# How many of your favourite pieces were ones you initially didn't like?



## fliege (Nov 7, 2017)

I'm curious how many of people's favourite pieces (or perhaps composers) were ones they initially didn't like or were indifferent to. Do you often make a conscious effort to listen to pieces you aren't keen on because you think there's something in them which you want to unlock? Or is all that too much an effort and you prefer sticking to material that captures you right away or that you know you will like (e.g. because it's the "right" period and genre). 

I find a lot of my favourite pieces are ones I was indifferent to at first and more or less by chance happened to hear two or three times before they grabbed me. It's rare that I like something a lot the first time I listen to it, however that's more likely to happen if I hear it live (probably because I'm more engaged).


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

More than I can remember - and it's tough to admit, too. Just a few of the things that at first listen I was totally turned off by, bored to tears with, but now are essential listening and works I love immensely.

1) Mahler Symphony 2
2) Elgar Symphonies 1 & 2
3) Sibelius Symphony 1
4) Puccini Tosca
5) Shostakovich Symphony 4
6) Verdi Requiem
7) Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition
8) Brahms Symphony 4

It took time for these wondrous works to get into my head. Repeated listening, live concerts, and more time. Sometimes, years. I avoided the Sibelius 1st (and most of the symphonies other than 2 & 5) for decades, then suddenly some 25 years ago it just clicked and now I can't imagine how I ever didn't like it. Sometimes performing a work in an orchestra suddenly opens my ears. Sometimes, maybe it's the recording that does the trick. There are some works I have never liked, and probably never will "get". Even some famous stuff: I really am bored with and have no interest in Mozart, Bach or Schubert. Interesting question.


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is a work that I didn't understand when I was younger. To be perfectly honest, the only works that I listened to by Stravinsky were The Firebird and Petrushka because they were written in a familiar language. However, my opinion changed after I heard the Argerich/Barenboim recording of the two piano transcription and then the Tilson Thomas / BSO recording of the orchestral score. Suddenly, everything seemed to snap into place and I've been digging up all of my Stravinsky recordings and listening to them.

Having said this, there are still many pieces that I cannot wrap my mind around. I've listened to the Bartok Second Violin Concerto numerous times including a recording that was made at the world premiere in 1938 and it just doesn't work. The same thing for the Sibelius symphonies, the Rachmaninoff symphonies, and various other works that are too numerous to name here.

And, yes, I do have a tendency to stick with the works that I am familiar with. I would say that this is natural and normal, but I'm always open to new musical experiences.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Not necessarily disliked, but not immediately comprehended or understood. It took time and repeated listenings to fully enjoy certain recordings. Then the greatest experience or thrill that one can have is getting goosebumps or the chill up the spine--and that will only happen once with a particular recording... I’ve never had it happen twice even while still enjoying the recording--It’s one of the special moments in all of music and it cannot be predicted. I find it hard to dislike something that I don’t understand in the first place because I don’t yet know what the composer had in mind.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I remember first hearing Beethoven's late quartets more years ago than I'm willing to state. My reaction: "I don't get the point."


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Larkenfield said:


> Not necessarily disliked, but not immediately comprehended or understood. It took time and repeated listenings to fully enjoy certain recordings. Then the greatest experience or thrill that one can have is getting goosebumps or the chill up the spine-and that will only happen once with a particular recording... I've never had it happen twice even while still enjoying the recording. It's one of the special moments in all of music and it cannot be predicted. I find it hard to dislike something that I don't understand in the first place because I don't yet know what the composer is trying to do.


My experience is somewhat different. There are a quite a number of pieces that give me chills whenever I play my preferred recordings of them--the Brahms 1st piano concerto and Sibelius' _Pohjola's Daughter_ come to mind immediately, but there are more. The Bartók 1st piano concerto did take a few listens to fully appreciate, but, in general, if I like something now, I liked it when I first heard it.


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## San Antone (Feb 15, 2018)

None. My favorite works were immediately attractive to me. Conversely although I have often tried to find a way to enjoy works that initially put me off, none have ever become a favorite or anything other than a struggle to listen to. 

The opposite is more common: a work I initially liked a lot loses its charm, sometimes becoming something I can't stand to hear. The music of Morton Feldman is in this category.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Basically all the music I feel especially attached to now, I was indifferent or felt negatively towards before. Berlioz Symphonie, Rite of Spring, Prokofiev and Bartok, Ravel. Mostly 20th Century music.

On other hand a lot of music that grabbed me before I now feel indifferent to. But Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky are mainstays.


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## Highwayman (Jul 16, 2018)

I`m not sure of the `dislike` thing but I was in total darkness about Brahms` symphonies after my first attempt to listen them. But I somehow convinced myself into giving it another shot(as if I was aware of that something precious was buried deep down there)... After listening to them repeatedly and experiencing a series of epiphanies, I found myself extremely fond of these works and they eventually became favorites of mine...

