# What sort of a listener are you?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Yes - this is a poll, but only so as to stimulate discussion and self-description. 

What sort of a listener are you? How does classical music fit into your life? 

Please give details. 

I love to know about others' experiences.

Thanks in advance for any replies. :tiphat:


----------



## Guest (Aug 28, 2018)

I'm going to have to say _Enjoyer_, but I think it fits quite nicely with the 'explorer' option. I don't have a huge amount of experience with classical music like many do on this forum, so exploration is necessary to find things I like to listen to.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

My moods vary, and I can be any one of these choices.

But I voted for 'learner' - I want to feel that I have a mental map of the history of classical music, and that I have put in a bit of effort. 
When I listen to 'whatever I want', as an enjoyer, it tends to be folk music or early music (love songs & dances, rather than sacred), which is just the folk music of the past, really. 

My approach has its merits - it means I'll listen to music that I don't have a natural affinity with, such as contemporary music or romantic, and will sometimes be pleased & surprised at what I find.

It has its demerits too - I overlap with 'Sampler' and don't ever get much deeper into the music. I know nothing about scores and construction and don't feel any great urge to know more.

I'm an O-level learner - not a degree student. 

Still, I discovered my beloveds, Lully & Biber, by 'wanting to know more'.

How about you? :tiphat:


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Did not vote - explorer, sampler, enjoyer, polygamist all fit the bill to large extents.

Explorer: I love to explore new composers, latest discovery (thanks to fellow TC member Jackk) is Lucija Garuta.
Sampler: my Cd collection is ridiculous, also because I'm a completionist at heart.
Enjoyer: my main motivation for listening to music - simply enjoy it.
Polygamist: I listen to lots of other music as well (mainly pop/rock with emphasis on prog, also some jazz and new age).


----------



## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

I'm 'enjoyer'. I'm not overwhelmed with learning or collecting, but I must admit, lately I'm more 'tourist' than 'enjoyer'.


----------



## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Other - I know what I like in Classical music and generally stick to it. I tend to run from 1300-ish to about 1790 and then switch back into the later folk oriented composers like Grieg, Vaughan-Williams and Holst. I listen to Classical music on the radio and will occasionally find something else I like - again usually folk oriented like Bizet's L'Arlésienne suite or Smetana's Má vlast.

It also overlaps with my tastes in other music - mainly folk.


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Still, I discovered my beloveds, Lully & Biber, by 'wanting to know more'.


I will assume that is Carl Heinrich Biber, and not a typo for Justin Bieber.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

JAS said:


> I will assume that is Carl Heinrich Biber, and not a typo for Justin Bieber.


I would assume this to be Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber.


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> I would assume this to be Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber.


Perhaps the original poster will clarify as the composer does not seem to enjoy the distinction of being identifiable by a single name, like Beethoven or Mozart. (Fortunately, the joke survives the identification, unless she really did mean Bieber.)


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

JAS said:


> Perhaps the original poster will clarify as the composer does not seem to enjoy the distinction of being identifiable by a single name, like Beethoven or Mozart. (Fortunately, the joke survives the identification, unless she really did mean Bieber.)


I mean the Baroque Man - though I'm flattered, in a way, that anyone would suppose that a sexagenarian could plump for Bieber... 

(Or should I be discombobulated that you'd doubt my ability to spell?)


----------



## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Mystic in the sense that some of the music I most like is the one that incites on me the emotions related to the most deep aspect of life and in all of its levels: the purely human level (e.g., Picasso's Guernica, Beethoven, Ligeti's Requiem, etc.), the natural level (e.g., Ravel's Miroirs), the 'cosmic' level (e.g., maybe Stockhausen's Oktophonie, Ligeti's Requiem again?), etc. But I don't give any 'transcendental' meaning to it, I care about the sensations I currently have by living in this reality and find it very valuable when music, and art in general, makes me experience them from ever changing and different points of view.

In second place, the enjoyer. Not much to explain there, since it's a bit obvious. But if art were pure enjoyment without that part which I mentioned before, I wouldn't care that much about it, to be honest.


----------



## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> I mean the Baroque Man - though I'm flattered, in a way, that anyone would suppose that a sexagenarian could plump for Bieber...
> 
> (Or should I be discombobulated that you'd doubt my ability to spell?)


Purely as a guess, I suspect that Justin Bieber has quite a few older ladies in his camp of devotees. And while I don't doubt your ability to spell, typographical errors are as ubiquitous as Murphy's Law. (But it was really just the opportunity for a mild jest, which I can rarely pass up.)


