# Explain your Obsession...



## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

*Explain your Obsession..*

**for a particular composer
*for a particular piece
*for a particular era of classical music
*

*Schubert
- His music speaks the deepest for me. I am obsessed with him because he taught me how to laugh between tears and to smile between sadness. His music is beautiful, and it touches my heart everytime I've listen to it.

*Great C Major Symphony
- I listen to it every week. It just gives me the necessary energy boost for work. 

*Romantic era
- Well, I_ think _the Romantic era produced the most varied composers of classical music (let's say compared to Modern or Classical era). From Beethoven to Richard Strauss, you can't go wrong with finding masterpieces on every genre..

What about yours?


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

**for a particular composer*

*Mozart 
- because he composed in every genre, at its highest. So no matter what you want to hear, you get it from Wolfie, be it solo, chamber, orchestral, operatic, Church. Plus, he's profound, without being obscure. He's subtle without being cute and he's expressive without getting in your face about it. His music is seamless and beautiful, it isn't ego-centric, but it is encompassing of all human emotion and experience, from the tragic to the hilarious, and often incredibly within the space of a few bars.

**for a particular piece
*
* Don Giovanni
- I once listened to something from Figaro every day for about 18 months, but once I moved on to DG, my infatuation became as dangerous as the Don's own amorous intentions towards Zerlina! It's black, and purple, and red with hellfire. It's lusty, comic, desperate and elusive. There are even two versions of it, for the dogmatists to squabble over. It has the Don and Leporello, a double act on a par with Don Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza. It has rape, murder, deceit and comedy - all within seven minutes of the overture. It ends with the unambiguously new-found nobility and hell-bound demise of the Don, but when the epilogue is performed, even more is exposed about the moral compass of the other characters.

**for a particular era of classical music*

I have no allegiance to any era. I listen to no music before Mozart, however, and a little from Haydn and Mahler, more from Beethoven, more again from Hugo Wolf and more again from Schubert...


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Schumann:
His music is expressive and speaks to me. It has this sort of passionate emotion that I don't find with other composers.

Piano concerto in A minor:
For a start I am learning it and it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL IN EVEY SINGLE WAY!!!

Romantic era:
Because it is built around emotion more than other periods.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Shostakovich:

For me, this composer sums up the way I have felt my entire life thus far. He's a conformist, like most of us are in society, because we really have no choice or we'll be arrested , but, at the same time, there's little pieces of himself that always seems to slip through the cracks that give his music a personal touch. He was always himself even when the Soviet authorities were bearing down on him. He was a true artist in the grandest sense of the word. He wasn't an innovator by any means but what he did with existing forms and the way he inflicted the music with his life's tragedies remains inspiring to me. He was always brutally honest and he did what he had to in order to survive and live in that environment. Absolutely incredible composer in every way imaginable.

Berg -_Violin Concerto_:

I don't listen to this work very often nowadays, but when I first listened to it, I played it all the way through 11 times! That's how much I love this work and still do. There have been so many stories and myths surrounding this concerto from hidden codes to various attempts at figuring out it's true meaning, but one thing is for sure it's a requiem for the deceased. Of course, the work is inscribed "To the memory of an angel," but I think this could mean not just Alma Mahler's daughter, but anyone who has lost a loved one too soon. I think the work is a manifestation also of Berg's innermost thoughts and how he felt at that point in his life. I mean he did put aside _Lulu_ to write this concerto. It must have meant a lot to him for him to just 'drop everything.' A piece of himself died along with the _Violin Concerto_. I can't think of any other piece of music that is as revealing as Berg's _Violin Concerto_. A 20th Century masterpiece without a doubt in my mind.

The 20th Century:

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. There is no other era in history that has as much variety as the 20th Century. This is why I have loved this period more than any other. In fact, 99% of my favorite composers come from this era.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

It would be difficult for me to come up with a general reasoning behind my love of Zappa in a succinct manner, which is probably why over the past month (and for many more to come, it seems) I've been working on a large-scale essay in several sections in the hopes of doing just that, inspired partly by Mahlerian's ongoing series on Mahler. Rather than analysing the music itself (which I couldn't do even if I was willing and theoretically able) I have chosen to look at the way in which Zappa and popular culture have interacted and continue to interact; popular reception of his music, the myths surrounding it, the common and wildly incorrect interpretations of his often controversial lyrics, how posthumous handling of his back catalogue has affected his reception in the past 20 years, and why I feel he should be taken seriously on both sides of the assumed divide between _serious_ and _light_ music. The general writing style is heavy on references (while remaining focused on the main subject) and holds as a secondary goal the building of a detailed model of the musical world which Zappa inhabits. The following paragraph is a short excerpt from the draft introduction, the final version of which I will eventually post in full as the start of a blog series.