I have a rather subjective explanation for my situation:

When exposed to a new material, brain evaluates it with two different kinds of information; 
1-information coming from experiences (_a posteriori_)
2-information coded into genes ((_a priori_)my take on _a priori_ is a little different from the ancient philosophers`)

If the _a posteriori_ infos are insufficient while evaluating, _a priori_ infos are included into the process. In my case, after my _a posteriori _ infos fail to understand and rationalize Brahms, my _a priori_ infos intervene and command me to listen more Brahms (even though I don`t get it) because Brahms matches the esthetical values coded in my genes but since it is not a rationalized info, my brain does not put Brahms symphonies into the `likes` drawer immediately. But then a confused Highwayman who is commanded by his brain to listen Brahms symphonies again, starts gathering some _a posteriori_ infos every time he listens to them. As time goes by, a bulk of _a posteriori_ infos gets combined with the same _a priori_ infos which makes Highwayman fully appreciate Brahms` symphonies...


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

There were genres I disliked (and I wasn't shy about saying so) that I now can't get enough of - Chamber music, Lieder and Bach cantatas are probably the most embarrassing examples. 

It's encouraging that our ears get sharper and more discriminating with experience. There is so much music still to explore. Happily, enough to last me out.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I hope that someday I can sink a hook into Bach cantatas and find out for myself why they're so well-loved and treasured. For now, and the past 63 years, it has totally eluded me. But there must be something there and it's my fault. On the other hand, being the compulsive, obsessive collector that I am, I know I'd start buying each and every work the man wrote....I don't have the shelf space or time for all of it!


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Not so much disliked as didn't yet "get." Beethoven's Opus 111 sonata was one such; the Goldbergs another.

I try to make a point periodically to revisit works that I don't seem to like, but people whose opinions I respect think highly of. Sometimes that works.


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## pianoville (Jul 19, 2018)

For me it is the last movement of Mahler's 6th symphony. The first time I listened to this symphony I really liked the first 3 movements but for some reason the last movement bored me to death. I can't understand why since it is one of my favorite pieces today. I never liked Scriabin's late music either, but that's probably because I didn't "get" it. Nowadays I just can't get enough of his late sonatas!


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## les24preludes (May 1, 2018)

- Parsifal
- Le Marteau Sans Maitre
- Debussy Pelleas


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

I've posted this before, but for me it was the music of Max Reger. I was guilty of preconceptions based on the more negative opinions of his work and for years I never gave him a proper chance. All that has changed now, I'm happy to say - something deep inside urged me to give Reger's music another go and it really was a case of the scales falling from my eyes.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I was fairly lukewarm about Brahms for quite a while in my early days but love him now. Other than that there has been music that I know is not reaching me but I've tended to think that was me rather than the music. Over time some of this music opened up for me (especially the more contemporary stuff) while I am still waiting on some (notably some Debussy, most Szymanowski and most pre-Baroque music). I also find myself not liking Gorecki at all but I think on this one that I am right (for me) - and that I will never like it.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

elgars ghost said:


> I've posted this before, but for me it was the music of Max Reger. I was guilty of preconceptions based on the more negative opinions of his work and for years I never gave him a proper chance. All that has changed now, I'm happy to say - something deep inside urged me to give Reger's music another go and it really was a case of the scales falling from my eyes.


I sure wish you could do something about the scales on the eyes of conductors and a lot of audience members! There's a lot of great music by Reger that would be so nice to hear rather than the constant replaying of the same old warhorses. Maybe THE master of theme and variations, and all we get it Brahms and Elgar...


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## derin684 (Feb 14, 2018)

Almost all of 20th century music, I don't know how I managed to dislike them .


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I can't think of an actual _favorite_ that I truly disliked on first hearing. In every case there was something that attracted me right away even if I didn't fully understand what I was hearing, and even though subsequent hearings brought deeper appreciation. The Sibelius 4th Symphony comes to mind: a strange but extraordinary work which I now love. Certainly there's plenty of music I didn't care for at first but enjoy to some extent now. There's also plenty of music I used to love but like less as time passes. Getting old and jaded, no doubt.


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## Minor Sixthist (Apr 21, 2017)

Shostakovich 5. Preparing that wonderful monster with some exceptional colleagues every morning for two weeks really changed my perspective. I can't wait to go back


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## Armanvd (Jan 17, 2017)

Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (I Love Them Now.)
So The First Thing I Listened From Bach Was WTC And Didn't Like Them, Then I Listened To His Brandenburg Concertos,Cello Suites,Sonatas And Partitas for Violin ,etc. Then Came Back To WTC And It Was Great.


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## GrotesqueFugue (May 18, 2018)

KenOC said:


> I remember first hearing Beethoven's late quartets more years ago than I'm willing to state. My reaction: "I don't get the point."


I had a very similar experience with these. And now I'd count Op. 130, 131 and 132 amongst my enduring absolute favourite works, with the Große Fuge the closest I could get to a single nominated favourite piece of music. Took a little while to get there though


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

mbhaub said:


> _I sure wish you could do something about the scales on the eyes of conductors_ and a lot of audience members! There's a lot of great music by Reger that would be so nice to hear rather than the constant replaying of the same old warhorses. Maybe THE master of theme and variations, and all we get it Brahms and Elgar...


