# Listening Group Ideas



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

In my time on this forum so far, by far my favorite thing to participate in are the threads that involve group discussion and exploration of music. A few months ago, Art Rock ran a series of "sharing obscure favourites" threads that I found very illuminating and enjoyable. Currently I am participating in the 1980-2000 Listening Group and the Weekly Quartet thread, both of which I think epitomize why I come to this site - to learn about great music, to share perspectives on great music, and commune with others who share my passion for great music. In these threads, the group devotes every week to listening and discussion of one work that is nominated by a participant - either at the start of the week or ahead of time. Personally, I would like to see more of these type of threads on the site because I think they serve overwhelmingly as islands of genial discussion and fellowship amidst the occasionally-more-contentious threads, not to mention the times we are living in. I don't know if anyone else shares my interest in this, but I would love to gauge the current interest level in starting another listening group or two that are similar in concept to the ones mentioned above. I would be glad to "run" any potential threads, but do want to leave it up to anyone who would like to get a chance to do so. This thread could be used as a home base for all future discussion/questions/concerns about the groups. I would like to see several of these appear, but I do understand that time, commitment, etc. may be an issue so I don't want to push it. So, if you share my enthusiasm for this idea, what kinds of "listening group" threads would you like to see on TC? Some possible ideas to get brainstorming started:

Obscure composers - Each participant nominates a favorite obscure composer and their three favorite works of his/hers, and we spend the week exploring those three works and getting to know the composer. Also could be done with just one work.

Early music - We have a contemporary music group, so I think an early music (say, 1200-1500) group would be equally interesting and would help, at least me personally, explore an area of music that I would like to dive deeper into.

Genre study - A similar concept to the quartet thread where each nomination belongs to a certain genre. There was actually a piano sonata thread started a few months ago but that never took off. Maybe sacred choral works? Symphonies? Shorter operas?

Weekly Comparison - We at TC love our recordings, so this could possibly entail the nominator choosing a well-known/warhorse work and 3-5 recordings of it which the group spends the week comparing.

*So, what do you think? Do any of these ideas pique the interest of TC'ers? Do you think that having more listening groups would be good for the forum?* Please do contribute any thoughts and feedback


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I'd participate in an obscure composers thread. Some feedback would of course be required, otherwise it would become another Saturday symphony thread (which has its merits, but there's very little , if any, posted other than the particular version people are going for.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Art Rock said:


> I'd participate in an obscure composers thread. Some feedback would of course be required, otherwise it would become another Saturday symphony thread (which has its merits, but there's very little , if any, posted other than the particular version people are going for.


That's the idea that stuck out most to me as well. You are certainly right that there would need to be some guidelines. Specifically, what constitutes "obscure": for example, there are a few composers I like that I would consider obscure but which have one work that people know them by (like Durufle and his Requiem, Gliere and his 3rd symphony). But overall I think it's a great idea. We'll wait and see if we can get any more interest first, though. If we do, we'll go from there and work together on establishing some guidelines.


----------



## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

I'd be really interested in this too, especially for early music, which is a bit of a blind spot for me apart from a handful of pieces and composers. It'd be a pretty valuable asset for the forum, especially since there seem to be a few posters here who have rather a lot of knowledge on the subject to share.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's hard to respond to the OP. One reason is a matter of available time. I listen to all the works in our games which takes quite a lot of time, and I also listen daily to music for my own enjoyment. I don't really have the time to listen to the works in the Science project which grows on a daily basis. I almost forgot to mention the blind listening tests.

The listening projects present my 2nd problem - there's a lot of talking, and folks who know me pretty well are aware that I prefer to communicate with my votes.

Well, the best I can do is say that I'll try to place greater priority on contributing to threads expressed in the OP. My loyalty remains to the games.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I agree ACB about the value of these types of listening group threads. They are what keeps me coming back to TC. 

I have some interest in the “Obscure Composers” idea. I’d also be open to a “21st Century Listening Group”, an “Electroacoustic” group, or maybe a “Legendary Recordings” listening group.

I personally feel like three weekly listening groups is about all I could dedicate myself to, and since I’m in two, that leaves room for one more.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I’d also be open to an Early Music group since I’m an infant in that area.


----------



## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

20centrfuge said:


> I agree ACB about the value of these types of listening group threads. They are what keeps me coming back to TC.
> 
> I have some interest in the "Obscure Composers" idea. I'd also be open to a "21st Century Listening Group", an "Electroacoustic" group, or maybe a "Legendary Recordings" listening group.
> 
> I personally feel like three weekly listening groups is about all I could dedicate myself to, and since I'm in two, that leaves room for one more.


I'd be down for an electroacoustic group, and I would do a 21st century group after we finish the 1980-2000 group.

