# Do you have any friends in real life who is just as crazy about CM as you?



## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

Small clarification: they don't have to be _just_ as crazy about it as you. Some of you set a high standard in that regard.

Sometimes I feel isolated knowing that I will never be able to share my enjoyment of Mendelssohn, Mozart, etc. with somebody who enjoys it just as much as I do. In fact I would considerate it a small miracle if I can even say the name Mendelssohn without getting a puzzled look.

So I wonder if any of you have managed to find friends--or even a spouse--who is also entrenched in this small world. Where did you meet them? How often do you talk about classical music?


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I have a friend and a wife who will attend a concert with me (my wife is attending a complete Beethoven cycle with me this year). My kids enjoy various classical pieces and we take them to children's concerts at the CSO and in Millennium Park during the summer. My sister is listening to my collection in her office.

But _as _crazy? Nope. I don't really _discuss_ classical with anyone in person.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

None of my family or friends are into it at all, but I'm OK with that as I knew from the onset that this was going to be a journey which I was destined to make largely alone. I enjoy this forum though, and it gives me all the interaction I want even if it's only of the cyber variety.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I sure do.

A good friend is a conservatory grad and a top LA studio musician.

We are also both fans of mid 20th century and contemporary classical, although I like a bit more tonal music than he does. 

We have many listening sessions where we play music that each of us is unfamiliar with.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

All my friends listen to at least _some _classical music. But I can not really discuss it with them.

Over a couple of years I managed to get my best friend from not knowing even the Overture 1812 to discussing Anton Bruckner, Furtwaengler's Beethoven recordings, and some basic musical terminology. He is probably aware of about two dozen composers now. But we generally learn from each other and passively aquire some traits and knowledge, so that's an exception.

I am completely fine with discussing music just on boards like this, and to people irl just being a wizard who always has a pen in a front pocket to wave a beat while walking the streets.


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## Hermastersvoice (Oct 15, 2018)

My wife would go to concerts and also has a very good ear, however I am the only one obsessed, no, possessed is a better word. That’s okay though, she let’s me ramble on and appears to listen.


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## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

I'm friends with a few composers, whose tastes err more towards the avant-garde than mine, but they are all fairly literate about music of the past as well. I don't personally know anyone who spends as much time listening or reading about CM as I do, if you set aside consumption for professional reasons and look only at recreational activity (I'm a musicologist).


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I had one for a while, but he moved to Kentucky and now only listens to gospel music.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My brother also loves classical music, but he lives on a different continent. I did persuade him to join TC; he stayed for a very short time and moved on.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I know people who make a living from it, singing, writing journalism and books, a voice teacher, and composing, a répétiteur, a set designer for opera. And I have a friend who supports artists, who comes from a family which have always done that, putting them up when they give concerts, that sort of thing, some of them are now quite established. The composer is particularly inspiring, he really loves music, I mean you can see it on his face and in his body language when he listens, and the music he loves is contemporary and challenging. The rest are a bit blasé about it all, to tell the truth.

Apart from that, I have a friend who likes opera, and we used to go very often to Covent Garden and to Glyndebourn together. Over the past few years I’ve lost interest in opera so . . . not for a while.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

One. A professional player who is as obsessed with collecting recordings as I am. But he goes further and also collects scores like a madman. Unlike me, he kept all of his LPs. He has a modest 2500 sq ft house - the entire garage, plus two bedrooms filled with the collection. More scores line both sides of the hallway. Caused a divorce, to be honest. His kids want nothing to do with any of it. 

I am also very interested in attending live performances, travelling anywhere to hear certain concerts. He doesn't do that. Nor does anyone else I know. I have many musician friends and it always puzzles and saddens me how little interest they have in listening to anything outside the standard repertoire. They've never read a biography about a composer, conductor, or performer. In fact, several professional conductors (one really well-known) I am friends with have learned more about off-the-beaten-path music from me than any other source. I've given up on local classical FM radio hosts - they're morons with no interest in anything new.

So yes, in many ways being a classical devotee can be a lonely existence. That's why I really enjoy going to festivals where the attendees are by and large classical fans. And it's why I miss Tower Records terribly - the guys (they were always men) who ran the classical area were also devoted fans. The wife is not a fan, neither are the kids. Their loss.


