# pieces that you've ruined for yourself



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

Have you ever ruined a piece for yourself by listening to it too much?

I fear I've done this with Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies. I listened to the Carlos Kleiber recording of them incessantly as a teenager and into college. But now I find I never want to listen to either piece, any recording. I thought this would wear off, but it's been years. I heard the 5th in concert a few months and felt nothing (granted it was a very underwhelming HIP ensemble).

Am I alone?


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

"He that thinks he knows what he hears proceeds to bore himself with the world of sound. In order to listen new one must listen undogmatically; allow yourself to once again become the child." Thus said the master.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

isorhythm said:


> Have you ever ruined a piece for yourself by listening to it too much?
> 
> I fear I've done this with Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies. I listened to the Carlos Kleiber recording of them incessantly as a teenager and into college. But now I find I never want to listen to either piece, any recording. I thought this would wear off, but it's been years. I heard the 5th in concert a few months and felt nothing (granted it was a very underwhelming HIP ensemble).
> 
> Am I alone?


I have not desired to listen to something too many times. I like listening to a broad selection of things.


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## Presolis (Aug 17, 2016)

Definitely you are not.
Beethoven's fifth was my very Favorite and I Got to own nearly fifteen versions including piano transcriptions. Now i can listen only to one or two movements.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm starting to get burnout on Beethoven's Fifth. I have to listen to it in moderation.


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## Presolis (Aug 17, 2016)

Makes sense. I'll try to,listen with fresh ears. 
Thanks


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

Initial enthusiasm may wane with increased familiarity, but repeated listening has never ruined a classical work for me.


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

This thread proves my point about Schoenberg: http://www.talkclassical.com/44912-schoeberg-will-not-die.html


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I almost ruined Fidelio, Maria Stuarda, and Barber of Seville by listening to them incessantly. But I would not say ruined, but more of a saturated state where something new is needed. I come back to each at times, but probably will never be as intense as I once was with them. There are works I like but rarely listen to, but have fond memories of the times I was listening to them. That I can listen if and when I want to is enough while I pursue other works. If I never come back to them, it is likely because I found something more interesting.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

Thankfully this hasn't happened to me. Maybe I'm too familiar with Schubert's Unfinished and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G and they're not quite as magical as in the first several listens, but I still love those pieces a lot, and knowing a piece from beginning to end gives a different feeling of satisfaction to me. However I now try not to listen to the same piece too many times too frequently.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2016)

I can still enjoy,"eine kleine nachtmusik".Repetition can makes everything dull.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

As a youngster, I listened to RVW's Fantastia on a theme by Thomas Tallis way too much. Fifty-five years later, I can't tolerate listening to any of it.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

"Ruined" may be too harsh a word, but I could cheerfully pass the next X years without hearing Scheherazade again, or the New World Symphony, or Mussorgsky Pictures, or Beethoven Emperor. Just fine with everything else (except maybe Liszt piano concertos).


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Part of the difference among listeners in vulnerability to long term 'ruination' must be in the differences in how we listen. If one practices the 'kick back and let the music in' approach, with no worrying on the details-bones, the meat stays on them. I can (or could before my hearing went too far south) come back to Beethoven's 5th or Dvorak's 9th and lose myself in the music - as long as I've left it alone for a couple years. I don't know for sure what's coming until it comes.


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## scratchgolf (Nov 15, 2013)

I ruin Autumn every year and the thought of it is unbearable each Winter. Then I ruin Winter in time for Spring. Then I ruin Spring in time for Summer. Then I ruin Summer in time for Autumn. Then I........Beethoven 5 sounds pretty good to me right now.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

When I was young boy, I played Rachmaninov's _Symphonic Dances_ Op. 45 quite often, but then grew tired of it. Listening to it now brings back memories...


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## Klassic (Dec 19, 2015)

Antiquarian said:


> When I was young boy, I played Rachmaninov's _Symphonic Dances_ Op. 45 quite often, but then grew tired of it. Listening to it now brings back memories...


