# Favourite musical forms?



## Stavrogin (Apr 20, 2014)

What are your favourite musical forms?
Do you have any at all?

I know that, for almost everyone, it will mostly depend on the composer, but do you ever feel a particular inclination towards, say, symphonies?
Or piano sonatas?
Or ballets?
Opera? (even though this may be considered as a separate genre per se).

I for one have a solid preference for concertos over anything else.
I guess I just like the idea of a soloist being the main voice but with a significant counterpart in the orchestra.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

I'd currently rank them as 

1. Symphony
2. String Quartet
3. Violin Concerto
4. Piano Concerto
5. Mass
6. Other string ensemble
7. Requiem
8. Ballet

There are many, many others but these are my current favorites


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Stavrogin said:


> What are your favourite musical forms?
> 
> ... do you ever feel a particular inclination towards, say, symphonies? Or piano sonatas? etc


When I was starting out listening, then 'yes' I did, but I've since learnt to appreciate the music first and foremost and to recognise that there are fantastic pieces in many genres and forms

There are wonderful piano sonatas, symphonies, string trios, cantatas, solo lute works, orchestral lieder etc etc etc


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Concertos are cool. So are symphonies, masses, requiems, ballets, orchestral suites, operas, piano sonatas, violin sonatas, preludes and fugues....

I don't really have any preferences. I'm just glad I have over a thousand CD's of every kind at my disposal to listen to any genre that I want to.....and the collection seems to keep growing. Love it!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Mixed chamber ensemble by far is the most interesting.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Stavrogin said:


> What are your favourite musical forms?
> Do you have any at all?
> 
> I know that, for almost everyone, it will mostly depend on the composer, but do you ever feel a particular inclination towards, say, symphonies?
> ...


I don't really know. I just like good music.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I like nearly every genre, with the exception of only a few. It would be easier to rank these least liked ones:

1. Masses
2. Requiems
3. Choral Music
4. Cantatas, Madrigals, Motets, etc.

[5. Operas
6. Lieder]

Operas and Lieder are sort of a cross-over area between secular vocal and instrumental genres that are beginning to hold some interest for me.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

My areas of interest keep growing and I now love almost all genres and combinations of ensembles with the possible exception of solo instruments that cannot be polyphonic. (Thus a long solo shakuhachi piece is not going to do much for me, though I can listen to a solo keyboard all day.)

When I first started enjoying music, probably due to the testosterone poisoning most young men go through, I loved big loud symphonies. Even today, while I love everything from renaissance madrigals to experimental electro-acoustic music, the symphony is still the form I look forward to the most. 

The symphony is to music as the novel is to fiction.


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

I like symphonies, concerti, ballet music, suites, tone poems, choral music with orchestra & solo vocal and orchestra. The sound of any one combination of instruments playing too long (as in multiple movement sonatas) bores me, but if the "color palette" keeps changing, as good orchestration should, then I'm more inclined to enjoy it.


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## Declined (Apr 8, 2014)

Symphony
Concerti
Solo piano music

I haven't been able to get into chamber music, unfortunately.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'll listen to just about anything, but I like masses and symphonies the most, because the form is for the most part preset, and I don't have to concentrate on the framework and can concentrate on the musical ideas. I like anything in sonata form for the same reason. 

I also like symphonies because I like tonal color. 

Cantatas are nice, but they're a lot of work, trying to match the text with voices,sometimes masses of voices, in foreign languages.


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## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

At the top, it's a tie between _Symphonies_ and_ String Quartets_ (and other String Ensembles like Trios, Quintets, etc.)

After that, I don't necessarily have an order. I enjoy Violin and Piano Concertos, violin, piano, and cello sonatas, lieder, some opera, piano trios, piano variations, Masses, Requiems, Preludes, Ballets, Orchestral works (think _La Mer_, _The Rite of Spring_), etc. etc! It's all about the quality of music.


