# The Indispensable Composers



## 8j1010 (Aug 29, 2020)

[HR][/HR]I've been thinking about this book for a while, and I want to read it sometime. This book made me think about how little variety there is in the music I listen to. I only listen to keyboard/piano music with the exception of a few composers. I've never listened to Dvorak, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and other composers that I hear people talk about so much. Not only this, but I don't feel familiar with the music of the popular composers or even the composers I listen to most.

My question is, how do you get familiar and listen to a wide variety of composers from different time periods and styles. Thanks to anyone who responds!


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

The way I got into many different periods and composers was by going to concerts. These were very cheap when I was a student, and I enjoyed going with other students. My favorite way, by far, of being introduced to new composers is by hearing their works performed live. It’s nice to read about them in the concert program and I like nothing better than going out for drinks with fellow music enthusiasts afterwards and chatting about the experience. Alternatively, I listen to concerts on classical music radio. There is often a work on the program that I’ve never heard, and sometimes the hosts’ commentary is interesting. And it’s free.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

8j1010 said:


> I only listen to keyboard/piano music with the exception of a few composers. I've never listened to Dvorak, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and other composers that I hear people talk about so much.


But didn't they all write keyboard/piano music? Now I'm curious. With which pianist/composers have you ensconced yourself?

As to your question: Get on a music streaming site, like Spotify, and start out with the public playlists of other listeners. You will likely hear much that you don't care for, but then something might lead you in a new direction.

I made a public playlist called _Rococo Sanssouci: Summer's at Frederick the Great's Potsdam Palace_. I really have a soft spot for this time period. None of it is "great" music, but I often find it to be of a very high standard and interesting. They were the avant-garde of their day, as was King Frederick until his tastes hardened and staled.

If you don't want to pay for a streaming service, then there are radio programs like "Sunday Baroque" which you can stream anytime you want (and there are programs for other periods of music).


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## 8j1010 (Aug 29, 2020)

vtpoet said:


> But didn't they all write keyboard/piano music? Now I'm curious. With which pianist/composers have you ensconced yourself?
> 
> Get on a music streaming site


I do have YouTube Music Premium. 
As to _your_ question: I've listened to some Mozart, Clementi, Beethoven, really just a lot of Classical-Romantic composers with the exception of Chopin, Grieg, and Satie (I don't know why I just really like Satie). I also really like Kuhnau, Pachelbel, not as much Bach, and not really a lot of popular Baroque composers. What I meant by listing those composers (Dvorak, Brahms, Mendelssohn, etc.) is that everyone knows these composers, but I haven't heard any of their music because I'm not very good at listening to new music. I've never been able to get into the romantic composers, except for, as I said before, Chopin, Grieg, Satie, and maybe Tchaikovsky.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Everyone may have differing suggestions for how to listen to more music. Given that you have youtube premium, you could look at the lists of recommended music on TalkClassical. Those lists are divided into genres such as operas, symphonies, keyboard concertos, string quartets, etc.. One advantage of the lists is that they are essentially an aggregate of suggestions by many TC members. You could select several works at the top of those lists and work your way through.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

http://www.classical.net/music/rep/top.php

Check out the links on the left side with the repertoire of different eras, and focus on the ones with red stars.

Another guide I thought was useful when I started out was this:

https://www.amazon.ca/NPR-Guide-Building-Classical-Collection/dp/0761104879


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

Simplicissimus said:


> The way I got into many different periods and composers was by going to concerts. These were very cheap when I was a student, and I enjoyed going with other students. My favorite way, by far, of being introduced to new composers is by hearing their works performed live. It's nice to read about them in the concert program and I like nothing better than going out for drinks with fellow music enthusiasts afterwards and chatting about the experience. Alternatively, I listen to concerts on classical music radio. There is often a work on the program that I've never heard, and sometimes the hosts' commentary is interesting. And it's free.


"Alternatively, I listen to concerts on classical music radio. "

How about just listening to classical music radio, period? I mean, by volume it's mostly recordings that get played classical music stations and what's wrong with that? Live concerts are great on the radio, too, of course.

You're a captive audience because radio stations play what they want, but a good station plays a wide variety of selections from all eras and chooses good pieces. Sometimes it pays to be a captive audience and hear things you wouldn't choose for yourself.