Zappa holds a unique position in music history, owing to his mixed background of modern classical music, doo-*** and later avant garde jazz such as Eric Dolphy (to whose memory Zappa composed _The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue_). We often think of the pop or rock singer branching out in to classical music as something grotesque and surely motivated purely by concerns of image, and generally the result is most adequately described as heinous, it is no surprise then that many people think of Zappa (if they think of him at all) either as "the Yellow Snow guy" or, when they discover his _classical aspirations_, as "a pretentious two-bit academic" as Lou Reed once called him. For these people it is quite a shock to discover that at age 14 (several years before he started playing the guitar) Zappa was studying composition on his own initiative at the library, both from text books and from scores. He was particularly interested in the music of Varèse, Stravinsky, Webern and Bartók, and was also for some time quite enamoured of the music of Boulez, with whom he would later collaborate in the 1980s. His earliest compositions, written before the rock 'n' roll singles compiled on the posthumous _Cucamonga_ LP, were mainly either serial or aleatoric in nature (the aleatoric piece _Opus 5_, which prefigures the "image card" aleatory of John Zorn's _Spillane_, also features a prepared tape), and examples of both were performed at a concert in 1963 at Mt. St. Mary's College (bootleg recordings of which are currently circulating on the internet).

Notably, that doesn't explain my "obsession," but be patient: every minute detail will be revealed in good time, and I know you're all just *so excited* about that!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

Crudblud said:


> Notably, that doesn't explain my "obsession," but be patient: every minute detail will be revealed in good time, and I know you're all just *so excited* about that!


Actually, I am a bit now, that was a very interesting post. I reckon you'll give Mahlerian a run for his money on your blog, but that's okay, there's room for many...


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

By and large my favourite composer is Shostakovich, and the only thing I would add to Neo Romaza's post is that DSCH's music confirms him as one of the great chroniclers of the Stalin age and beyond, whatever the medium.

I haven't got an out-and-out favourite work, but I give thanks to several old albums of Wagner excerpts for eventually turning my flickering candle of dalliance with classical music into a blazing torch of love and affection.

If pushed, I would chose the 20 years between WWI and WWII for the shifting political climate which provided the backdrop to both the determined pushing of numerous envelopes as well as perfecting or reinventing established forms, including:

Korngold and R. Strauss writing stunning works that could have been from the previous century but avoiding making them sound anachronistic.

Early experiments with musique concrete and tape.

The neoclassisism of Stravinsky and Hindemith and the 'mechanical' sounds of Honegger's 'Pacific 231', Mosolov's 'Iron Foundry' and Prokofiev's 2nd symphony.

Satie's final works inc. Mercure and Relache leading to the original Raison d'être of 'Les Six'.

The 2nd Vienesse School.

The incredible Indian Summer of Leos Janacek.

British music establishing its own proper identity for arguably the first time since Purcell - Elgar virtually retired but Delius, Holst and VW are still at it even though Lambert and Walton are now the new kids on the block. Britten and Tippett will soon be joining them.

Shostakovich's flirtation with satire and artistic non-conformity shuddering to a halt with the Lady Macbeth/Limpid Stream backlash and the results of the musical private war he had to conduct afterwards.

The cabaret-style 'agitprop' of Wolpe, Eisler and Weill and the assimilation of jazz elements into the works of Gershwin, Krenek, Schulhoff, Ravel etc.

Think that will do for now...


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

-Ligeti:

