# Where did you start?



## orquesta tipica (Jan 17, 2007)

Perhaps many of you were born into classical music-loving families, but I'm sure some of you weren't. In any case, what were your first experiences listening to it, or your first love in the way of classical music? More importantly, what were the considerations that led you to it? For the new listeners' benefit, maybe they can get some ideas how to start on their own journeys of discovery, rather than feel intimidated by the sheer volume of music to choose from.

Myself, I was born into a household where no one listened to classical music. Around the age of 12, I had exhausted myself looking for music that I liked longer than a few hearings, so I reached that point where I wanted finally to give classical music a shot.

Now, how to go about this, I wondered? Ah, I had the ingenious plan. Ignorant of the limits of space on a cassette tape, I thought I could get a whole bunch of different numbers on one cassette, and this album called "Hooked on Classics" seemed the perfect vehicle. I bought it with my own money, came home and put it in the player, and....I.....haaaaaated it! I couldn't believe what a waste of my money! I felt bad. But rather than be discouraged by the mistake, I decided to learn from the experience.

Okay, medleys I don't want. I don't want some hokey rock and roll beat, either. And tapes only have so much running time. Let's....pick out something...more specific, why don't we? I liked the violin, I figured. Okay, look for a violin piece. I also liked orchestral sounds. Okay, so look for something with violin + orchestra, I thought. Perfect! So I went back to the store when I had more money again and combed the shelves looking for that very thing. I just used my head a little. I thought, okay, Tchaikovsky has pretty good representation here on the store shelves, so these recording artists must like him quite a bit. He must be good.

So then I found this one tape of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, as performed by David Oistrakh and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Ormandy, and said to myself, "this is the one." I bought it sight-unheard. It's important to take some chances, you know. It's the only way to really learn this stuff. And keep an open mind.

So I brought this new acquisition home, listened to it, wasn't quite sure about it at first, but there were some moments I liked. It certainly wasn't like the last experience. There was something to it, that I thought if I stay committed to it long enough, I'd find out what it was. So then I listened to it again, and it registered a few more thoughts in me. So listened again, and again, and before long I gained a certain familiarity with the piece, to the point where I sort of understood its logic, its reason for being, and the feeling that rushed through me was like I had drawn the sword out of the stone. It's like anything one is trying to learn, it's confusing at first, and you keep at it, until one day...you "get it" and that feels just great. I really wore that tape out, I must say. But I had learned a whole new way how to approach music.

And then eventually this led me to going after everything else Tchaikovsky had composed, and which led me to other composers, and my desire for more music became insatiable, like an unstoppable train.

Today Tchaikovsky is no longer in my top echelon list of favorite composers, which is now populated by Beethoven, Wagner, Mozart, Prokofiev and some others. But he was surely a good place to start.


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## Frederik Magle (Feb 17, 2006)

It's good to read your story, and a quite interesting - though of course personal - topic. 

My father was an organist and cantor, and in charge of arranging all the »classical music« concerts in the local parishes. So I was listening to music day out and day in, even before I was born . 

My first »favorite« piece of music - I was about 6 or 7 at the time - was Schubert's Symphony No.8 »The Unfinished«. I wore that cassette tape out completely in a year or two. I still cherish that work, but of course many other works by different composers has since been added to my favorites. From there my life, one way or another, have been infiltrated by music, something of which I can't complain.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

My own family was largely classically "illiterate". I was exposed mostly to Rock music and country. Even there I was always driven to seek out the best works... to read what various critics and other musicians had to say. As I neared high-school graduation I knew that I would end up going into the arts in one form or another. It became obvious to me that if I were to do so I should seriously develop some concept of what each of these artistic languages had to offer. I began to buy art books and go to the museums. I also began to develop a broader library of literary works. With classical music I began to research the biographies and the recommendations. Of course I had long been exposed to classical music in the old Bugs Bunny cartoons, in films, and in passing in any number of other areas. The first classical piece which I bought on my own, however, was J.S> Bach's _Brandenburg Concertos_. It's interesting that I am still a Bach fanatic. After that piece I purchased Vivaldi's _Four Seasons_ and a collection of various concerti, including the lovely mandolin concerti. I also came upon a collection of Handel's music including the _Royal Fireworks Music_, the _Water Music_, and some organ concert. The rhythm and the accessible melodies of Baroque music probably made it easier for me to move in transition from popular music. Appreciation of Wagner, Mahler, Beethoven's late string quartets, and Opera was a long way off.


