# How do you I get into it?



## Rossd (Sep 10, 2011)

My first post here and I bet you guys get these kinds of posts all the time, a classical music virgin, asking opinions, wanting to get into it and have no clue.

Right now, this very moment, I'm listening to Glass's Solo Piano, Metamorphosis, which I enjoy. Nice piano. I have listened to some great Einaudi, listened to a lot of Yanni though nothing of his early work (don't kill me for saying that), Maksim Mrvica, and Yann Tiersen. Now, a lot of these musicians seem to have been inspired by famous classical musicians of course. So why listen to imitation or work that is inspired as opposed to original work? 

So I listened to some Beethoven, Mozart, etc, but found most of their stuff too chaotic, like there was no rhythm, nothing I could really get into. I went to my doc's office and he was playing some beautiful piece by Beethoven, mostly piano, which went on for a while (it was not Moonlight Sonata) and he did not know what it was. But that kind of thing seems to be rare and yet I feel like that is where I need to start.

Long story short, I tried to read up on different periods, and God knows, there are just too many periods, too many different musicians, too many musical works, can't decide where to start. I went to Amazon and try to figure it out, like to see which works received the best reviews, but again, slippery ground there.

Can anybody make suggestions? Thank you very much.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Can you describe the Beethoven piano piece you liked so much? What kind of mood was it? What was the melody like?


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Do you like the more dissonant types of pieces by 20th century composers such as Prokofiev and Stravinsky, or are you more into the more melodic {I almost used the word "traditional"} works of earlier composers?


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Mozart? Too chaotic? Wow. I... I've never seen someone who's into contemporary art music have a hard time getting into classical. It's usually the other way around. I just don't know what to say.

Maybe try some of Tchaikovsky's symphonies? The fourth, fifth, and sixth are excellent.


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

If you're into contemporary music you may enjoy Beethoven's way late stuff.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I began my exploration of the classical with the Baroque. The driving rhythms of Baroque music can be easier to glom onto coming from popular music than later classical forms. I would suggest you start with a body of something you like and build outward from there.

Examples of Baroque:


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

You found Mozart and Beethoven too chaotic? Hmmm. Maybe you'll like George Crumb's Black Angels. Then you can work your way into the more challenging stuff.


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## Rossd (Sep 10, 2011)

Wow, all these replies, and I expected to get just one or two, one being, Not this **** again 

I have a short time so I'll just reply to one point and I'll say more in future: A couple of people seem to be shocked that I found Beethoven "chaotic." It may have been a harsh judgment on my part. I did not mean it like that. I do like Beethoven, and few of his famous symphonies, like the fifth and ninth are very good. I guess I'm just generally not a big fan of those sudden changes in volume, and needless to say, Beethoven or Mozart create music that is richer and has more variety than, say, Yanni! 

But I generally like beautiful piano pieces, and not those real busy pieces. It's all relative of course. Like Comptine d'un autre ete : L'apres midi by Yann Tiersen is just wonderful and I could listen to it all day. Beautiful melody. I like pieces that has beautiful melodies like that. But doesn't have to be exactly like that. I love cello music, violin, and don't mind richer pieces with other instruments. I tried Gustav Holst, The Planets (a few pieces only) but did not like it. Sorry, I'm as confused as you are right now.


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Okay, so you probably won't like Mahler. How about Schubert's piano sonatas? You may also enjoy Beethoven's bagatelles and Chopin's nocturnes.


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## graaf (Dec 12, 2009)

Beautiful melody means Tchaikovsky to many people. Try standard ones:








and his waltz reminds me of Shostakovich:





You also said you don't like sudden changes, so I guess this is suitable (one of "beautiful piano pieces, and not those real busy pieces"):
*Erik Satie "Trois Gymnopédies"* - 



Also some other "calm pieces":
Albinoni, Adagio In G Minor - 



Bach, Air On A G String - 



Dvorak - Largo from The New World Symphony, Grieg - Morning, Vaughan Williams - Fantasia On Greensleeves, etc...


