# The Various Ways of Listening to Classical Music



## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

As lovers of music, we often find ourselves trying to enhance everything with it. Movies, games, even museums incorporate rhythmic sounds to strengthen the mood of a piece, or even as the main device to define the mood. It isn't just up to the artists what we apply our music to, however. We don't need to be told when it is okay to add music to an activity, and we take great pleasure sometimes in finding activities that are well suited to the addition of music.

All of us listen to music in many settings and activities, but what is your personal favourite?

Driving with music?
Painting with music?
Looking at memorable photographs with music?

Do you like to walk in the woods with an mp3 player to a certain earthy composition? Or do you prefer to close your eyes in a dark room and let shapes form in your mind while you listen to music? Please share your experiences and perhaps some activities that have become infinitely better because of music. Paint a portrait of yourself in the scene of your favourite place to be with music.

For me, I pace often. I think about life and I try to work out the next move in a creative work. Sometimes I hate the addition for music with this, because it controls my feelings and direction, but sometimes I LOVE it, for the exact same reason. I get into a vague dance and the ideas just come flooding in. I can picture exactly what I want. The room I'm in doesn't even seem to exist, only the world I've imagined. If the music is extremely atmospheric, the images in my head become cinematic, and I feel as if I'm walking through them while the airy and distant trombones tell me the world is desolate.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I often have classical music playing in the background when doing my administrative tasks here, and on MIMF, our sister site. 

On longer trips in the car, I will play classical CD's. At home, especially listening to the organ works of Messiaen, I prefer to sit in total darkness and let the music totally surround me. 

Kh


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

I read while listening to music. Right now, it's Robert Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ series. Goes great with Brahms's 4th, Dvorak's 8th, and Hadyn's 60th symphonies, and sometimes Holst's _The Planets_. Dvorak's 8th especially seems reminiscent of the kind of parallel world that's described in the books. Hadyn's 60th, on the other hand, a very stately piece, goes well with the POV of Morgase or Elayne. Not so much Nynaeve.  One time, _Uranus_ from _The Planets_ started playing just as the POV switched over to Padan Fain (for those not in the loop, he's evil and utterly insane, and Robert Jordan's narrative style really puts the reader into the character's head).


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

I mostly listen while I'm at work. It always seems the work day goes so much faster if I listen to music while I'm working.


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## JMJ (Jul 9, 2010)

There are really only 2 ways ... 'passive' (on in the background) while your doing other ****. OR 'active' ... where you give the music your undivided attention and do nothing else. Being busy most of the time ... passive is often how it's gotta be, but I try to actively engage & listen to the music in a focused way when I can - it's preferred and more rewarding.


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## Whistlerguy (May 26, 2010)

I agree with JMJ that there are actually only 2 types of listening - passive and active.

However, there are many levels of "activeness" or "passiveness" in music listening.

Paradoxically, in some cases I listen to music more actively while doing other ****, than when I give it my undivided attention. It all depends on my level of sleepiness. If I am fully awake, full of energy and not sleepy at all - then I can fully concentrate solely on music. However if I am tired or sleepy and then try to concentrate exclusively on music - there are great chances that it will put me to sleep. So in these situations, when I am tired, I will be more active listeners if I do someting else at the same time, which will keep me awake. Such additional activity can be surfing the web, reading, watching photos and anything that is not too complicated.

By the way, one of the best things to do while listening to music is walking! It's good for your health, it will keep you in shape, and at the same time, it keeps you alert and awake so that you can concentrate fully on music. The only problem is that there is usually too much noise outside, from cars, etc, and this can spoil experience a little. But, if you walk in nature, this is whole another story, and I simply adore it. I adore walking through woods, along the river or anywhere in nature when it's not noisy and listening to music.

If I listen to music at home, while sitting and doing nothing else, I find that it's better to keep my eyes open, in order to stay more awake.

