# Will you listen to the same piece multiple times a day?



## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

When I really feel like listening to a piece of music - especially a short piece, classical or otherwise - or when a newly discovered work makes a strong impression on me, one listen usually just doesn't cut it. I'll frequently listen to the same piece for hours a day (often different interpretations, but not always!), get it stuck in my head, go play it and improvise to it on the piano, reimagine it in various genres and styles, etc. Sometimes it won't even necessarily be a full piece; often a movement or even just a small fragment of music catches my attention so much that I practically can't think about or listen to anything else for the rest of the day. I'm wondering... do others on TC feel similarly, or do you generally only listen to a piece once per session?


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Not often. I prefer to mentally digest and reflect on the piece after listening for a bit, then revisiting at a later time. However, I totally understand that spirited feeling you have after discovering a piece that makes a deep impression on you! 

A topic that comes up on here every now and then is how often you can listen to something before you get sick of it. I've never thought of music of having an expiration date or certain shelf life, and will always retain its same inherent quality it always did to me. Sure, if I listen to, for instance, Dvorak's 9th every single day for a week, I'm absolutely going to want to take a long break from it before going back to it again and will crave something else to listen to, but it's not that Dvorak's 9th somehow got old or outstayed its welcome. Variety is just the spice of life and everything in moderation.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Not to excess, but that's how I learned the repertoire.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Yup. I would also listen to different interpretations one after another and pay attention especially for certain passages. But I don't try to reimagine in different styles or genres. The ones I hear on the radio are enough to discourage me from trying.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

usually just passages, multiple times over, trying to hear them from a different angle each time


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Yes - when I'm really trying to come to grips with a piece. I've been doing it with Bruckner recently, not necessarily an entire symphony, more often a movement. Bruckner was a hard sell for me, but I've come to enjoy the "easier" symphonies, like the 4th and 7th. I was struggling with the 6th, especially the first movement. I have four recordings, and I played several of them in a row one evening. I think I got to some level of understanding - but not yet enjoyment.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> Yup. I would also listen to different interpretations one after another and pay attention especially for certain passages.





Fabulin said:


> usually just passages, multiple times over,...


For me, it's the nuances. How different conductors, orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists interpret and play those passages that give me the most satisfying degree of emotional and aesthetic fulfillment.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Yes I do during my annual in-home Mahler Festival. Held each July starting on the 1st. I listen to two recordings of everything from Das Klagende Lied through the 10th. One work per day, two recordings. (Sometimes I squeeze in three.) I usually choose a modern recording made in the digital era and then an older one. There was one year when it was raining all day and I had nothing else to do so went through six versions of the 7th.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

It's something I do now and then, either before or after hearing a piece in concert, or in response to a thread on this or another forum. I also do it when "weeding" my collection.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Yes, frequently, not the same recording though. 

Some days I just want to hear a specific work. Sometimes I'm really trying to become familiar with a particular work and I will play 6-12 different recordings of it to get a general scope of how it might be interpreted.

At home I listen to CD's, but I use an old 160gb iPod at work and in the car (that I have long since ran out of room on as I have over 900,000 songs in my itunes library) so I will listen to all the recordings I own on disc and then try to keep the ones that resonate most with me so as to save space for other things to listen to and/or new recordings to explore.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Not normally, but today I will listen to several recordings of *Schubert's Death and the Maiden *because of the thread. Since most of the recommendations in that thread are of older recordings, I'm going to focus on recordings released this century.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

When I was a reviewer for MusicWeb International, I often listened to the same recording multiple times per day. Now, just about never.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Sometimes do if they are my focus for the month because it is a way that I can familiarise myself with the work


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Will you listen to the same piece multiple times a day?*

I'll side with those of you who have precisely described my own experiences on this issue. Thanks for saving me some typing.


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Bulldog said:


> When I was a reviewer for MusicWeb International, I often listened to the same recording multiple times per day. Now, just about never.


Just curious, did listening ever start to feel like a chore to you since it was part of your job or side gig, or was it all just the same to you?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

GucciManeIsTheNewWebern said:


> Just curious, did listening ever start to feel like a chore to you since it was part of your job or side gig, or was it all just the same to you?


Yes, it did get to be a chore, and I ended up looking for days at a blank screen except for the reqiured headings. It was time to move on.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Very rarely, but then I'm not a performer or a critic.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I have listened to a few works multiple times a day but I seldom do.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

When im in reviewing mode I do this constantly and it doesnt bother me and the differences in performance really stand out. Its only a chore if the performances are mediocre and bland. Excellent or bad ones always provide me with plenty of entertainment. When I'm purely listening to my own choices for pleasure I dont binge-listen at all.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Yep. I've even listened to a couple-minute piece again and again (example: Baal, We Cry to Thee from Elijah). However, they tend to get boring after a few repetitions. I prefer longer multi-movement works to put on repeat for a day.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

When I first discovered it, listened to the Grosse Fuge almost every waking moment for days! I was even worse with the New World Symphony, listening to little else for half a year.


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## abcedem (Nov 8, 2020)

Way back in the day when I was first trying to get into opera I put La Traviata on a cassette and listened to it on my 40-ish minute commutes and the sheer repetition imprinted it in my brain and opened me up to italian opera in general.


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

Today I put Harnoncourt's _Ein deutsches Requiem_ on at 8:00 am. I'm just about to turn it off as I'm finishing work and it's nearly 7:00 pm. So, yes. All the time.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

jegreenwood said:


> I think I got to some level of understanding - but not yet enjoyment.


Is enjoyment really necessary? Be sure to take frequent breaks and drink plenty of water.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I do that quite often and with different recordings. I sometimes make a playlist on spotify to get to know a piece better. It's always for enjoyment. I'm a happy guy


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## Skakner (Oct 8, 2020)

Yes, I do it quite often.
There have been days that I listen to just one work (Brahms's or Mahler's or Bruckner's Symphony, Keyboard work like Bach's Suites or WTC or Goldberg Variations) but from different recordings. It's something like comparative listening.


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## ORigel (May 7, 2020)

Lately, I've been listening to (several different versions of) Mendelssohn's Elijah again and again. The one with Fischer-Dieskau as Elijah has the best soloists and chorus. However, I prefer the one with Paul Daniel and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for the instrumental part. I also have Herreweghe's version. Its only problem IMO is that it's in German which I don't speak.


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## BlackAdderLXX (Apr 18, 2020)

I'll do repeat listening when I'm exploring new music. For example, I listened to Eroica for like a week, perhaps 40 different recordings of it to see what I liked the best. I've been also done it with Mahler symphonies for the same reason. Over on the weekly string quartet thread we'll frequently do it as well, listen to different recordings to learn a piece or appreciate different interpretations. 

I find that doing this has its own enjoyment for a while, then I do something else. Or listen to some Radiohead.


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