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Ingélou said:


> I mean the Baroque Man


Well, that still leaves both father and son Biber as a possibility.


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

A fun poll, Ingelou! I am a polygamist, as classical music shares equal listening time with Rock/Pop and with Cante Flamenco. The final, smaller wedge of the musical pie (four and twenty blackbirds?) is "Other": World or Ethnic music, Broadway, and Paul Robeson singing _Jerusalem, Deep River, Water Boy, John Brown's Body_, etc. In classical, I like concertos a great deal, with other genres/styles--symphonies, tone poems, chamber--somewhat secondary. And I enjoy mostly mainstream composers in the time range spanning Bach to Bartók, with Brahms, Prokofiev, Ravel, Rachmaninoff as particular favorites.

I also spend a lot of time reading books, and one day a week (if I can) kayaking. Plus a little time posting on TC .


----------



## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I selected 'Enjoyer", as this is my first and foremost purpose today when listening music, or playing music.


----------



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

All of them except Tourist apply to me to some degree, but I chose Mystic because I think in the end that's what I'm really looking for - the kinds of listening experiences where I forget everything else and time disappears, and the end feels like a pleasantly disorienting return to Earth. That's probably why I like the Romantics with an overtly humanistic sensibility less than a lot of earlier and later music.


----------



## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

I voted Sampler but I think I have a very different concept of a collection. Mine is to own several of my favourite recordings, not complete an opera as well as Fritz Kobus does with _La Sonnambula_ or _Der Fliegende Holländer._ It's something very nice to look at.

But I also want to fit myself in the categories of _Mystic_ and _Polygamist._ Outside of Bruckner, I rarely listen to other works for my enjoyment, but for the pleasure of listening to something grand and complex such as Mahler symphonies or German and Russian operas. CM has to share room with my love for pop, alternative and ambient music too.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I clicked "enjoyer" mostly because it is the broadest and, although I could be most of the others (perhaps not mystic), each seemed to only capture a part of my reasons. I am not sure that the philosophy behind "enjoyer" (in the description) fits me as it seems to suggest a rather superficial approach.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Enthusiast said:


> I clicked "enjoyer" mostly because it is the broadest and, although I could be most of the others (perhaps not mystic), each seemed to only capture a part of my reasons. I am not sure that the philosophy behind "enjoyer" (in the description) fits me as it seems to suggest a rather superficial approach.


The titles are me having fun - not to be taken seriously. I'm sure we all have a bit of all or many of the choices in our make-up, but I narrowed it to one choice hoping to prompt reflection.

I didn't mean to imply that mainly being an enjoyer involves superficiality - actually, I think my style of listening to classical music as a learning project is the superficial approach. Not that it has to be, but I don't give it my all. There are so many things that are more important to me or that I enjoy doing more.

Anyway, it's lovely to have your response, Enthusiast - thanks for replying. :tiphat:


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Thanks to everybody who's posted, and to anyone who does in the future. :tiphat:

It has surprised and interested me that actually there's quite a variety of response. We have a mystic and a polygamist, as well as enjoyers and a sampler. 
So far I'm the only learner - what a dull dog am I!


----------



## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Enjoyer, learner and polygamist. I put 'enjoyer' first because if it isn't being enjoyed nothing much else can happen.


----------



## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Art Rock said:


> Did not vote - explorer, sampler, enjoyer, polygamist all fit the bill to large extents.
> 
> Explorer: I love to explore new composers, _latest discovery (thanks to fellow TC member Jackk) is Lucija Garuta._
> Sampler: my Cd collection is ridiculous, also because I'm a completionist at heart.
> ...


Ditto. [With the exception of the highlighted, italicized clause.]

I often feel I've been everywhere through music. And not just this place and that place / this country that country. But music like a time machine allows exploration of the past. So I've been to Palestrina's 16th century Rome, Bach's early 18th century Germany, Haydn's late 18th century London, Beethoven's and Schubert's 19th century Vienna as well as Schoenberg's, Webern's, and Wellesz's 20th century Vienna. I've experienced the differences between the Russia of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov and the Soviet Union of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Galina Ustvolskaya. Through classical, jazz, pop, and world music travels I've scoured Asia, the African continent, Australia, North and South America and of course across the United States. I've shared in the visions of countless geniuses: composers, conductors, performers, sometimes to overwhelming exhaustion, physical and mental, and yet have been pointed to more endless roads with greater than ever eagerness to explore.

