# When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. So I'm curious about the question in the title.

I'd also like to know:

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I'll answer first since I'm responsible for raising the questions.

At 16, no, I did not listen to classical music. I would've been interested, but I didn't have the resources at my disposal to find out about it.

I first began to explore classical music around the age of 17 or 18, when I first began to have my own money to buy music with. I bought Naxos tapes, all of which eventually died a heat death in my car. The only one I can remember having was Saint-Saëns's piano trios. I continued to explore haphazardly through college.

I first got really serious about classical music around the age of 30, which is also about the first time I spent more than the equivalent of $1000 on it. At that time (as now, basically) I was desperate to educate myself about the canon: to find out what works were in it, why they were in it, and so on.

I don't think I've ever spent $10k on classical music in a year, but I spent several thousand a year throughout my thirties. (I retired at 39 and have spent less since then. I have returned to working about 10 hours a week, but I still consider myself basically retired.) I once approached a young composer about commissioning a work for my 10th wedding anniversary, and was rejected! (He didn't like me because of my critical comments about the modernists's attitudes at that time on TC!) Otherwise, I would've spent that much.... I may still do that in the future.

The youngest work that I truly love is probably Takemitsu's _From Me Flows What You Call Time_, from 1990 - quite a few years younger than I am.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Probably my late teens I started getting into classical. But then I did not get very far with it, a couple dozen LPs at most, I came back to it in 2011 and have stuck with it since, with a focus on opera for the past 4+ years.

EDIT: I should add that I was exposed to Peter and the Wolf as a small child.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
-> around 10 or so, we had a few records at home (Kempff/Beethoven, Suppe, Tschaikovsky etc.). This was back in the 70s.

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 
-> around 15 or so I began collecting, copying music from the radio on music cassettes and buying a bit, borrowing from local libraries, making a collection catalogue etc.

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?
-> I'm not sure I ever did that, in spite of having a big collection know. Always bought at reduced prices etc. But I have approached that amount and maybe reached it from the age of 45 or so. 
I surely never spent 10,000 in a year, that would be out of the question, and reserved for millionaires, I think.

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?
-> Yes. Several works from the 1990s and early 2000s (such as pieces by Nørgård, Lutoslawski, Ligeti, Szymanski, Silvestrov, Schnittke, Murail, Saariaho, Berio, Keuris, Gubaidulina, Takemitsu, Messiaen, Maxwell-Davies, Narbutaite etc. etc.)


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I liked classical music when I was younger than 16 and have loved it since my mid-thirties. But at age 16 I wanted nothing to do with it.

I never had to think about exploring classical music. My dad played it constantly as I was growing up (on record and on his violin).

Not many years ago I was spending thousands on classical cd's each year. Now - not a dime. Addiction kicked!!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

At 16, I was deeply deeply into CM. I listened to it all the time - along with a very few progressive rock albums (I can remember Hendrix, Santana) - and was the only one of my friends who did. I went to our local library and took 6 classical LPs every week. I bought LPs (perhaps a couple a month). I digested the various review publications (again the library but a different branch). I went through my parents' extensive LP collection. I went to concerts. I was adventurous with modern music - Stockhausen, Cage, Maxwell Davies - as well as lots and lots of everything from Monteverdi to Bartok. But I was not that into chamber music.

I started years earlier. I stopped for a while in my early 20s (it was all rock and punk for a while and I'm afraid I had a wild period) but soon picked it up again. I was not so adventurous in my late 20s and early 30s - even Bartok seemed a stretch - but I did start exploring chamber music. 

I am not sure how much I ever spent. Perhaps in my 50s I was spending more than £1000 a year on CDs. Now I am poorer but I bought a lot of CDs in my 50s that I never really listened to until now - a lot of quite contemporary music that I knew I should at least try to like. This is like a gold mine to me now!

I truly love lots of music that is much younger than me! I love the work of many composers who are much younger than me. I think this is a golden age!


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I did like some classical works before I was 16, but it would be ridiculous to say I really liked classical music then. I probably really started liking classical works when I was in my late 20s (my future wife was a violinist). I didn't get very serious about classical music until my mid to late 40s. I didn't spend significant money on classical music until my 50s.

The latest work I could find that I both loved and knew the composition date was 2013 so I'm 57 years older than that work.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I consider current times more of a transitional period, and I have no idea what will come next.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

I was into classical music at the age of 14. It was just as important to me as rock.
I didn't have the kind of disposal income to allow me to collect 'seriously' (>$1,000/year) until my 30's.
I've never spent $10,000 in a single year on classical music, but I do wish I had that kind of money to allocate to it.
I am 60 years older than my new favorite choral composition. There are some great choral composers out there that are only in their 30's, writing fabulous music.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

I started with CM at the age of 5 by playing the piano. At the age of 7 I was listening only classical music. From the age of 12, my mother some times gave more than 1000 USD per month (not year) for recordings. There were years I gave more than 10.000 USD for audio equipment due to listen CM the way I want. (I' m still giving money for this, but not so much.) Nowadays I can't say how much I'm investing to my craziness, but my buys are restricted up to 30 to 40 pieces per month plus the extras for equipment and some concerts, the last not very often. I also support an Institute in Italy and sometimes events in the region Berlin / Brandenburg. It is a consolation that here are friends are buying much more than me. And a very good excuse to my family for my expenses... :tiphat:


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I don't know if exposure to it at a young age qualifies as 'liking it' in the sense of it being a passion. I think I liked it from a very young age, earlier than being a teenager, but with not much encouragement. Learning an instrument allowed me to see, hear (and play in) concerts that I certainly wouldn't have had the money or opportunity to attend.

In between now and then it has waxed and waned in importance for me, with a small core of works and composers being always there. Jazz has also taken up a lot of my listening and in third place pop music. However classical has always made up the bulk of my music collection and still does. It has been built very slowly, I'm not an impulse-buyer or a compulsive buyer or a completist.

