# classical composers that intimidate you in some way...



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

I dont lisen to* J.s Bach *or *Mozart* all does i find em genious just because there output is so large it's kilometric, a completist like me has problem whit a classical composer you can own everything they done, look at Mozart's concerto for piano how many of em did he do, about zillion(im slightly exagerating) than J.s Bach organ works most be quite massive too.

The question is were to start, this is a tedious question and a far complicated one...
There are no right answer even for specialists since they dont agree on a work over another
being better.

Regardless of this i think i will get some J.s Bach give it a chance, Mozart concerto i have a good idea
what to look for.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

The fact that there is such an enormous amount of music in the world that it is impossible to know it all or collect it all. I am excited by what I don't know, it invigorates me and my passion for classical music to know that I have only heard a handful of pieces by Berio, none of Beethoven's late piano sonatas and nothing by Barraqué. 

From what I know of your tastes in early music, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend some of Mozart's shorter liturgical works like Misericordias K222. Of course, I can't predict what you would like or wouldn't like, but I know that some people (like myself) enjoy being given a starting point at least.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I agree. His epistle sonatas are a good start, pieces written to fill in the gaps in masses. 

Also, Mozart's piano concertos are a great place to explore. There aren't that many of them. 

Bach's St. Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass are two pieces every classical listener should know. Also the Goldberg Variations and Brandenburg Concertos. 

That will get you grounded at least.


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## Musicophile (May 29, 2015)

I recently wrote on my blog on my must have Mozart albums.

http://musicophilesblog.com/2015/10/27/my-must-have-mozart-albums/

Obviously, any selection is rather arbitrary.

On Bach, Manxfeeder has given you a good place to start.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Sometimes I don't sample a composer, thinking a boxed set bargain will become available eventually and I should wait for it. While that has turned out to be true, I then have too much listening to do and I'm just as intimidated.

By the way there is a complete mp3 set of Mozart piano concertos fairly inexpensive on CD Universe. I haven't heard it or read any reviews to know how it stacks up, but I'm sure it's adequate. I may download it. I'm missing quite a few, though I'm wondering if I should save my funds and get the Uchida set for $45. She could make "Chopsticks" or "Heart and Soul" sound profound.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I wonder, in a situation like this, are we actually more intimidated by the music, the composers, or the other listeners? 

Particularly if it's the latter, I think the place to start is just to relax and decide to have a good time listening to music, no matter what anyone else is going to think about what we get or don't get out of it.


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## sam93 (Nov 9, 2015)

Definitely J.S Bach. Aside from the fact that music from that era doesn't interest me a great deal, I find his output so colossal that I just don't know where to start. That teamed up with the fact many people consider him the greatest composer to have ever lived, I just find him unreachable in that sense.


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

For intimidation on amount of music, I would say Scriabin. I love his piano sonatas, [fantastic music, if you haven't heard them before I highly recommend] but he's written so much more music for the instrument. Preludes, nocturnes, mazurkas, etudes, it's like another Chopin, except I've had years to familiarize myself with Chopin's music. I don't know where to start with this mountain of works, and since I never hear much about them, my concern is that they won't be worth the time it takes to listen through them.

For intimidation on the music itself, I would say works from the Second Viennese School, and then later serialism inspired by it. I've slowly been getting into Schoenberg, but I'm not often in the mood for him. And, just from my own ignorance, I don't ever really care to listen to much more from Webern or Berg because, to me, I can already assume how it will sound and that I won't be captivated by it. I guess I'd need better direction for this music


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

If I had lived in Venosa in the late over 400 years ago I would probably have been intimidated by Gesualdo.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sloe said:


> If I had lived in Venosa in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century I would probably have been intimidated by Gesualdo.


Particularly if you were married to him.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Particularly if you were married to him.


What is there to be intimidated by when it comes to composers unless you will meet them in person?
I will never meet Mozart and therefore I have nothing to fear.


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## Dim7 (Apr 24, 2009)

Well Boulez has threatened to hack my account if I refuse to accept the necessity of dodecaphony.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Dim7 said:


> Well Boulez has threatened to hack my account if I refuse to accept the necessity of dodecaphony.


I'm on his side, so you better......


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Beethoven, please don't murder me.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I'm not intimidated by the number of works a composer wrote. It's easy to narrow them down to a few I want to hear first. What intimidates me are works of impossible length. While I cannot say exactly what is too long to digest at one sitting, a piece that goes for more than two hours, perhaps at the utmost 3 hours _without a break_ is pretty much beyond my range of tolerance. Even these pieces would be difficult to consume with any regularity.


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

I'm intimidated by fugues and a lot of the densely contrapuntal (if I'm using that word right?) music from the baroque era. I do love the music despite my lack of real comprehension, but I tend to prefer orchestral suites or concerti grossi because the variety of instruments makes everything easier for me to follow.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> I'm not intimidated by the number of works a composer wrote. It's easy to narrow them down to a few I want to hear first. What intimidates me are works of impossible length. While I cannot say exactly what is too long to digest at one sitting, a piece that goes for more than two hours, perhaps at the utmost 3 hours _without a break_ is pretty much beyond my range of tolerance. Even these pieces would be difficult to consume with any regularity.


The more the merrier is what I think when it comes to both length and number of works.
I can say that when it comes to works I prefer that they are around 10-40 minuts for instrumental music and 1-2 hours for operas.


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## farris (Nov 5, 2015)

The fact that there is such an enormous amount of music in the world that it is impossible to know it all or collect it all. I am excited by what I don't know, it invigorates me and my passion for classical music to know that I have only heard a handful of pieces by Berio, none of Beethoven's late piano sonatas and nothing by Barraqué. 

From what I know of your tastes in early music, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend some of Mozart's shorter liturgical works like Misericordias K222. Of course, I can't predict what you would like or wouldn't like, but I know that some people (like myself)


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## Ilarion (May 22, 2015)

Sloe said:


> If I had lived in Venosa in the late over 400 years ago I would probably have been intimidated by Gesualdo.


I'm not so much intimidated by Gesualdo's music - but his closeted and deranged psycopathic being in his later years is un-nerving.


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## Abraham Lincoln (Oct 3, 2015)

Alma Deutscher is downright nightmarish.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

I'm not intimidated by too much in classical music, and certainly not complexity, density, accessibility and 'atonality' / pantonality. But the sheer length of some composers' works is a bit daunting and I must say I haven't listened twice to much by Wagner, Morton Feldman or La Monte Young, to name but three.


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