Yes, well...perhaps many conductors of the modern era haven't heard much by him themselves. Reger produced about eight hours worth of orchestral music yet the only pieces likely to be heard are the Hiller or Mozart variations, and that's if you're lucky...


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## Rambler (Oct 20, 2017)

Mahler's Ninth symphony. In my youth, not having any experience of Mahler, I bought a recording of Mahler's 6th symphony and was bowled over by it. I immediately went out and purchased his ninth and was baffled by it. However I persevered and in a relatively short period it became one of my favourite symphonies.

The Berg violin concerto was my first experience of the Second Viennese school, and similarly initially baffled me, to become - once I got my ear into it - a great favourite.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Not the fact that I dislike them, they are more challenging than others. I listen to them over and over, eventually they stick in my mind and find they are not so bad after all.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Rambler said:


> The Berg violin concerto was my first experience of the Second Viennese school, and similarly initially baffled me, to become - once I got my ear into it - a great favourite.


I struggled with the Berg for several years. I even went to hear it live, and it still didn't click. Then something happened, and I had your same experience.

I hated Beethoven's Missa Solemnis the first five times I heard it, then on the sixth hearing it fell into place. Now it's at the top of my list.

Others have mentioned Brahms. His music doesn't grab me initially, but he puts little earworms in his motifs, and they burrow into my head until I get drawn to them.


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## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

Never happened to me. I never saw the point of ‘trying’ things I didn’t initially like when there’s so much music I love. It just becomes like a school subject to study, why bother?


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

The Berg violin concerto, already mentioned, and Bartók's 1st piano concerto are great favourites of mine now, but initially I felt very hostile towards the music, not understanding anything at all.


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## Hugo9000 (Aug 6, 2018)

I loved all of my _favorites_ from the first exposure. I was initially unmoved by a few compositions that I now enjoy greatly, however, like Richard Strauss' An Alpine Symphony, and some of the tone poems of Liszt and Sibelius.


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## cherylhorne (May 31, 2019)

Sibelius 6 and 7 never really clicked with me because of their uniqueness but now, without a doubt, Sib 6 is a personal favourite and 7 too holds a place in my heart. Took a while to understand the utter brilliance.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

cherylhorne said:


> Sibelius 6 and 7 never really clicked with me because of their uniqueness but now, without a doubt, Sib 6 is a personal favourite and 7 too holds a place in my heart. Took a while to understand the utter brilliance.


Same with me. I think it's the unique sound world Sibelius brings to the table that can take time to 'understand' (not that folk who don't like such pieces are somehow missing something).


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Scriabin's _Poem of Ecstasy_ is a work that initial left me cold but has now clicked. It's very much in the Debussy sound world:






Scriabin sometimes referred to it as his fourth symphony.


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## Schoenberg (Oct 15, 2018)

As much as myself and others (at least some people that I know) hate to admit, we didn't understand Bach, and didn't like his music as we thought it was "boring" or "emotionless." But now that we are enlightened, we are no longer committing this sin!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Almost all my favourite pieces and composers were favourites from the start.

The one exception would be Stravinsky's Sacre. I bought that early on (within a year after starting to listen to classical in the mid 1980s), not really knowing what to expect. Having listened exclusively to music from the baroque, classical and romantic eras, this was a shock. But I kept trying until it clicked. And it was my gateway to 20th century classical in general in the following decades.


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## janxharris (May 24, 2010)

Schoenberg said:


> As much as myself and others (at least some people that I know) hate to admit, we didn't understand Bach, and didn't like his music as we thought it was "boring" or "emotionless." But now that we are enlightened, we are no longer committing this sin!


I am at ease stating that I don't get (most) of Bach.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

When I first began seriously exploring classical music, I was instantly attracted to "important" works--LvB's late quartets, Bach's most complex keyboard music, Stravinsky, etc.--and could be irritated by compositions, like Vivaldi's or Tchaikovsky's, that seemed light or "merely" attractive. That bias has mostly disappeared and in many cases has reversed.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Sibelius symphonies took me years to appreciate but now I have tons of recordings. I didn't dislike them on first hearing, I just thought "what's all the fuss about?". Beethoven's late quartets were similar for me, after years of Symphony cycle obsession. However, I now love them too. Sometimes if the recording you first tried didn't resonate it could put you off hearing the same work again by other artists. Felt like that about Mahler 3 until fairly recently, when I discovered Haitink's Mahlerfeest account.


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

You know, a few epiphanies here and there had me convinced that I would eventually learn to like a lot of things that, after 5+ years (I know that's not necessarily a long time), I just haven't. Most things I came to like I had some affinity for initially, and the real barrier was just the density or complexity of it. For instance The Art of Fugue or Richard Wagner's operas took some persistence and bored me a little, but my motivation to continue was an inherent attraction to the sound. I find that if that inherent attraction isn't there, something I've learned over the years to detect better, no amount of persistence or serious listening will help. I thought I'd come to love all of the Well Tempered Clavier, for example, but I still only like the ones I sort of liked initially, and that pattern persists through the entire canon for me.


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