I don't think I have _ever_ spent $10,000 in _ten_ years, never mind one year. I didn't have that sort of disposable income until well into my 20s and I don't think it would have been necessary anyway because many concerts were either free or a concessionary price or in the case of jazz gigs I happened to be playing in it until age 22.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

*I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. So I'm curious about the question in the title. 
When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?*

*Yes - if I had a chance to hear it and get used to it. For example, Dad bought Beethoven's Fifth and played it a lot at about that time, and I got to like it. He also played repeatedly an LP of 'Classical Pops' which had some of Brahms' Hungarian Dances on it and both Dad & I got besotted with them. When I was about eight, I got to love the Hungarian Rhapsody and 1812 Overture because my teenage sister bought them and used to play them. *

*I'd also like to know: 
At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
*
*The crucial word is 'explore'. I'm not sure I really did that until about seven years ago, when Taggart retired. As far as being 'aware' of classical music, however, I can't remember a time when I wasn't. We had a few 78s of classical records - Tchaikovsky, Bolero, The Ritual Fire Dance - and I loved them, and we also had the BBC Third Programme (radio) playing classical music in the mornings, which when I was left alone with it, I used to 'conduct'. *

*- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *

*I'm not sure that that term applies even now. But if it does, about seven years ago, when Taggart retired. *

*- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? 
*
*The only time I've spent about £1000 on music is on a year's violin lessons - when, in my first three years after returning to the instrument, I practised classical and baroque violin music. I don't believe I've ever spent that much on cds or concert tickets. *

*- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?*

*If I count Robert Moran's Chant du Cygne (1990) then I am a few decades older - don't want to be more specific.




But generally it's baroque music that I really love, so I'm hundreds of years younger. *


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I heard a lot of classical music growing up: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Puccini, Grieg, Ravel, and Gershwin stick in my mind as things we had on cassette or later CD. In particular I remember having a great fondness for a double cassette called _Last Night of the Proms_, taken from which year(s) I do not recall, that featured _Rhapsody in Blue_. I also had some fondness for early jazz through exposure to the record collection of my paternal grandfather, who was a Dixieland aficionado. I went through a lot of phases for around ten years beginning at the age of eight, including nu metal, hip hop, pop punk, and progressive metal before eventually finding my way to modern classical music (in which category I am including the _dreaded_ experimental and avant garde "musics") via Frank Zappa in my late teens. At the age of sixteen my favourite music was, if I recall correctly, mostly Zappa, Primus, and Dream Theater.


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## Rambler (Oct 20, 2017)

I am told I was paying attention to classical music when I was a baby in a pram - and never developed a taste for popular music. (That's not quite true - I recently bought the 2 CD anniversary Edition of St Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - the only rock entry in my music collection.)

I remember as a child having to spend a day in hospital which I spent reading a book on Beethoven String Quartets - much to the amazement of the nurse who asked what I was reading. I suspect I may have been insufferable at that age!

I've never been wealthy enough to spend huge amounts on music (other than buying a rather expensive piano). Probably half a dozen concerts and around 50 or so CDs a year.


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## beetzart (Dec 30, 2009)

I first got into Classical music when I was 10. My mum had (still has) a lovely little upright piano and she could play simple pieces to me. She also used to play Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the car and we used to love the 1st movement of Winter. Then I discovered Beethoven and that was it really I was hooked. I didn't buy a pop/rock/indie CD until I was 19. Most of my money went on buying classical CDs and still does today (Amazon I think will bankrupt me  ).

At 16 I was heavily into most classical music I suppose chronologically Vivaldi through to Sibelius.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 

I was very little when my grandmother started to teach me to play the piano, using mostly classical music.


- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 

I was seven when I entered Musical School, so I guess then it was "serious" to me.




- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? 

I don't really count the money I spent, but I guess I should be in my twenties. 


- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?

Much older


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I was smitten by classical music the first time I heard any, which was probably well before the age of 10. It may have been Suppe's "Poet and Peasant" overture as played on the piano by my grandmother, or maybe it was a 78 rpm recording of an opera aria, or possibly some Rossini or Wagner or Johann Strauss in a Warner Brothers cartoon. Apparently all music was fascinating to me from my earliest years, or so my mother tells me. But in classical music I knew immediately that I'd found my home, and I was permanently obsessed and went on to play the piano and organ, compose, improvise for dance schools, sing in choirs, etc.

I don't spend and never have spent much money on music. I always found ways of having it around me, I got paid for producing it, I carry it around in my head continuously, and now that I'm a geezer I don't even have to listen to it often to enjoy it. It's more like breathing than like eating.

I'm probably just a few years younger than the most recent classical music I truly love, which is probably by Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninoff, or Copland.


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## Dimace (Oct 19, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> I was smitten by classical music the first time I heard any, which was probably well before the age of 10. It may have been Suppe's "Poet and Peasant" overture as played on the piano by my grandmother, or maybe it was a 78 rpm recording of an opera aria, or possibly some Rossini or Wagner or Johann Strauss in a Warner Brothers cartoon. Apparently all music was fascinating to me from my earliest years, or so my mother tells me. But in classical music I knew immediately that I'd found my home, and I was permanently obsessed and went on to play the piano and organ, compose, improvise for dance schools, sing in choirs, etc.
> 
> I don't spend and never have spent much money on music. I always found ways of having it around me, I got paid for producing it, I carry it around in my head continuously, and now that I'm a geezer I don't even have to listen to it often to enjoy it. It's more like breathing than like eating.
> 
> I'm probably just a few years younger than the most recent classical music I truly love, which is probably by *Vaughan Williams, Rachmaninoff, or Copland.*


Yes Sir!!! :tiphat:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I knew I liked it in grade school. Was subtly encouraged by a sister, a few peers, and parents. Asked for (and got) the Jussi Bjoering etc. Aida for Christmas in 6th grade. Never spent more than $1,000 but managed to accumulate several thousand LPs over the years. Am closing on 70 -- most recent work I truly love probably dates from 5 years younger.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?
I'm not yet sixteen, however I'm sure I will.

