# Do you remember when you heard for the 1st time most well known pieces...



## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

... such as Mozart's 40th symphony, or Beethoven's Fifth or O Fortuna from "Carmina Burana"

More precisely: Do you remember such time when these pieces were unknown to you?

The first time you listened to it "properly", were you even then familiar with most famous parts or they were completely new to you?

Do you remember first time hearing these iconic parts? How old were you? 2,3,4?

Perhaps when you first payed conscious attention to them, you had already heard them dozens of times before on commercials, etc... just without paying attention...

But perhaps someone of you remembers first time actually hearing it? Were you impressed? Fascinated? Blown away? Perhaps just curious?


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Wow. What a topic. Could write a long book on this. I do remember, vaguely, when things were new. The sense of discovery was thrilling. The sense of awe and wonder some music can evoke...what a time of life that was. Sure, at some time everything was unknown to me. Then slowly over time it all became familiar - almost over so in some cases.

But I can share my earliest experiences, probably age 5. A neighbor was getting rid of some LPs and wanted to know if our family wanted them. They were all classical, although at the time I didn't know what that meant. Among them was a sampler record that RCA used to put out. It had some 20 tracks of excerpts from various new records. One in particular - it was the last part of the finale of the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. Started with those ominous bells. I played that track over and over - just loved it! Then some 6 years later I bought a recording of the complete work. Ahh! That's how that early track fit in! Loved the whole thing. Still do.

What's interesting, too, is that there are some works that I know well, but I don't ever remember actually NOT knowing them. There are some works that I heard early on that didn't register until many, many years later. There are some things that I listened to that didn't impress me at all - Tchaikovsky's 4th was one. And then there were some that hooked me instantly - the Mahler 7th at age 13.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I remember getting my first Beethoven cycle (Karajan 63) secondhand on vinyl. I was heavily into Black Sabbath and other metal bands at the time but I sat and played the 9th symphony (which was famous but I'd never listened thru it). I was sat in my mam and dad's house playing the 9th, on vinyl, on their radiogram (remember those?) and the first movement began. It bowled me over. It was so huge, so grand. I played the first movement another two times after that. It made a huge impact. By the time the 2nd movement started I was hooked.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Sure I do, and I was not 2, 3 or 4 at the time, but 21.

I remember hearing Siegfried's funeral music from Wagner's _Götterdämmerung_ for the first time. It felt like a blow from the hammer of Thor that came down to crush the thickness of my skull and make my brain receptive for real music.

After that came everything else: first Wagner in his entirety, and then Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Chopin etc. And each of them was a new wonder.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Considering I'm so relatively new to classical, I have many such revelatory moments However, it was very rare that I loved a work from the very first listen- it took many tries to crack Bach and Brahms, today my two favorite composers. One of my favorite "first listen" memories, though, is Beethoven's 9th, which really hit me in the feels from the get-go. And my recent first experience of Wagner's Ring was very memorable as well. Sometimes I wish I could rexperience the joy of discovering my favorite music for the first time, but then I listen to a new interpretation and I get a very similar sensation. I can point out the very first classical piece I ever heard in full- Pachelbel's Canon in D. I was very young, but I can remember that I had never heard any music remotely as beautiful. That and Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca arguably kickstarted my passion (I spent years building up my piano skills just so I could play them), but it wasn't until several years later that I got into Chopin and was blown away by the depth and beauty of the art. Ever since then, it's been an inexhaustible journey of constant discovery.


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

I was 13 when I first heard a classical work in its entirety. In the 3rd form at high school we had a single music lesson once a week, and the first work which we focussed on was the _Háry János Suite_ by Kodály. I didn't develop a liking for classical until over twenty years later but I never forgot _The Viennese Musical Clock_ and _The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon_ segments.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I remember thinking that the main hooks I already knew sounded great and were catchy, but the works went on too long after that upon my first venture into it; works like Jupiter Symphony and Beethoven's 5th.

:lol:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

It would be wonderful to be able to hear, say, the Beethoven Ninth Symphony again for the first time. The closest I get to that is the experience of listening to various interpretations, and every once in a while one clicks -- really clicks, as if it were a totally new experience. (I recall this feeling after hearing a certain recording of the Ninth by Furtwangler.)

Mostly, I do remember the first time I heard many of the great works -- the Beethoven symphonies, the Brahms symphonies, the Tchaikovsky symphonies and the Piano Concerto, the Bruckner symphonies. I still have the records in my collection, and just peering at the cover can bring back the delight of that first time I spun the vinyl on my old, cheap turntable back in the day. Ahh -- glorious!


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I can distinctly recall hearing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for the first time on Star Trek TNG (Season 1: "Where No One Has Gone Before"). I also got into Brahms thanks to Star Trek TNG (Season 3: "Sarek.") I am certain that Looney Tunes and other televised programs were the first hearings of many a great work, but only in snippets.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

My father would suggest pieces and lend me his records. Mozart 35 and 40 from Bruno Walter was the first and I loved them (but was capable of skipping the slow movements). An LP of Schubert's Unfinished and Beethoven's Pastoral was next (I can't remember the conductor but it would have been a big name). My consumption increased in speed as I digested more and more music. I would ask my Dad "what next?", borrow it and play it repeatedly. The music would live in my head. I got to know most of the Beethoven symphonies and concertos, a couple of Mozart operas, some Bach (Mass and Brandenburgs) and lots more. I can't remember how old I was - perhaps 8 or maybe 10. 