The only downside I can see to the electroacoustic group is that few people here on TC really know how to discuss works in this area. But I guess that's also a plus, as it would be a good learning experience.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

calvinpv said:


> I'd be down for an electroacoustic group, and I would do a 21st century group after we finish the 1980-2000 group.
> 
> The only downside I can see to the electroacoustic group is that few people here on TC really know how to discuss works in this area. But I guess that's also a plus, as it would be a good learning experience.


Count me among those who don't know how to discuss it. All I know is when I come across a piece subtitled: "...for_ <instrument/ensemble>_ and electronics," I get really excited. I really like the energy when these two worlds meet.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

Obscure Composers and Early Music seem to be getting the most attention so far. Electroacoustic/21st century I would leave up to anyone who wants to start it; I don’t know if I could commit to either of those right now with my current level of interest in those styles, though like calvinpv said I may be interested once we finish the 1980-2000 group. If we reach a consensus soon on which group we’d like to start now, we’ll talk more about guidelines but for now it looks like Obscure Composers might be the idea that most would be interested in.


----------



## BlackAdderLXX (Apr 18, 2020)

Shoot man, I'd be happy with a thread exploring composers that aren't obscure. But then I'm a noob. Everyone else calls a work an old warhorse, and it's new to me.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

A bit of feedback from the three rounds of obscure favourites that I hosted:

- define upfront what works/which composers are eligible
- let participants nominate, but that comes with the obligation to take part
- do not select works longer than 30 minutes
- ask for posted reactions, not necessarily essays, but like 'was it new', 'did you like it', 'what didn't you like' etc
- do not aim for too much in a short time (6-8 works in two weeks was difficult for some players), possibly better one per week (as in the 1980-2000 thread).


----------



## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I'm participating in the string quartet and orchestral work groups, which I really like. It would stretch me too far to do anything but early music, but this I would definitely join because it is my performance background and I might even be able to add some value. I could rely partly on my existing knowledge of the period and repertoire.


----------



## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I would also like electroacoustic or just electronic and maybe learn a bit on how to talk about it.


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I also enjoy listening groups and find them useful. I would love for there to be an early music group. Personally, I wouldn't participate in an obscure composer thread although I might if it was strictly limited to the Classical era. Violin concertos could be an interesting area to explore - partly because there were so many great ones in the 20th century - or maybe it should be string concertos? Solo wind music (including sonatas, concertos etc.) might also be interesting.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

So far we have 4 members interested in an Early Music group, and 2 for Obscure Composers. I would be excited to participate in either or both of them, but the former perhaps piques my interest a little more because it would be an extended period/genre study of an area I really want to learn more about. So, based on the ideas offered so far; I think I’ll leave Electroacoustic up to anyone who wants to start it and Obscure Composers to Art Rock (or anyone else) if they want to do so. I would be glad to start an Early Music group very soon. Before we do so, the main question we have to solve: how will we gather the selections? Will we follow the same process as the 1980-2000 group and have a dedicated selection thread where each participant makes two choices, then we decide on a listening order before starting? Or should it be like Weekly Quartet, where we just have the list of participants and they make their decision before the start of the week? In my experience, we have a relatively small but very knowledgeable body of members here who know a lot about early music, so maybe we can just work together on establishing a list of works to listen to ahead of time? Any feedback would be appreciated before we get things rolling!


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I like the set-up of the 1980-2000 group, personally. I'll probably do an obscure composers theme, but I will not start the coming weeks. We also need to be careful to have too many listening groups st once.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

^That setup was what I was leaning towards too Alright, sounds good! I’m excited! Do agree though on not having too many groups. The selection thread will be going up later today after I scan the corresponding thread for the 1980-2000 group to figure out the methodology.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I plan to participate, but maybe I will not make any choices - early music is not my forte.


----------



## MrMeatScience (Feb 15, 2015)

Art Rock said:


> I plan to participate, but maybe I will not make any choices - early music is not my forte.


I'm in this camp too. I could pick some pieces if need be, but I don't know the period well enough to confidently suggest anything far off the beaten path.


----------



## Gray Bean (May 13, 2020)

If someone starts an Obscure composer group. I’m in.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

Are there any early music aficionados out there? I’m in the same boat as well.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

The TC Early Music Listening Group - Selection Thread is up, but we may have already come across a hitch in the plan since the percentage of members here who are knowledgeable enough about early music to nominate seems to be relatively small. I honestly feel the same way, which is exactly why I wanted to participate in a group! I almost feel that, if after a couple more days, nominations are slim, we can just work our way through the TC Most Recommended Pre-1700 Works (about halfway down the second page on that link).


----------



## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Worth a look and listen for early instrumental music, featuring sounds of various instruments and some typical Elizabethan and Henry VIII period music, (other pages on the site feature Baroque period)

http://www.baroquemusic.org/02Web.html


----------