At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
Second grade.

At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 
Sixth grade.

About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? 
Hmmm... I probably never have, except on violin and piano lessons (I'm not sure if that counts).

Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?
Younger, by 32 years (Shostakovich Symphony 15).


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

My parents had little interest in music, depending on your view of Herb Alpert, who's LPs they acquired mainly for the background music during their frequent parties. I can still recall the noise and the smell of whisky and cigarette smoke that came wafting up the stairs.

With little musical enlightenment in my teenage years (1970s) I followed the orthodox pop and rock route. Except that I had a voracious appetite for music, in due course played in a lousy rock band, got a job and began to work my way through any genre from pop and rock to blues to country to jazz.

In my mid-20's I began to wonder if that's all there was. I gave up playing in a band because I detested the sound we made. Helped in this view by the lousy music of the 80s.

All the time in the background there were little exposures to classical music and opera, which I assimilated while thinking it wasn't for people like me. I remember a housemate who saw a CD on my table. _Bob Dye-lan_? He enquired. Dylan, I corrected him, he's really good you know. Suffice to say this chap only listened to classical music. Or the time at a party at my gay night-school English teacher's place, smoking dope while he played Maria Callas. Kind of like the scene from Philadelphia but with more people in the room and without the AIDS.

Then on a whim I got a cheap ticket for ENO's The Barber of Seville. I'm not saying I was hooked on opera at once, but I liked that tickets were cheap and I could sit on my own at the back of the Balcony and not feel awkward. (There will be similar repeats of this episode from others, I'll bet.) Soon I realised that being a more cultured kind of person made me a little more appealing to some girls, but surely you guys already know that's how it works, right?

By the time I reached 30 my voracious musical appetite had transferred entirely to classical music and opera, and within a few years I'd been to many of the world great opera houses and concert halls. The great thing is that I never tire of it, as there's always something interesting to discover.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Tchaikov6 said:


> When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?
> I'm not yet sixteen, however I'm sure I will.


My jaw dropped when I read the above. You seem much more mature than the typical teenager. As for me, I feel older than I did this morning - I'm at least 54 years older than you. Enjoy your youth - it only comes once.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

- When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?
Yes I did, some of it.

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
About 14 years old. I started listening to a classical radio station, at night, in bed, with headphones. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Sometimes I wish I could relive my discovery of classical music. It has never been quite the same.

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 
My interests were still all over the place when I was younger, but in my early 20s I got back into it and this time it was here to stay, for life.

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? 
I've never spent that much money on music in a single year.

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?
I'm 57 years younger than Sibelius 7th symphony.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Bulldog said:


> My jaw dropped when I read the above. You seem much more mature than the typical teenager. As for me, I feel older than I did this morning - I'm at least 54 years older than you. Enjoy your youth - it only comes once.


Yes and also work hard in school, go to Wall Street, make hundreds of millions, spend it sponsoring performances and new compositions, and be sure to invite me along.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

Bulldog said:


> My jaw dropped when I read the above. *You seem much more mature than the typical teenager*. As for me, I feel older than I did this morning - I'm at least 54 years older than you. Enjoy your youth - it only comes once.


I'm flattered :lol:


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

-_When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?_

Yes, I did. But I was still a novice.

-_At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?_

Probably one or two years before that.

-_At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?_

At the very moment in which I started to explore it around age 15, pretty much all my listening efforts and music related activities were on classical music, including piano lessons.

-_About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?_

Well, when I was around 18 I made my mother to spend circa $1000 on a digital piano, which I was planning to use only for playing classical music, of course. These days, the moments in which I spend a non-trivial amount of money on classical music is when I travel 800 kms to the country's capital city to see some concerts there at the main venues that particularly interest me. That happens maybe twice a year.

- _Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?_

I would say I love Dai Fujikura's Sparking Orbit, for electric guitar and electronics, which is probably less than a decade old.


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## Euler (Dec 3, 2017)

My grandfather was a semi-pro cellist and taught me from an early age, but by 16 I was in the closet--where I grew up, classical music was for "fairies" and "poofs" and not a wise thing to openly enjoy. We didn't have the money for proper lessons or a large record collection, since my dad was a coal miner, and Thatcher screwed the industry right before I was born. But when my grandfather saw I had the knack he bought me a cheap cello (kudos to my parents for not doing the sensible thing and selling it!). Today I'm still not a big record collector. For me recordings are to be cherished, not piled high and neglected. Live music is another matter: I adore it and go to around 100 concerts a year. That along with my instruments and bows is my main expense--my current cello cost north of $10,000. I'm 31 and much older than the most recent work I deeply love, which is probably Carter's clarinet quintet from 2007.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

When you were 16 did you like classical music - sort of. I had done some piano and heard a lot of light classical on the radio.

At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? possibly in my 30's when I restarted piano although it took a back seat until retirement.

At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? When I joined TC after retiring.

About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? In retirement. That's about £500 so it represents the costs of lessons, sheet music exam fees and so forth. Some years we've spent a fair bit on concert tickets. If you include accommodation and travel then going to the Early Music Festival in York would probably have cost that. (will you stop asking my age!).

And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 £5,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? Nope never got that far. Call it music including folk and add in accommodation and travel then we might be getting that way this year. We've done three music schools (all folk) and have a fourth coming up.

Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much? Much younger. All of the stuff I really love is pre 1760.will you stop asking my age!).


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Taggart said:


> All of the stuff I really love is pre 1760.


Yeah but is that older or youn...



Taggart said:


> will you stop asking my age!).