Eventually, I would go to the Library every week and take out LPs. My appetite was huge! But for a long time I only really listened to orchestral music (including operas).


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Many big tunes have creeped into my life (and I suppose it's the same for most people) before I knew what they were. For example, I don't remember the first time I heard Beethoven's da-da-da-daaaa, the sunrise of Also sprach Zarathustra, or many tunes of Bach and Handel used in TV commercials; but there are a few that I heard for the first time when I intently listen to them. 

E.g. Eine kleine Nachtmusik. One of the first LPs that I bought. I thought this must be the most elegant piece of music ever written..... (OK you can laugh!)

E.g. Ligeti's Atmosphères. No, the first time I heard it was not in Kubrick's film 2001, but instead an Abbado CD entitled Modern Wien. It simply blew me away.

E.g. The second movement of Ein Deutsches Requiem. Brainwashing, don't you think? It just wouldn't get out of my head. 

E.g. The big climax in Siegfrieds Trauermarsch. It was a TV broadcast of Boulez's complete Ring and the TV programme began with this tune. Absolutely smitten.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

My first recording of Beethoven's 5th symphony most impressed me about the cellos in the third movement which sounded like they were coming out of my right speaker.

When I first became aware of period practice I heard one of Norrington's mid-1980s Beethoven symphonies played against another that was the standard of the time. I did not notice the difference in either sound or performance.

I owned a recording of three Haydn symphonies conducted by Harnoncourt and didn't note the difference until reading about it somewhere, then listening again and noticing how thin the strings sounded.

Now after about 40 years of hearing period performance I can identify it easily.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I sort of remember lots of first hearings, but for some reason the one that stands out is the Pastoral Symphony (which I sort of thought I already knew) when I got the Victrola box of Beethoven symphonies by Toscanini. I guess I had never listened closely before, and when I did I was blown away. I was probably 16 or 17.


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## mark6144 (Apr 6, 2019)

Great question. My first exposure to classical music was at a school I attended from age 7-11, over 40 years ago. At lunchtime, while we ate, there was one teacher that would put on music - maybe 10-15 works in rotation, one each day. He would briefly introduce the work - Beethoven's 5th, Holst's Planets, Peer Gynt, Carnival of the Animals, etc. I remembered so many of those names, titles and melodies many years later. Sadly it was several decades until I realised how much I had to thank that teacher for, and I was unable to trace him to do so.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I can remember the first time I listened to Shostakovich No.5 because it was the first CD I bought in 1984. I can remember a time when I hadn't heard any full piece of classical music which would be before I got out of high school. The one exception may be Dance Macabre which I heard about in elementary music class. But I don't know remember if the teacher played the full piece.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Around 1970, in music class at highschool, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an exhibition (orch Ravel).

Around 1986, I started to listen to classical music, and aside from a few famous snippets (like tatatataaaaaaaaa) that I had heard like everyone else, the CD's I bought then were my first introduction to all the war horses.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

.....Nevermind.....


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

Second semester in college I joined the choir. It seemed the logical thing to do considering I was a music major. Plus, there was this girl in the alto section...but that's another story. 

Anyway, a couple of weeks into the semester the choir director handed out new music for the choir to learn. He said, "I've been waiting for just the right group to come along who I think can pull this off." It was the music for the Fourth Movement of _ Ein Deutsches Requiem_ - first time I ever heard it. Anyone who has sung this piece will tell you its just plain *fun* to sing. I especially loved singing the fugato sections where you can hear the snippets of the theme as it weaves its way through the choir sections.

The big bonus for me was that as a small college, the director was also the theory teacher and my first comp teacher. Through the next few weeks as the choir mastered the song he took time to explain how the piece worked. It was my first introduction to Brahms' compositional style and method and it just bowled me right over with its logic. At the end of the semester the choir gave a performance. We finished with the Brahms and got a standing O.


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## billeames (Jan 17, 2014)

In high school, the Wagner Overtures/Szell Cleveland Orchestra record, it was interesting but not enough to become interested in it. 

1980 Beethoven 9th. Szell. So fantastic I had to keep playing it. Over and over. Then Beethoven 5th, on a radio in 1981, again wonderful. Then the Jochum Concertgebouw mid priced record. 

In late 1980, had to memorize Handel Messiah Hallelujah chorus. Heard other parts Messiah which was sort of OK. It took a while longer to appreciate it fully.

In 1982 Mahler 8 Kubelik BRSO DG record set to prepare for the live Seattle symphony concert. But the real kicker was Seattle Symphony Reiner Miedel a few weeks later. Absolutely stunning at the end. 

Then in 1984 the Bohm Set of Beethoven symphonies, very nice. In 1985 the 1977 Karajan set. Different and more dramatic. 

