# Need Some Solutions



## Andante (Jun 27, 2015)

I have listened classical music for 2 years, mostly symphonic works and some choral works recently. I have listened(listened means listened completely more than 15 times) all symphonies of Brahms; 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of Beethoven; 9 of Dvorak; 4, 5, 6 of Tchaikovsky; 1, 4, 5, 6,7 of Mahler; Requiem, Great Mass and symphonies 40-41 of Mozart; 9 of Schubert; 94 of Haydn; 3rd piano concerto of Prokofiev; Matthauspassion and Goldberg variations of Bach. I'm trying to educate my taste while I'm still young, but there are still things which bother me about classical music.
1. I still can't enjoy a new composition in my first or second listening. I still couldn't get into symphonies of Beethoven, despite having listened them many times carefully and concentrated. I couldn't feel deep emotional feelings that I could with Mozart, Mahler or Bach. 
2. I get indifferent to a composition and the magic of a composition is for a very limited amount of time for me. I remember myself crying to second movement of Mahler's sixth, but now it does nothing on me(except some kind of intellectual appreciation). It it like an oyster completely closed, and it happened for many other compositions as well.
3. It seems that I have a quota each day or week for listening classical music, I can't listen more than a limited amount, I cannot concentrate on it, or lose my passion in the middle of a composition. Maybe that's also why I can't enjoy operas which last pretty long.
For these matters I wonder if they're common, or resoluble. I started to feel disappointed of the music that I have enjoyed much until that moment.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

1. You will find many works that don't click right away. Give them a shot now, but don't be afraid to move away and come back to them later.

1a. Don't worry about the canon. If Beethoven's symphonies don't do it for you now, that's OK. Find your own tastes.

2. I suppose I can see how the emotional impact will not be the same for future listenings. For me, music isn't just about big emotions, so there's other stuff to fall back. Maybe following the structure of a work can keep you interested. It can be fascinating.

3. Some people here seem to be able to listen to CM all day. Not me. Even if I could only get a half hour of serious listening per day, I'd be OK with that. An early attempt for me to get into Classical foundered because I tried to listen too much as background music. Now I try to either listen intently, or not at all.

Lastly, there's probably a huge world of works and composers you've never heard of. Old ones, new ones. Give them a shot. We pretty much all have personal favorites that are way beyond the big names.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I wouldn't try too hard to refine my tastes. It's not supposed to be like work. If you don't enjoy something, give it a few months or even years. I think forcing it would just be frustrating. 

Have you thought about sampling some 20th or 21st century art/classical music? Maybe it would spark a new passion. Or it might send you running back to Bach, but it's worth a shot.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Your approach sounds very task-oriented. Try putting the music on while you're having supper, exercising, reading, daydreaming, studying... and, when you have the time, listen intently, too. Some things grab instantly; some take a while: that's ok. It's difficult, if not impossible, to re-experience the high one has from hearing and loving a piece for the first time. That's ok, too. As GreenMamba said, there are other things to listen for that will keep the music alive for you... essentially forever-and sometimes you will get a bit of that initial _wow_ feeling. And really, just forget the emotional thing. Music doesn't make people want to jump off a bridge or marry the guy next door


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

_1. I still can't enjoy a new composition in my first or second listening. I still couldn't get into symphonies of Beethoven, despite having listened them many times carefully and concentrated. I couldn't feel deep emotional feelings that I could with Mozart, Mahler or Bach._ 
Nobody's obliged to like everything, not even the so-called "great" composers or works. Beethoven just might not be your thing.

_2. I get indifferent to a composition and the magic of a composition is for a very limited amount of time for me. I remember myself crying to second movement of Mahler's sixth, but now it does nothing on me(except some kind of intellectual appreciation). It it like an oyster completely closed, and it happened for many other compositions as well._
OK, this seems a bit weird to me, I admit. Certainly familiarity will change my response to music, but as a general rule I don't tend towards becoming "indifferent", and in the right frame of mind a long-familiar piece can still be very powerful. That's my interpretation of what you're saying - that emotionally speaking, a piece of music becomes dead to you - but maybe I've misread this. (By the way, did anyone else go _wait, what?_ on reading the mention of the 2nd movement of Mahler's 6th? To me, that's the Scherzo but presumably the OP is talking about the Andante!)

_3. It seems that I have a quota each day or week for listening classical music, I can't listen more than a limited amount, I cannot concentrate on it, or lose my passion in the middle of a composition. Maybe that's also why I can't enjoy operas which last pretty long._
That's not unreasonable. And you're not doing too badly if you can listen to an entire Mahler symphony.

Others here have already offered other advice I agree with. Aside from the Goldbergs I didn't see any mention of instrumental or chamber music, and I don't know if you've listened to much non-symphony or concerto orchestral music (overtures etc), or lieder. Perhaps you might find something in these forms that you're not finding in symphonies. Certainly I would say the whole point of listening to music is to have a good time (or nourish your soul, if you want to be more poetic about it), so what's important is what works for you, not what you think is "supposed to" work.


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