Oh, sorry.

I'm teaching some kids who can't remember a time before youtube. (The US has been at war in Iraq longer than they've been alive.) Everyone old enough to be out of college is old now.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

*When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?*

No exposures to it.

*I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. *

That is very immature and ignorant. You'll never hear that from me.

*At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? *

20

*At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *

60

* About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? *

30

*And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? *

counting home audio, 55

*- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?*

older by a lot


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

*At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?*
In the fifth grade, my teacher loved classical music and made a special effort to get us interested. She would play certain pieces each week, like the Ritual Fire Dance, to get us interested. I did a report on Smetana, mainly because his dictionary entry was the shortest. 
*
- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?*
18. I took a music appreciation class in college, and that launched me into my serious phase. I dropped out of music at 22 and got serious again when I turned 40.

*- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?*
I've never spent more than $1,000 a year on classical music/concerts/anything.

*- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much? *
Arvo Part's True Vine was 1996. I can't do math.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

*-When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?*

Yes, at this time it was becoming the genre I listened to most.

*- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? *

Well I started learning the piano when I was 7, and I started playing works by Chopin, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and Mozart at around 13. It was around this time that my interest was piqued a bit.

*- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *

After about two years of other musics/activities being progressively phased out in favour of CM, I think I was 17 when it really became my most cherished hobby, and it was then pretty much the only music I listened to.

*- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? *

Well I definitely spent $1000 this year, as I went to 12 concerts (by far the most I ever have) and probably got 15 or so new CD's (I'm 24); I think I might have last year as well but I can't be sure.

*- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?
*

Older by 18 years.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

I'm still trying to think what the most recently composed music is that I love. I mean, I love my own stuff, but that's cheating. I guess it would be _Civilization Phaze III_, Frank Zappa's magnum opus, posthumously released in 1994 but completed in 1993, and which I am roughly three years older than. That might be a good one for the "is this classical?" thread. I'm not sure what it would be in terms of "regular" concert music, maybe _NoaNoa_ by Kaija Saariaho, which is still a year younger than me.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I loved music as a child, and during my teens that was split between classical, rock, folk, broadway and so on. I was fortunate to be able to attend live concerts during those years which contributed greatly to my appreciation. I've never stopped loving music for which I've always been grateful.


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## Pure Fool (Jul 30, 2018)

I was 15 when I got into Wagner and Beethoven. I believe I was in my 40's when I first spent more than $1,000 on classical music: mostly cds.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

At 16, the closest I got to listening to classical music was Rick Wakeman doing Brahms on the Yes Fragile album. I did like all of the classical influences I heard in pop and rock at the time. I started listening to the real stuff just after high school.

I don't think I've ever spent over a grand in a year on just classical.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I cannot remember not hearing classical music at home via my mother's small collection of 78 RPM disks, mostly Russian classics: Borodin _Polovtsian Dances_, Tchaikovsky _Nutcracker_, etc. I started buying LPs sometime in my early teens: first purchase was Rachmaninoff PC No. 2. I don't think I ever spent $1000 in a year on CM, but maybe $1000 total on Rock, CM, and cante flamenco in a year. Made some of my early stereo equipment from kits, to save money. Probably the most recent CM piece I am really crazy about is Bartók _Concerto for Orchestra_. I was three when it was composed.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

science said:


> I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. So I'm curious about the question in the title.


No, I was not into classical music when I was 16. I was just discovering prog rock at that age, which is heavily influenced by classical music. But when I gave classical music a shot, it did not really do anything for me. At the time, I was only exposed to pre-20th century classical music.

About 20 years later, when I got more into the avant-garde side of prog (bands that are influenced by late 20th century and contemporary composers), that I really fell in love with classical.



> I'd also like to know:
> 
> - At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?


My mid 30s.

Although I did dable a bit a few years earlier.



> - At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?


Same as above.

As soon as I discovered music from the late 20th century and contemporary periods, I was off and running!



> - About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?


I probably spend more that $1000 a year just in recordings.

Unfortunately, I rarely go to live concerts, despite having one of the best orchestras and concert halls in the US, because they rarely program music I like. There's a couple of programs this season that may get me to go.



> - Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?


I am older than many pieces I truly love.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

My first exposure to classical was at age 6. A neighbor gave me three LPs: Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Beethoven Violin Concert (Heifetz no less!) and Berlioz Symphony Fantastique - that last movement made a deep impression. Those three records and a few others I got from others were all it took. As a kid I never listened to Top-40, never bought any pop/rock. Never watched American Bandstand. But I watched Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. I saved my money to buy some LP sets from Radio Shack - the Russian Collection was great. And I was certainly the odd ball in school. I remember two incidents from 7th grade in the weekly Music Class. Once the teacher said he's going to play something he knows no one will be able to identify until 2/3 of the way in. He dropped the needle and my hand instantly shot up: "It's Rossini's William Tell Overture". He cautioned me not to be so hasty and listen carefully. Of course I messed up his "surprise". Then later, we were all invited to bring our favorite record and we would listen to some. Needless to say, every classmate brought a 45 RPM of something. Beatles - I don't even remember who was popular then. Me, I brought my cherished LP of Tchaikovsky 5 with Ormandy. Yes, I was a nerd and weirdo. For 8th grade graduation I got the Beethoven 9 from Reader's Digest; the Leibowitz recordings. How great was that. 

I have spent a lifetime collecting LPs and CDs - the latter numbering over 12,000. Also composer and conductor biographies in the hundreds, scores too - although that's slowed down. I've spent more than $1000 on classical every year since I was probably 20 or so. Usually, much more. No regrets at all. I love this music and wish everyone did. If my spending has helped keep it alive then it's all been worth it. The ONLY problem I now have is that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, what the heck is going to happen to it all? My kids, nieces, nephews or other undeserving relatives don't appreciate it. And sending it to Goodwill or the landfill just horrifies me.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

mbhaub said:


> I have spent a lifetime collecting LPs and CDs - the latter numbering over 12,000. ... The ONLY problem I now have is that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, what the heck is going to happen to it all? My kids, nieces, nephews or other undeserving relatives don't appreciate it. And sending it to Goodwill or the landfill just horrifies me.


