# What initially got you interested in classical music?



## Stargazer (Nov 9, 2011)

I had a fun question that I thought I would ask here. I am curious as to how everyone here initially became interested in classical music! Did your parents listen to it alot? Or perhaps you just happened to accidentally click a link to one of Beethoven's symphonies while trying to download a hot new Lady Gaga song. Feel free to share your stories here!

For me personally, around 10 years ago I used to "despise" classical music. I saw it as old fashioned and boring, and wanted nothing to do with it. Of course up until that point I hadn't really heard much of it at all, mostly just a few 'radio friendly' classical pieces like the opening of Beethoven's 5th. Once I got into college though I started to slowly become more interested in it. I was pretty stressed like many students, so I got on Napster (back when it was both legal and free!) and typed in "relaxing music". I ended up listening to some random hodgepodge of classical pieces like moonlight sonata and albioni's adagio and liked what I heard. So from there and for the next 2-3 years I was in what I believe I've seen some people on this site refer to as the "new age relaxing classical" phase (and no I'm not proud of it! lol). I didn't really know any composers by name, I'd just google "relaxing classical" and listen to whatever came up. 

What really got me super-interested in classical like I am today though was a boring job I had. We could listen to music at work, so that was what preserved my sanity there, it was mind-numbing lol. So, after I had listened to all the music I owned several times over, I decided to try giving a few composers a listen. So I started with Beethoven's piano sonatas, and basically listened to all of them over like 2 days at work. From then on out I've been hooked ever since! I did the same thing with several other composers while I was there. Youtube has also been an EXTREME help in allowing me access to classical music, without it I'd probably still be listening exclusively to the top 40 on the radio. Mostly just because there aren't many sources to hear this kind of music, and I'm not exactly going to go out and purchase CDs of things I've never heard before. I've far from heard everything out there so far, but I certainly like to think I've made some pretty good headway!


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I was never influenced by a person, as no family or friends listened to it - I developed an interest when I was a teenager and started taking piano lessons, as the required pieces for exams were largely classical. I thought, "Hey, this stuff is pretty ****ing cool!" and pestered my Mum to get me a Mozart CD. Then the obsession began.


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## pasido (Apr 2, 2012)

When I was 12 years old there was this program called Limewire and if you typed in Beethoven it would give you Ode to Joy. Ode to Joy was no doubt the most beautiful thing I've ever heard after 12 years of my life. I would wake up carrying my PSP (Play Station Portable) with crappy earbuds listening to Ode to Joy while brushing my teeth or eating breakfast. It was my obsession. I also desired more but I didn't know where to look or who to search. I didn't know any other composers other than Mozart (who I had a very vague idea about). Youtube wasn't that popular back then either, so I was kind of in a rut.

8th grade came, and music class brought a blessing. We watched films films of Dvorak and Debussy. We learned about J. Strauss's waltzes. We listened to Beethoven's 5th. While my classmates sat in drooling boredom, I was captivated. I was interested in what Debussy's Clair de Lune sounded like. I wanted to hear this symphony called the New World. With limewire, my classical horizon was expanded to include Clair de Lune, The 2nd movement of New World, and Ode to Joy. I listened to those three pieces endlessly for about a year when...

When I got my hands on a Top 100 classical compilation. My musical horizon skyrocketed. I was hearing some of the most beautiful music in the world by composers I've never heard of (Bach, Vivaldi, Brahms, Saint Saens, Schumann, Vaughan Williams, yes I was secluded). I remember hearing Greensleeves for the first time and my god did it bring tears to my eyes.

Anyway, that got the ball rolling. I searched for more Bach albums, more Beethoven albums, more Mozart albums. I remember hearing Beethoven's Appasionata for the first time ever. I remember my first Mahler. You know how it goes from there 

Semi-related: Spotify now has a "Classify" app that gives classical newbies a chance to discover great music. I'm so happy to see 16,000 people subscribe to the 50 Most Essential Classical Works playlist on Spotify.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I've been listening to classical music all my life. I think my mum used to listen to classical radio driving home from work before I was born and I seem to have picked it up and become obsessed with the stuff.


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## Newman (May 3, 2012)

I started listening to music at an early age, almost on my own! We used to play in the basement of a friend. Her brother had a record player set up down there, with all kinds of records. While we were down there playing, I used to play records and dance to the music. My favorite albums were by The Rolling Stones, but I was enchanted by the classical music, as well. Quite a huge difference, but I enjoyed both!