Also - there are two types of listening while sitting and doing nothing else:

a) listening with total focus on music - you are focused on melody, rhythm, harmony, etc.
b) listening while thinking about other things - no matter how hard I try to focus on music I will usually find myself at some moment thinking about other things - especially during the slow movements. When the music is faster and more dynamic . it's much easier to focus on it.

That's why fast and dynamic music can get my attention even when I was fully concentrated on something else - but small and quiet music usually doesn't manage to keep my attention. That's why I remember fast movements much better than slow ones.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I like to read while listening to music. Oddly, I can pick up things almost better when I'm focusing on something else, because the music goes into my subconscious.

I've never fallen asleep listening to classical music, by the way. It's just a bit too stimulating for me, even if it's something I don't prefer.

But if I'm not reading, and simply sitting there and focusing... I like to contemplate the people behind their music. Or take it farther, find the person even behind the _composer_. They had ordinary lives (well, most of them), with thoughts, emotions, families, memories, and dear things to them, besides music. I try to figure out if that's at all portrayed in their music.


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## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

JMJ said:


> There are really only 2 ways ... 'passive' (on in the background) while your doing other ****. OR 'active' ... where you give the music your undivided attention and do nothing else. Being busy most of the time ... passive is often how it's gotta be, but I try to actively engage & listen to the music in a focused way when I can - it's preferred and more rewarding.


I disagree with such a simple dichotomy, or at least how you put it. There can be active listening when you are not giving the music your undivided attention. It doesn't just have to be background whenever it's not the only thing present. An example I can give has already been given in this thread. The person who likes to read and listen to music at the same time (I do too!) and specifically chooses music that matches the tone of the work he is reading. Similarly, I like to look at photos, and if the photos I'm looking at are melancholic, I like the music to be melancholic as well. In that way, even though it was never intended to, the music can create a particular story for photographs, and direct your eyes and interest to certain parts, based on your active awareness of what you're listening to.

I agree that listening to music in and of itself is quite rewarding and a great experience, but it is not what this thread is about  This thread is just to post experiences so that other people who haven't tried such combinations can think 'hey, I'd like to do that.' As such, one should try to sell their experiences in this thread, for it to be useful 



> By the way, one of the best things to do while listening to music is walking! It's good for your health, it will keep you in shape, and at the same time, it keeps you alert and awake so that you can concentrate fully on music. The only problem is that there is usually too much noise outside, from cars, etc, and this can spoil experience a little. But, if you walk in nature, this is whole another story, and I simply adore it. I adore walking through woods, along the river or anywhere in nature when it's not noisy and listening to music.


I find myself conflicted with this. You're absolutely right that cars and such make listening to classical music nearly impossible. In those situations I usually listen to rock music or such. But even though I love going on walks, in peaceful, and serene areas, I can't bring myself to put my headphones on out there. I like listening to the water, and the animals, and the wind when I go on a walk, and I just think 'I can listen to classical music anytime, I should enjoy this while I'm out here.' I'm not saying you can't enjoy that, of course, but I personally get that kind of dissonance when listening to music outside.

I suppose if you make a day of it, you can very much do both, but if you are short on time you have to choose! Ah, life  Never enough time to do everything.


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## JMJ (Jul 9, 2010)

Wumbo said:


> This thread is just to post experiences so that other people who haven't tried such combinations can think 'hey, I'd like to do that.' As such, one should try to sell their experiences in this thread, for it to be useful


Right. I don't use 'art music' as sonic backdrop to assert or reinforce my lifestyle or whichever task I may be doing.


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## 151 (Jun 14, 2010)

The slogan from my Walkman declares "every moment has it's music." How right they are.

There is music everywhere, quarries, reservoirs, sewers, forests, motorways, castles, high streets; in the dark, at twilight, sunset, daybreak, in the rain, the snow, a hurricane, a warzone.

If it wasn't for my love for collecting, making and playing instruments, I'd have more money to be in more of these places. I'm definitely an advocate for walking. Go on Google Maps or Visit [insert country] and go to a historical site. Even going to an art gallery or a museum will fill your head with music, even if Sony is on standby until the trip home.