And I thought I had this problem with a mere 4300 CDs! Maybe I can will my problem to my younger sister, who at least enjoys classical music.


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## Xisten267 (Sep 2, 2018)

_When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?_

Not really. Only some small pieces or reduced parts of pieces that I had listened from the Reader's Digest _150 Best Loved Melodies_ collection that my mother has and sometimes would listen, and Disney's Fantasia. I didn't have a radio and wouldn't usually listen to music at all, except for those of video games, and though at the time that music pieces with more than 6 minutes were eccentricities. 

_At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?_

At 20. The game changer for me was Wagner's _Tannhäuser Overture_. The first time I listened, I didn't like much. The second, I though that it was a very beautiful piece. The third, I weeped at it's sublime perfection. Since then, I started to explore the classical music world, and have became an inconditional fan. Today, music is the ultimate pleasure of my life, and the most wonderful pieces that I know from it come from classical.

_At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?_

My attitude towards classical music changed at 20. See above.

_About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?_

I never had so much money so that I could spend this much on music in an year.

_Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?_

Twelve years older. The last classical work that I really like for now* is the soundtrack of an art game by Appeal called _Outcast_. It's from 1999, and was played by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Despite being a soundtrack, I consider it a set of classical pieces. The themes of Shamazaar ("World of Temples") and Talanzaar ("Oriental Spirit"), places of the game, are my absolute favorites from any soundtrack that I know, including those of movies. I'm letting a link to it below just in case one of you may be curious about it.






*: At the moment, I know almost nothing about post-Shostakovich classical music, and there's probably a lot of great contemporary pieces that I'm still missing.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

mbhaub said:


> I have spent a lifetime collecting LPs and CDs - the latter numbering over 12,000. Also composer and conductor biographies in the hundreds, scores too - although that's slowed down. I've spent more than $1000 on classical every year since I was probably 20 or so. Usually, much more. No regrets at all. I love this music and wish everyone did. If my spending has helped keep it alive then it's all been worth it. The ONLY problem I now have is that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, what the heck is going to happen to it all? My kids, nieces, nephews or other undeserving relatives don't appreciate it. And sending it to Goodwill or the landfill just horrifies me.


Brother, you can mail it to me! I will pay for shipping.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. So I'm curious about the question in the title.

*I have no problems with most of the kids. Most of my disagreements are with some the older members.*

I'd also like to know:

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? *Five*

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *Ten*

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? *If you count the year I purchase my first bassoon, 25. Most I have ever spent in a year is maybe $8,000. That was two years ago when I purchased a bass clarinet.*

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much? *Older. Over 65 years. John Mackey's Wine Dark Sea which was composed in 2014.*


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> I have spent a lifetime collecting LPs and CDs - the latter numbering over 12,000. Also composer and conductor biographies in the hundreds, scores too - although that's slowed down. I've spent more than $1000 on classical every year since I was probably 20 or so. Usually, much more. No regrets at all. I love this music and wish everyone did. If my spending has helped keep it alive then it's all been worth it. The ONLY problem I now have is that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, what the heck is going to happen to it all? My kids, nieces, nephews or other undeserving relatives don't appreciate it. And sending it to Goodwill or the landfill just horrifies me.


Don't you have charities selling this stuff in the States? Most classical CDs are slow selling but many can be quite valuable when they do sell. For vinyl only the older ones tend to be worth anything.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Yes when I was 16.

When I was 4 or 5 years old I would tell my mom which records from my parents' collection I wanted to hear. Does that count as exploring? It was mostly Russian music: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, etc.

Began seriously exploring on my own at 15 or so. My friends and I listened to lots of classical music from Bach to Xenakis under the influence of various hallucinogens.

$1000 a year? Uh … never? I think. I've gotten lots of freebies because of jobs with universities (they have libraries!) and orchestras. 

About 40 years older.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

science said:


> Brother, you can mail it to me! I will pay for shipping.


Keep in touch! Heck, I'll even have the estate handle the shipping!


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## Over the Rainbow (Oct 12, 2018)

16 years old ===> 1969, no only rock and pop music RS, PF, and many others :guitar:


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
It's hard to say precisely, I bought a couple of albums (Beethoven Piano Sonatas and Peer Gynt Suite when I was a teenager) My mother bought lots of records. 

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 
It's again hard to say, it was a slow transition. Each year a little less rock and roll and a little more classical. But even now I still listen to a bit of jazz and rock and roll. There was always classical music in the house, my mother played the piano and we had many records. 

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? 
I have never spent more than $1000 on tickets and cds in the same year.
However, if the following counts: the first year was 21 years ago, when I bought my first violin and took lessons. Five years ago, I took a flight to LA to see Dudamel and the LA Phil, but even that was less than $1000. 

And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? 
Not quite, but three years ago I did buy a really nice violin, and go to music camp. But even this ticket price, while close to $10K is still less than $10K. I was fifty. 

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?
I am older than a few pieces I truly love. 
Lutoslawski Symphony no 3 - I was 18 when it was written. 
Gubaidulina In Tempus Presaens - I was 42 when it was written. 
Ades Concentric Paths - I was 39 when it was written. 
Reich Different Trains - I was 23 when it was written.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I must have been about 15 when I sold all my pop records because I decided to 'go classical'. The first two LPs I bought were Tchaikovsky's pc 1 (Katchen) and Handel's Water Music (Boyd Neel) They were on the old Ace pf Clubs label (Decca) and were just under £1. That was a considerable amount to me in those days but it started me on the way to over 1500 CDs now!