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## Topaz (Oct 25, 2006)

orquesta tipica said:


> And then eventually this led me to going after everything else Tchaikovsky had composed, and which led me to other composers, and my desire for more music became insatiable, like an unstoppable train.
> 
> Today Tchaikovsky is no longer in my top echelon list of favorite composers, which is now populated by Beethoven, Wagner, Mozart, Prokofiev and some others. But he was surely a good place to start.


I had a somewhat similar experience to you. My family was not much into music, least of all classical music. I first started listening seriously at school at about age 11, but it wasn't until about 16 I got really interested. Then I went classical mad. My favourite piece was probably Tchaikovsky's Piano Con 1, but it spread to other Tchaikovsky's works.

I have been everywhere since, and developed several other favourites whom I thought I would never tire of. But it happens; it is possible to tire. I was very keen on baroque and then "classical". I have dabbled around with early 2O C. I like several of them (Sibelius, RVW) but I never got interested in Stravinsky or very far with Shostakovich, or much Debussy or Ravel. I have tried and tried, and have almost forced myself at times, but I find they just does doesn't appeal (most of all Stravinsky). As for forgotten composers, thanks but no thanks. I have enough material to keep me fully happy.

As I have stated several times, my favourites are Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann. I recognise in the first two not just genius but the very top level of it. I greatly respect Mozart too but I find a lot of his material isn't to my (far more Romantic era) tastes. It's mostly too lightweight for me, with a few exceptions.

I urge you to investigate Schubert and Schumann too. If you haven't already done so may I suggest you take a look at the recent Schubert article here. I hope it may give you a few leads. We really are talking about a mega-star, well above the standard of many names trotted out somewhat glibly elsewhere.

Topaz


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## 3rdplanetsounds (Nov 23, 2006)

*How I started to listen to classical music*

As a child I wasn't even that interested in music.Just watched 'top of the pops' each week with my elder sister who was into the usual 1970's pop sensations of the time.I HATED my music lessons,as I didn't have a clue what they were talking about(harmony,beats to the bar,etc)And grew up in my teens not much into it at all.I only listened to what my mates listened to,but never that much influenced by them.By my early 20's I got into listening to 80's rock,and even a little reggae.I just got bored with it and switched off from it for a few years.Then while at college I got my first CD player and the special offer of a free CD!I just picked up a naff 'well known classics CD' as i thought 'what the hell!'It's probably going to bore me witless!Every single peice of music I reconised and I just didn't understand how.I was more intreaged then anything else.It didn't bore me, it kinda just pulled me in.It took me 2 to3 years to switch my music mindset over just to understand this music ,and a further 5 to fully appreciate how the famous composers sound like in their music.Ironically,through not listening to pop/rock music for about 7 years I found myself curious on hearing what bands have to offer nowadays and listening to them again.Im glad I found classical music,I suppose it was always inside me anyway,waiting to be unleashed to my mind!


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## IAmKing (Dec 3, 2006)

It was Holst's "The Planet Suite" for me. My parents do listen to classical music, but at the time I was born that was the only CD they had. I used to get so excited listening to Mars and Jupiter. 

After music really became important to me, however, I went through a phase of starting from scratch. I got into metal and rock, and then start expanding into various avant-garde forms of music (modern jazz, Frank Zappa) and through Zappa I got into various modern composers such as Edgard Varese and Pierre Boulez. Then I started studying music for IB and bought myself Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra, which I enjoyed immensely. I then found myself rummaging through my parents now somewhat substantial collection of classical music and hauling a ton of CD's upstairs. Some of these CD's are now amongst my most played, as well as some CD's I've bought with my own cash: Mahler's 3rd, a collection of Shostakovich's String Quartets, Mozarts Requiem, Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony and 1812 Overture etc.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

For me at first, classical music reminded me of beautiful landscapes and images. Especially Vaughan Williams. Then it became a method of sublimation when I was going through some rough times. Everytime I felt down, I would spend two hours on the piano doing scales and arps and then listen to Rachmaninov concertos. Music is one of the few emotional outlets I can employ to let people know how I feel. That's why it's so important to me.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2007)

