# Thesaurus...



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Music-tasters, what words & images would suit the music of your favourite composer (the music, not the person)?
And which would not?

I find the music of Lully to be: lithe...elegant...serene...poignant...knowing....
amorous...triste...grandiose...witty...satirical...eloquent...pastoral...
urbane...graceful...classical (in its non-technical sense) & elegiac.

His music is not (generally): disturbing...edgy...passionate...turbulent...
boring or shocking

I would listen to Lully dressed in an ultramarine evening gown with gold lace stole, with a glass of sparkling white wine. I would eat canapés of smoked salmon, followed by petits-fours & café noir.

I look forward to reading your replies. This is not a very earnest thread. Witty sallies are the order of the day - mais toujours la politesse, mes braves...


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I find the music of Bach to be: stately... elegant.. intelligent...engaging...enthralling...rational.

Bach's music is not: rough...coarse...boring...emotional.

I would listen to Bach in a periwig and frock coat with a fine malt whisky.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Taggart said:


> I find the music of Bach to be: stately... elegant.. intelligent...engaging...enthralling...rational.
> 
> Bach's music is not: rough...coarse...boring...emotional.
> 
> I would listen to Bach in a periwig and frock coat with a fine malt whisky.


A very engaging picture - an embroidered waistcoat too, may one hope?


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I find the music of Anton Bruckner to be: majestic . . . spiritual . . . monumental . . . teleological.

Bruckner's music is not: godless . . . unsubstantial . . . short.

I would listen to Bruckner on the peak of a mountain in lederhosen.


----------



## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

Mozart : Gentle, soothing, profound, colourful, classy, wild...


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Mozart: Logical, abundant, ethereal, beautiful, sublime.

His music is *not*: wasteful, light, limited, clumsy, pretentious or pompous... :tiphat:


----------



## Flamme (Dec 30, 2012)

He was an anarchist really...In his time...Some sort of Sid Vicious...But with class...


----------



## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Wagner: powerful... uplifting... passionate...grand... heroic... joyful...moving...longing-filled.

His music is not: mild... relaxing...dry...emotionless... restrained.

I would listen to him while walking along the seashore in a storm.


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Flamme said:


> He was an anarchist really...In his time...Some sort of Sid Vicious...But with class...


I always think of him as a guy who can't be pigeon-holed: establishment figure who took work where he could find it, so he could create pearls that go beyond class and space and time. He was anarchic in the sense that although he worked for the aristocracy and royalty and was a servant to the hierarchies of his time, his music reflects something wholly different.

And also, he worked within forms and yet his music made the forms seem to be like slaves to his ends. He presented the perfect argument for musical formality, which wasn't that the forms were to be followed for their own sakes, but that they could be both scaffold and foundation for the most unearthly musical architecture...


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> I would listen to Bruckner on the peak of a mountain in lederhosen.





SiegendesLicht said:


> I would listen to Wagner while walking along the seashore in a storm.


The levels of sacrifice being made on this thread are exhilarating! 

I would listen to Mozart while hiding from cops in the vaults of a bank...


----------



## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Stravinsky is: Lumpy

He is not: a peanut

I would listen to Stravinsky while sitting down.


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Mahler is: riveting, dynamic, juxtaposition-filled, surprising, bizarre, multitude-containing
and not: single-minded, undeveloped, homophonic, monochrome

I would listen to his music out in a forest, sun poring in through the trees.


----------



## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

The music of Chopin is: radiant - tender - passionate - sublime - achingly beautiful.

His music is never: vulgar - mundane - formulaic.

I would listen to him in a white gown, with flowers in my hair, in the grey hour.


----------



## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Schoenberg: His music is profound, momumental, angular, restless, sarcastic, pious, delicate, agonizing, mysterious.

His music is not timid, unadventuroius, gregarious, fawning, eager to please, lightweight, or unassuming.

I would listen to him in a lime-green tuxedo jacket, with a sulphur-yellow shirt, bright-red top hat, turquoise trousers, pink shoes, while sipping absinthe and nibbling on escargot.


----------



## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Satie his music is: different, calming, thought provoking, eccentric
Listening whilst dressed in my "brushed grey velvet" suit, with a bowler hat, rolled up brolly and prinz nez


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Mendelssohn: his music is: fun, lively, passionate, emotional, spirited
It is not: boring, conservative, bland

I would listen to Mendelssohn whenever.


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Rossini: witty, funny, light-hearted, optimistic, carefree, self-deprecating, extroverted, confident, mocking, more ornamented than a Christmas tree and even less classy, in love with itself, chatty, clever, self referential, versatile, catchy

is not: taking itself seriously, subtle, elegiac, tragic, low key, mean spirited, over-emotional, timid, maudlin, navel-gazing, innocent, naive, weepy, heart-breaking

I listen to Rossini whenever I need to remind myself how perfect I am  also in the morning, instead of coffee and whenever I get Rossini earworm, which is pretty damn frequent. Great for livening up boring, repetitive activities, as well (housework, commute, shopping).

ps: as far as attire, I feel it goes perfectly with my ever-growing collection of striped socks.