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

At 16 no. I was listening to Pink Floyd and Queen plus other pop/rock music.

When I was 20 I went to see Amadeus - this made absolutely no difference to my indifference to CM. I had no idea then I would become a Mozart fanatic.

At 24/25 I cant recall why I started listening it Beethoven sy 6 on tape. Then I had a tape with various short classics on it. These I dipped into for 2 years. Finally I heard K467 and that was the piece that really launched my interest.

From the age of about 27 to 35 I probably spent £1K per year on hi fi, concerts records CDs etc.


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## pianoville (Jul 19, 2018)

- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 
I would say when I was about 8 years old and started taking piano lessons. It took a year or two before I started to get really interested in it.

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 
Probably when I was about 10. This was the time when I decided I wanted to be a professional pianist. So far I'd say it's going pretty well! 




- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? 
When I started taking piano lessons when I was 10 years old. Every year all of my piano lessons cost more than $1000. But I've never bought tickets for that amount money, not even close!

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? 
No. I'm pretty young (15), and I don't have much interest in 21st century music at all. In my opinion classical music died with Shostakovich.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I quite enjoyed classical music on the radio when small, and got thoroughly hooked in my early teens. I'm the generation who grew up with the Beatles etc but pop music just didn't do it for me. 
Apart from the Kinks. They were OK


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

pianoville said:


> No. I'm pretty young (15), and I don't have much interest in 21st century music at all. In my opinion classical music died with Shostakovich.


You have plenty of time to revise this opinion.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

At 16 I was totally in love with Black Sabbath and many other classic rock, metal and punk bands. However, I always liked orchestral music and bought Karajan's 60s Beethoven cycle for buttons (I think it was in a box of rock albums I bought from a mate of a mate). Tbh, I didn't play it much but when I did I got hooked on it. Although I still bought mainly rock I did pick up the occasional classical vinyl from Yanks in Manchester (super cheap import LPs from America complete with import clips in the cover). Collected a lot of standard repertoire (Planets, Carmina Burana, Tchaikovsky symphonies, etc) over the years and played them when I was guitared-out. However, scratchy old vinyl infuriated me and it wasn't until the birth of CD that my classical exploration really exploded. As the years have gone on my orchestral listening has gone from less than 10% of my listening to around 75% and its still rising. Weird how your tastes change. Even up to arriving on TC I still didn't like much Brahms except the 3rd Symphony. Now I have numerous (too many to count) Brahms cycles. However I got Mahler quite early, probably due to my initial love of the 1st Symphony.
Around the age of 18 I occasionally got tickets to the Halle Orchestra at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester. I went alone (as my mates thought I was crazy). My first concert would have been around that time and was a performance of Beethoven's 7th. After that, over the years I attended the occasional performance but I often felt very out of place due to my long hair and limited knowledge of the music I was listening to. It did put me off a bit but I persevered.


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## pianoville (Jul 19, 2018)

eugeneonagain said:


> You have plenty of time to revise this opinion.


We'll see! I actually find the music of Stockhausen and Xenakis quite intriguing, but I definitely don't love their works. Also, I forgot about Ligeti


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

_When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?_

Yes, but I wasn't listening to very much of it, being in a peer group that was listening to the John Peel show on BBC radio 1 (think punk rock, post-punk, new wave, fairly avant garde rock of many kinds and eras, throw in some reggae, ska etc.) I probably also wouldn't have wanted to acknowledge it to my peers then. Some adults I knew, knew.
_
At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?_

7 or so. I started to learn piano (but never became proficient - short fingers and poor hand-eye co-ordination!) mainly because I'd discovered Beethoven's piano sonatas. My father bought and listened to classical LPs around this time - he'd just bought his first stereo. I remember listening to Beethoven's symphonies and concertos, some Mozart and Haydn, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Gershwin, Mahler's 4th, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. At around the same age I remember us going to see Gilbert and Sullivan operettas on several occasions. When I was 8 or 9 I started going to hear the SNO quite regularly with my dad - and my first modernist work by the late Iain Hamilton, which made quite an impression.
_
At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?_

Good question. I think as a child I became very serious about certain classical music works but having an obsessional (or maybe autistic) streak I confined myself then mainly to Beethoven's works featuring a piano, or his symphonies, though I did fall very much in love with Sibelius's third symphony (and I am still in love with it). I started listening to pop and then rock music around the time I was 10 or 11 and didn't listen again to classical music very much until I was about 19 and at medical school. The listening habits of my fellow students were much less exploratory and adventurous than those of my friends at secondary school and I definitely turned back to classical music and began to explore chamber music seriously then. Now I think about it, another factor may have been the kid in the year below me in my last year at secondary school who was passionate about Schubert lieder. He may also have been part of the reason why I decided to 'come out' as a classical fan. By this time I was discovering the post 1894 (up to 1950 or so) classical musical world and no-one I knew was willing to follow me there.
_
About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year?_

I have always bought discs and attended a few concerts every year but had not really spent that much (time or money) on music during the early years of my career, and certainly not after we had our first child. I think it changed when I developed a serious illness and had to spend a lot of time off work. I gradually spent more (time and money) on classical music over the last 15 years or so. I'd probably have been touching on a spend of £775/US $1000 a year each year from 2008 on, on tickets and CDs / downloads, except for the past 12 months (illness, again).
_
...if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?_

I never have done, even in my hi-fi phase (which perhaps fortunately didn't correspond for long with my 'I have spare money' phase). An older, wiser me bought ex-dem and second hand gear. Now I'm too deaf to bother, unless something actually stops making a sound.
_
Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much? _

Rather older, by about 50 years. I truly love a number of contemporary chamber works and songs, including those by Gubaidulina, Kurtag, Birtwhistle, Rihm, Sciarrino, Harvey, Reich and many others.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Rambler said:


> I've never been wealthy enough to spend huge amounts on music (*other than buying a rather expensive piano).*


Though that surely counts, unless you were proposing to spend your time playing exclusively the back catalogue of, for example, Elton John?