The Mahler 1 on radio in 1983, dramatic and wonderful.


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## ptan54 (Jul 23, 2017)

Long time lurker here, musical layman.

I've been pondering recently can one truly enjoy a piece without recalling what you've heard afterwards? Some of the most "iconic" "classical" music is memorable; your brain recalls the notes even when the music isn't playing. It isn't just a case of melody v. no melody: as some have pointed out Beethoven and Brahms are more about development of motives unlike Tchaikovsky where the melody is so memorable you can whistle it.

Lately I have been listening to a lot of lesser known late romantic/early 20th century works such as Rued Laanggaard, Alberic Magnard, Zemlinsky; but find that I can't remember a single passage of what I've just heard. I appreciated the lush romantic music when I was hearing it; but can't remember a thing afterwards. Does this really count as "enjoying" the music in the same way I enjoy e.g. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1? 

Primary/Secondary school: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Mozart Piano Concert #21 (2nd mvt), Mozart symphony #40, Beethoven's 5th (1st mvt), 6th (1st mvt), 7th (2nd mvt), 9th (4th mvt), Pachelbel Canon in D, Tchaikovsky 5th (2nd mvt), 1812 overture.

University: Brahms 2,3, 4, Brahms Piano Concertos + Violin Concerto, Tchaikovsky Piano + Violin Concerto

More recently: Mahler 2, 5, 6, 10, Bruckner 4, 7, 8, 9. Only after repeated hearings did I finally "get" Bruckner 5.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

When I was twelve it were two works that "caught my ears" and have stayed with me forever ... Dvorák's New World Symphony and Beethoven's seventh (the allegretto) ... 
It has been pointed out here that the melody of works like Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite or first Piano concerto stay with you ... this was the case for me too when I was in my early teens.
I developed a love for Schubert after hearing his piano sonatas ... the D.960 was the work that brought tears to my eyes... one of the most beautiful works ever written imho.
University : I started listening to Shostakovich (2nd piano concerto, 10th Symphony,...) and I was hooked on his music for a while (listened to all string quartets, every symphony,...) , Stravinsky , Prokofiev
First job , engagement,... : Wagner's operas , I tried to get my teeth into Mahler , but I still haven't found the clue tbh... People tell me Shostakovich was influenced by Mahler...but I can't say I have the same "love" for Mahler as I have 4 Shostakovich... Maybe I need more practice...
Recently: The more modern composers (Pärt , Bartok(not that modern I know) , Stockhausen,...


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

Yes nice question. I have quite a few memories of when a piece first blew me away, all linked by visual memory to the location I was in at the time (I did a lot of listening in the car as I was discovering CM). Two memorable ones were one when I was discovering the funeral march from eroica and another was in a park on headphones with Bach Cello suite no 2. Wonderful moments. And after 12 years of exploration from medieval to the present I have to say the most powerful moments have been with Beethoven, Bach and Brahms.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

ptan54 said:


> Long time lurker here, musical layman.
> 
> I've been pondering recently can one truly enjoy a piece without recalling what you've heard afterwards? Some of the most "iconic" "classical" music is memorable; your brain recalls the notes even when the music isn't playing. It isn't just a case of melody v. no melody: as some have pointed out Beethoven and Brahms are more about development of motives unlike Tchaikovsky where the melody is so memorable you can whistle it.
> 
> ...


Interesting question! I tend to have the same problem with heavily chromatic, late Romantic music, and even though I enjoy much of it, I agree that it's hard to hold specific "memories" of "what exactly happened." I've figured the best thing to do is just to let it wash over you and cherish the moment. Then again, I can't remember a single thing about Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto besides the opening Big Tune, so our aesthetic preferences may differ


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## Swosh (Feb 25, 2018)

I have two rather vivid memories of how my journey with classical music started. It was a long car ride and I was around 12 or 13. My step father was getting annoyed at my ceaseless begging for my pop music to be played, and he turned on Mozart's Requiem. At once, those opening chords shut me up and almost paralyzed me. My memory ends there. My other earliest memory was when I was probably 14. I was lying in bed at night enjoying listening to the Requiem album I just got (I bought that same recording years later). Since my teens I have been seriously addicted to classical and romantic music, even listening to it while I played Halo 3 on xbox haha. 

The album was Karajan with Berlin Philharmonic: anna tomowa, agnes baltsa, werner krenn, jose van dam, wiener singverein.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I recall several notable firsts:

Wendy (once Walter) Carlos's synthesizer rendition of Beethoven's 9th in the 1971 film "A Clockwork Orange," one of the forces that turned me from popular to classical music.

Hearing Dvorak's "New World" symphony by Friscay and Berlin Philharmonic in college about 1973. I played the LP until threadbare and often invited my friends over to hear it with the stereo turned up full blast.

Another was Gorecki's Symphony 3 or the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. This was the greatest classical music hit in years (1980s) and I hadn't heard it. My local NPR station had a call in show and played it. I thought it interesting but was underwhelmed, to say the least, and never listened to it again.


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