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Ah yes, Limewire! Sweet, illegal music. Helped me discover new music enormously.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Always liked it since I can even begin to remember hearing music.


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## Igneous01 (Jan 27, 2011)

lets have a moment of nostalgia for the days of limewire.... ah... those were the days... trying to download a game was nay impossible back then.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

Being exposed to Mozart by my 3rd grade teacher


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

As a boy, The Lone Ranger theme and attending symphonic concerts with my mother. 

Until my 30's, classical music intertwined other music. That's when exclusivity took hold, and serious collecting began.

Attractiveness is many things. Key words--structure, discipline, introspection, emotion.


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## tgtr0660 (Jan 29, 2010)

I always listened to classical music. My dad, an artist, always listens to classical music while he paints. As a child, I would be in his study drawing or doing some sort of little comics while I absorbed the masterpieces in my brain. I was around 5-6-7, not sure. I still remember a cassette that probably was what got me into this world of unparalleled music. It contained Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Haydn's Serenade, and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. 

Then I also still remember the first album that was bought by me (or for me I would say, I had no money when I was 12). I asked my mom to buy me Mozart's symphony 40, the starting theme of which I had fallen in love (thanks to a tv commercial of all things). She got me an LP with greatest hits of classical music that included the 40th's first movement. I told her thanks but that I actually wanted the entire work. Then she took me to the record store and we found an LP with the entire 40th. She also bought Vivaldi's Four Seasons that day. I was happy. 

My father loves classical music and he influenced me. My mom didn't know much about classical music but she always helped me get more music. So I owe it all to my parents.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

Im in it for the Fanny...


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

Badinerie said:


> Im in it for the Fanny...


We assume you're talking about Fanny Mendelssohn? 










I first got interested as a teenager. I was hugely into progressive rock from about age 14. Progressive rock has a lot of influence from classical and jazz music but it wasn't until I was 17 that I started listening to classical music seriously. I had music appreciation classes in elementary school and was introduced to the major composers but it had little impact. Anyway, when I was 17 the science fiction movie Zardoz with Sean Connery was released to theaters and my best friend and I skipped school to go see it. The main musical theme in the score was Beethoven's 2nd movement of the 7th symphony. At the end of the film I wanted to stay to find out who wrote the music and was shocked to find out it was Beethoven. I immediately went out and bought a copy of the 7th performed by Toscanini and the NBC symphony orchestra. That began my interest in classical but it would be about another ten years before I would really start collecting with serious interest. Now it's almost all I listen to anymore and I find much of the music of my youth no longer interesting but I suppose progressive rock bands like YES, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Jethro Tull planted the initial seeds that would develop my interest.

Kevin


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## sah (Feb 28, 2012)

A friend of mine recorded Beethoven's ninth in a tape for me. I had heard a kind of pop-rock version of the Ode to Joy, but then I discover Beethoven's original was much more powerful. So I thought classical music could more interesting that the pop-rock music I used to listen to.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Ah yes, Limewire! Sweet, illegal music. Helped me discover new music enormously.


Limewire is (was) literally _the worst_. Soulseek was (and still is) the king of the hill.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Hmm, initially? I was always interested in music, but in college, a lovely young flute player was a music major, so I took a music appreciation class to get something in common with her. Hearing the classics opened up a whole new world. Of course, she's long gone, but the music is still with me.


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## Romantic Geek (Dec 25, 2009)

I became interested in music performance one day at my grandmother's. My mom and dad were out on a mini vacation and I was left at her house for a few days. My mom was coming back on her birthday and I have no idea what possessed me...but I asked my grandmother if she'd teach me how to play Happy Birthday on her piano. 

Then piano lessons started. I didn't listen to a lot of classical music mostly because my parents didn't own too many classical CDs (they had some Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Vivaldi). I mostly learned classical music through my exposure on the piano. 

I really became more interested in "art music" when I graduated into high school and started playing more serious band works. At that point, I became interested in some of the easier classical works, such as Holst's Planets, etc. 

Once I got to college, however, there were two things that really got me into music. First, I started playing more interesting works. (What may seem contradictory to what some people read about my comments on Mendelssohn in another thread) it was the Lieder ohne Worte that really got me into listening to more serious works. Those piano pieces were the nice mixture of beautiful melodies, while introducing other elements characteristic of the "non-easy" classical music. I still love those pieces, but I recognize their potential more as a bridge into serious classical listening today.