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Edgard Varèse,

Provocative, passionate, turbulent, provoking (extra emphasis), eccentric, edgy, stratospheric Colossus of Sound.

I think to be heard best with a good Vodka or Cognac, smoking a fine Cuban Cigar, Wearing - it does not really matter what..........


----------



## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Wearing - it does not really matter what..........


So long as it's a dress, right Eddie?


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Crudblud said:


> So long as it's a dress, right Eddie?











No, I mean the guy standing on the right in this photo is wearing a very fetching blouse and (I do believe) a *wig* (whisper who dare!)


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

The music of Philip Glass is repetitious,monotonous, repetitious,monotonous, repetitious monotonous,
repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous,
repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous,repetitious,monotonous, . . . . . . .


----------



## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Taggart said:


> View attachment 16561
> 
> 
> No, I mean the guy standing on the right in this photo is wearing a very fetching blouse and (I do believe) a *wig* (whisper who dare!)


Silly Taggart, Jimi Hendrix isn't wearing a blouse!


----------



## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

I like this visual metaphor: Shebalin's symphony is like a fairy chilling in an icecube


----------



## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Crudblud said:


> So long as it's a dress, right Eddie?


Crudblud, you are so right- in my favorite colour thou


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Rachmaninov's *music can be emotional, visual, brooding, dark, deep, epic, full of his classic "bell chords" and is simply borne of the soil of Mother Russia herself.
His music is not lowbrow, populist, lowest common denominator, muzak.

I would listen to Rachmaninov while playing the first theme from his second concerto on a Steinway Grand with Marilyin Monroe sitting next to me looking bored as hell (as in _The Seven Year Itch_) :










...so the Rach chat up line didn't work...back to the drawing board...how about playing her some Boulez?...


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Crudblud, you are so right- in my favorite colour thou


So sweet & Tudor that you call Crudblud 'thou'!


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I also like the music of Carolan, the blind Irish harper.

His music is (variously): plangent, evocative, melancholy, Celtic-Twilight, spirited, joyous, profound, reflective, melodic.
It is never: ugly, untuneful or mean.

I would listen to Carolan in a green robe with my still-reddish hair in a gold snood, sitting on the stone windowsill of a beamed hall with a peat fire glowing & gazing through the lattice at the soft rain falling on the cypress in the churchyard.


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Ingenue said:


> So sweet & Tudor that you call Crudblud 'thou'!


No, I think it's a delicate shade of cerulean.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

The music of Schubert is tender and fragile, but also self-conscious; it is all too aware of its tenderness and fragility. This self-awareness manifests in different emotions, sometimes feeling joy over its own beauty, sometimes sorrow over its ephemerality and mortality. There is a feeling of inescapibility; fate cannot be overcome. The here and now, the moment, becomes a fountain of beauty, because there may be nothing after it; the soul understands that how the heart feels _right now_ may be all it will ever have. And when the soul turns its inner eye unto a larger frame of time, seeing its own frailty, it sometimes becomes... _poisonous._ Yes, Schubert is sometimes poisonous... it's the inward-turned rage of a sensitive person. Even when being poisonous, the music never loses its essential qualities, never loses its grace; but best of all are those moments when the soul accepts this rage over its mortality and embraces the whole of existence with a steely resolve, even if inwardly crying at the same time.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Lehar's* music is Viennese schmaltz with a dash of Hungarian paprika, goes down easy like champagne and has tunes that all sound the same but who cares when you're just imbibing ear candy?

His music is NOT profound, deep, meaningful or philosophical.

Serving suggestion with Lehar's music is a Wiener schnitzel sprinkled with some paprika for 'garnish' and washed down with some champagne. Dessert: sachertorte (with heaps of cream).










Lehar's music especially recommended to: Merry Widows (or Widowers, to be PC).


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Brahms' music* is autumnal, has this burnished intensity, is sincere and no bull*#@^, is direct and to the point.

His music is not frivolous, longwinded, self conscious or padded with extraneous material (well, maybe the _Hungarian Dances _where a bit frivolous, but he didn't compose those tunes in the first place, so who cares?!).

I would listen to Brahms in autumn when those golden-brown leaves are falling, with thoughts of a sweetheart long vanished and that someday (once we get thru winter) the bright days of spring and summer will come.


----------



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Wagner's music is wandering and stormy, carnal and redeeming, poisoning and doubting. Earthy, fiery, ignorant, apocalyptic; stately and human, morbidly passionate, divinely cleansing. 

Wagner's music is not... for the uninitiated. 

I would listen to Wagner's music in heaven.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Couchie said:


> I would listen to Wagner's music in heaven.