Gotta say though, don't think it has been said yet, my favourite way to listen is _with friends. _


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

I listen to classical (and occasionally other music) as background, sometimes out of sheer lack of time. I also will listen to a new piece I'm unfamiliar with like this quite a few times, though of course, I do get drawn in at times, and focus more exclusively on what I'm hearing. I do this to just get a bit more familiar with a piece. 

But then I usually set aside a few times during the week to do more concentrated listening, usually lying down with headphones, which, for myself, is necessary. 

I do sometimes wonder if we are so saturated with too much music (all kinds)-- we live in a day and age where music is ubiquitous and easy to access (radio, TV, internet, YouTube, iTunes, iPods, etc etc etc) that we may not be listening to music with the same kind of attention. Oh, obviously there are wonderful benefits to modern technology and I use it ALL the time, but I sometimes wonder if music is no longer the rare even to feast your ears on and has merely become yet another commodity that we too easily take for granted.


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## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

It's a good point that when things become convenient, we sometimes take them for granted and thus don't appreciate them as much, but I think for lovers of music such as us, this point is moot. When your hobby, nay, obsession, is art, you tend to savour the moments when a work is truly outstanding (as apposed to trying to appreciate the beauty of every photograph you see just because there aren't many cameras in the world).

With convenience and ease of use, comes higher standards for the connoisseurs. Though this is seriously off-topic for something that isn't even on page 2 yet.



> Right. I don't use 'art music' as sonic backdrop to assert or reinforce my lifestyle or whichever task I may be doing.


You'll forgive me if I find that comment extremely pretentious.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I like music when I'm at work or as background for surfing the net or reading forums. About an hour a week I set aside time to really focus on a longish piece or two in lieu of watching a movie. I give it my undivided attention then though not in the dark. I may be reading annotations or CD liner notes then. 

For mundane housework, walking, or bike riding, I prefer spoken word podcasts or audiobooks. They seem to keep me company more than music alone would do. If you are a painter you probably know you can't listen to words and draw or paint. It's like playing cello in a marching band. So for painting, sketching or designing, music is perfect. I don't do nearly enough of this these days.


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

Wumbo said:


> When your hobby, nay, obsession, is art, you tend to savour the moments when a work is truly outstanding...


Do all listeners of classical music really savour it though? Enjoying a pretty melody isn't what I'd call "savouring" and for many people (who listen to classical or otherwise) that's about the extent of one's musical literacy-- this is mere surface listening.

Of course I'm not saying we should become luddites! I just downloaded something from Amazon ten minutes ago...


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## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

What does it matter if other people savour music? Your enjoyment of music is not a democracy, it's a tyrannical dictatorship that you lead with an iron fist.

In any case, I find people often look at the rest of society and think to themselves 'geez, am I the only one who gets it?' It reminds me of Amadeus (the movie about Mozart), when Antonio Salieri is constantly raving about how only he can see Mozart's genius, and that the court is full of fools. We all like to see ourselves as the genius who can truly appreciate everything, but I think the truth is that everyone has very deep thoughts about their favourite works, and interesting opinions they typically keep to themselves 'because others wouldn't understand or appreciate them.'

Or maybe I am just a little too optimistic ;p


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

No, *Wumbo*, you are misconstruing what I am saying about basic musical literacy. I hardly grasp the "greatness" of anything-- I am fortunate enough to understand what I am able. One doesn't need to be a music theorist, a musician or a "genius," but a little _basic musical literacy _and understanding goes a long way. There isn't much of a future in any music if it is reduced to facile listening habits.


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## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

You're gonna have to define music literacy for me


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

Some online lectures at *Yale University*.

An old standard text that is still good after all these years: Copland's _*What to Listen for in Music*_.

There's also Roger Kamien's book (though I seem to recall not being very impressed with it a couple years ago looking at it).


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Thanks for mentioning the Copland book, Earthling, I will look out for it. 

