# How old are you and what kind of classical does young people like?



## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Hello TC community,

I am posting this thread because I am curious on the age span of the TC community members and what kind of music does each age group like the most, if they are related. As my last thread indicates (check the link below), it seems nobody in middle/high school is active in this forum... Please vote in the poll, and tell us your age and also your best composer/genre/era/style. I will be expecting your replies.

KevinW

My last thread: https://www.talkclassical.com/73218-come-here-high-schoolers.html


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

As a high schooler I am personally a more Baroque/Classical (Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart) person. I am not as mature as many other people in the TC community, so, for me Baroque and Classical are the easiest to understand. Mozart compositions are sometimes childish but the melodies sound enjoyable. I am able to understand many Romantic masterpieces, but I would rather spend less time in a busy school day to listen to more enjoyable short music from Baroque/Classical era rather than the Romantic. Also, since I am not a professional violinist, I can't play very challenging Romantic/20th century works. I can only play some Bach and Mozart concertos, which I am really passionate about. I enjoy playing the music I love.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

KevinW said:


> As a high schooler I am personally a more Baroque/Classical (Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart) person.


With that group of composers it seems natural to me that you should next explore Beethoven. His first symphony should not be a big change for you but when you get to his Third symphony, look out. It is revolutionary!

I don't know if I understand any classical music. I just listen to what I like. Oh, I am not a high schooler since the mid 1970s.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

I'm 60 and vaguely remember being in school at some point.

I'll listen to practically anything. I'm currently building up my Mahler collection. Never actually realized how much of his stuff I already had. Listening to Symphony No. 3 right now for the first time. The only other one I don't have is 7 and that's on the way. I have multiple copies of most of the others.

I agree with SixFootScowl. You can't leave Beethoven out. Grab a box of his symphonies to start with and dig in. Once you are familiar with those, your appetite for more of his stuff should be whetted. I'd suggest Karajan's 1963 cycle. It's always high on the list of recommendations when the subject comes up.

I suppose I should come up with some suggestions? Carl Orff - Carmina Burana. That's a lot of fun. Eugen Jochum's recording is a good one, IMO. Elgar - Variations on an original theme - Nimrod. His cello concerto (opus 85) is up there too. Borodin - didn't write much, but what he did write is top drawer stuff.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I just turned 73. Favorite composer is Bach; the next three are Mahler, Shostakovich, and Weinberg.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

66 here, still actively playing in several orchestras, doing some arranging, conducting from time to time, reading composer biographies and collecting far too many cds. 

Favorite genre: symphonic music, predominantly 1850-1925. Serious study/collector of the 19th C Russians, the Austrian composers in Mahler's sphere, all things Wagner, and marches for band. My interest in Baroque music is exceedingly low and I despise the sound of the harpsichord. Also a huge collector and fan of film music from the Golden Age: Steiner, Korngold, Waxman, Herrmann, Newman, being special favorites.


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

I'm 47 and I started playing classical music since I was fairly young (piano and cello). I started to actively listen for entertainment when I was in high school. I like it all, from early music through contemporary, but my focus is generally in the 20th century and late Romantic. I still have a bit of a blind spot for the Classical era (with the exception of Beethoven and Haydn both of which I love) but I am making progress on that front.

When I first started listening as a teenager I really only wanted to hear music from the 20th century, and mainly just orchestral music, but over time my tastes have evolved and expanded.


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Thanks for the recommendations and I am glad to tell you I once performed Nimrod before with my school orchestra.


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

mbhaub said:


> 66 here, still actively playing in several orchestras, doing some arranging, conducting from time to time, reading composer biographies and collecting far too many cds.
> 
> Favorite genre: symphonic music, predominantly 1850-1925. Serious study/collector of the 19th C Russians, the Austrian composers in Mahler's sphere, all things Wagner, and marches for band. My interest in Baroque music is exceedingly low and I despise the sound of the harpsichord. Also a huge collector and fan of film music from the Golden Age: Steiner, Korngold, Waxman, Herrmann, Newman, being special favorites.


Glad to hear your story! But I am just wondering why don't you like Baroque because of the sound of the harpsichord. I know it is personal preference but I still like to learn the reason you despise it, as you would like to tell us.


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

mbhaub said:


> 66 here, still actively playing in several orchestras, doing some arranging, conducting from time to time, reading composer biographies and collecting far too many cds.
> 
> Favorite genre: symphonic music, predominantly 1850-1925. Serious study/collector of the 19th C Russians, the Austrian composers in Mahler's sphere, all things Wagner, and marches for band. My interest in Baroque music is exceedingly low and I despise the sound of the harpsichord. Also a huge collector and fan of film music from the Golden Age: Steiner, Korngold, Waxman, Herrmann, Newman, being special favorites.


