# How I Came To Love Classical Music



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

The Darmstadt School were my initial introduction to classical music (I had had no exposure to classical music as a child, as no members of my family were music fans). As a youth, I was a die-hard alternative and non-commercial, primarily British and German, rock fan. Then, in about 1974, I discovered Stockhausen, Xenakis and Ligeti in some record bins at a student music shop at the university. I was immediately hooked without hope of recovery and within weeks, I had dozens upon dozens of albums by these composers, as well as Malec, Mâche, Ferrari, Henry, Nono, Kagel, Berio, Maderna, Penderecki, Messiaen, Boulez, Gerhard and... oh so many more 

I was initially attracted to the electronics, the sounds, the strangeness... My top bands, like Tangerine Dream and other synthesizer bands of the time, paled in comparison. My interest in rock diminished and changed as my interest in classical music increased. The more I learned of this fabulous new music, the wider became my scope. Both Kagel and Stockhausen had done works honouring Beethoven and other composers were working not only in the electronic medium, but in chamber and orchestra. This led me directly to the New Viennese School; Schoenberg and Webern became my composers of choice. From there, I began to explore Xenakis, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach...

I had become a fan of classical music, in the most natural way possible: I started with the music of the present time and, as my knowledge and interest expanded, worked my way back to the legendary greats.

This music had become extremely important to me. Like other youths identified with Zappa (I did, too) and Black Sabbath, CCR and the Stones, I came to identify with my love for _Neue Musik_


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