# Becoming Tired/Bored with a Particular Work



## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

In various threads people have mentioned being bored or tired with various works. These were works they used to like or even love, but after repeated listenings (or performances) they have grown tired of that work. I'd like to ask:

1) Have you ever become tired of a particular work?
2) If so, do you know why it happened and did you ever overcome that and start to like the work again?

NOTE: There was a thread that asked whether people get bored of classical music in general. Here I want to know if people get tired of particular works rather than classical music.

I have yet to become tired of any work. I am not a performer so I've never played any work many times. I have heard various works dozens of times (Mozart symphonies and some concertos), but my enjoyment seems to only increase (or stay high).


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

I became bored with Vivaldi's Spring for a while. I like again now.

And I became sick of _playing_ Pachelbel's Canon in D in the local high school orchestra a couple of years ago. We played it for a whole year or more. BOR-RING. Whenever I hear it now I cringe and go out of the room.


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## Jared (Jul 9, 2012)

MaestroViolinist said:


> I became bored with Vivaldi's Spring for a while. I like again now.
> 
> And I became sick of _playing_ Pachelbel's Canon in D in the local high school orchestra a couple of years ago. We played it for a whole year or more. BOR-RING. Whenever I hear it now I cringe and go out of the room.


Yes, I think this is it.... you only become tired of a piec e of CM when they enter the public domain... Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a particularly good example, along with The Blue Danube, parts of The Four Seasons and indeed the Planets suite and O fortuna.. there is certainly a reluctance on my part to play them at home as a consequence, but each of them (even the Mozart) do deserve fresh listens and evaluations, every few years or so...


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

IMO: one can most definitely ruin a good piece of music by over-playing it. For me, when I was a teenager, I couldn't get enough of Bach's orchestral works. I played them over and over and over again. Although I still recognize the brilliance of the pieces, they have regrettably become worn and tired to my ears as a consequence of the over-exposure. This is a great pity.

I think one has to approach "current" favourites with caution. Remember: just a little is enough - especially if you wish to continue to savour in years to come.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I don't recall ever consciously acknowledging to myself or to anyone that piece X has become tiresome because I have listened to it so many times. Bach's _Brandenburg_ concerti is one of those sets of works that I have listened to hundreds of times especially during my early discovery years of classical music. I now don't listen to it as much as I used to, not because I am tired of it but I am discovering a lot more of early and Baroque to 20th century art music. I think there is no real reason why someone should be tired of a particular piece through excessive listening. Set it aside and discover other pieces by the same composer and or just go on exploring other pieces! You might even appreciate these familiar pieces more by building up general listening experience and realise how great or weak the piece really is. Branching out to other Baroque concerti for example, made me realise how unique the _Brandenburg_ sets really are.


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

Jared said:


> ... but each of them (even the Mozart) do deserve fresh listens and evaluations, every few years or so...


Yes, except for Pachelbel's Canon...


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## Jared (Jul 9, 2012)

MaestroViolinist said:


> Yes, except for Pachelbel's Canon...


I tolerate it during the very rare outings this disk receives:


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I like Pachelbel's Canon _and Gigue_ when it is played as it was intended for three violins and continuo. Must also be played on authentic instruments and both movements in total must last about four and a half minutes.


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## MaestroViolinist (May 22, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I like Pachelbel's Canon _and Gigue_ when it is played as it was intended for three violins and continuo. Must also be played on authentic instruments and both movements in total must last about four and a half minutes.


I guess I would like it if it was played properly too... Maybe, though I think it has been ruined completely for me.

Lol, you should have heard it the way the "conductor" (if you could call him that) performed it.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I like Pachelbel's Canon _and Gigue_ when it is played as it was intended for three violins and continuo. Must also be played on authentic instruments and both movements in total must last about four and a half minutes.


Indeed. Somthing like this version.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

^ Yes, that is indeed a good version. The gigue brilliantly compliments the canon.


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## Jared (Jul 9, 2012)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Albinoni-Ad...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1342345000&sr=1-1

meanwhile, if you would like to hear a version which reduces the whole thing to a terrible Late Romantic mush, then fill your boots!


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

I never get tired with any classical work as long as I know when to leave them alone - I was listening to the symphonic cycles of Mahler and Brucker on a weekly basis and suddenly broke off from them fearing saturation point. It worked - I listened to them again a month later and it was like returning from holiday and welcoming back the pet dog from the kennels.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Back on the topic of the thread, I can usually get quite bored of Mozart's piano concerti.


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## Very Senior Member (Jul 16, 2009)

I think that when people first start out listening to classical music seriously many of them find that what's on offer is so bewideringly large that they are obliged to focus on a tiny range in the early stages. These works sound fantastic for a few weeks/months but then the urge to explore further afield sets in, because they have become bored with such a narrow diet of music. In most cases it's not that they have irrevocably lost all interest in any piece of music as such, but rather that they want to explore further afield in order to enhance the variety of music available to them. I would guess that early favourites remain of interest years later even though some of them may not continue to take pride of place. I still like most of the material I started out liking many years ago, but there have been stages when I became temporarily bored with it.


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

Yes, I can become bored with some particular pieces of music. But I mainly blame myself for working against the nature.

Like addictions, the threshold of excitation becomes high after repeat stimulation. If it happens, I will stop listening to them and change to so many other music before coming back. Then, you may feel "refreshed" by the piece.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Very Senior Member said:


> I think that when people first start out listening to classical music seriously many of them find that what's on offer is so bewideringly large that they are obliged to focus on a tiny range in the early stages. These works sound fantastic for a few weeks/months but then the urge to explore further afield sets in, because they have become bored with such a narrow diet of music. In most cases it's not that they have irrevocably lost all interest in any piece of music as such, but rather that they want to explore further afield in order to enhance the variety of music available to them. I would guess that early favourites remain of interest years later even though some of them may not continue to take pride of place. I still like most of the material I started out liking many years ago, but there have been stages when I became temporarily bored with it.