I'm not keen on the harpsichord either, though 'despise' might be putting it a little strongly  - I usually skip those tracks on the collection of Poulenc I have.

I'm 62 and mostly listen to symphonic music, though neither Brahms nor Tchaikovsky at present - otherwise all the usual suspects feature on my CD rack.

I also have Bach's Brandenburg Concertos and some of his organ music; Debussy's complete piano music and some orchestral; the obvious Starvinsky; quite a bit of Satie, piano and orchestral; only a few modern pieces (Pärt, Howard, Matthews,C)

Oh, and plenty of pop/rock from the 60s to the present day. Most recent purchases were Sufjan Stevens and Fleet Foxes last albums.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

64, basically no involvement with music other than listening. I did have lessons as a teenager on the electronic organ - continued to play at home for some time, but stopped in 2004, when we moved (back) to the Netherlands, and we could not find a suitable spot for the organ in our new home.

My main interests in music are classical and pop/rock. I started exploring classical when I was in my late twenties. Different times - no internet, so I had only some books and magazines to guide me. I started out with baroque, classical, and romantic, but gradually got interested in other eras as well. Nowadays I find limited interest in medieval and renaissance (with some exceptions like Hildegard and Victoria) as well as baroque (with the huge exception of Bach, my favourite composer). I still enjoy Mozart and J Haydn from the classical period, and some Beethoven. My main interest aside from Bach is with composers such as Mahler, Brahms, Schubert, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Wagner, Dvorak and Bruckner. Some (relatively) less well-known names I love are Bax, Moeran, Takemitsu and Gubaidulina.

And I still listen to a lot of pop and rock, mainly progressive rock and singer/songwriters.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

I am 42 , my favourite composers are Schubert , Shostakovich and Beethoven (closely followed by Brahms, Dvorak,Bach ...) . Yet I can enjoy many composers...

I also like jazz, rock , Alternative Rock and even Metal , so a broad musical interest!

My father introduced me to music and I have been exploring classical music since I was 18 odd. 

I love the arts, it's an important part of my life


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## John Zito (Sep 11, 2021)

I'm 28. I started listening to classical music in my early teens. Those were the days post-iPod and pre-streaming, so the move was to go to the public library every weekend, check out 20 CDs, and burn them all to iTunes. Suffice it to say, my library was pretty great (except for the stuff that was transferred from a scratched up disc).

My most favorite music is the lush, colorful stuff written in the period 1880 - 1940: Debussy, Ravel (favorite composer), Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Prokofiev, folks like that. Compared to the typical listener, I'm slightly less interested in the Austro-German "main line" (Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, R. Strauss, etc). My favorite music in that tradition is the less heavy, more delicate, more "French" (in the Ned Rorem sense) stuff like Mozart and Schubert. But hey, Beethoven is Beethoven. You can't do much better than the fourth piano concerto or the last piano sonata.

I listen to a lot of piano music, chamber music, and concertos. You could steer aircraft carriers through my blindspots: opera, symphonies, Baroque music that isn't written by J. S. Bach for a single instrument. Outside of classical, I listen to a fair bit of jazz (love Charles Mingus) and musical theater (love Sondheim). I hardly ever listen to pop or rock these days, but I've liked every Ariana Grande song I've ever heard (which is most of them...), and in high school I listened to a lot of Elton John and Led Zeppelin.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I am in my late 40s and began listening to classical at about 14-15 around 1987. The very first music I liked was mostly Tchaikovsky and some "bonbons" (such as Grieg's Peer Gynt suites). Within the first two years this was mostly "replaced" by Mozart, Haydn and above all Beethoven, later Brahms. It was mostly orchestral music but also some chamber and a little piano, although these were more restricted to favorite composers, such as Beethoven. At about 17-18 I started with Bruckner and Mahler as their symphonies seemed the "natural followup" to Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky. But all this was a slowish process; there was no free streaming; I had to rely on the radio, or buy CDs myself or borrow from the few friends who also listened to classical. Because I liked classical music so much, I also took clarinet lessons from about 16-19 and again for a few years in my late 20s but I have not played for almost 20 years now for several reasons.

Beethoven is still my favorite composer and I still listen to almost everything I liked with 15-16 (I did cut back on some stuff like Capriccio italien, Wellington's Victory or 1812 Ouverture). Although now far more chamber music and a lot of music I had not even known about then. I listen to a large part of the standard repertoire from ca. Monteverdi to Shostakovich, with a few exceptions.
I never really got into jazz despite also listening to some recordings from friends only a few years after I started with classical when I was still in school. I listen to opera but comparably rarely because I prefer it on stage and I can rarely be bothered to attend nowadays.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

63. Listened to, "Popular", classics since the late eighties. Got serious about listening during 'lockdown'. No clear favourite period.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

I am 23. I am mostly a "Bach to Bartok" listener-- I rarely listen to music earlier than Bach or more avant-garde than Bartok.