I was raised in a house full of music, mainly light classical and classical on the Radio, My Mother and Father both played Piano and were in the local Church Choir, My Maternal Grandfather played Piano, Cello and Violin he played in the local theatre in the Pit Orch, they tried to teach me to play the Piano but for some reason I was not interested I think I was about 6-7 years old, but obviously the ground work had been set in place, it was only at School that my interest awoke and I became part of the choir, and of course the obligatory Church Choir, how I wish that I had kept up singing because choral music is now a firm favourite but I can only listen.
I took private lessons on Violin but very quickly fancied the Double Bass so saved like mad, then went back to my teacher and that was that.
I have found that you have runs on certain types of Classical Music and Composers, and yes you can have too much of A or B etc, variety is the spice of life, keep trying something new, you have to work at it but it does open up new horizons.
*Here endeth the first lesson *


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## Mr Salek (Apr 11, 2006)

I was born into a musical family so it was affecting me from an early age. My first great love was By The Beautiful Blue Danube by Richard Strauss. I remember my Dad buying me the CD when I was about 2 or 3. I moved on and got into Vivaldi quite heavily for some reason. I remember playing the A minor violin concerto and listening to a CD with that and the 4 Seasons on it. I must have been about 9 or 10. I really loved Bach then too, again influenced by playing one of his violin concertos. Eventually I realised that they didn't really do it for me any more and I moved onto Mozart. After that I broke free and explored every corner of classical music!


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I was born into a classical musical family. My parents were musicians in the Detroit Scandinavian Orchestra (Michigan, US) for many years before I was born. When we moved to Southern California, they were members of the Long Beach Philharmonic Orch. I can remember attending the weekly rehearsals as a child. Dad played the BB Flat Tuba, Mom the Violin. My sister plays the Viola, and I took up Piano and later Organ.


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## Baroquebitch (Feb 28, 2007)

It's interesting to see all of the family influence. I too was born into a classical music family. My mother was a Baroque lover...my father loved it all. I went to the symphony often and never stopped loving it, even as I went into my punk rock phase...hehe


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## Tromboneman (Jan 4, 2007)

I play trombone in my high school symphonic band, very prestigious among Ohio High School bands, gone to State Competitions 35 straight years, getting superior ratings in 31 of those 35 years, we play some of the best music i could hope for (if only we had strings we could play Ride of the Valkyries ), this year we made a trip to Columbus to play as part of a competition, the only public high school band to make it, we got to play with Ohio State Symphonic band, private schools, other prestigious colleges, and we got standing ovations. My favorite part of playing in band during each day is the chorale warmups, so beautiful, mostly of Michael Praetorius, J.S. Bach and some others, very moving pieces. I love music, always have, my family loves it and i learned. I really began to love it after seeing Amadeus, such audacity. I continue to play trombone, i am only 16 so i have long to learn. On daily basis i play Tuba Mirum, Ride of the Valkyries, some movements from Requiem by Mozart (tenor clef is so sweet), i love trombone and music and always will, i also play bass, guitar and some drums.


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## Gatton (Dec 20, 2006)

No classical musical family here. My childhood house was a steady stream of country and 70s rock such as the Eagles, George Jones and Charley Pride.

About fifteen years ago I started turning the radio dial way to the left down in the low numbers to see what was there. I heard the classical station and I liked it. However I didn't like having to wait sometimes thirty minutes to find out what was playing. Whether I liked the piece or not!

I started checking out tapes and LPs from the library. This is when I discovered Tchaikovsky and those lush romantic Russians. A couple of years later I got a big boon. My cousin who is a music fanatic had switched over to buying only CDs. So he gave me his whole record collection. Granted it amounted to only about 70 records or so but I was in heaven. So much to discover. This is where I first heard the Brandenburgs, Mozart's piano sonatas, Pavarotti, Carmina Burana, Pictures at an Exhibition, Mendelssohn's symphonies etc. It was a very pivotal experience for me. 

I don't listen to Mozart and Tchaikovsky nearly as much as I did back then (it's a mere coincidence what happens to be playing on my stereo right now though!) I am enjoying discovering Shostakovitch, Khrennikov, Sibelius, Saint-Saens and many others. 

