# Music to Work to?



## EricIsAPolarBear (Aug 18, 2007)

I was curious if any of you find some classical music good to read or work to? 
I am a university student and have to do a lot of reading. I am used to working in silence but lately have found working to music prolongs my study time. I especially find Bach's _Brandenburg Concertos_ and Debussy and Satie's piano music to be conducive to studying. Something about Bach makes me better motivated and I actually _feel_ like a student. What are your thoughts?


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## Oneiros (Aug 28, 2006)

lol. I find it hard to study while listening to music - it's too distracting. I usually listen to Bach on the bus going to and from uni though, which seems to work much better than Romantic music, for that environment.

As for your question, maybe some Vivaldi concertos, or Mozart, or anything else not written for the concert hall. A lot of music written before Beethoven was not intended to be heard with undivided attention, so I think this kind of music would be more successful as "background music" for studying to.


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## Keemun (Mar 2, 2007)

I always work with music playing from my computer. When I was in school, I would always listen to music while studying. I don't find specific composers more or less conducive to work. What I listen to really just depends on my mood.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

I try to absorb a variety of music when listening at work. However, when I need a burst of speed, I break open 1) Paganini 24 Caprices, and/or 2) Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

EricIsAPolarBear said:


> I especially find Bach's *Brandenburg Concertos* and Debussy and Satie's piano music to be conducive to studying.





> Paganini 24 Caprices, and/or Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3


OMG!. I can't possibly study with them. Orchestral Bach is too disruptive, Paganini is squizo and Rachmaninov... when there's Rachmaninov in the ambient I have to listen in detail to the performance.

But studying is not the same as working. I can work to Kilar's piano concerto, or even the Hellikopter quartet...
If you like Bach you may find the guitar transcriptions of the solo violin works as being good _musique d'ameublement_.

The problem is the more you know about music (and repertoire) it's easier to get distracted. I suggest large scale symphonic works like those of Bruckner, Mahler, Pettersson (symphonies in general); Toru Takemitsu (_From me flows what you call time_), Arvo Párt (random pick up).


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## Nonny (Sep 10, 2007)

Try some Beethoven. Manchester Camerata have just put the first movement of the 4th Symphony as a free download on the homepage of their website - www.manchestercamerata.com. Good opportunity to try it out?


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## Elessar (Sep 14, 2007)

Hello. To study, read and work, I have a special playlist which I think is very relaxing and smoothing. It has these songs:
-Canon, by Pachelbel
-Overture No.3 in D major, "Air", by Bach
-Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, by Mozart
-Serenade for Winds, K. 361, Third Movement, by Mozart
-Horn Concerto in E flat, Rondo (Allegro Vivace) K. 495, by Mozart
-Kommst du nun, Jesu vom Himmel herunter, Chorale, by Bach
-Prelude in C major, by Bach
-Marble Halls, by Enya
-Bolero, by Ravel
-Romance from Piano Concerto No. 20, by Mozart
-Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana, by Mascagni
-Divertimento, K. 344, Menuetto, by Mozart
-Powaqqatsi, Main Theme, by Philip Glass

I hope it works out for you if you get some of those songs.


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Elessar said:


> -Bolero, by Ravel


Doesn't your study get disturbed with you attending to the orchestration of this?


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Elissar said:


> Bolero, by Ravel





Manuel said:


> Doesn't your study get disturbed with you attending to the orchestration of this?


A little more than a quarter of a century ago, people my age were introduced to the concept that there are better things to do with _Bolero_ than study to it


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## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> A little more than a quarter of a century ago, people my age were introduced to the concept that there are better things to do with _Bolero_ than study to it


Yes. For me Bolero is, in this subject, like Peter Maxwell Davies' *The Fire of London*. There something better than studying to it and is... _not studying to it_.

I prefer long scale works, or those modern SQ Arditti plays, all of them sounding the same.


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