Folks who value travelling often speak of places they would like_ to see_. I speak as well of places I would like _to hear_. Yet, music is not simply an aural enjoyment; it is also a history lesson, a biography lesson, a philosophical, psychological and sociological meme. And in reality, these experiences, A Solomon's treasure of worth, costs only pennies on the dollar for the most avid explorer invested in even a modest sound system and some source materials. And today with on-line streaming availability, the costs are even more minimal. For much less than the cost of airline tickets, hotel reservations and concert fares I can enjoy the musical experience of the coming October Donaueschinger Musiktage in the comfort of my home for the price of the NEOS SACD, around 50 dollars, and have the experience for a lifetime.

So I applaud Art Rock's response, as it speaks well for me, too.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I chose mystic, but also explorer and learner apply.

The reason I'm into art is because it challenges me to be more than I am as it exposes things in me that I'm not seeing or not willing to see. Music, particularly classical music, appeals to me because, at least for me, it takes me out of the here and now/drudgery of the workaday and into the intransitory and transcendent. 

Of course, I listen to other kinds of music because sometimes I just want to dance like nobody's watching.


----------



## Thomyum2 (Apr 18, 2018)

I answered 'other' but would have answered 'all of the above' if it had been an option. I think each and every one of those applies to me - some at different times depending on my mood and what I'm thinking about, but some of them seem to apply to me simultaneously. It is wonderful that music can do any one of these things for a person, but truly amazing in that it really can do _all_ of them.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I chose Explorer, since I just want to know all the type of things people are doing out there and how they do it. I try to keep an open mind while still sticking to tradition.


----------



## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

I don't know what I am. 

I do know I listen for the pleasure I receive.


----------



## Guest (Aug 28, 2018)

Really impossible to pick one, since the categories are not mutually exclusive. At least 3 choices could apply to me. I listen as a sort of meditation, to relax the mind and experience beauty and a sense of discovery.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I could have been a learner, sampler and enjoyer too, but picked explorer


----------



## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

First I'd like to commend SONNET CLV's post. Excellent and very well said. I share almost every sentiment in that post.

I am also with Art Rock. The pie would be very evenly split between all of them with the slightly largest slice being "Enjoyer" because that is the ultimate purpose for music, isn't it? Enjoying the exploration, learning, mystical experience, sampling (collecting), touring, etc.? I find nothing superficial about the "enjoyment" of music. In fact, quite the contrary. Music is my greatest passion in life, it gives such a profound meaning to my life, and alas, gives me some of the greatest joys in life. Superficial is the last word I would ever use to describe the "enjoyment" of music.

And of course Polygamy is definitely in there as well. Although Classical is my favorite genre, there are so many other genres that I enjoy immensly.

Great poll, great thread!

V


----------



## Überstürzter Neumann (Jan 1, 2014)

These days, without doubt mystic.
Basically I have, at least for the foreseeable future turned into a one-composer listener, and I use his music to try to resign myself to a new existential situation after recently having gone through a most shattering experience.
I have many times heard that music can be medicine. Now, let's see if it can mend an open wound where the heart used to be.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I'm a simple hearted 'enjoyer'. Music is to be enjoyed and made enjoyable. Else what is the point?


----------



## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Explorer. Like going out of my boundaries and discovering music that I don't know. Enjoy broadening my tastes


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

DavidA said:


> I'm a simple hearted 'enjoyer'. Music is to be enjoyed and made enjoyable. Else what is the point?


My sentiments exactly - we actually agree on this one. Something must be wrong. :lol:


----------



## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Being young, I'd say I'm a explorer. I'd also say I'm an enjoyer, but a large part of my enjoyment at present is because of exploration/finding what's out there.


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

'Mystic' and 'Explorer' absorbed into 'Enjoyer' category.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I listen for the glory of it-and for that it's Bach's WTC, Haydn's String Quartets and Seven Last Words, Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and Mozart's Piano Concertos. I am an extremely serious listener.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Ingélou said:


> The titles are me having fun - not to be taken seriously. I'm sure we all have a bit of all or many of the choices in our make-up, but I narrowed it to one choice hoping to prompt reflection.
> 
> I didn't mean to imply that mainly being an enjoyer involves superficiality - actually, I think my style of listening to classical music as a learning project is the superficial approach. Not that it has to be, but I don't give it my all. There are so many things that are more important to me or that I enjoy doing more.
> 
> Anyway, it's lovely to have your response, Enthusiast - thanks for replying. :tiphat:


Nothing wrong with the titles - I just wanted to select several of them. Perhaps I have multiple personality disorder!