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## level82rat (Jun 20, 2019)

mbhaub said:


> One. A professional player who is as obsessed with collecting recordings as I am. But he goes further and also collects scores like a madman. Unlike me, he kept all of his LPs. He has a modest 2500 sq ft house - the entire garage, plus two bedrooms filled with the collection. More scores line both sides of the hallway. Caused a divorce, to be honest. His kids want nothing to do with any of it.


That is next-level. Does he listen to any of the records or just collect them for collection's sake?


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I have a friend who is really into classical music. He's not into 20th century music as me but he introduced me to a lot of beautiful music. Monteverdi, Dowland, Perotin. And I feel lucky to know someone like him.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

As crazy as myself no, but my mother likes it... Sometimes I feel a bit frustrating to not have anyone around that cares this much about CM as I do, and to find such people was one of my main reasons for having joined this forum.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

level82rat said:


> Small clarification: they don't have to be _just_ as crazy about it as you. Some of you set a high standard in that regard.
> 
> Sometimes I feel isolated knowing that I will never be able to share my enjoyment of Mendelssohn, Mozart, etc. with somebody who enjoys it just as much as I do. In fact I would considerate it a small miracle if I can even say the name Mendelssohn without getting a puzzled look.
> 
> So I wonder if any of you have managed to find friends--or even a spouse--who is also entrenched in this small world. Where did you meet them? How often do you talk about classical music?


How can you be isolated, with such good music, rather that then people pretending.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Neither my family nor my friends, unfortunately. My wife tolerates it mostly, but loves some of Bach.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

On this subject, maybe this is something one of you will know the answer to. I remember seeing the last half of an British movie on TV - it was in b/w, probably made in the '60s. One of the characters was a huge classical music fan, while everyone else seemed bent on pop/rock of the era. He eventually lost his girlfriend to a more hip, with-it guy. The end showed him playing a classical record, then he grabs the tone arm and wipes it across the record, scratching it to pieces. The message was clear: he hated that classical music had isolated him from the rest of the world. Any body ever see this? It's been a good 40 years since I caught it, but that closing scene has stuck with me and haunted me all this time.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm fortunate in this respect. My wife was a professional violinist and now plays in chamber groups for fun. Her brother was a professional pianist (mostly accompanied classical singers) and now plays occasional recitals. My daughter is a professional cellist mostly teaching but also giging with various ensembles. When they get together, they will often play trios. The brother lives in Europe so that tends to be rare now. 

I knew very little classical music before starting to live with my wife. I went to her orchestra performances and gradually developed a love for the music.


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2019)

level82rat said:


> So I wonder if any of you have managed to find friends--or even a spouse--who is also entrenched in this small world. Where did you meet them? How often do you talk about classical music?


Only my older brother, who I meet with once in a while. He loves Stravinsky best. My spouse will come with me to concerts - though we only manage one or two a year - but she's not a fan in the same way I am.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

My parents, when they were alive, were and my brother is a musician. My wife has taken an interest and listens a lot to Mozart and Beethoven and a few others. My daughter (now in her 20s) is beginning to take an interest. But I have no friends who are crazy about classical music. I'm not sure I need any but do enjoy participating here sometimes.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I have no one I can share my love of Orchestral music with as no-one I know has the slightest interest in it (Mrs M doesn't dislike it but is not interested). Most of my mates are ageing rockers and metalheads However, I have added a few people from this site to my FB 'friends' so I can talk to them easily through my phone / tablet, etc. I particularly enjoy talking to one regular TC member on FB about the music we love. I'm always happy to add people to my social media and get past the impersonal element of online personas. If you ever want to know/see the person behind the archer / cider avatar then I'm only a PM on here away. Those who hate social media, I speak to in PMs on here, as regularly as I can. At the moment I'm one day away from finishing an Ofsted inspection at my school so I'll have more time for people in the near future. School inspections are very intensive. I'm certainly not someone who puts their life on social media and use it more to keep in touch with people quickly (my parents, for example, live on the other side of the planet). People who knock FB should consider it, as it's perfect for getting to know people better (and you can also delete those who get on your nerves) . Everyone is a friend until they prove otherwise.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