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

pianoville said:


> - At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?
> I would say when I was about 8 years old and started taking piano lessons. It took a year or two before I started to get really interested in it.
> 
> - At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?
> ...


I'm impressed... can't wait to hear you on Deutsche Grammophon in a couple of years. 

I'm glad more young people are joining the forum as well!


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

pianoville said:


> - At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?
> I would say when I was about 8 years old and started taking piano lessons. It took a year or two before I started to get really interested in it.
> 
> - At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?
> ...


I hope you will make back all the money your parents put into your piano lessons.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

pianoville said:


> We'll see! I actually find the music of Stockhausen and Xenakis quite intriguing, but I definitely don't love their works. Also, I forgot about Ligeti


Ah, so you've tasted the forbidden fruit. There is only one road one can take after that, and it is paved with good music.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

_At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? _

I'm not sure, but it must have been pretty early. Elementary school or maybe earlier.

_At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?_

Probably around 16-17, when we started actually playing good music in orchestra.

_About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? _

I don't think I've ever spent that much on classical music. I typically go to a few concerts per year, but tickets are usually pretty cheap. All my listening is done online or on the radio, I only have a few CDs that I got as birthday presents.

_Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?_

Older. Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto was written in 2002.


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## pianoville (Jul 19, 2018)

Tchaikov6 said:


> I'm impressed... can't wait to hear you on Deutsche Grammophon in a couple of years.
> 
> I'm glad more young people are joining the forum as well!


Thanks! I look forward to it quite a lot too


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

*When you were 16 years old, did you like classical music?*

Yes, by then I'd say 90 percent of my music listening was classical, with the rest being mostly classic rock. (This would change later.)

*At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?*

Hard to say. My mom was a church musician who played a lot of Bach, my parents' record and CD collection was mostly classical, and I started piano lessons when I was six. I was always surrounded by classical music and I guess I always liked it, but I wouldn't say I started pursuing my own interest within it and developing my own taste then. I do remember my elementary school had field trips to my hometown's symphony, and I really enjoyed those even though I pretended to be terribly bored like the other kids. On the other hand, my mom accompanied a local group that did a series of Haydn masses and I found those very boring at the time. As I recall I liked bombastic, symphonic music and found slow stuff boring.

*At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *

I think I started listening obsessively and developing my own taste around 12 or 13. Also around that time I got _slightly_ more serious about the piano, though never enough to become actually good. The first pieces I remember loving were Holst's _The Planets_, Dvorak's _New World Symphony_, and Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies (the Kleiber recording). Then I got really into Bach, Brahms, Schubert, some early music (especially Tallis), and some Rachmaninoff. My parents had a History-Of-Western-Music type book and a couple record buying guides that I ate up, and I'd suggest things for them to buy when they went record shopping.

The most modern recordings in my parents' house were Stravinsky, Debussy, and Poulenc, all of which I liked, but I didn't really explore 20th century music beyond that until college, when I learned about it from friends and from working at the college radio station.

*About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? *

I don't think I ever did this. In college I had access to a huge library from the radio station and to the whole Naxos catalog streaming. There was some piracy. My peak record buying was probably in my early to mid 20s but it never came near that, and when I go to concerts I usually get cheap seats. Now I listen to a lot on Spotify.

*Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?*

Older - I was born in 1985, Ligeti's _Etudes_ and Gubaidulina's _Canticle of the Sun_ are 90s/00s.


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## Hugo9000 (Aug 6, 2018)

*At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?*

4

*At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? *

6 or 7

*About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year?*

21

*And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that? *

If you include audio equipment purchased solely for listening to classical music, then I was 23 years old.

*Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?*

I was thinking it would be Barber's violin concerto, but that's a little older than I realized, from 1939. So it turns out that Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances (1940) is the most recent work that I truly love, so I am 29 years younger.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

First question: Yes very much
- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? 11
- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music? 14
- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? Guessing... 22
And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much? 
Interesting question. Older by 40 years


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

I started playing the piano when I was 5 years old, and then the cello at age 10. But I didn't actually start exploring classical music on my own, outside of practice/rehearsals/concerts, until around 15. It was around that time that I realized that I wasn't just playing music because it was fun, I actually enjoyed listening to the music too. So I started buying recordings, and I quickly fell in love, particularly with classical music of the 20th century (it took a bit of time before I started enjoying earlier music). 

I've never spent more than $10,000 in a year. I did buy a cello in college for over $10,000, but I took out a loan for it and paid it off over several years, so I guess that doesn't really count. If you count both concert tickets and recordings, I probably have spent over $1000 in a year, although not until the past few years.

Yes, there is much music that I love that was written after I was born. I'm in my 40's, and there are works from the 80's and 90's by Ligeti and Schnittke that are among my favorites, to name just two composers off the top of my head. I'm sure there's much more than that too.


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## Vahe Sahakian (Mar 9, 2018)

I was born in the Middle East, the last place to discover classical music, but I got hooked about age 10-12. Our family and some of our friends were heavily into classical and that steered me into this music.
My first true love for the classical was Mozarts 24th piano concerto followed by Beethoven 3rd concerto.
The notion and the general belief that classical music is the preferred music of older folks just does not make sense to me, if you have ear for music sooner or later you will discover classical, if you don't stay with pop and rock.


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## goatygoatygoatgoat (May 28, 2018)

16 just happened to be the age when I realized I liked classical music (another year or two to realize that it was mainly Baroque concerti grossi that I liked). My parents didn't listen to _any_ music and I didn't play any instruments. I had heard and liked classical music bits in TV shows and movies previously, but I didn't know that it was called "classical music". It was the Amadeus soundtrack that got me started, then I got other records out of the library and went from there. I have since spent over $3000 on Baroque discs and tapes. If I hadn't had the ability to freely copy music from the library, I wouldn't have spent a bloody cent.