My favorite composers are the Three B's-- Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms in that order.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I’m 69. I started listening in college, but it didn’t become my main focus until I was in my early 30s. I was originally attracted to the 19th century warhorses. Now, I listen to Baroque (HIP) and classical (sometimes HIP) as well. I’ll listen to to more conservative 20th century works, and I always promise myself that I’ll listen to more contemporary music, but that promise, too often, is unkept.

I also listen to jazz, and I grew up with the Great American Songbook and attended my first Broadway musical at age 5. Rock is now mostly for working out.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I will turn 70 in a month but I still enjoy the music I listened to as a 14 year old, The Beach Boys, Hank Williams, Charley Patton. As well as the Classical music I discovered along the way: Bernstein, Gershwin, Shostakovich, Bach, Liszt, Cage, Stockhausen, and Miles Davis, and the music being written today. 

I think my curiosity about new music has been a constant throughout my musical journey.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I’ve been listening to music since I was eleven. People like Adam Faith, Del Shannon, Everlys, Elvis. Learned to play bagpipes when I was twelve, then drums. Played in bands, (amateur) from when I was fifteen. Learned, guitar, flute, saxophone in my late teens early twenties. First loves were Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys then I found jazz. MJQ, Brubeck, then Coltrane, Ornette, Shepp, Ayler and the avant-garde rabbit hole opened up and swallowed me whole! Discovered classical guitar when I was twenty then Mahler, Schubert, Brahms et al. Then I heard Tannhäuser on the radio and another world was revealed. Opera. I listen to absolutely everything and anything because you never know what might be out there just waiting to blow your mind. I’m 73 and constantly finding new people to love. In the last couple of years I have heard and adored the music of Aldous Harding, Courtney Barnett, Emily Barker, Chvrches, Nathan Salsburg, Nadia Reid to name but a few. Music for me is a never ending fabulous journey and I can’t imagine my life without it. A day not listening is a day wasted. I never waste a day!:lol:


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I didn't listen to classical music when I was high school age. I started just after when I began to listen to public radio. But for several years I had only a couple LPs and cassettes. When CDs were invented I bought a player and built a small collection of 40 or so titles. The usual suspects including Beethoven, Debussy, Bach, and some Russian Romantics. But I was mainly a jazz listener so I didn't really expand my classical listening until I was in my late 40s. And now it receives about 90 percent of my attention.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

At 71 after a half-century listening, performing and collecting I can't say I have a favorite composer though I have at other times in my life. I most like music that is more compact and whose duration is 30 minutes or less much more than in the past when I preferred lengthier works.

After hearing them (and scores of others) thousands of times if I never hear another new Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky or Dvorak symphony recording I doubt I will miss anything. I attached myself to trends in the past and found, when new ones arrived, they were mostly window dressing.

My biggest thrills come when I find something no longer available from the past that I like -- something like this, a great find I made into a Cd and have listened to repeatedly









Tracklist
A1 Soldiers In The Park
A2 Mirella Overture
A3 Lynwood March
A4 Dance Of The Tumblers "Snow Maiden"
A5 Le Rêve Passe March
A6 Slavonic Rhapsody No.1
B1 Soldiers Of The Queen
B2 Faust - Ballet Music In Five Parts
B3 Prairie Flower March
B4 March Of The Dwarfs "Lyric Suite"
B5 Tancredi Overture


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

30-ish? It's more about what I don't listen to- opera gets an occasional listen, but I don't have too much interest in early or baroque music. Less about antipathy toward it and more "I'll get around to it eventually". 

Most of my modern/post-modern stuff trends around the 70s as well- I do need to get into 21st century at some point.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I am in my 60's.

I got into classical a bit late in life, in my late 40's. But it was not for lack of trying earlier in my life.

I kept trying to listen to the warhorses most often mentioned here: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Handel, etc, but I just could not get into them.

It wasn't until I was introduced to Stravinsky and very soon after, Bartok, that I found something that spoke to me. These composers lead me to Barber, Britton, and soon after, I discovered the 2nd Viennese School.

And at that point, the flood gates opened up for me. Elliott Carter, Bruno Maderna, Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Maxwell Davies, Joan Tower, Charles Wuorinen, Magnus Lindberg, and so many more composers came in quick succession. I am still discovering new (to me) composers.

I still listen to almost all of the music* I listened to before I got into classical, because they also have most or all of the same attributes I love in classical music: very high level of musicianship, deep and broad range of emotional content, complexity, avoidance of verse>chorus>bridge structure, etc. 


