# Fixation.



## KaerbEmEvig (Dec 15, 2009)

Do you often listen to a piece (be it classical or non-classical - doesn't really matter) that you can listen to, almost exclusively, for a prolonged amount of time (say, 1-3 weeks) to later find out that you cannot stand it anymore (this feeling can last weeks to months).

I seem to fixate on pieces quite often. I've been listening to Chopin's Winter Wind (Yundi Li) for two weeks (December) and finally I can listen to it again, it seems.

By the way, after "recovering" from the "fixation" and "repulsion" phases, I will listen to said piece only from time to time.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

This is an interesting observation -- one I have never noticed until you brought it up. I think I do this to a leeser extent and more often with songs (with lyrics).

Back in November I became obsessed with a short song by the English folk group Fairport Convention, "Now Be Thankful." It has a rambling melody that is a little hard to grasp at first hearing - the chorus and verses being very similar but just slightly skew from each other. I found this fascinating and wanted to unravel it, to possess it in my head. Also the words don't make much sense on first hearing and so were hard to memorize. I listened to this piece over and over several times a day. Finally I memorized it and have not listened to it since. 




(I know that will seem like a sloppy performance by classical music standards, but it's apples to oranges. It still gives me goose bumps.)

I think that might be the goal, to memorize a piece, to imprint the piece on your mind's recorder.


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## Mozartgirl92 (Dec 13, 2009)

Right now I,m completely obsessed with Debussys Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, it´s so good!


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## Grosse Fugue (Mar 3, 2010)

For a few months hardly a day went by when I didn't listen to at least part of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. I even went to Berlin just to see a performance. I still like it but eventually I did have to take a break from it. I think I'm going through something similar with Le Nozze di Figaro.

Not classical but in happened with Bob Dylan once as well.


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## TWhite (Feb 23, 2010)

All the time--sometimes it's with a particular composer, other times it's with a particular composition. Usually the fixation will last for about four to five weeks, then gradually fade--unless it's something I just HAVE to add to my personal repertoire. Then, the fixation will last until I've at least learned the piece to my satisfaction (if ever, LOL!). 

Right now--for listening--I'm rather fixated on Ravel's "La Valse" purely from a psychological level. For performing, I'm fixated on Falla's piano transcriptions of three dances from his ballet "El Sombrero de Tres Picos," which I'm finding enormous fun to play.

Tom


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

For me this is the case with every Rachmaninoff Concerto


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Yes, this has happened to me with Wagner. I have trouble with his opera overtures now, because I overlistened to an album of all Wagner opera overtures. It was great for a few weeks, but I'm done with it now, I'll not likely return to it, although I may hear various overtures on occasion.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

My personal listening experience almost always follows a pattern of discovering I like a piece, latching onto it, listening to it repeatedly over weeks or a month or two, and then not listening to it again more than two or three times per year because I can't stand it.

This used to frustrate me because I wanted to be able to get maximum pleasure out of a piece every time I listened to it, no matter when, but I've just accepted my listening habits now. It just means that I'm always going to be looking for something new.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Most of my favourite pieces fall in to this category. I know that sounds completely backward but it's true.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Like the Crudmeister up above, all of my favorite pieces have suffered from this to some extent but I never really get to the point where I can't stand it anymore; I just stop popping it in as much. I have a terribly large capacity for repetition and I think the patience for it, in me, has no end. This has helped me in many areas of work such as running star shows for ten years or doing lighting for bands or playing in bands where you play the same 200 songs pretty much all year. 

If I ever loved something, though,...I always will.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

This kind of thing has happened to me with pop music in the past, so nowadays, if I hear a song I like, I make it a point not to overplay it. (Claudia Cardinale's theme from _Once Upon a Time in the West_ by Morricone is on that list right now.)

As far as jazz or classical, I haven't had that problem. Usually in those genres, repeated listening brings out something I haven't heard before or a deeper understanding of the work's structure. There are jazz solos I've been so impressed with that I've transcribed and memorized them, and I still don't tire of hearing them (like Coltrane's Giant Steps, Hawkins' Body and Soul, and Adderly's Green Dolphin Street).

And with classical, if it's a great piece, there's always another interpretation available to keep the piece fresh. As a matter of fact, I don't catch all the nuances of a new interpretation until I'm real familiar with the piece. (kv466 has turned me on to Glenn Gould. Nothing sounds the same under his fingers.)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Last year there was a time where I listened to Michael Nyman's "MGV" and nothing else for about six weeks.


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