I agree with one of the posters above, listening with friends is very enjoyable for me. I have a weekly music session with a friend where we listen to eachother's cd's & talk about them, etc. I have benefited from getting another "slant" on the music from this friend, whose tastes are not exactly the same as mine, but that's what makes it all the more interesting. We also go to concerts together.

Most of the time I "actively" listen to music, whilst doing nothing much else. I like to listen to my cd's and the radio in this way. I don't like to use classical music as wallpaper music. Even the radio drive time programs. & I can't really read while listening to music. I can only focus on one thing at a time...


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## Whistlerguy (May 26, 2010)

Andre, I agree about reading.

If the book is too good, (and music not so) you'll neglect music. 
If the music is too good, you'll focus on it, and lose track of the plot in the book.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Recently I've been using a new mode (for me at least) of listening. It's mostly the result of my (also pretty recent) interest in meditation. (I even get into my meditation pose in front of the stereo) I will basically use music as the object of meditation, and focus on the sound itself, not so much discursive thought like analysing the music (these thoughts pop up by themselves sometimes) or wether I like the music or not etc. I try focus on the music "as sound" and not so much "as music". This might sound counterproductive as far as actual music listening goes, but I find that melody, harmony, rhythm, texture even form register anyway. The point is really listening to how it really sounds right now, being in the moment without judging, and improving concentration. Just like classic breathing meditation (focusing on the breath and returning to when you notice your mind has drifted away). Those of you who know something about mindfulness meditation (wether the Buddhist or "secular" kind, they are basically the same) will recognize all this. I find this really useful for getting to know new works, works that I otherwise might just have skipped if they didn't attract me at once. When you've made a commitment that you will listen to that 15 min. long slow movement as an "excercise" in calm concentration and not caring wether you "like" it or not, the need to skip to the next track is pretty much gone. Some music, like e.g. Ligeti's Atmospheres is perfect for this kind of listening, you can really get into the all the textures and sounds without getting impatient at the lack of "a tune" etc. (Listening to this kind of music while surfing the web etc, is to me pretty much pointless, it demands a special kind of attention.)

I also like listening to music while walking, travelling etc, as long as there isn't too much noise around me. Sometimes, like someone else mentioned, I feel like I should "just be in nature" without the music on top of it. So it varies. Actually many of my earliest memories of strong musical experiences are from when I was a kid and going on holiday in the mountains and fjords of Norway (where I live) and listening to my walkman in the car while looking at the landscapes. My dad had made me mixtapes of classical music (I had asked him to, he didn't try to force "proper music" on me). The tapes had different things on them, but I remember Grieg was very fitting.  It gave me a very fairy tale-like feeling, and I could almost see the trolls in the mountains .

I'm also guilty of a lot of the kind of half-assed listening you do while surfing the web etc. I find this to work best with music I already know well, or maybe new music if it's "easy". I don't listen to music while doing "serious" reading, though. To me that would be almost like listening to your own music while watching a movie. One just takes attention from the other, reducing both.


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

*Norse*, I could imagine some strongly textural music (like *Ligeti*) could be "used" in such a context. *John Cage *and *Morton Feldman *I imagine would be good for such a purpose as well (much of Cage's musical ideas were influenced by Zen after all).



Norse said:


> Actually many of my earliest memories of strong musical experiences are from when I was a kid and going on holiday in the mountains and fjords of Norway (where I live) and listening to my walkman in the car while looking at the landscapes. My dad had made me mixtapes of classical music (I had asked him to, he didn't try to force "proper music" on me). The tapes had different things on them, but I remember Grieg was very fitting.  It gave me a very fairy tale-like feeling, and I could almost see the trolls in the mountains .


Oh, to be in such a setting and listen to Sibelius' _Tapiola!_

Sometimes I can read and listen to music, but it depends on the book and it depends on the music. I find it hard to have anything else going on while reading fiction, but non-fiction is generally not a problem for me. Usually, if I do have music going while reading, it tends to be electronic ambient music (Brian Eno, that sort of thing) at a low volume, rather than classical.