*various forms of progressive music (classic prog, avant-prog, Zeuhl, Canterbury, prog-metal), and various forms of jazz (fusion, post bop, chamber jazz, avant-garde, M-Base).


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

SixFootScowl said:


> With that group of composers it seems natural to me that you should next explore Beethoven. His first symphony should not be a big change for you but when you get to his Third symphony, look out. It is revolutionary!
> 
> I don't know if I understand any classical music. I just listen to what I like. Oh, I am not a high schooler since the mid 1970s.


Thanks. I have listened through several of Beethoven's symphonies and it was just as you said! I can get along with his first two symphonies very well but still need some time for the third.


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Glad to see, there are still at least 1/3 of the voters being younger than 35 years old!


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

I'll be 40 in several months and I came to classical music in my late 20s. Before I got into classical, I was a steady jazz and progressive rock listener (I still love much of this music even if I seldom listen to it these days). My first exposure to classical was Strauss' _Eine Alpensinfonie_. I believe I was around 14 or 15 yrs. old. My dad had the early digital recording of Karajan's with the Berliner Philharmoniker on DG. This one to be exact:










I was absolutely enthralled by what I heard, but I never went any further with my exploration as jazz got the better of me at that particular time. Fast forward many years later, when I found a copy of Fritz Reiner's recording of Bartók's _Concerto for Orchestra_ (and other orchestral works) on RCA Living Stereo in a used CD store:










My second major exposure was through the music of Ives. My dad bought me this CD with Bernstein of his 2nd symphony (and other works) as he thought I would like it:










And of course, I LOVED it! So these three composers are really what helped me get into classical music and I've been hooked ever since.


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## Vicente (Aug 5, 2015)

I am almost 60 and have been hooked on classical music since I was about ten years old when I was given a vinyl record with a recording of Beethoven's Sixth. I was ecstatic listening to it and since then I have always wanted more.

My favorite period is the Baroque, mainly Handel and Bach. The St. Matthew Passion is a work that I love, pure emotion. I really like the way Herrewgue and Hogwood (sorry Hurwitz) play it.

To expand my listening field now together with a group of friends we are listening to late 19th century Russian music, starting with Glinka. I love Tchaikovsky and Rimsky.

I have no relationship with music apart from listening to it, both in streaming (Idagio) and in live concerts, my favorite way. Living in Madrid I have many opportunities to go to Auditoriums.

Regards
Vicente


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Vicente said:


> I am almost 60 and have been hooked on classical music since I was about ten years old when I was given a vinyl record with a recording of Beethoven's Sixth. I was ecstatic listening to it and since then I have always wanted more.
> 
> My favorite period is the Baroque, mainly Handel and Bach. The St. Matthew Passion is a work that I love, pure emotion. I really like the way Herrewgue and Hogwood (sorry Hurwitz) play it.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your message! You are the first person I encounter in this forum that loves Baroque the most.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

35. I mainly listen to the best-known composers from baroque to late romantic eras. I also have a bit coverage of lesser known composers and music from earlier or later periods.


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## Beethoven123 (Nov 25, 2021)

13. I am currently listening to a lot of romantic music, but I have enjoyed the small amount of the baroque and modern eras I've listened to, and classical as well. Renaissance seems very undeveloped to me, personally, but it's easy to listen to.


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## JackRance (Sep 13, 2021)

15. I love a lot 20th Century music, but i enjoy a lot also the baroque, classical, romantic and all the others type of music. Baroque is quite popular in young people. The countertenor Jakub Jozef Orlinski has a lot of young admirers (included me). I suggest you to listen to him.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

KevinW said:


> Thanks. I have listened through several of Beethoven's symphonies and it was just as you said! I can get along with his first two symphonies very well but still need some time for the third.


Try the 4th. He took a breather for the 4th before slamming the world with the 5th.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

24. Not surprising to find that there's a dip in the 35-45 category (noticed it in other threads that asked this same question) since people in that age range are probably busy with family and work. Love the 20th century the most -tho I don't shy away from anything-, which is really a no brainer for me considering that, although probably today 98% of my listening is "classical" (and of that something like 60% is from the 20th century), it is also the century of The Beatles, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, etc etc etc.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

SixFootScowl said:


> Try the 4th. He took a breather for the 4th before slamming the world with the 5th.


Especially the slow movement.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

SixFootScowl said:


> Try the 4th. He took a breather for the 4th before slamming the world with the 5th.


Ah, that explains the 8th. I always thought it was a bit of a break after the 5th, 6th and 7th. Maybe it was LvB gathering himself before setting to work on the 9th.