Of course it's very difficult to put in words or even in rational terms these kind of things, but I will try.
I think that my admiration for him revolves around three different but related things.
First, of course, is the aesthetic appeal that his music has for me. I'm very attracted to the strange worlds that his music seems to evoke, always like some kind of dream or hallucination. Most of my intellectual readings and work are highly rational, so, for me, listening to his music (and others similar) is like some kind of escape or relief. Also, his music has strong emotions sometimes, but usually, very disturbing ones. The euphory and posterior, but tense, tranquility of a madman, for example (the last two minutes of the second movement of the piano concerto is like this for me, those furious bass octaves in the piano and with those ferocious chords in the strings, followed by a quiet, but tense and misterious, and lonely line in the clarinet). The great collage of textures, colors, and influences (jazz, hungarian folk music, african, etc.) give to the music that crazy quality that dreams have. His music seems connected with the mystery of reality, metaphysics, the human nature, and always has poetry and irony about these matters.
Second, I admire him also because of his great intellect. He, clearly, was a genius in the broad sense. He was interested in mathematics, physics, biology, history, philosophy, etc. He was fluent in at least five languages, which he learned by himself.
He was a recalcitrant perfectionist, but an extremely sensitive and emotional person.
Third, the intricacy and intellectual deep of his music. And this relates to the second point. His music is never naive, he always is driven by a clear musical idea, which is developed in the piece in a constructive way. He takes elements from all the things he learned and he applies them to his music. For example, african polyrhythms which begin to increase their complexity in a way resembling chaos theory. The astonishing thing is that he takes these apparent dry and intellectual things and he makes them a seminal element in the creation of the aesthetic I described in the first point. In fact, he was aware of this, and he always described and spoke about his music in terms of images, states of minds, analogies with dreams, etc.

-Ligeti's Violin and Piano concerti:

These pieces capture for me exactly the things I described previously.

-20th century:

Because in this century we witnessed an incredibly wide range of modes of expression through art, where we found how to express new feelings and ideas, related, perhaps, to the new things that the 20th century revealed.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

....double post...


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I don't do obsession. I have well reasoned and carefully selected choices. 

*for a particular composer: * J S Bach. nobody else comes anywhere near.

*for a particular piece of music:* This varies. I have a range of favourites. Probably the Brandenburg Concertos - an excellent summation of Bach's mid-period work.

*for a particular era:* Undoubtedly the Baroque. It may be a misshapen pearl, but one of great value and beauty.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Jean-Baptiste Lully
His music is lithe & elegant. It has a tune; it has a shape; I can dance to it, in my mind or on my feet; it gives me an insight into the nature of time, that it is so precious and yet so transient; Lully's music, whether poignant or sprightly, fills me with joie de vivre.

Re my piece: obsessions cruise past regularly like buses, but at the moment, it's Vivaldi, Concerto in A Minor, Op 3, No 6. It goes back into my past when I was over-promoted into the York Senior Schools Strings Orchestra & spent my time skulking & miming in the back benches. The orchestra was playing this & there was a fab 18-year-old soloist; in an epiphany I simultaneously understood what a violin could do & what mine couldn't! The music is soaring, spirited, splendid, defiant.

The Baroque Era - grace, pattern, harmony, elan. 
Bach, Handel, Lully, Purcell, Vivaldi, & lesser delights like Boyce & Mudge could keep one active for a lifetime: 'I'd walk a million miles for one of your smiles, my Lu-u-u-lly!'


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

**for a particular composer*
*Anton Bruckner
It took me a long time to enjoy Bruckner, but I always wanted to. His story of life is so strange and fascinating. "Half simpleton, half God", like Mahler said. When "starting to learn" classical music his symphonies were too much for me, even Mahler was easier to digest, but I always knew that there was something very amazing there that I would still enjoy a lot. There is a mystic in his music that I cannot explain, but is very strong for me.

**for a particular piece*
*Beethoven symphonic cycle
The "perfection" of his cycle led me to a huge obsession, culminating with 17 cycles acquired (and many more individual symphonies). I listened way too much for all of them, even knowing that the right approach would be to balance my listening with other stuff. Now I try to listen to them once every two weeks or so, but my fascination is still the same and I probably could listen to the complete cycle every day.

**for a particular era of classical music*
That's too hard. The only one that I enjoy a little less is Baroque, but I know that it is just a matter of time.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

**Dvorak*
- His music speaks the deepest for me. I am obsessed with him because he taught me how to laugh between tears and to smile between sadness. His music is beautiful, and it touches my heart everytime I've listen to it.

**Dvorak's 7th / Bruckner's 8th *
- Both are kind of apocalyptic (epic & tragic) ... they suit me.

**Romantic era*
- Well, I think the Romantic era produced the most varied composers of classical music (let's say compared to Modern or Classical era). From Beethoven to Richard Strauss

Very original post indeed!


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

_*Ravel*_

- With a long range of colors and moods, Ravel's music fits every scenery. When I listen to Ravel, I travel trough all the four seasons.

- It can be that beautiful summers day where everything is painted in green, and the flowers are are fully bloomed - _Introduction and Allegro for Harp, String quartet, Flute and Clarinet_.

- Or it can be the autumn, where you hear the wind travel between the trees, the leaves is slowly falling and you feel calm - _À la manière de Borodine_.