----------



## Desafinado (Apr 13, 2014)

I said polygamist. In the past few years I've listened to much more jazz than I have classical, but I thoroughly enjoy both.

When it comes to classical these days I tend toward vocal and piano pieces.


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

This is partial blasphemy, but I was a young explorer whose world has narrowed considerably as I appropach 70. I am caught between "life is too short," no money to familiarize myself with further things I ought to, a spouse who is partially music phobic, and a sense that there's more than enough music that already speaks to me to keep me content. I guess I have joined the ranks of Enjoyer.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Marinera said:


> 'Mystic' and 'Explorer' absorbed into 'Enjoyer' category.


I KNEW it from the moment I met you!


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

hpowders said:


> I KNEW it from the moment I met you!


Eh, well. I think we are all 'Enjoyers' here anyway, at least that is not a secret.



> I listen for the glory of it-and for that it's Bach's WTC, Haydn's String Quartets and Seven Last Words, Beethoven's Piano Sonatas and Mozart's Piano Concertos. I am an extremely serious listener.


I don't know how you do it - listen to the same works over long stretches of time - I am referring here to your all-Haydn string quartets listening marathon several months long. The longest phases I had solely for certain music or composer was couple of weeks max. That was perhaps two years ago. Now it's good showing if it lasts couple of days. Usually it's more like couple of hours. My interest shifts easier and is more fluid, the musical flux is really flowing.

Edit: Perhaps I should write people's cv's - that last bit sounds completely like I am gaining new super powers and not at all like the shortening attention span. That 3 in 1 listener feature probably made me susceptible to delusions of grandeur.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Marinera said:


> Eh, well. I think we are all 'Enjoyers' here anyway, at least that is not a secret.
> 
> I don't know how you do it - listen to the same works over long stretches of time - I am referring here to your all-Haydn string quartets listening marathon several months long. The longest phases I had solely for certain music or composer was couple of weeks max. That was perhaps two years ago. Now it's good showing if it lasts couple of days. Usually it's more like couple of hours. My interest shifts easier and is more fluid, the musical flux is really flowing.
> 
> Edit: Perhaps I should write people's cv's - that last bit sounds completely like I am gaining new super powers and not at all like the shortening attention span. That 3 in 1 listener feature probably made me susceptible to delusions of grandeur.


Yes. I have the habit of listening to one composer's works exclusively, but the joy is in comparative listening. I compare one string quartet's Haydn performances to that of two or three other groups. Always stimulating.

Bach's WTC-I have so many performances. A lot of fun comparing them.

For the last few months, nothing but Haydn-the complete piano sonatas, all the string quartets and many performances of the Seven Last Words-string quartet version. I came away with a new respect and awe of Haydn. Anyone who considers Haydn a second class Mozart has it wrong.

That's what makes me tick: comparative listening.


----------



## DBLee (Jan 8, 2018)

I selected "Enjoyer," although "Learner," "Explorer," and "Polygamist" all apply to some extent. I love jazz, older country music, and select rock (particularly '70's prog rock). But classical is the pinnacle of composition.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Yes. I have the habit of listening to one composer's works exclusively, but the joy is in comparative listening. I compare one string quartet's Haydn performances to that of two or three other groups. Always stimulating.
> 
> Bach's WTC-I have so many performances. A lot of fun comparing them.
> 
> ...


Perhaps we should have had another category: 'Connoisseur'?


----------



## Armanvd (Jan 17, 2017)

I chose other in the poll because i can describe myself as a combination of these 4.
Polygamist - classical music is just one of my beloved spouses.!
Explorer - I want adventure & new experiences.
Learner - my goal is self-improvement. (Not by music, I want to improve my knowledge about music.)
Enjoyer - I love music & listen to whatever I fancy.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Perhaps we should have had another category: 'Connoisseur'?


Perhaps, _Comparative Listener_? :tiphat:


----------



## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

> Yes. I have the habit of listening to one composer's works exclusively, but the joy is in comparative listening. I compare one string quartet's Haydn performances to that of two or three other groups. Always stimulating.
> 
> Bach's WTC-I have so many performances. A lot of fun comparing them.
> 
> ...


