# A Piece of Music that Changed Your Life?



## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

For me, one example is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. As a boy I thought to myself, "so that's what classical music is all about." 

Another would be Mahler's unsurpassed Adagios, and let's not forget Schoenberg's piano music.

I guess what this thread is really giving testimony to is the power of the music; the profound effect it has on the listener. It is also interesting to think of this idea in general: which composers have most impacted the world?


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Klassic said:


> ... the profound *affect* it has on the listener.



_Edit: Post rendered moot._


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2016)

I am a musical youngster. I can trace my classical listenings back only about 3 years, my serious listenings via personal exploration, forums, etc back only about 7 years, and my enjoyment of any music at all only about 12 years.

I can think of one. But it's lame and would probably result in me yammering on about my life.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Ligeti's *Lux Æterna*: that's why I'm here.


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

Klassic said:


> ...Mahler's unsurpassed Adagios...


I'm glad you mentioned Mahler, because I was just about to chime in with his 2nd Symphony, the first Mahler symphony I ever heard (the Solti-Chicago recording). That was the moment that I was fully awakened to just what a full orchestra is really capable of doing, not only the way that Mahler wrote for it, but also the way the Chicago Symphony performed it. (Since then, I have come to greatly prefer the Kaplan/London recording over the Solti.)


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Bartók's Violin Concerto (the second one), his string quartets and other stuff. 
Coltrane's Love Supreme (and other stuff)
Schnittke's Faust Cantata
Joni Mitchell's Hejira (and other stuff)
Zappa's Civilization Phase III (and a whole lot of other stuff)
Roxy Music's first three albums
Eno's My life in the bush of ghosts
Residents Commercial album
Many many albums of Pere Ubu


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

As a young boy, seeing Renée Fleming rise to stardom, at the Metropolitan house ( on stage) singing Desdemoa besides Placido Domingo.I was glued to the stage and it dazzled me, all those people on stage.
My parents told me the story about jealousy, so I learnt that lesson from that day on. 

I will never forget it and I still love her :tiphat:


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

dsphipps100 said:


> I'm glad you mentioned Mahler, because I was just about to chime in with his 2nd Symphony, the first Mahler symphony I ever heard (the Solti-Chicago recording). That was the moment that I was fully awakened to just what a full orchestra is really capable of doing, not only the way that Mahler wrote for it, but also the way the Chicago Symphony performed it. (Since then, I have come to greatly prefer the Kaplan/London recording over the Solti.)


Interesting. When I was originally writing my thoughts for this thread, instead of saying "Mahler's Unsurpassed Adagios," I wrote, "Mahler's Second Symphony." Great listeners listen alike.


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## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

*Don Carlo Gesualdo *- miserere


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## dsphipps100 (Jan 10, 2016)

Klassic said:


> Great listeners listen alike.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

One of the biggest musical events that changed my life was not a piece of music. It was when I purchased my contrabassoon.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

As strange as it might sound, a few pieces that changed my life were Haydn's Surprise Symphony, Mozart's Jupiter Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. I know, I know, it's an interesting mix, but those were three major ones that got me truly hooked on Classical Music!!! I found out how truly amazing, fun, and diverse the genre could be!!


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

Kind of a tough question. One that comes to mind is Mahler's 8th. I didn't know music could _do_ that.

An earlier option would be Chopin's Ballade no. 1. That was the piece that hooked me into listening to more classical


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## Martyn Harper (Jan 27, 2016)

I'm not sure if my life would be any different had I not been exposed to a particular piece of music but I guess there have been times when a particular album or work has inspired me in different ways - some of these being:
1. Moonlight Piano Sonata by Beethoven - the first piece of classical music that really touched me on an emotional level.
2. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd - one of the first albums I bought. This album began my 35 yr love affair with progressive rock.
3. Stratosfear by Tangerine Dream - this album inspired me to explore all kinds of weird and wonderful forms of instrumental music.
4. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane, Go by Dexter Gordon, A Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Round Midnight by Theonious Monk - these albums inspired me to get into jazz (I listened to hardly anything else for about 5 yrs)
5. La Scala by Keith Jarrett - switched me on to the extraordinary music presented on the ECM label
6. Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones started me listening to folk music, which I was heavily into for a few years
7. Cantata 21 by Bach - this inspired my recent obsession with JS Bach - a large chunk of my disposable income has been spent on CD box sets.
8. Symphony No. 6 by Shostakovich - I first bought this (on vinyl) when I was 17. At first I found the music to be inaccessible, but after listening to it on and off over a period of a few months, the melancholy music began to touch me very deeply. This taught me the value of perseverence with music. The best things in life often require time and effort. Instant gratification on the other hand is usually superficial and of no lasting value.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

There was a dark period in my late adolescence when, before going to sleep at night, I would play Alan Hovhaness' Piano Concerto No. 1, _Lousadzak_, "The Coming of Light", over and over. And The Light Came......, at least a certain amount of it.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Debussy's Passepied played by Tomita


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## sosophisticated (Feb 4, 2016)

Holsts The Planets Suite was the first bit of classical music I remember liking, when I was about 10. But then 98% of the human race likes The Planets....

But I would have to say that Beethhovens Appassionata Sonata (especially the third movement) really made me realise how awesome classical music could be. I thought only my Mum and guys in tweed wearing monocles liked that stuff! :-D


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Prokofiev Symphony No. 1. As a 6 year old kid, this piece first got me fascinated by classical music. There was no turning back after that.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

First there was Mozart, symphony no. 40. Then there was Schubert violin sonatina in a minor. That was before I was 10. Then Shostakovich symphony no. 5 & Messiaens Turangalila symphony. Then pieces I learned on guitar: Bach bwv 995 & Brittens Nocturnal.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> Ligeti's *Lux Æterna*: that's why I'm here.


I am here because of Richard Strauss and this: http://www.talkclassical.com/9837-richard-strauss-his-alpensinfonie-2.html#post181205 .I used to be strictly a Wagner admirer. This post made me realize there is more of that kind of music out there.


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## Biwa (Aug 3, 2015)

Claudio Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Can't tell if it changed my life, don't know what idiocies I would have produced without it. At least some of my teenage uncertainties were settled by listening to Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. Somehow that allowed me to 'man up'. Well, at least some of the time.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Martyn Harper said:


> I'm not sure if my life would be any different had I not been exposed to a particular piece of music...


I know this for a fact. My exposure to certain composers, just like my exposure to certain quality people, has completely altered my life. I owe a great deal of who I am to the work of many composers.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Mozart pc 21.

first love that blossomed into a life long love


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