- The cold long winter night, where the winds are howling trough the open scenery, and everyone is inside trying to keep warm - _Tzigane_

- Finally spring. The snow is melting, the flowers and the grass is starting to show, and you have the whole summer in front of you - _"Prelude" from "Le Tombeau de Couperin"_

- I can place the rest of the pieces in different categories. Like _Sheherazade_ makes me think of old fairy tales, _Ondine_ makes me think of evil mermaids who drags poor fishermen down in the abyss. But I'm not so fond of writing.

_*Gaspard de la Nuit*_

- My all time favorite peace. Hard to explain it. It's a very heavy piece that makes my imagination run amok.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Great thread by the way. Love the diversity in tastes so far.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Ravndal said:


> - Finally spring. The snow is melting, the flowers and the grass is starting to show, and you have the whole summer in front of you - _"Prelude" from "Le Tombeau de Couperin"_


Great pairing!.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

*Composer: Mahler* - Mahler's works combine everything that I love in music: beauty, lyricism, color, heterogeneity, and unity. His symphonies are profound and profoundly simple, at once the fresh dawn of the 20th century and the last glorious burst of the 19th.

*Piece: Debussy's Preludes, Books I and II* - As above, but here we are fully in the realm of the contemporary, with a harmonic freshness combined with sharp rhythms and melodies. Both books are treasures of the piano literature.

*Era: 1850-1950* - Roughly between Wagner's Tristan and Messiaen's so-called Tristan trilogy, we have the last half of Romanticism and the flowering of Modernism. This is the time when the classical tradition truly spread across the world, with the Western tradition becoming a truly global one.


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## JohannesBrahms (Apr 22, 2013)

*Composer: Johannes Brahms* He is my favorite composer, from the Ein Deutsches Requiem to the Hungarian Dances and everything in between. His music is emotional, but never over sentimental, something that could describe me. His works are as close to perfection as music get, in my opinion. I didn't particularly care for chamber music until I listened to his works in that genre. I haven't listened to many of them, but so far I have liked everyone.

*Piece: Johannes Brahms-Piano Concerto No. 1 In D Minor Op. 1* I love this piece. From the first notes, I was hooked. It is powerful and full of majesty, yet dark and brooding at the same time. I have been listening to it quite a lot lately.

*Music Era: Romantic Period* I like the Romantic Period more than any other period. In the Baroque Period, I like Johann Sebastian Bach, but that is it. In the Classical Period, I like early Ludwig Van Beethoven, but no one else. Almost all of the composers that I like were in the Romantic Period.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Crudblud said:


> It would be difficult for me to come up with a general reasoning behind my love of Zappa . . .
> 
> ---(inconsiderate snipping of lots of weighty stuff for the sake of brevity )---
> 
> Notably, that doesn't explain my "obsession," but be patient: every minute detail will be revealed in good time, and I know you're all just *so excited* about that!


I'm excited about this blog idea. I'm working my way very slowly through Mahlerian's as an aid to appreciating Mahler. But I already have some connection with Zappa.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Like many others, I can't really say I have any obsessions exactly. Most of mine would likely be in the pretentious progressive rock genre rather than "classical." But here are some things I really, really enjoy.

*Composer*
I have had an ongoing obsession with Beethoven, but that has been slowly waning. I think studying the 9th with annotations is a real eye opener. Then the excellent Andras Schiff lectures about the piano sonatas helped to lure me into Beethoven's world. Several good movies (not Copying Beethoven!) about his life, however fictitious, have also helped to elevate him to mythic proportions. We all enjoy myths and heroes.

My obsession with Ian Anderson will likely never wane, but he is a different matter altogether.

*Piece*
Well, Beethoven's 9th. See above.

*Era of classical music*
None. All. Okay, I tend to like the classic era and minimalism less than any of the others. Both of these trends moved away from complexity, and I love complexity. But there are composers I admire from all eras.


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## eighthundredfortynine (Apr 5, 2012)

My obsession in Music is Bach. The reasons lay in the span of the two following pieces.
Highly analytical, sytematic and logical and yet deeply spiritual and emotional that is Bachs music to me.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

*Composer*
Please see my old, but descriptive blog entry of how I came to know and love Glazunov. It's among my blogs.

*Piece (s)*
See that same blog.

*Music Era*
Era of the Russians! The 19th century was the Golden era, and the 20th century the Stainless Steel era.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Era: I love them all but the Classical era qualifies as my obsession. Explanation: Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn.

Although I must say that right now I am playing a whole lot of music from 1982-2013 and am totally in love with the diversity of musical expression possible in this period.


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