I am having the opposite problem!  I've been seriously following classical for just about a year, and my focus as been TOO broad....sampling from various periods, styles, and composers. So much music, and except for select favorites I don't know a lot of it well. But I'll get there, haha.


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## Jared (Jul 9, 2012)

Sonata said:


> I am having the opposite problem!  I've been seriously following classical for just about a year, and my focus as been TOO broad....sampling from various periods, styles, and composers. So much music, and except for select favorites I don't know a lot of it well. But I'll get there, haha.


Indeed you will... and we love your enthusiasm, Sonata..  :tiphat:


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

Pachelbel's Canon often comes up. My daughter is a cellist and plays the continuo. She tells me it's impossibly boring and awful to play. I still find the piece lovely, but I never intentionally listen to it.

During the past couple of years I have mostly been exploring. I listen to much, much more new music than music I am familiar with. Most of the new pieces I find enjoyable but not really special. Every now and then I find a work that I especially like. When I do decide to listen to an old favorite, I'm often struck by how truly wonderful, beautiful, or fascinating that work is. I remember why I hold those works on such a high level.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

There are works I haven't listened to by Glazunov in years, and feel just fine for it.  It takes that long sometimes, once you hit the wear-out stage. One day I'll listen to them again, but right now, I'm just fine.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Jared said:


> Indeed you will... and we love your enthusiasm, Sonata..  :tiphat:


Thanks!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

mmsbls said:


> In various threads people have mentioned being bored or tired with various works. These were works they used to like or even love, but after repeated listenings (or performances) they have grown tired of that work. I'd like to ask:
> 
> 1) Have you ever become tired of a particular work?...


Ones that easily come to mind:
- Ravel 'Daphnis & Chloe' complete ballet
- Saint-Saens 'Sym.#3, Organ'
...& many a warhorse, which I only occassionally give a listen, eg. the Beethoven symphonies (esp. the most famous ones), Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1, Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, & even contemporary composers who are great tunesmiths like Philip Glass.



> ...
> 2) If so, do you know why it happened and did you ever overcome that and start to like the work again?


I have come back around to the composers, but not really those works. Saint-Saens especially, I have acquainted or re-acquainted myself with his music, esp. his concertos. With Ravel, his chamber music & songs.

I think avoiding saturation and the 'ear candy' approach is wise. With both Ravel and Saint-Saens, and other great tunesmiths who are generally pleasant to listen to, I limit my intake for fear of ending up being bored, jaded or even hating the piece/s that I initially loved (but loved them to bits, to use an apt metaphor?).

I also listen to not only tuneful/pleasant music but a fair deal of more challenging, eg. modern/'atonal'/contemporary musics, as well as total schmaltz (at the other end), eg. operetta, for light relaxation/easy listening. Variety is important to me, very much so.



> ...
> I have yet to become tired of any work. I am not a performer so I've never played any work many times. I have heard various works dozens of times (Mozart symphonies and some concertos), but my enjoyment seems to only increase (or stay high).


I think that composers that have music that has some level of complextiy or layering, or rigorous working of themes, with these what you are saying rings true with me too. I am finding this with works I've known for many years, eg. by Brahms, Beethoven, Dvorak, Shostakovich, Bartok, Messiaen, Stravinsky, and so on, and also Ligeti, who seems 'flavour of the month' here now.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I never play these, but they're always being programmed on classical radio over and over.

Beethoven's 7th
Dvorak's 9th
Tchaikovsky's 5th


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

starthrower said:


> I never play these, but they're always being programmed on classical radio over and over.
> 
> Beethoven's 7th
> Dvorak's 9th
> Tchaikovsky's 5th


I would also guess Beethoven's *5th{"Fate"} *and Tchaikovsky's *6th {"Pathetique"} *are mondo overplayed.


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## Philip (Mar 22, 2011)

It is very easy to get tired of a piece when you practice it 6 hours every day...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Philip said:


> It is very easy to get tired of a piece when you practice it 6 hours every day...


I'm no musician, but I'd add that playing the same warhorses over and over again is also kind of not gratifying. Sure, it pays the bills, but you want to do more in the season than say only Mendelssohn's 3rd and 4th all the time. Or Mozart's 'Jupiter' or whatever. He didn't write 40 other symphonies so just that one would be played regularly. I read an anecdote that Hindemith decided to give up orchestral playing and focus on composing after he began to hate Brahms' first symphony, it became cliche for him, that horn symbolising the sun coming out at the end. Well, we got the better part of the deal there, I'd rather have him composing the great things he did than playing these warhorses which made him sick of the music he originally loved. & people think Philip Glass can get repetitive?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Philip said:


> It is very easy to get tired of a piece when you practice it 6 hours every day...


That's why I choose more than one piece from the excellent range of varied pieces in my repertoire when I practise.


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

For some reason, I never (well, never say never, right?), got tired of Goldberg Variations, no matter how long do I listen to. I once packed one of my iDevices with 32 version of this work, and remembering listening to them all day. True, I have the "refreshment" from difference performances, but the music never bored me!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

For my blog I listened to 21 distinctly different versions of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an exhibition within a few weeks: the piano version, the famous Ravel orchestration, various other orchestrations, and other transfers, ranging from acoustic guitar to rock band. I still loved the piece afterwards.


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