Second, I started studying music theory when I got into college. Originally, I was a music education major. But the more I found out about the structure and underpinnings of classical music, the more intrigued I became. Symphonies that I didn't understand when I was younger (such as Brahms 3) now became incredibly clear in structure and sound. While I understand some people reject the benefits of learning music theory, I have benefited from it incredibly. That's why I continue to study it and will be heading to Indiana University for my doctorate degree in the fall.


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## Romantic Geek (Dec 25, 2009)

pasido said:


> Semi-related: Spotify now has a "Classify" app that gives classical newbies a chance to discover great music. I'm so happy to see 16,000 people subscribe to the 50 Most Essential Classical Works playlist on Spotify.


Who published this list? I can't find that one.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)




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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

I was 15. End of Evangelion soundtrack.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I was born into a musical family ... parents had performed with the Scandinavian Symphony (Detroit) for many years, and later, after moving west, the Long Beach Philharmonic under the baton of Lauris Jones. As kids, we attended all the orchestral rehearsals and performances. 

The household would awaken every morning to the aroma of brewed coffee and a classical FM radio station. Classical was the only music I knew until I got into my teens. Dad played the double b flat concert tuba, and Mom the violin. My sister later took up the viola, and I took up the piano. Frequent evenings at home we would all play music together for hours at a time. Great times for the family. 

Kh


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## Operadowney (Apr 4, 2012)

Krummhorn said:


> I was born into a musical family ... parents had performed with the Scandinavian Symphony (Detroit) for many years, and later, after moving west, the Long Beach Philharmonic under the baton of Lauris Jones. As kids, we attended all the orchestral rehearsals and performances.
> 
> The household would awaken every morning to the aroma of brewed coffee and a classical FM radio station. Classical was the only music I knew until I got into my teens. Dad played the double b flat concert tuba, and Mom the violin. My sister later took up the viola, and I took up the piano. Frequent evenings at home we would all play music together for hours at a time. Great times for the family.
> 
> Kh


This is awesome.


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## Operadowney (Apr 4, 2012)

I started playing and singing music when I was 4 as part of the Music for Young Children Program. Then I graduated to private lessons at 6. I remember my mother always played this tape of the Magic Flute starting from after Tamino encounters the snake until the end of the first act on my long ride in to my music lessons. That's what started me. I'm now a voice major entering my fourth year of undergraduate and never looking back!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

As strange as this must seem. The Harmonic Minor scale. I was sick of pentatonic as a guitar player. I wanted more interesting and haunting sounds. I was introduced to Vivaldi and Bach by my guitar teacher. That was a long time ago. I kind of lost interest for awhile. This time around, I decided to go deeper in Baroque and then every other era.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Two years ago I suddenly came up with the thought out of nowhere: _What if I should try listening to classical music?_ And I haven't looked back since.


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## Chrythes (Oct 13, 2011)

I guess my experience is in someway similar to Xaltotun's. I was always trying to find new music when I was growing up, and the peak came when I got bored of Progressive Rock. I had no idea what I was going to do next, since then that music seemed to me like the best of the best and for some reason I never managed to really get into Jazz.
But then I found some of my parent's classical music CDs and I realized that I discovered a new musical world. 
Since then I started playing the Classical Guitar as well, and for about a year I've been listening almost exclusively to CM.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

It was my parents' fault - they made me take piano lessons and gave me the previledge of playing with the audio set and LP collection. I eventually quit piano lessons but classical music stayed the rest of my life. I went through pop, rock, metal but I came back to classical music in the end..

I remember my father saying "you will eventually realize that classical music is music for a lifetime". Yes, you were right, dad.


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

Mine is incredibly embarrassing

My dad used to listen to some in the car, but he wasn't a huge fan... I was very taken with the Planets, but up until a couple of years ago I didn't have any interest. Being quite musical myself, and listening to music constantly, Classical music and heavy metal were the only 2 genres of music I had never been Able to get into. I remember the first time I heard Wagner in those times and thinking WTF (he's my favourite composer now)

But one evening, my friend and I were watching Popstar to Opera star on TV... Yes, a terrible programme but I was impressed by the performances of IMO limited singers in such a short space of time, but then I went onto YouTube to hear them how they should be sung no it opened a whole new world of opera to me. I started learning who all the important performers were and started picking up the important recordings. And from there got into classical as a whole

I think my problem was that there was such a huge universe of classical works out there, I just didn't know where to start. As bad as that show was (and I watched the second season out of morbid curiosity, and a now discerning ear and familiarity with the works being sung), it gave me that introduction I needed


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