I have to have music while driving, especially long distances (something I rarely do at all anymore).


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## Avus (Jul 14, 2010)

I almost always have the music playing while I'm doing almost anything.

When I'm playing a racing video game (As one my age does ), I prefer to listen to faster pieces such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Especially the second movement). And if I'm doing something slower, such as arithmetic, I prefer slower pieces.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Earthling said:


> *Norse*, I could imagine some strongly textural music (like *Ligeti*) could be "used" in such a context. *John Cage *and *Morton Feldman *I imagine would be good for such a purpose as well (much of Cage's musical ideas were influenced by Zen after all).


I would think so! I don't have any music by these two, though, so recommendations are welcome.


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Earthling said:


> *Norse*, I could imagine some strongly textural music (like *Ligeti*) could be "used" in such a context. *John Cage *and *Morton Feldman *I imagine would be good for such a purpose as well (much of Cage's musical ideas were influenced by Zen after all).


Zen doesn't sound great,
Except after a long day:
Four and thirty-three


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## Wumbo (Jun 29, 2010)

Norse said:


> I would think so! I don't have any music by these two, though, so recommendations are welcome.


Cage's work is more of a collection of sounds made by classical instruments, rather than music. It's almost categorical, because of the way he splits up short sounds with silence.

Really, you could get anything by him, I don't think any one is much better than the other.


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

Norse said:


> I would think so! I don't have any music by these two, though, so recommendations are welcome.


Kronos Quartet has a recording of Feldman's *Piano and String Quartet *which is a very "meditative" work, very typical of late Feldman, who was obsessed with slowly moving patterns with very gradual changes (minimalism in very slow motion!). The piece is some 70+ minutes long.

Another late work of Feldman is *Palais de Mari *for piano, which is more compact, being around 30 minutes long.

I won't actually recommend Feldman's *String Quartet No. 2 *(which is over five hours long straight!!!) though it is certainly wonderful (to my ears).

John Cage's *Four *for string quartet is one of his most meditative pieces, with each instrument playing groups of notes within certain timeframes, but those groups of notes are randomly shuffled by the players prior to performance. The piece is then repeated, with the music shuffled once again, producing new combinations. Is is a mesmerising piece. Its 30 minutes long and the Arditti Quartet has a recording of it.

Cage's *One8 *for solo cello is a less dense piece, but has a similar meditative quality, though not as quietly intense as _Four_.

*Two2 *for two pianos is another lengthy piece that operates on a similar principle to *Four*, but the result is much denser textures.

And reading Cage's book of lectures, _Silence _just might blow your mind.

Those are some good places to start with those two composers.

I also would recommend Charlemagne Palestine's *Schlingen-Blangen *for pipe organ-- it is one chord sustained for well over an hour. The only thing that changes are the stops. It doesn't sound like much of anything until you experience the thing-- there are shifting textures (some real, some illusory) that occur throughout. Its a magnificent piece of music.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I just sit and listen to it. Or I could be reading, chatting with friends, playing a game, or anything of the sort. I usually like to pay very good attention to whatever I'm listening to, so I usually don't do multiple things because my attention is so focused on the music. Although I can balance things equally if I do choose to.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Earthling said:


> Kronos Quartet has a recording of Feldman's *Piano and String Quartet *which is a very "meditative" work, very typical of late Feldman, who was obsessed with slowly moving patterns with very gradual changes (minimalism in very slow motion!). The piece is some 70+ minutes long.
> 
> Another late work of Feldman is *Palais de Mari *for piano, which is more compact, being around 30 minutes long.
> 
> ...


Thank you. The Feldman/w. Kronos is at my local library, so I can get it there. They also have the Cage lectures, but I'll have to wait for it to be returned. I couldn't find the other stuff, but maybe I can get it elsewhere. They did have other things by these two though, and since it's free there's no risk in just trying them out.


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