Don't know where I read it, but I seem to remember that the eighth was the composer's favourite.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

KevinJS said:


> Ah, that explains the 8th. I always thought it was a bit of a break after the 5th, 6th and 7th. Maybe it was LvB gathering himself before setting to work on the 9th.
> 
> Don't know where I read it, but I seem to remember that the eighth was the composer's favourite.


The eighth is a quirky neoclassical work. Beethoven wasn't taking a breather; he was experimenting.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

KevinJS said:


> Ah, that explains the 8th. I always thought it was a bit of a break after the 5th, 6th and 7th. Maybe it was LvB gathering himself before setting to work on the 9th.
> 
> Don't know where I read it, but I seem to remember that the eighth was the composer's favourite.


The 8th symphony played a key role in the climax of the Academy Award winner movie The King's Speech (2010):


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

Uh ..................

Check again


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

DaveM said:


> The 8th symphony played a key role in the climax of the Academy Award winner movie The King's Speech (2010)


Wasn't it the 7th?


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm old but am not sure age and taste are very related. I can't name a favourite composer or era or genre - my age has allowed me to open up such a wide variety of music as I started as a pre-teen - and younger people probably can. But other than that, different people start with different composers, genres and eras. I know people in their early 20s who live for Debussy and Prokofiev and others who only like Romantic chamber music. I feel there may be many young people who like classical music but wouldn't come to this site to discuss it. They can use Reddit or some other more youth-oriented site to share likes and get recommendations. Long and endless lists - which is what they might find here and what I would need to produce to do justice to my own tastes - are probably of little value to them.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> 24. Not surprising to find that there's a dip in the 35-45 category (noticed it in other threads that asked this same question) since people in that age range are probably busy with family and work. Love the 20th century the most -tho I don't shy away from anything-, which is really a no brainer for me considering that, although probably today 98% of my listening is "classical" (and of that something like 60% is from the 20th century), it is also the century of The Beatles, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, etc etc etc.


Well I'm busy with the family and work , I assure you  The music is an everyday way to escape from the pressure and stress you have to deal with as a 42 year old father of two (sons) and working full time...
I've got friends who use "gaming" as a way to escape from it...  That didn't work for me...


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## fbjim (Mar 8, 2021)

Enthusiast said:


> I'm old but am not sure age and taste are very related. I can't name a favourite composer or era or genre - my age has allowed me to open up such a wide variety of music as I started as a pre-teen - and younger people probably can. But other than that, different people start with different composers, genres and eras. I know people in their early 20s who live for Debussy and Prokofiev and others who only like Romantic chamber music. I feel there may be many young people who like classical music but wouldn't come to this site to discuss it. They can use Reddit or some other more youth-oriented site to share likes and get recommendations. Long and endless lists - which is what they might find here and what I would need to produce to do justice to my own tastes - are probably of little value to them.


Discord and Reddit, generally. I like the fast pace of Discord but dislike it as a replacement for message boards.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

Forster said:


> Wasn't it the 7th?


Yup! Dave's right about one thing though. The music makes that part of the movie.


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## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

SixFootScowl said:


> Try the 4th. He took a breather for the 4th before slamming the world with the 5th.


Yes. Seems that his No. 3, 5, 9 are the hardest for those who are acquainted only with classical era.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

allaroundmusicenthusiast said:


> 24. Not surprising to find that there's a dip in the 35-45 category (noticed it in other threads that asked this same question) since people in that age range are probably busy with family and work. Love the 20th century the most -tho I don't shy away from anything-, which is really a no brainer for me considering that, although probably today 98% of my listening is "classical" (and of that something like 60% is from the 20th century), it is also the century of The Beatles, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, etc etc etc.


Thanks to the pandemic, I don't have to physically commute to work anymore. This means I can now listen to my favorite classical music as I work from the comfort of my own home! THANKS, COVID!


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## Chibi Ubu (11 mo ago)

I'm 71, and I am rediscovering my love for Classical music. Jazz, Prog, Movie Soundtracks, and Japanese Anime soundtracks are a life long passion. I grew up with the pop/rock of the 50's & 60's, and I still like that stuff as well on occasion. I lost track of Pop/Rock/Alternative/Hip Hop/etc. somewhere in the 90's. I am not their target market one might say.


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Loks like I'm the oldest, 88 in 14 days time; I like baroque and early music, almost everything classical after 1800 has been done to death so rarely listen to it; I also like Jazz and swing up to about 1980 after which I find very little that I would call music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Dorsetmike said:


> Loks like I'm the oldest, 88 in 14 days time; I like baroque and early music, almost everything classical after 1800 has been done to death so rarely listen to it; I also like Jazz and swing up to about 1980 after which I find very little that I would call music.