Thanks for posting your experiences. It's fun reading them and noting how we all got to the same place.

---

Now Listening To:

David Oistrakh
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major Op 35


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2007)

Gatton said


> It's fun reading them and noting how we all got to the same place.


My parents didn't listen to music much. When they did, it was Ray Conniff, Percy Faith, and Perry Como. They watched the Lawrence Welk show on tv. I watched cartoons.

When I was nine, I inherited a bunch of 78s from my dad's brother, among them were things like Rusty in Orchestraville and Sparky's Magic Piano. I was instantly hooked. "So this is what music is supposed to sound like. Cool!" From my first lp, Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto, I quickly acquired Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach. And there was always radio.

Those were good times. When I was twenty something happened even more exciting and life changing than the snippets of Haydn and Rossini that started me off. Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. I'd heard, and liked, Stravinsky and Janacek and Prokofiev (Peter and the Wolf was on some of those 78s). Somehow things only clicked with the Bartok. That's when I realized there was this thing called "20th century music." Wow. Very quickly I picked up the rest of Stravinsky, moving rapidly from Carter to Varese to Stockhausen to Gerhard to Cage to.... You get the idea. What fun that's all been.

I don't listen to Tchaikovsky (my early favorite) much any more, though I listen to more Bach now than when I was a kid. I probably own more cds of Prokofiev than any other single composer, but I listen mostly now to electroacoustic music. (What's on the stereo right now as I type this is Christian Banasik's Begegnung VI for accordion and tape. Very tasty.)

So no, we haven't all ended up in the same place, but it's still fun.


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## zlya (Apr 9, 2007)

The soundtrack to 2001 A Space Odyssey. Seriously.


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## Mark Harwood (Mar 5, 2007)

In the mid-1970s the German electronic group Tangerine Dream played in some churches. I was a fan. A vicar likened their music to that of Sibelius, so I listened to my mother's Sibelius records. To this day I wonder what medication that vicar was on.


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## Luximus (Apr 16, 2007)

Well, as for me, i'm a violinist, and I haven't discovered the slightest passion for classical music until three weeks ago. It's quite interesting. I'm currently 15 years old, and I started the violin at the age of seven because I was deeply influenced my my friend, who's two eyars older than me, and plays violin. You might all think i'm a relatively good violinist right now but i still think I'm pretty amateur. Anyways, I did not start off with a good teacher. He taught me to hold the bow in the extra large area(the space on the frog that looks like it's meant for the thumb but really isn't) which is definitely NOT where the thumb should be. Anyways, I began playing with him, and he's basically the type of tutor who wants your money and doesn;'t have any successful students. I remember my first concert....I was so terrified, and i came in fourth place, after three students from the same teacher. After that day, my father desperately searched for that teacher's number and we quickly swithced to my new tutor, who actually taught me th basics. I think I was 9 around that time. In my opinion, my actual violin study actually began then, not when i was 7. So I was nince, and too lazy to practice. I was too young and immature to understand playing with emotions and bow speed and suitable bowing, and such, so I didn't find much inspiration from my new tutor at all, who has begunt o grow weary of my playing. Eventually, I'm pretty sure she simply taught me for the money. I wasn't until I was 12 when i met one of my closest friends today. he played the violin also, and was way ebtter than me. I asked him about who he studied with and he replied answered with the anem of my tutor. I still didn't feel inspired to play classical music, though, but i did want to pass Conservatory grade 8 to receive an extra music credit. During grade 8, my parents were more than just disappointed in me. They wanted me to quit studying the violin for good since I don't seem to practice or enjoy it at all. I sought advice from my friends, and my guy friend, who plays better music than i do told me his latest tutor. I decided to take a chance, as this tutor would be my"last resort". So he gave me the number and my parents made an appointment. I was very glad to have met my new tutor because he has ALOT of passion for music. he told me righ off that bat that he contributes only 50%. he can help me, but I must assert myself to the right amount of effort. Over these two years, I was determined to redeem myself and studied under him. I did improve quite a bit, i've noticed, from technique to expression. However, I still do not feel inspired by classicla music, despite my large improvement. It wasn't until 1.5 months ago when he told me I will play at his concert unconditionally. I was to play the Bach Concerto No.2 in E major, 1st movement(which i barely even touched). I panicked. So I began to practice, but my laziness got the best of me most of the time. three weeks ago, I had my rehersal with his wife, who plays the piano accompanyment. i wasn't satisfied with my playing. i could play the notes, but I couldn't play the music. So, I decided to search the concerto on youtube, and the results were hardly astounding. I then remembered my strings teahcer (from school) telling us about the violinist whom he learned so much from; Isaac Stern. i decided to search isaac stern on youtube and the very first video i watched was Stern playing Saint-Saen's Introduction and Rondo Capriccoso. 