My co-worker who had BS and MS in music and plays piano quite well. He loves to talk CM.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Talking to the lead inspector for Ofsted today, he told me he "loved" classical music. Interested, I delved further saying that about 3/4 of my music collection was orchestral. I asked him for his favourite symphonic piece. "Pachelbel's Canon", he replied. Okay, I thought, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. "I'm a bit obsessive about Beethoven symphony cycles", I responded. "Do you like Beethoven's symphonies?" I responded. "I don't think I've heard them all", he continued. "How many did he write? Was it 5?" At that point I went back to my class. Lol


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2019)

Merl said:


> Talking to the lead inspector for Ofsted today, he told me he "loved" classical music. Interested, I delved further saying that about 3/4 of my music collection was orchestral. I asked him for his favourite symphonic piece. "Pachelbel's Canon", he replied. Okay, I thought, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. "I'm a bit obsessive about Beethoven symphony cycles", I responded. "Do you like Beethoven's symphonies?" I responded. "I don't think I've heard them all", he continued. "How many did he write? Was it 5?" At that point I went back to my class. Lol


Trying to schmooze with the inspectors? Risky business! 

(BTW, I didn't think Ofsted operated in Scotland?)


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Not many of my friends are as passionate as I am, (even husband although he has started to appreciate it a bit more)that's why I have turned to "Talk Classical" and found Twitter friends who are passionate!!


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2019)

I have an obsessive interest, hypothetically, although I have almost no time to listen these days. I share it with my Brother, who's situation is roughly similar. We don't have enough bandwidth to really engage in the obsession.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

MacLeod said:


> Trying to schmooze with the inspectors? Risky business!
> 
> (BTW, I didn't think Ofsted operated in Scotland?)


Officially its not Ofsted its HMI but i still call em Ofsted. Force of habit from being an Englishman.


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

level82rat said:


> Small clarification: they don't have to be _just_ as crazy about it as you. Some of you set a high standard in that regard.
> 
> Sometimes I feel isolated knowing that I will never be able to share my enjoyment of Mendelssohn, Mozart, etc. with somebody who enjoys it just as much as I do. In fact I would considerate it a small miracle if I can even say the name Mendelssohn without getting a puzzled look.
> 
> So I wonder if any of you have managed to find friends--or even a spouse--who is also entrenched in this small world. Where did you meet them? How often do you talk about classical music?


100% the same. Hence the value of TC for me. Im just thankful that CM does seems to be alive and kicking in terms of live performances of orchestral and chamber music. At least here is SE England.


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

Merl said:


> Talking to the lead inspector for Ofsted today, he told me he "loved" classical music. Interested, I delved further saying that about 3/4 of my music collection was orchestral. I asked him for his favourite symphonic piece. "Pachelbel's Canon", he replied. Okay, I thought, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. "I'm a bit obsessive about Beethoven symphony cycles", I responded. "Do you like Beethoven's symphonies?" I responded. "I don't think I've heard them all", he continued. "How many did he write? Was it 5?" At that point I went back to my class. Lol


Yes been there before  I imagine he thought you had some bizarre hobby that involved listing to Beethoven symphonies on bike rides.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

I know you people's secret. You're either AI or robots. You're not real. I'm the only person in the world who listens to classical music... :lol:

Seriously, in my university days I met a few who were into classical music. I still remember the juvenile delinquent style of heated debates over Barbirolli vs Karajan in Mahler 6, and there was this really, really strange guy who made me "borrow" his set of Martinů LPs, a composer I had never heard of........ I blame him for making me this weird guy who preaches Martinů.

Nowadays, no one around me in real life really listens to classical music. My brother plays Chopin and Peter and the Wolf in his car (apparently for the kids), and he even specifically went to look for a version of Peter and the Wolf that has got no narration (apparently he only wants the music), but he doesn't really listen to classical music. I have also got several audiophile friends who, like most audiophiles, claim they listen to classical music, in fact ALL kinds of music from pop to recordings of ferry engines, but like most audiophiles, they don't have a clue what composers/performers they are listening to, they just enjoy the sound waves produced by their gear. I find that sad.


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## Radames (Feb 27, 2013)

No - not even my cat.


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