I too enjoy Jazz from the earliest recordings in the '20s up to the mid '60s - and then skip to the mid- to late-'80s and on through the present. Beginning in the mid-80s a new traditionalist movement began in Jazz led by Wynton Marsalis (but there are a number of like-minded artists), who continues to lead bands devoted to the traditional Jazz styles. His leadership of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has produced a wealth of great Jazz, you owe it to yourself to check it out based on your stated tastes before writing off Jazz post-1980.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

I'm 78. Though my mom had introduced me to classical music when I was in junior high school, my appreciation of it really started taking off once I entered senior high. At that time, before my geometry class started, the teacher, Mr. Johnson, would occasionally have me sit in the back of the classroom and listen to Brahms (with earphones on) while others worked on some assignments. Afterwards, he would ask me to comment on what I had heard, and I remember too how much he thoroughly enjoyed humming his favorite passages from Brahms' symphonies. Those times aside, Brahms did become my preferred composer. To this day, he still is, though I do enjoy very much mainly the music of Sibelius, Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Dvorak, Ravel, Debussy and Mendelssohn.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm 25. I've been exposed to classical music since I was 3 and listening to it on my own with CDs since I was 5. My preference is for Common Practice music and up through around 1950 or so (I don't seem to listen to much contemporary classical). I also listen to EDM, indie rock and pop, Japanese pop and vocaloid music, showtunes, and jazz. 

I joined this site when I was 16 and I felt very welcomed by the users here despite my being younger than most. I like getting to know people who are into classical, even if they often tend to be older than me. Just yesterday I was at a record sale and I and three middle-aged guys were snatching up all the classical records and discussing our favorites. It was pretty cool.


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## SigmaOctantis (10 mo ago)

I'm 32 years old and while I've been exposed to classical music throughout my life, I never really made a concerted effort to listen to it seriously until I started taking guitar lessons in high school when I was 16 years old. My teacher introduced me to the works of Carcassi, Tarrega, Sor, Albeniz, even Bach (in the form of Prelude No. 1 in C Major, though I didn't know it at the time and he never mentioned it was by Bach and I never asked. I suppose he thought everyone knew it.) Even then, while I did love all the music I was learning, I was obsessed with metal at the time and was heavily focused on that in my free time and my interest in classical music was overshadowed by the allure of metal, especially after graduating and losing access to my teacher. I then exclusively played and listened to metal. After many years of that, I grew weary of it and I started looking for other genres to explore and I came back to classical music. 

I'm still very much a newbie to classical music and I have quite a bit to learn. I'm having a lot of fun discovering (and rediscovering) all this music.


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## 4chamberedklavier (12 mo ago)

I'm 23, only started listening to classical a few months ago. As of now I mostly gravitate towards the big 3 plus Brahms & Chopin, but I'm open towards all kinds of classical. I'm having some difficulty getting into 20th century music but usually I'm able to appreciate it after enough listening.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I no longer identify as a 64 years old. I am 40 with 24 years of experience.


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## demetriosnicas (Jun 10, 2017)

I'm 25. My dad had acquired this DG introductory series on serious music (from Gregorian chant to Ravel) some years before I was born, and that's how I became hooked.
I still have pale memories watching the New Year's Concert every year and morning concerts on our national parliament TV station.
I started classical, then because of my activity in local orchestras (marching band, little symphonic) as a student I explored more periods. Finally, during my college years I had the chance to go to many concerts featuring music from more contemporary composers. So right now, I feel I have a broad perspective on what we call "classical" music.


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## Helgi (Dec 27, 2019)

HerbertNorman said:


> Well I'm busy with the family and work , I assure you  The music is an everyday way to escape from the pressure and stress you have to deal with as a 42 year old father of two (sons) and working full time...
> I've got friends who use "gaming" as a way to escape from it...  That didn't work for me...


Same. I'm a 39 year old father of two young kids with a mortgage, a station wagon, greying hair etc. This evening I'm working late, filing my taxes (no joke) and listening to music (Ligeti violin concerto).

I got into classical music only a few years ago, but have been completely focused on it ever since. I go through phases in my listening, so can't really say I have any clear favourite composers or periods. Sometimes it's Bach cantatas and oratorios for a couple of weeks, Wagner for a month, romantic era symphonies, renaissance polyphony, contemporary choral music... lately I've been drawn to Bartók, Weinberg and Shostakovich.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I am 81 years old, and after many decades of listening to all sorts of musics, I find my tastes largely unchanged. About 30% of my listening, summed over time, is of classical music--favorite composers generally of the 20th century, with exceptions for Brahms, Bach, Mozart, especially, but loved works sprinkled throughout the decades.

Another 30% of listening is of traditional _cante flamenco_, and another 30% is of Rock and Pop. The final 10% is "Other"--usually Latin American, Moroccan, Asian, other folk or World Music genres. A well-rounded diet, I find.....