............I was stunned beyond belief. Never have I imagined classical music to sound so beautiful. Soon after I discovered Heifetz, Milstein, Oistrakh, Menuhin, Perlman, and Ferras. But especially after wtaching Isaac stern's performance, suddenly I found myself a new inspiration; a deep veloptuous desire to play the violin as beautifully as him. And thus began my intense classical music studies an practices. I watched intently at all of the violinists above; their performance styles, they way they articulated , and the way their bow resonates every note. It was beautiful. Never have I felt such a passion for music. Yesterday, I had my recital. I practiced the Bach concerto as hard as i could, and enjoyed every bit of my performance. The audience loved it, and i think I have just given life to a new perspective on music, and surely, from now on, i'm going to practice as hard as I can.


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## Eric (Apr 14, 2007)

for me it was Tchaikovsky with Swan Lake. Never had something seemed so beautiful, heavy, and memorable, before. It was heavy enough to sastisfy my (then) only thrash and metal tastes, and it had melody and beauty.

I remember having to do a project on him/learn about him when I was in 2nd grade. I remember learning about his homosexuality and letters to his wife/girlfriend that he penned in his own blood, his supposed suicide, so I was always kind of fascinated with him. He is quite an interesting character.


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## Giovannimusica (Mar 30, 2007)

It all got started on the monster West Point Military Academy Cadet Chapel organ - at four years of age. It was JSBACH then as it is now plus even more now.

Cheers!

Giovanni


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## arkiv1111 (Oct 1, 2021)

Hooked on Classics


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

My Dad always played plenty of music during my childhood, but in terms of orchestral music it was mostly film scores by John Williams (which I do still view as an effective gateway).

I became curious about Aaron Copland as a young teenager, and got a 3cd set, listened to it to death. Then through watching Star Trek TNG I was exposed to various pieces and got a few CDs of Brahms and Mozart. In the intervening years as a young adult I was always classical curious, went to a few concerts, even worked for the Chicago Symphony in the ticketing department for a summer.

But my real deep dive came a bit over 3 years ago. Despondent about the state of the world and my country, I purchased the Karajan 1980s box, in the hopes of obtaining a broad survey and an emotional release valve. And that was when I fell down the rabbit hole for good. 600 gigabytes of music, high end headphones and music player, joining TC


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

That was great to read - if you put all your love for music into your practice - you could become a good musician. Good luck. 

sorry - this was meant for the young 15 year old violinist.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I grew up in a non classical household - top of the pops etc and I did enjoy pop. There were some signs that I was destined to be a classical listener when at 14 I had a copy of Meddle - remarkable Echoes Pink Floyd track did impress me with its length and seriousness. And of course Shine On You Crazy Diamond - a song that has a 10 minute instrumental introduction. 
Someone mentioned 2001 - yes - first piece of classical music that really impressed me the R Strauss though I thought it was composed for the film. In 1984 I went to see Amadeus - enjoyable but oddly - musically it made no impression on me. I was 20.
A year later and I started listening to 100 Greatest Classics - a tape collection of movements overtures arias etc. That was good - this lead me to Beethoven and the pastoral and sy no 5. Then nothing for a year - lost some interest. Then I heard Mozart - K467 - and that was my wow moment. Never looked back since.


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## Livly_Station (Jan 8, 2014)

My love for classical music only came after my 18th birthday, but it must be said that I've always been passionate about music, especially emotional music with soaring or dramatic qualities for me to pour out all my soul and teenage angst. At that time, I was more into rock (including prog rock) and some other songs from popular genres. Funnily enough, I was not too much into "emo", which was rather popular when I was young, since I leaned towards more mellow expressions and older bands.