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

I have a special soft spot for the Concerto Grosso.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

I am partial to music that contains the note D, at some point in its narrative. Or G. And if played together? Woah. Watch out.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

In order of preference and number of CDs in my collection 

Concerti (violin preferred over piano, cello, guitar)
Symphonies
String Quartet
Other orchestral music
Other chamber music
Opera 
Songs / lieder


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

That's kinda tough. My general favorites:

Concerti [mainly piano, but also some violin. Especially when there's more than one soloist! Then does that technically make them a soloist? ]
Symphonies
Sonatas
Fugues
Theme and Variations
A capella sacred music (? I don't know what genre this is?)
Piano Trios/Quartets/Quintets
And of course, the Symphonic Poem


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

As soon as I got to know the piano trios, quartets and quintets of Beethoven and Brahms, chamber music for piano and strings became a special passion, which now extends to practically any fine work in the repertoire written for keybord and at least one stringed instrument. The musical effects possible with this simple combination - the range of colors, the sharp percussion, the soulful singing, the counterpoints and juxtapositions, the textures sparse and full, delicate and weighty - make it an ideal embodiment of the basic aesthetic virtue of variety in unity.


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

I tend to gravitate more toward symphonies. I also enjoy violin and piano concertos. I haven't really listened to much else so far.


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm with Woodduck, my favorite would have to be chamber music including piano and strings. String quartets are a very close second.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2014)

I much prefer symphonies - the most democratic of music - and shorter piano pieces (Debussy, Satie).


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Dustin said:


> I'm with Woodduck, my favorite would have to be chamber music including piano and strings. *String quartets are a very close second.*


I was going to say the same thing, Dustin, but didn't want to blunt my final thought. Yes, the string quartet is a wonderfully clean medium and an inducement to clear musical thinking. No fancy clothing to conceal a poor figure.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

MacLeod said:


> I much prefer symphonies - the most democratic of music - and shorter piano pieces (Debussy, Satie).


Symphonies are hardly democratic! More like dictatorships in performance! At least concertos have a two-(or more)party system.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Symphonies are hardly democratic! More like dictatorships in performance! At least concertos have a two-(or more)party system.


That's very clever! I'd say the string quartet is the truest democracy, no?

(What is that pink thing in the middle of your chest, if you don't mind my asking?)


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Favorite musical forms (genres)?

I really don't know.... now I tend to listen more to chamber music but I'd say that my preferences have always changed/evolved with time.
Anyway, I have never been very fond of ballet music, except for those works (Stravinsky in primis) that possess an intrinsic "extra-ballet quality".


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> That's very clever! I'd say the string quartet is the truest democracy, no?


I think you're probably right, but I'm much less familiar with that form, so it wasn't in the forefront of my mind. I was thinking of the autocratic excesses of the piano concerto.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

string quartet.............


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

My preference is for orchestral works, be that symphonies, concertos, tone poems, serenades etc. I love the variety on offer and wouldn't want to have to choose one over another.
Chamber music either string quartets or sonatas I need to be in the mood for. I find they need more concentration on my part to get the same level of enjoyment
Opera/Songs/Choral works now it's a struggle, I keep trying and it gets easier, I get the beauty in the human voice but it can all get rather the same after a while


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

These days I mostly listen to chamber works or piano sonatas.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

1. string quartet
2. piano trio/quartet
3. symphony
4. sonatas: cello+piano, violin+piano or just piano
5. mixed chamber ensemble
6. violin/cello/piano concerto
7. cantata
8. opera


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> That's very clever! I'd say the string quartet is the truest democracy, no?
> 
> (What is that pink thing in the middle of your chest, if you don't mind my asking?)


Idk what the guy's wearing. And I'm colourblind so I didn't even realise it was pink.


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Idk what the guy's wearing. And I'm colourblind so I didn't even realise it was pink.


Looks like some kind of Pokemon...?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I used to have a preference for symphonies, string quartets and piano sonatas, but lately the genre or medium has mattered less and less to me. Anything is good if the music is good.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

violadude said:


> I used to have a preference for symphonies, string quartets and piano sonatas, but lately the genre or medium has mattered less and less to me. Anything is good if the music is good.