With all its pagan themes it its doubtful if either his music of he will be admitted.. 

/ptr


----------



## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Sid James said:


> Serving suggestion with Lehar's music is a Wiener schnitzel sprinkled with some paprika for 'garnish' and washed down with some champagne. Dessert: sachertorte (with heaps of cream).


you're making me hungry!


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

ptr said:


> With all its pagan themes it its doubtful if either his music of he will be admitted..
> 
> /ptr


Oh come on. The Anti-Wagnerians will no doubt be surprised to find him in charge of the Seraphic Orchestra. God does have a sense of humour!


----------



## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Ingenue said:


> Oh come on. The Anti-Wagnerians will no doubt be surprised to find him in charge of the Seraphic Orchestra. God does have a sense of humour!


And that orchestra no doubt has a significant contingent of Jewish ancestry. So is this actually hell from Richard's perspective?


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> And that orchestra no doubt has a significant contingent of Jewish ancestry. So is this actually hell from Richard's perspective?


As Sartre put it in Huis Clos - "L'enfer, c'est les autres".


----------



## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)'s music is pious, mystical, anatomical, righteous, and afraid. It is prophetical; it is a warning. It is an equal mixture of awe-filled worship and outright terror. It is the music of true faith; the kind of faith that is so literal and pervasive that every moment is lived in the presence of God. This presence brings the subject to a perpetual ecstasy that is wrapped in the debilitating anxiety of inevitable judgment.

Her music is not light. It does not believe in moral relativity. It is not for show. It does not want to entertain you. It does not allow you to be passive.

I would listen to it sitting in my closest in pure darkness overwhelmed by sadness and hope.


----------



## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Scriabin's music is passionate, warm, ecstatic, mystical and can be anything from the most tender, gentle and achingly beautiful, to the most electrifying, cosmic and apocalyptic. 

Scriabin's music is not bombastic or insane.

I would listen to his music anywhere, whenever I want, to get away from all that is mundane, trivial and superficial.


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Brahms' music is Passionate, beautiful, powerful, emotional and can be tenderly but also stormy his works are brilliant.
His music is not Vulgar, heavy, light, boring or lacking emotion.

I would listen to Brahms...... well actually I don't really care how or when I listen to it, just listening to it is good enough for me.


----------



## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Mitchell said:


> Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)'s music is pious, mystical, anatomical, righteous, and afraid. It is prophetical; it is a warning. It is an equal mixture of awe-filled worship and outright terror. It is the music of true faith; the kind of faith that is so literal and pervasive that every moment is lived in the presence of God. This presence brings the subject to a perpetual ecstasy that is wrapped in the debilitating anxiety of inevitable judgment.
> 
> Her music is not light. It does not believe in moral relativity. It is not for show. It does not want to entertain you. It does not allow you to be passive.
> 
> ...


That's it, you've sold me - I've got to find some music by this lady right now!!!


----------



## Kazaman (Apr 13, 2013)

Webern's music is spartan, intelligent, sincere, retrospective, introspective, introverted, intemporal, symmetrical, precise and affecting. It is human: it wants to speak and be heard; to transcend the limitations of expression; to create meaning in a bleak and hostile universe.

His music is not aloof, calculated, degenerate, incomprehensible or embarrassing. 

I would listen to Webern alone in my lamplit room.


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Peter Sculthorpe's* music can be elemental, vast, tragic, colorful, organic, sun drenched.

His music is not sentimental, nostalgic or anachronistic.

I would listen to his music while looking at some natural landmark in the outback, such as the Devil's Marbles:


----------



## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> That's it, you've sold me - I've got to find some music by this lady right now!!!


Ordo virtutum is her masterpiece. It is a morality play composed in 1151. According to Wikipedia: "It is the earliest morality play by more than a century, and the only Medieval musical drama to survive with an attribution for both the text and the music."

A solid early recording is by Sequentia, fearturing 17 female voices:









My recommendations would go to Vox Anima, directed by Michael Fields, which adds some instrumentation:









If you just want a sampling of songs, chants, visions, etc. I like Anonymous 4:









If you are feeling adventurous and want to try a modern take with some synthesizers there is an album featuring Jocelyn Montgomery, composed by David Lynch. This is definitely not for purists but I kind of love it:


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

*Charles Ives'* music is forthright, rugged, atmospheric, patriotic, macho and multi-layered.

His music is not cushy, indirect, refined or comforting.

I'd listen to his music while having a good cool tankard of beer in one of those saloons in cowboy movies with an upright piano playing some ragtime. Some scene like this:


----------



## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Schumann, his music is poetic with a very specific kind of emotion which I only find with his pieces. It can also be serious and less often humorous. It is always beautiful.
His music is not awful, nor is it mundane.


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

What's another word for thesaurus ?


----------



## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

superhorn said:


> What's another word for thesaurus ?


Dictionary?


----------