As for being "older or younger than the most recently composed work that I TRULY LOVE", I think the latest Baroque piece I loved was composed around 1758, so it's _slightly_ older than me.


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## goatygoatygoatgoat (May 28, 2018)

Rambler said:


> (That's not quite true - I recently bought the 2 CD anniversary Edition of St Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - the only rock entry in my music collection.)


Same here! Well, almost - I also have the Beatles Revolver album. But that's it for popular music.

I do keep a few rare MP3's of popular music (_extremely_ rare good ones), but I _never_ listen to them on my music player - just very occasionally on the computer.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

*At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?*

Ever since hearing Fantasia for the first time, perhaps. 3-4

*At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?*

6th grade, also the same time I decided to become professional flute player.

*About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year?*

Never. Too young to have that kind of money 

*And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?*

Does paying for my Masters of Music count?  Age 23 going into school for flute.

*Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you TRULY LOVE, and by how much?*

I truly love soundtracks of various styles, some in classical style. Yes, I'd say I'm older than a lot of my favorites which were written in the last 20 years.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I heard and enjoyed classical music at a very young age, but was more interested in other music through my youth. I became serious about classical music in my late 20's. If we include cost of instruments I spent a fair bit of money in my late 20's on classical music. I'm older than a multitude of classical works I truly love, (by composers such as Gubaidulina, Takemitsu and Rodrigo).


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

science said:


> I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the kids here. So I'm curious about the question in the title.


- At what age did you first begin to explore classical music? I was exposed to classical music when my mother played Beethoven Chopin, and Debussy on the piano. She also played popular tin-pan alley songs which are now used as 'jazz standards;' Gershwin, Cole Porter, Mercer.

- At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?

When I was 18 I fell in love with a girl who was listening to Mahler and Messiaen.

- About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?

I don't think I've ever spent that much money on music in a year.

- Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?

Wouldn't I always be older than any music I listen to? Unless it was composed in the future.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> *At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?*
> 
> Ever since hearing Fantasia for the first time, perhaps. 3-4
> 
> ...


My answers are nearly identical to yours, except, I decided *not* to become a professional flute player, and not too many years later I *did* have "that kind of money". Coincidence? I think not. ;-)
Edit: But congratulations on your choice, no doubt the right one for you, and there is a whole lot more to life than money.


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

I respected classical at that age but my only exposure to it was indirectly via groups like Emerson, Lake and Palmer who revamped a few classical works. When I was 16 the soundtrack to my life was largely a mixture of hard rock, prog and new wave. I never explored classical properly until I was into my mid-30s, but when I finally did it absorbed me to the point where all what went before suddenly became fringe listening. Metaphorically speaking, it was something like the sloughing off of an old skin.

Twenty years on I'm just so glad I didn't leave it _too_ late.


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Well, I never did not like classical music. I took my first music lessons at 6, but was not a prodigy.

I started buying my own classical LPs at 17. I also had access to a nice library collection in college that expanded my scope into modern and early music.. 

I kept a pretty small LP collection but the CD arrived in sync with my post-college income and consumption ensued but never close to $10000 a year. 

I probably spend more on concerts than recordings by a pinch. At the hall I want to be assaulted by music, but not so much at home.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

pianoville said:


> No. I'm pretty young (15), and I don't have much interest in 21st century music at all. In my opinion classical music died with Shostakovich.


Hopefully you will keep your mind open as you get older.

For me, it wasn't until I heard classical music composed around the mid 20th century to the present, that I became a fan.

Just remember not to paint all late 20th century and contemporary classical music with the same broad brush of being atonal and dissonant.

EDIT:

Wow! I didn't mean to sound so condescending with this post. I suck...


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## Vaan (Nov 17, 2018)

We had some classical records when I grew up. The usual stuff, Rachmaninov piano concerto 2, Tchaikovsky no 1 etc. I didn't like them at all as I didn't find them exciting. When I was 16 I heard Stravinsky's L´Histoire du Soldat and from that there was no turning back. It changed my life completely.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

pianoville said:


> No. I'm pretty young (15), and I don't have much interest in 21st century music at all. In my opinion classical music died with Shostakovich.


Amen. Just keep going and you'll realize sooner or later that Classical Music really died when organum came on the scene.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

science said:


> . . .
> 
> - At what age did you first begin to explore classical music?


I was born into a musical family. Parents were member of the Scandinavian Symphony in Detroit, (MI) for many years.



> - At about what age did you get really serious about classical music?


Age 6 when I began my piano studies; after 6 years on piano, began organ studies for another 6 years, took my first church position as organist at age 13 and have been playing professionally ever since, some 57+ years later.



> - About how old were you the first time you spent more than (the equivalent of) $1000 on classical music (recordings, tickets, sponsorships, and so on) in a single year? And, if you've ever spent more than $10,000 in a single year on classical music, how old were you when you first did that?


Tough question as I began to amass my LP collection in the 1960's, all of which I still own. I didn't ever think of it as a dollar figure; if I wanted the recording, I bought it when I could afford it ... most likely nowhere near $1,000 in any single year.



> - Are you older or younger than the most recently composed work that you _TRULY LOVE_, and by how much?


Older ... the composer is 41 years of age, and I am ... erm ... well ... hmm ... not that young :lol:


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

16 was the age I returned to classical music after forays into rock and jazz for the previous 4 years. When I maxed out on my enjoyment of the Beatles, I knew it was time to do something different. I quickly discovered The Rite and this changed everything.


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

Well, I was 16 when I last genuinely loved any popular music.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2018)

No, I was a big Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple fan when I was 16.


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