What helped the transition to classical music is that I loved paying attention to the instrumental side of the songwriting, and I also liked soundtracks for films and games (although I didn't listen to them that much outside of their intended context). In fact, I already liked classical music since I was a kid (I mean, all those popular tunes), but I just hadn't tried yet discovering classical in my free time.

Before I turned 19, I started taking piano lessons, and that's when everything changed. Just studying and playing music already helped me notice better all the details which give life to the composition, but even more important was the fact that I started to search for solo piano music on Youtube and was loving it so much. My favorites were Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Scriabin, Ravel, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Bach... well, you can see the pattern here. Soon I discovered the piano concertos and that was a gateway for other orchestral works as soon as I got familiar with all the colors of an orchestra. Finally, at last, came chamber music. Of course, all of this happened across many months and many years and, more than 10 years later, the journey is still going on.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

PlaySalieri said:


> That was great to read - if you put all your love for music into your practice - you could become a good musician. Good luck.
> 
> sorry - this was meant for the young 15 year old violinist.


Who is now about 29, judging from how old this thread is.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Not a lot of influence from my immediate family, not that they weren't music fans, but they didn't have the passion.

My uncle, however, was a pretty well known jazz pianist, arranger, writer, etc. He was the pianist in the Harry James Big Band for many years, during the height of the big band era. He did all the piano playing in the movie, The Eddy Duchin Story (Tyrone Power, Kim Novak), he was Rosemary Clooney's band leader for many years, and worked with many other notable musicians. 

His house was kind of a central family meeting place here in LA. On any given day, musicians such as Buddy Rich, Louie Belson, Rosemary Clooney, Keely Smith, and many LA studio and TV musicians would drop by his house. So, I was exposed to extremely talented musicians on a pretty constant basis, and even though they weren't always what I personally listened to, I could easily tell how good they were. So, from an early age, I had an appreciation for a high level of musicianship. 

In my teens, I got into rock, such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, 10 Years After, Uriah Heep, etc, but I always knew, that, that high level of musicianship I learned to appreciate as a kid, was not really there.

But as soon as I was exposed to progressive music (YES's "Fragile" was the first), I almost instantly lost interest in everything that I was in to previously. I was now on a constant search for more music like YES. King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant soon followed. Then the discovery of incredible progressive music from Italy (PFM, Banco, Le Orme, etc), France, Germany, US, Spain followed, and was an eye opening. Bands such as these are loaded with complexity and a very high level of musicianship.

Since progressive bands are highly influenced by classical music, one would think that I would have gotten into classical music from the music of the above mentioned bands, but that was not the case, although I gave it a good try.

It wasn't until I got into a lesser known subgenre of progressive music, avant-prog (sometimes known as Rock in Opposition), that I was lead into my love of classical. But. although the previously mentioned bands above, are mostly influenced by the Classical era up through the early 20th century, the bands of the avant-prog subgenre are more obviously influenced by classical from the latter half of the 20th century to the present era.

Bands such as: Henry Cow, Thinking Plague, Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, Yugen, Far Corner, and many more lead me to avant-garde, modernism, contemporary classical music.

The prog site, Progarchives.com describes avant-prog like this:

Avant-prog is generally considered to be more extreme and 'difficult' than other forms of progressive rock, though these terms are naturally subjective and open to interpretation. Common elements that may or may not be displayed by specific avant-prog artists include:

- Regular use of dissonance and atonality.
- Extremely complex and unpredictable song arrangements.
- Free or experimental improvisation.
- Fusion of disparate musical genres.
- Polyrhythms and highly complex time signatures.

Most avant-prog artists are highly unique and eclectic in sound and consequently tend to resist easy comparisons. However, Frank Zappa is often cited as a major influence on many avant-prog artists due to his early adoption of avant-garde and experimental attitudes within a predominantly rock/jazz context.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I remember answering this question on a thread on here many years ago but can't find it so I'll give you an abridged version.

