gonzales, Peter Broderick, Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sylvain Chauveau, Ryuichi Sakamoto and many many more..

I think I better stop here.. hehe

[DRRRK]

I can understand that feeling. However, some composers did have a good sense of humor, to me Scriabin is quite funny in a good way

but I don't want to seem preachy so I'll stop. I'm not the most knowledgeable person on the subject anyway, it's just that I understant how foreign this artform can be until you find a gateway

You don't. I asked for it.
I enjoy this conversation very much. When it comes to music I am rather open-minded, as long as it is not totally stupid, commercial or trying to be something it is not. This does not sound open-minded at all...

[galia]

well I find you can never be 100% open minded, because then it's imposible to have a defined taste

[DRRRK]

well I find you can never be 100% open minded, because then it's imposible to have a defined taste

Yes. I cheated myself with what I've said.