Ouch. I didn't even know such opinions are floating around. They're both great and unique.



hpowders said:


> Perhaps, _Comparative Listener_? :tiphat:


Perhaps the meaning should be a bit more precise. I believe there will be dozens of people myself including adopting this title as well. You see, many of us do some comparative listening. I don't buy cds without listening to the other recordings. However, your comparative listening habits are much more focused, protracted and exclusive. I do compare various recordings , but my way of listening is more like isles in the sea - for example I can compare Beethoven string quartets for couple of hours once in 3-4 days, and have another music on before and after quartets. The whole process is quite diluted and can go on for a year or two at a very leisurely pace and all the other music is welcome to the party as well.

So, perhaps something like Exclusively Comparative Listener or something like that just to be more specific. Just a thought.

Comparative Listener is the cleaner title of course.


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

_What sort of a listener are you?_

Listening. I try to keep my ears open with intent for the new and unusual that I feel has substance and works, including new ways to play something old or well-established. Curiosity about everything drives my interests, so no labels please, and I don't like to be pigeonholed or predictable, like a confirmed _maverick_... One of the other benefits of being a good listener is that it can help you tell just by sound alone when cars are gaining on you! It's possible to tell their approximate location, speed, and distance. So it can be a lifesaver to keep your ears attuned to what's going on around you, whether it's something fascinating in music or anything else. Don't judge, at least not immediately, or you might miss out on something good. I'm glad and eternally grateful that I didn't blast my eardrums to smithereens when I was young. It's still possible to be the sort of listener who can hear a quiet wind or a whisper.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

An enjoyer, even though it does sound a little kinky! Ingelou, you minx!


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Merl said:


> An enjoyer, even though it does sound a little kinky! Ingelou, you minx!


Oh, that's nice - 'minx' sounds *young*!


----------



## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I fit in several categories, though mainly Learner, because I want to deepen my enjoyment, and explorer, because I want to discover other great composers...


----------



## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Primarily Enjoyer. To an extent, Learner can apply to me and also Mystic. I learn not so much for self-improvement but more out of curiosity and to enhance my enjoyment of music. In terms of being a mystic, music has always served to provide a centre for me in this often overwhelming world we all live in.


----------



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Explorer, definitely.

I like going far off the beaten path, hacking my way through thickets of obscure opera, with only 19th century criticism as a map, and finding long-buried treasure.

Sometimes, of course, it's an accursed burial mound teeming with snakes, scorpions, spikes, and stones. But often I find operatic gold.

Besides, as SONNET CLV said, music can take me all over the world, and to different times and cultures.

That, I feel, is what good fiction should do: show the richness and variety of life, and whet one's appetite for travel and adventure. With orchestral colour, massed choruses, and excitement!

Other interests include finding tour companies that go to the Congo, Iraq, Somaliland, Suriname, and Chad.


----------



## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

I'm also very definitely in the Explorer camp.

I'm always in search of the great, exciting, fascinating or just plain gorgeous piece of music I haven't heard yet.

Given a choice between two concert programs, one featuring works I love but have heard many times before and one featuring works by composers I like or am curious about which I've never heard before, I'd almost always pick the later.


----------



## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Somewhere between 'mystic' and 'enjoyer', I think.


----------



## Boychev (Jul 21, 2014)

I want to learn, with "learning to enjoy" being a part of that and my main motivation for learning is to explore, so enjoyer and explorer and learner are all tied up. I would refuse any kind of "cosmic bonding" or mystical experience, even if those were possible - would very much like to stay a limited ego trapped in a mortal bodily existence thank you very much; would not like to be a mere tourist when it comes to classical music, though I currently am exactly at this point, being a rock listener first and foremost. Mostly, I have tremendous respect and awe for the classical tradition and consider myself deficient for not enjoying it as thoroughly as possible, so I try to get warmed up to it little by little and hope that one day it will make up the bulk of my listening.


----------



## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Boychev said:


> Mostly, I have tremendous respect and awe for the classical tradition and consider myself deficient for not enjoying it as thoroughly as possible


My god, you must be the most self-flagellating classical music listener I've ever encountered! :lol:


----------



## Guest (Sep 7, 2018)

I guess I am an enjoyer, being a learner and explorer.


----------



## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

this might be relevant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_music_preference
I am introverted/ open to new experiences /rebellious, that is I like complex music, I am an explorer constantly on the lookout for new musical experiences and I also like rock/punk/metal (rebellious)


----------



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I'm a polygamous admirer of the Russian composers. :tiphat:

I would also call myself a "Scholar" which is like learner, but rather than for self-improvement, it's for the sake of sharing that knowledge with others, to pass on what I learn. Curator-Scholar-Polygamist.


----------

