# Descriptive Language Help....



## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

I posted this question at MIMF and thought to pose it here as well:





"I began listening to "classical' music recently, actually in 2007. At that time I did not realize that in fact classical was not a genre but an era...
As the two+ years have passed my interest or more accurately my obsession has grown tremendously and has become a little more focused on baroque music.

Avison, Boyce, Albinoni, Telemann, Bach, Handel are a few of the composers whose music moves me so so much. I listen and listen to one recording (hence my obsession) until my family threatens me 

The music of this era literally moves me beyond words- I am filled with both emotion and physical reaction. It is quite like a "drug" where I can not get enough and can't get it fast enough.

One thing I find curious is when I try to describe the music and how I respond to it I can not find adequate language to do so~ this is the impetus of this topic....

What descriptive words and phrases do you use to describe the music (any period-classical, baroque, romantic etc) that you listen to and how it makes you feel physically, emotionally, spiritually any kind of "ly". 
__________________


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

rapture, climax, canola oil


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

canola oil????


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

"Genco Pura Olive Oil"


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

I will assume you both are serious so would you explain in a little more detail why the use of olive and canola oils?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

And from the less universal ones, to describe my enjoyment of classical period music I use: "Och, such a teatime in Vienna!"


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Hawk, I so related to your post. The "modern" era lasted about a 100 years, the romantic era lasted about 80, the baroque period about 250 years! The classic era only about, what? 50 years? Why do they call it classical?

Of course these periods overlap and fade into one another, so my timing may be a little off from others.

I too binged on baroque for a long time. Not quite as much now, but my love for it has never waned. I think words do fail when describing the feeling you get from baroque. It is the deep texture of the music that does it for me. With so much counterpoint, you can choose to listen to just one instrument in an ensemble and still have almost a complete work. It's like a fractal in that respect. The more you look at the details, the more details emerge. Baroque music addresses both the highly intellectual and the highly emotional at the same time. I have learned that other periods and genres can also do this, but it is not quite the same as when it is done in the deep baroque texture. 

For a long time I actually hated the classic era. I thought abandoning counterpoint was over-simplifying the music. After I studied it more I found they didn't entirely abandon counterpoint, they just became more interested in the overall structure of a piece. So it became less complex on a note to note basis, but more complex on an overall structure basis - if that makes sense. That's my understanding of it anyway.

My favorite baroque pieces are:

The Handel organ concertos.

Bach's The Art of the fugue

Any D. Scarlatti keyboard sonata.

And my all time favorite is Bach's cantata No. 80, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott," BWV 80. If you can find the version where his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach composed trumpet and timpani parts, by all means give it a listen! Even if you don't like vocal music that much -- it has some amazing near dissonances in the trumpet trills that never fail to send a chill up my spine. The dissonances are still there in the original version played more today, but they are less in your face with oboes instead of trumpets. 

Well, I didn't mean to write a novel . . . . Carry on.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Ahh! I found a YouTube posting of the version of the Bach Cantata I was referring to. It is actually the 5th segment of the work that has those marvelous almost dissonant trills in both the trumpets and the violins:






I love that "itchy-itchy-busy- busy" rhythm too. Still brings chill-bumps all over me. I just love this work! The rest of it is great too.

I don't have this version in my collection at present. :-(


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## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Weston thank you so much both for your answer to my question and for the link. I enjoyed the music very much and while I have not learned to appreciate vocal music this piece especially the first section was great!

I listened trying to hear the instrumental part seperate from the singing. It was interesting in that if I were to hear them apart from each other I would not have gussed they would go together-like two completely different pieces. 
Hope this makes sense

Again thank you for your reply.


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