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I'm 52 in 3 weeks. I know what classical music young people like: They like Mozart, Bach & Schubert, not Brahms. Then after a while they like Grieg, Sibelius, R. Strauss, Prokofiev, Bartok, Stravinsky and Schnittke and Denisov. After that they discover, to their surprise, that they have grown old, even though they don't feel so old and suddenly like Brahms...I actually forgot that young people like Sor and Villa-Lobos and classical guitar music...


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Strange Magic said:


> I am 81 years old, and after many decades of listening to all sorts of musics, I find my tastes largely unchanged. About 30% of my listening, summed over time, is of classical music--favorite composers generally of the 20th century, with exceptions for Brahms, Bach, Mozart, especially, but loved works sprinkled throughout the decades.
> 
> Another 30% of listening is of traditional _cante flamenco_, and another 30% is of Rock and Pop. The final 10% is "Other"--usually Latin American, Moroccan, Asian, other folk or World Music genres. A well-rounded diet, I find.....


Nice to see another fan of Cante Flamenco Puro; but I also like the guitar music. :tiphat:


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Turned 50 last month. In my 28th year of teaching music and 11th year as a published composer of concert band and string orchestra literature.

ART MUSIC FAVORITES
Beethoven
Mozart
Haydn
Dvorak
Mendelssohn
Brahms
Saint-Saens
Shostakovich
Copland
Bernstein

POP/ROCK MUSIC
Beatles
Bob Dylan
Byrds
Bangles
Blackmore's Night

(apparently has to begin with a B)

MUSIC I RESPECT BUT DON'T REALLY CARE FOR
Wagner
Mahler
Bruckner
Berlioz
Strauss
Liszt


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

I am 22 years old.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

SanAntone said:


> Nice to see another fan of Cante Flamenco Puro; but I also like the guitar music. :tiphat:


Mi amigo, I am so imprinted with _cante_--its emotionalism (where appropriate) or its formal qualities--that I am psyched to hear the ay, ay, ays of song at the beginning of a bit of flamenco after the guitarist has begun playing his instrument and I am always so disappointed when the guitarist launches into a solo performance. Can't help it: I was raised in flamenco with the certainty that historically the origin, the heart, the soul of flamenco was _cante_. But I am always blown away by the "easy" skill of almost all flamenco guitarists as they accompany the singer.:tiphat:


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## AaronSF (Sep 5, 2021)

Hi, I'm 73 (yikes) and can't remember a time when I didn't listen to classical music. I grew up with it in my home. My first recollection, at about the age of 3, is listening to Jose Iturbi playing Chopin's "Fantasie Impromptu" on a 45 rpm, transparent red, RCA recording. I listened to it over and over and over. So I was primed early on to love the Romantic period. 

When I started buying my own records as a teenager, I first bought Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto and the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Debussy's La Mer and his orchestral preludes, and of course L'Apres-midi d'un faune. Brahms's symphonies and piano music soon followed.

It took me several years to start listening to the music you're listening to now. I found music from the Baroque and Classical periods to be unemotional! My tastes were really not all that sophisticated in my teens. Glad to say I learned as I aged and soon came to love much of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and early Beethoven (and much more).

Listen to what pleases you and keep an open mind (ear?) about the rest. It's such a wonderful world to get lost in!


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

Bulldog said:


> I just turned 73. Favorite composer is Bach; the next three are Mahler, Shostakovich, and Weinberg.


always delighted to read another plug for Weinberg though I'm afraid much Bach bores me rigid though he can be fun to sing.


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## marlow (11 mo ago)

SixFootScowl said:


> Try the 4th. He took a breather for the 4th before slamming the world with the 5th.


He wrote the 6th at the same time!


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

I’m 17 myself and I primarily listen to Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert and Bach but I still need to discover much more. The problem isn’t that I don’t know what I should listen to next, it’s that there is an overwhelming amount of music I still need to listen to, which isn’t really a problem because I’m really looking forward to it. I’m really happy with the fact that I don’t need to warm up to a certain style, genre or composer because I almost always like a composition that other people also like. I do have to say that it takes me just a tiny bit longer to really like romantic or baroque than classical. Especially Mozart, for some reason I immediately liked his symphony 25, 36 and 40 for example. I always need to listen at least twice to for example Beethoven


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## Wigmar (7 mo ago)

KevinW said:


> Hello TC community,
> 
> I am posting this thread because I am curious on the age span of the TC community members and what kind of music does each age group like the most, if they are related. As my last thread indicates (check the link below), it seems nobody in middle/high school is active in this forum... Please vote in the poll, and tell us your age and also your best composer/genre/era/style. I will be expecting your replies.
> 
> ...