Started off listening to pop-rock whilst young (esp. Slade). At this time my dad was into The Moody Blues in a big way and so we always had music on in the house. In my teens I got heavily into heavy rock, prog rock and some other lighter rock (esp. Sabbath, Priest, UFO, Wishbone Ash, Zappa, etc). My love of classical started after buying a secondhand Karajan Beethoven 1963 symphonies box on vinyl from a lad my bro knew (cost me a few quid). My love of Beethoven had stemmed from constantly hearing the presto of the 7th Symphony on my dad's James Last LP (lol). Always listened to some limited symphonic music in my late teens and sometimes went to the Halle matinee performances of Beethoven when Jimmy Loughran was in charge in the 80s. Fell out of love with metal/heavy rock for a while around 83 and fell in love with indie/goth stuff and more avant garde stuff (Einsturzende Neubauten, etc) but still went to odd Halle performance and started to explore Mahler, Brahms, Bruckner, etc. From then on I listened to anything I liked but my interest in classical music kept growing through the 90s. I kept an active interest in rock music and moderated on a rock forum for years until it folded at the end of the noughties but by that time my classical music listening was much heavier and I was attending a few more classical gigs alongside rock gigs. At this time I was heavily into post-rock too (Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, etc). After 2010 my classical listening rose so it became my majority genre to listen to.These days it makes up about 90% of my listening. Although my dad wasn't musical my grandad and all his brothers and sisters were all musos or singers and all my kids and my nieces and nephews are all musical too. However, I'm the only one with an interest in classical music. I never played a musical instrument until I got a bass guitar for my 15th (?) birthday but I was never very good on it. I sang in a few rock /indie bands and played a bit of bass (badly) in the 80s but started learning guitar online around 2012 and have played ever since. I'd class myself as a basic intermediate player (Captain Powerchord) these days.


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## Judas Priest Fan (Apr 27, 2018)

I grew up in the US in a strict Christian home; the only music that was allowed was christian music, which I didn´t like, so I didn´t listen to any music.

When I started working at Kentucky Fried Chicken at 16, we listened to WLS Chicago in the kitchen. That was around 1981. I started liking Michael Jackson, The Little River Band, Def Leppard.... I soon developed at taste for HARD rock and Metal. Judas Priest became my all time favorite band. 

I am 56 now, and a few years ago while channel flipping, I came across some classical music on Arte. The guy on the violin was really rockin. It was Vivaldis Four Seasons. I bought the CD and cried like a baby the first few times listening to it. I had never heard such beauty in my whole life!

Since then, I listen to about 99% Classical. Classical is just so much more meaningfull and complex than other types of music, in my opinion.

I have some new CDs of Rock/ Metal bands that I have had for months, and I just don´t get around to finally listening to them.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Judas Priest Fan said:


> I grew up in the US in a strict Christian home; the only music that was allowed was christian music, which I didn´t like, so I didn´t listen to any music.
> 
> When I started working at Kentucky Fried Chicken at 16, we listened to WLS Chicago in the kitchen. That was around 1981. I started liking Michael Jackson, The Little River Band, Def Leppard.... I soon developed at taste for HARD rock and Metal. Judas Priest became my all time favorite band.
> 
> ...


I'm curious to know what you explored after Vivaldi! Have you stuck with Baroque or have to branched out into classical/ romantic/modern?


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

My mother played organ in a church as a teen and then sang in a choir that performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony. She loved Russian music and we listened to and talked about recordings of Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff when I was very young. My older brother sang soprano in a church choir, played trumpet, and then made a living as a rock guitarist for many years. Seeing where my older brother was headed, my father tried to discourage the rest of us from taking music seriously. So we bought Les Paul's or Strats, joined bands at some point, and generally made his life a musical hell.

After my brief toddler exposure I wasn't engaged with classical music again until I was a teen. All of my close friends at this time played instruments or sang. One was in the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony (I think that's what it was called) and his parents had an excellent stereo system and an extensive classical record collection. Another sang in high school musicals and learned sax and flute. When I was 15 and 16 there was a good chance someones parents would be out of town most weekends and when this happened we would have events we called "Mad Houses," two or three day acid parties to which we brought instruments. Under the influence we often supplemented our diet of rock, prog rock, electronic music, and jazz with classical records —"Scriabin? I wonder what this is like." I first listened to Brahms and Beethoven while tripping.

I've studied, taught, and worked in classical music ever since.


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