It's even easier to listen to the radio today because you can usually look up the station's playlist online. In the old days we had to make sure we heard the announcer name the piece or we'd miss knowing what that great music was we just heard.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

8j1010 said:


> My question is, how do you get familiar and listen to a wide variety of composers from different time periods and styles. Thanks to anyone who responds!


I can answer this pretty accurately I think.

There are only two things that are fairly easy to listen to: (a) What you're already used to, and (b) The best. I don't think you'll have much of a problem picking works from the top of the list and digging in. It's just the mindset that's telling you there's a problem, but the real answer is already there.

Be sure to revisit your favorite composers frequently, and mentally compare your favorites with this music.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Piano music, eh?

Brahms:
Piano Sonata 3
Paganini Variations
Handel Variations
Late Piano Works, Op 116 to 119

Mendelssohn:
Variations Serieuses
Songs Without Words

Dvorak:
Eight Humoresques

Robert Schumann:
Carnaval
Kinderszenen
Kreisleriana


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Concerts, concerts, concerts.

Classical radio does not distinguish between good, mediocre, and bad.

Or, go to a library and randomly select CDs of composers you have heard of and judge your interest for yourself (recognizing that your appreciation will change over time).

A concert exposure is a fundamentally different experience and provides something different from just playing something as background from Spotify.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

MarkW said:


> Concerts, concerts, concerts.
> 
> Classical radio does not distinguish between good, mediocre, and bad.
> 
> ...


Selecting CDs randomly produces the same results of not distinguishing between good, mediocre, and bad. Or rather music you will like and music you will not like.

A good radio station has a much larger library of music than your local library building does.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

8j1010 said:


> My question is, how do you get familiar and listen to a wide variety of composers from different time periods and styles. Thanks to anyone who responds!


Spotify Premium and YouTube Premium.


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## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

I would say reading that book is a pretty good introduction!


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

This Forum itself contains plenty of references to musical works and even links to open directly to performances. When you read something that strikes your fancy or peaks your curiosity or inspires your wonder and/or interest, give the piece a hearing. Way will lead to way.


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## Plague (Apr 4, 2020)

Phil loves classical said:


> http://www.classical.net/music/rep/top.php
> 
> Check out the links on the left side with the repertoire of different eras, and focus on the ones with red stars.


The Basic Repertoire page on classical.net has been very helpful to me, it's my go-to-place whenever I want to chose some unfamiliar works to listen to. Classical.net + Spotify + Youtube can get you a long way.


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## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

Another option is to subscribe to a Classical streaming service like Primephonic or Idagio, where you'll get recommendations.


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## musichal (Oct 17, 2020)

A very inexpensive way to sample a good deal of music is via purchasing several Bach Guild Big Box sets in MP3 downloads from Amazon - generally you get sets of 120-200 tracks for 99 cents per set - if you're a music file junkie like me, this works well. Get sets for each major composer, and play tracks at your leisure - I use Media Monkey's star-rating system to help me with CD procurement selections for works I want in higher rez and/or by other artists. Has helped me a lot.


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## caracalla (Feb 19, 2020)

8j1010 said:


> I haven't heard any of their music because I'm not very good at listening to new music.


Seems like you could probably use some 'encouragement' - ie, formats where a wide variety of CM is not only played but also discussed and enthused over. Broadcast radio is one solution, but so are podcasts you can access online.

One archived series you could try is BBC Radio 3s 'This Classical Life', a CM chat show hosted by Jess Gillam (easy to find via Google). For each half-hour episode, she invites a fellow 20-something professional musician into the studio to play and talk about a selection of their favourite tracks. It's all very unstuffy, focuses on their responses to the music rather than anything more elevated, and is pitched at young people who are open to CM but not over-familiar with the territory. Invariably JG & guest start talking over the music (which rarely gets to end), but it's quite animated and they get through a fair few bleeding chunks right across the CM spectrum and sometimes beyond. Some of the music is mainstream, some way off the beaten track, but all recordings are clearly identified so follow-up is easy if anything piques your interest. If the pitch of that particular show doesn't suit, I'm sure you could hunt down alternatives which do.


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