# New Music



## squidgy (Jul 28, 2007)

Hello everyone

I have enjoyed listening to classical music for a years but only the most popular classic, you know the ones from the compilation albums etc. Over the last few months I have started deving deeper into the classical music world and I must say I find it quite daunting and frightening at the sheer volume of works to choose from and listen to. 

I do like Symphonies (my favourite being Beethoven's 7th for the 4th Movt) and I would be grateful for any pointers from those with a greater knowledge as to other music, not necessarily symphonies but I do like the fast energetically paced music more than the slower pieces.

Anyway thanks in advance for all suggestions.

Steve


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## 3rdplanetsounds (Nov 23, 2006)

Try Dvorak's symphonies 8 and 9.And Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.I know how you feel,It took me years to get to know just the well known works.What helped me was to read up on the history and evolution of music,then you start to see how music changed through time and therefore identify how each composer will sound like,by listening to CDs in relation to them.By saying you like the last movement of Beethovens 7th then you probably like Shuberts 9th symphony as it's in the same overall time period(early Romantic compositions)...Beethoven....Berlioz....Shubert.....Mendelssohn (1800s ...1850s).


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## Frasier (Mar 10, 2007)

I reckon you should tune in to Radio 3. Most evenings have concerts with a wide variety of music. There's "Composer of the Week" at noon, repeated at 8.45pm. There's a specialist Contemporary Music programme "Hear and Now" at 10.30pm on Saturday nights; plus the weekday afternoon concerts that play from around 2pm - 5pm. 

The Radio Times is hardly worth the price (£1) just for the music programmes because they're given on the internet but if you get a TV magazine, the Radio Times has Radio 3 in full detail.

The worst that can happen is you don't like something so you turn it off! 

The other good of Radio 3 is that the pieces/programmes are always introduced so you get to hear a bit about the composer and his/her era; why the piece was written, etc. On Hear and Now, the composers are sometimes interviewed.

Good luck.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

squidgy said:


> Hello everyone


and from my land to the land of (some of) my forebears [i.e.: Yorkshire]... hello to you. 


squidgy said:


> I do like Symphonies (my favourite being Beethoven's 7th for the 4th Movt)


My favorite is Beethoven's 7th, for _all_ the movements (hope they grow on you). At any rate, maybe we can find common-ground on taste. I definitely second the recommendation of Dvořák's 9th symphony (I'm confident you'll enjoy three of the four movements). Furthermore, please give Beethoven's 9th a try... you'll like how it ends.

Now, for some unconventional suggestions for energetic music, have a go with: 
Hérold's Zampa overture.
Suppé's Boccaccio overture.
Paganini's _Caprices_... and
Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #3. Happy listening. CTP


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## squidgy (Jul 28, 2007)

Hi CTP

Sorry I should have made myself clearer. I do like all of the movt's of Beethoven's 7th Symphony but it was the 4th that I heard one afternoon in the car that grabbed me by the scruff of the neck. I thought it was amazing. Went straight to a shop a bought it on CD and listened to it over and over again. I did listen to the other Movt's and I do think the 1st Movt is beautiful but it was the 4th that movt that made me go and look beyond the compilation CD's I had.

Thanks for your suggestions, I will go hunting!!
Steve


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## Harold75 (May 7, 2008)

I personally think that Beethoven's 7th is a bit over the top. It just sounds like he was a little boozed up when he wrote it. If you're new to classical music, I would recommend listening to Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" and anything my Shostakovich (for Shostakovich, try String Quartet No. 8). These will help you get a good feel for twentieth century classical music (a lot of the earlier stuff just sounds the same).


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## Yagan Kiely (Feb 6, 2008)

John Cage: Prepared piano pieces, 4:33
Edgard Varese: Poem Electronique, Deserts
Alvin Lucier: I am sitting in a room, Nothing is Real
Gavin Bryars: Jesus' blood never failed me yet

Nothing gets you liking classical music more than the 20th century... 



> These will help you get a good feel for twentieth century classical music (a lot of the earlier stuff just sounds the same).


LOL. You really think giving people complex difficult music is helpful? Just because you like it doesn't mean a newb will. For the same reason I wouldn't suggest even Strauss and Wagner. No new person to classical music has an adequate education to appreciate around 90% of 20C music. And let me get you straight, you think that Romantic, Classical and Baroque all sounds the same? Seriously stay away from new people so as your false statements don't impeed on there education. Maybe you should listen to more because you clearly don't understand the music. Ignore this if you don't mean that "a lot of the earlier (Baroque, Classical, Romantic) stuff just sounds the same".

Hell, how many electronic pieces sound different??


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## Harold75 (May 7, 2008)

> (a lot of the earlier stuff just sounds the same)


I never said the same can't be said for 20th century music, and I never said that ALL the earlier stuff sounded the same.  Really, I can define "a lot" to be any amount I wish, so I'm technically not wrong. 

Okay, so if you really are new to classical music, I would highly recommend listening to Beethoven. His symphonies are, of course, among the most prized of all musical compositions, especially symphonies 3, 5, 6, and 9. He also has pretty good overtures and string quartets. He was also an enormous inspiration to subsequent composers, so he's a good place to start. You should also avoid the trap of starting with Baroque music and working your way forward in time because Baroque music is largely pedantic and repetitive: start with Beethoven.


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## SamGuss (Apr 14, 2008)

Welcome to the forum! You will undoudtedly find a lot of leads to follow, not just in this thread but others as well to help you identify music you will like, performed by whom you may like and so on.

I will put in for thirds on recommending Dvorak symphony No. 9. Karajan has one out on EMI Classics that includes both 8th and 9th symphonies, and Harnoncourt has one out Teldac and includes a piece called The Water Goblin. Both are great recordings and are full of high energy that I think will appeal to you.

Sam


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## shsherm (Jan 24, 2008)

As far as Gustav Mahler begin at the beginning, the 1st Symphony. Ma Vlast by Smetana is quite enjoyable. I agree about listening to the radio to hear a large assortment of music. If you have a decent computer you can stream audio of classical stations from all over the world and many in the US are 24 hour stations. I heard a great deal of music I now love for the first time on the radio.


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