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

First of all I would highly recommend you get some basic education about classical music and you don't have to go to college to do so. An excellent beginners book by Phil Goulding called CLASSICAL MUSIC - The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works can be gotten very inexpensively from Amazon. Second I would recommend subscribing to the online music streaming service Spotify . It's a very inexpensive way to find lots of music to explore. Once you know what you really like it's easier to know what to spend your hard earned dollars on.

Kevin


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## Curiosity (Jul 10, 2011)

I know exactly how you feel. For whatever reason, in classical music, initially it tends to be very difficult to keep track of where you are within the piece and what is happening musically. Firstly I would recommend learning a bit about classical structure and form. I would also suggest going through some of these basic analysis videos:

Beethoven's Appassionata sonata





Beethoven's 7th symphony





Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

You might like some of Schumann more introspective (_Eusebius_) works:

Kinderszenen: 
1. Von fremden Ländern und Menschen
4. Bittendes Kind
7. Träumerei
10. Fast zu Ernst
11. Fürchtenmachen
12. Kind im Einschlummern
13. Der Dichter spricht

And many more, those are just a few of his works you could try.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I guess I'm just generally not a big fan of those sudden changes in volume, and needless to say, Beethoven or Mozart create music that is richer and has more variety than, say, Yanni!... But I generally like beautiful piano pieces, and not those real busy pieces. It's all relative of course. Like Comptine d'un autre ete : L'apres midi by Yann Tiersen is just wonderful and I could listen to it all day. Beautiful melody. I like pieces that has beautiful melodies like that. But doesn't have to be exactly like that. I love cello music, violin, and don't mind richer pieces with other instruments.

OK... we'll try again.

I agree with the suggestion of Chopin's Nocturnes. Beautiful melodies. Not a lot of bombast:











You might also look into Faure's nocturnes:






Erik Satie's music:











Arvo Part:


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Other possibilities...

Philip Glass' piano works:
















Indeed, what you are describing might very well be Minimalism... which includes the music of Part and Glass... as well as Peteris Vasks:






Valentin Silvestrov:











as well as Henryck Gorecki, Veljo Tormis, John Adams, etc...


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Try violin, piano, and cello concertos. They're a great way to get into Classical music. You have the solo instrument to focus on and guide you through the piece, while getting all the richness of the full orchestra.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If you don't like dynamics or challenging music, stick to the new age wallpaper.

But seriously, try some solo piano music by Debussy or Satie. There are some famous pieces like Clair de Lune, Deux Arabesques, and Satie's 3 Gymnopedies.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Rossd said:


> Wow, all these replies, and I expected to get just one or two, one being, Not this **** again


These threads do pop up a lot, but everybody loves the chance to influence a newcomer with their tastes and breed musical allies! :devil:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

In terms of "mid range" dynamics & constant rhythm I'd just listen to the other major USA minimalist, *Steve Reich*. Esp. things like _New York Counterpoint _or _Vermont Counterpoint_. If you REALLY like repetition, try _Four Organs_. Some of his more recent things like _2 x 5_ incorporate instruments from the standard rock band line-up. The music by Reich that I've heard can be quite chill-out type of thing. I'm not sure about *John Adams*, I'm not that familiar with his music, but I know he's written some solo piano music (which might be a link in to how you say you've been listening to Glass' solo piano music).

In terms of Yanni & the "new age" style or genre or whatever, some pieces by *Rautavaara* & *Hovhaness* are like that. *Gubaidulina* too - her more recent stuff - though some of hers is fairly dark. *Arvo Part *& some of the other Baltic & former Soviet republics composers (eg. *Kancheli*), as have been mentioned, may be of interest as well. There's also a piece that does have a strong new age feel by *John Cage*, & it's for solo piano, titled _In a Landscape_...


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