I have lived for nearly six decades, being fond of listening to classical music, especially to the classical, pre-romantic and romantic periods in general. For me, it is also a great pleasure to listen to spanish composers as Aguado, Sor, Tarrega, Albeniz, Granados & Moreno Torroba. 

Underneath one of my many Segovia recordings, issued by Intercord, no. 160.815, recorded May 1973, Madrid, when Maestro was 80 years old.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

My current age belongs to the 25-35 time span. I may listen to any kind of classical music, but over the years I began to notice a marked personal preference for the Common Practice Period. At the moment, my favorite composers include Mozart, Brahms, J.S. Bach, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Sibelius, Mahler, Debussy, Prokofiev, Berlioz and Beethoven, this last being my idol. I have always been particularly fond of symphonies (my current all-time favorite piece of music is a symphony), and my least enjoyed category of CM has always been that of art songs (lieder) because I don't like the combination of solo piano and voice (I usually enjoy orchestrated lieder though).

My interest in classical began in my childhood, when my mother rented Disney's _Fantasia_ for me (the original, not_ Fantasia 2000_) and I became instantly spellbound by it (so much that she ended up buying it later). But I only began to systematically explore the genre about fifteen years ago, after listening for the first few times to Wagner's _Tannhäuser_ overture, an work that has proved to be a game changer in my life.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

I am 42. I became interested in Classical music at around 19 or 20 years of age. My initial listening was quite disorganized and encompassed Beethoven, Mahler, Shostakovich, Chopin, and Stravinsky. Eventually my focus shifted strictly to the modern and contemporary periods, but as I aged, I came to appreciate the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods as well. Current favorites include Brahms, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Bartok, Schoenberg, J.S. and C.P.E. Bach. I suppose my listening habits are still disorganized, but now I have a better idea of what I am listening to and derive greater enjoyment from it.


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## Yabetz (Sep 6, 2021)

It's interesting to see the range in ages reported here, from 13 to 88.


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## Dulova Harps On (Nov 2, 2018)

Just turned 48. Most genres of music have been a part of my life from an early age.I certainly listened to bits and pieces of classical music in my 20s and 30s but would say that ive only been listening to classical seriously since my early forties. By "seriously" i mean actively seeking out recordings and almost exclusively listening to classical music. I still listen to other forms of music but classical is my main focus now i would say.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I'm in my later 50s and have been exposed to music all my life. In CM, the Romantic era is where many of my favourite recordings are from but I also like classical and modern pieces. I listen to very little vocal CM music and particularly lieder. Started with the warhorses and then branched out but Beethoven occupies more shelf-space than any other composer (extreme amount of Beethoven symphony / quartet recordings) but also collect many other composers (eg Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Schumann, etc) especially their symphonic / chamber works. Outside of that my first love and base was in classic rock/metal (Sabbath, Skynyrd, Priest, Scorpions, UFO) and old prog (esp Man, TYA, Colosseum, etc) but I've explored all genres and if I like it I buy it, regardless of genre. Never much liked jazz, motown, disco or soul music too much but there are a few exceptions (probably not in jazz though - really dislike it). I've put a hold on symphonic listening for past few years, particularly, to concentrate on chamber music, especially string chamber music. I'm always looking for better versions of the music I own and still get excited hearing new music that appeals.


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## RuggiràIntornoATe! (5 mo ago)

I am 25 and i fell in love with music at a concert of Die Zauberflöte by Mozart at the age of 4 or 5. For me it was a revolutionary moment, i think i must have genuinely smiled for the first time. I was a very quiet, bitter, emotionless kid before this event. Then i discovered Beethoven one year or two years later, rest is history. Later, In my teenage years i discovered the likes of Penderecki and Bartok. My range of listening goes from the likes of Pérotin to the more recent avant-garde composers, like Olga Neuwirth. But the romanticist era is my personal favourite. Three of my four favourite composers are part of this era. Other than that i enjoy Jazz and pretty much all other kinds of music. But i do value Classical music above any other genres of music.


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

I'm 33 now. I got into classical music in high school. At the time it was mostly Baroque and Classicism with some Romanticism. Mainly the standards. As I grew my interests branched out to French Impressionism, Renaissance, and eventually Medieval music. Now I mainly like Early Music.


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## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

Yabetz said:


> It's interesting to see the range in ages reported here, from 13 to 88.


I'm a 670-year-old Time Lord with no clue as to why young people like the music they choose to listen to.

The 1st Doctor Who (William Hartnell) had the best music scores by Tristram Cary, Richard Rodney Bennett, Francis Chagrin, Stanley Myers & Humphrey Searle!
If I was producing a television program during the 1960s, then I would want these guys writing music for my show.


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