# help needed to access classical music...



## neeb (Oct 3, 2009)

Most of the music I listen to regularly is not classical music, although a major reason for this is that I find it very difficult to access the particular classical music that I like. Often I will hear snippets of amazing pieces of music on various media, but more often than not the piece is not identified while I am listening, or if it is I find the name and composer's name completely unmemorable (violin concerto number X, movement Y by some vaguely Russian or German sounding bloke whose name is very familiar but devoid of distinguishing attributes...) Even if I do identify the piece, usually when I get hold of a copy the performance is completely different and largely lacks what I enjoyed originally.

I am not in a social environment where people often play classical music, which I guess would be the easiest way to access it. Another problem is that, to be honest, although I find some classical music astoundingly good, perhaps the majority strikes me as overrated (doubtless a deficiency on my part rather than in the music). Mozart, for example, does very little for me. To me he sounds frivolous and self-conscious, superficially complex but with little depth... Other major pieces by famous composers sound bombastic and simplistic, or else emotionally unconstrained in an overly extrovert way. Most of the music I have found that I really like is by J.S. Bach, e.g. the violin concertos, the Brandenburgs to a lesser extent, the cello suites etc. My favourite piece of classical music is possibly the second movement of Bach's violin concerto No. 1 in A minor. I also like Elgar's famous cello concerto in E minor, and (on a rather different note) Schoenberg's "Transfigured Night".

I'm hoping that this will resonate with someone who will be able to point me towards other composers or particular pieces of music that I may like. Thanks for any advice!


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

hi! 

item #1 - since you mentioned stringed instruments often, why not spend a couple of weeks getting acquainted with the most commonly appreciated violin concerto material - beethoven, brahms, mendelssohn, tchaikovsy, bruch...maybe p. glass for a different sound?

check youtube for the works i mentioned as well as public/college libraries and programming on public radio stations if you are near one.

i really think that after a couple of weeks you'll feel more focus in your listening interests and may even embark on a different music journey.

item #2 - while music from various historical eras may bring out the same responses in you, do NOT try to listen to them the 'same way'. you possibly don't get mozart or those romantics because you try to look for something that is not there. it took me a few years to figure out how to approach mozart, but once i learned what to listen for it's great.

dj


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

neeb said:


> Mozart, for example, does very little for me. To me he sounds frivolous and self-conscious, superficially complex but with little depth... Other major pieces by famous composers sound bombastic and simplistic, or else emotionally unconstrained in an overly extrovert way.


I have been listening to classical music since 1969 and I still find Mozart overrated and frivolous. It's something about the phrases and musical gestures. That is not to say I don't enjoy some Mozart, but I far prefer some of his contemporaries, especially Haydn.

I get a kick out of your complaint about vague names for the pieces. "String Quartet No. 14 in F # Major, Op. 142" by Dmitri Shostakovich isn't exactly a memorable title. I think we should go back and give all major works nicknames - as in Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata. Blasphemous as that may seem to purists, it would certainly help me remember them.

If you like Bach and Elgar, and dislike bombast, I would say it's safe to skip over the entire Classic and Romantic periods for now, and just listen to baroque and post romantic to modern music. Plenty to choose from in those eras. You would probably like some other big names from the baroque, Handel, D. Scarlatti, Monteverdi. For post-romantic you may like some of the impressionists like Debussy, Or more modern works, Stravinsky or Vaughan-Williams.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

neeb said:


> I also like Schoenberg's "Transfigured Night".


Speaking as someone who also likes "Transfigured Night" (enough to have multiple versions of it)...

If you like _that_, try *Wagner*'s overture to _Tristan und Isolde_-
a piece that influenced 'Transfigured Night' tremendously!))


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