I think it may have to do with how long one has been listening, in some cases. When you're discovering a broader scope of classical, you tend to find a few symphonies you love and want to explore more. You hear Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concertos and you look for Beethoven, Dvorak, and Brahms'. String Quartets take you to Bartok, Shostakovich, and Janacek. When I started, and I'm still relatively new to this, I was more likely to reach for something labeled (quartet, sonata, concerto) than something called "Man on train with purple scarf in F sharp major". It's easy for the mind to categorize and organize, so as to not risk getting lost too early on a journey.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Increasingly it's string quartets. At least, for now it is.
Before I would avoid them like the plague and would wonder why. A bigger question was if in avoiding them just how much was I missing out on?
Like most things in life, an investment in time and patience will get you there. Specifically, it was like learning to juggle; isolate two lines the quartet, follow their dance around each other or where they meet/part, and keep one eye (ear) on what the other two are doing. After a while it became second nature and I simply let my listening happen. And what a revelation. The cliche 'Where have you been all my life?' is particularly apt.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Actually as I "age", I find myself listening more to intimate forms like Bach, WTC. Fewer symphonies.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

1. Symphonies
2. Concertos
3. Chamber music
4. Lieder/Songs/Chansons etc
5. Miscellaneous orchestral works
6. Organ works
7. Masses
8. Opera
9. Piano works
10. The rest


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Dave Whitmore said:


> I tend to gravitate more toward symphonies. I also enjoy violin and piano concertos. I haven't really listened to much else so far.


It's all good! Keep the faith!!! Maybe it will spread on SI!!!


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## ProudSquire (Nov 30, 2011)

As of now it is


*Chamber music - String quartets/Quintets/Trios
*
*Symphonies
*
*Solo keyboard/piano pieces
*
*Piano concertos
*
*Piano Sonatas
*
*Lied/er
*
*Concert Arias
*
*Opera
*
*And everything else *
:tiphat:


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Fantasy, because it encourages the imagination and flights of fancy, even in Bach and Mozart.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

As of this very moment, the prelude and fugue as in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.


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## Dave Whitmore (Oct 3, 2014)

There is actually an orchestra on SI. I haven't had the chance to go and listen to a performance yet so I have no idea how good they are. Of course the city is about an hour bus ride away. The two concerts I've been to so far have both been in Manhattan. Next year I intend to go out and listen to more live music. There is such a world of difference between hearing something live and listening to a cd.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Well I enjoy music in all it's forms and wouldn't want to rank them in any order. But I do gravitate more towards choral works. I am a sucker for a good oratorio, divine a capella works, masses and requiems.
Oh - and the Organ!


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

My preferences:

1. Solo Keyboard (includes organ)
2. Keyboard Chamber
3. String Chamber
4. Choral
5. Concertos
6. Symphonies
7. Lieder
8. Opera


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I have to say two of my all-time favorite musical forms from around 15 years ago:

1. Martha Argerich

2. Anne-Sophie Mutter


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

hpowders said:


> I have to say two of my all-time favorite musical forms from around 15 years ago:
> 
> 1. Martha Argerich
> 
> 2. Anne-Sophie Mutter


Badabum-ching! :tiphat:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Dustin said:


> Badabum-ching! :tiphat:


It sure did answer the question. Va Va Va Voom!!!


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## Richannes Wrahms (Jan 6, 2014)

I like sonata-rondo form and other enriched sonata hybrids. In practice there's only a few good ones but those are really good.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Actually as I "age", I find myself listening more to intimate forms like Bach, WTC. Fewer symphonies.


Likewise, and other old coots I know say the same thing. For me the ensembles keep getting smaller. Lately I spend a lot of time listening to silence.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Likewise, and other old coots I know say the same thing. For me the ensembles keep getting smaller. Lately I spend a lot of time listening to silence.


I do that too. I'm very sensitive to quiet. A lot more solo Bach keyboard music at this stage of the game.

Same with people. Only one or two at a time. Preferably none.


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