"He that learns to once again become the child frees himself from many restraints." Thus said the master.


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Vivaldi's four seasons for me

Overloaded on it years ago


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## nbergeron (Dec 30, 2015)

Klassic said:


> "He that learns to once again become the child frees himself from many restraints." Thus said the master.


Who is this master you're quoting?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Klassic said:


> "He that learns to once again become the child frees himself from many restraints." Thus said the master.


you need to post that here:

http://www.talkclassical.com/37103-wise-sayings-meanings-wanted-25.html#post1109666


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2016)

Hallo Florestan familiar with this? Mathew 18.3 :tiphat:


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I have yet to burn out on any work. In fact I seem to enjoy my favorite works now as much as ever. I will say that I may have listened to works much less than some other members. I tend to look for new works and almost never listen to a work several times within a short period (several weeks). So maybe I've just never heard works enough to lessen the enjoyment.


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## TwoFlutesOneTrumpet (Aug 31, 2011)

Balthazar said:


> Initial enthusiasm may wane with increased familiarity, but repeated listening has never ruined a classical work for me.


I came to say pretty much the same thing.

Interestingly, just today I was listening to Beethoven's 5th in my car on the way home and thinking to myself how I haven't tired of it even after hearing it hundreds of times


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I can't think of an example. But poor recordings have soured some but a good recording of the same piece brings it back to life. This happens often to me with pre-19th century music when not observing historical performance practice.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Traverso said:


> Hallo Florestan familiar with this? Mathew 18.3 :tiphat:


Yes, a very important verse. I am not sure if the other post is a paraphrase of it, perhaps from The Living Bible.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2016)

Florestan said:


> Yes, a very important verse. I am not sure if the other post is a paraphrase of it, perhaps from The Living Bible.


The essence is the same and that is what counts,but let us not go further in this.:tiphat::tiphat:


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Hmmm it's hard to listen to the Tannhauser Overture anymore...

I'd say most classical pops are worn out on me. I'm always willing to play that stuff in orchestra because it always is a new perspective, but when it comes to spending money or time to hear a concert of pops... I'm _verrry _hesitant these days.

There's a concert in October that I want to see because of the conductor (I'm gonna try to meet him in person too!), but... Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto is on the program... I can't stand listening to that anymore. For the love of the conductor I will bear with it though! _For Neeme Jarvi!!_


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Hmmm it's hard to listen to the Tannhauser Overture anymore...
> 
> I'd say most classical pops are worn out on me. I'm always willing to play that stuff in orchestra because it always is a new perspective, but when it comes to spending money or time to hear a concert of pops... I'm _verrry _hesitant these days.


Your mention of the Tannhäuser (with which I concur) brought on more flashbacks for me: Tchaikovsky _Romeo and Juliet_., more.... Clearly, this calls for a poll! I summon Nereffid, King of the Polls, to fashion a suitable poll whereby such sturdy yet fatigued and fatiguing warhorses can be stabled together and examined scientifically by the curious for signs of a common heritage or structure.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

isorhythm said:


> Have you ever ruined a piece for yourself by listening to it too much?
> 
> I fear I've done this with Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies. I listened to the Carlos Kleiber recording of them incessantly as a teenager and into college. But now I find I never want to listen to either piece, any recording. I thought this would wear off, but it's been years. I heard the 5th in concert a few months and felt nothing (granted it was a very underwhelming HIP ensemble).
> 
> Am I alone?


I think you do, sometimes, something gets under the radar for a while till someone on this site is talking about it.
So, no problem here.


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

isorhythm said:


> Have you ever ruined a piece for yourself by listening to it too much?
> 
> I fear I've done this with Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies. I listened to the Carlos Kleiber recording of them incessantly as a teenager and into college. But now I find I never want to listen to either piece, any recording. I thought this would wear off, but it's been years. I heard the 5th in concert a few months and felt nothing (granted it was a very underwhelming HIP ensemble).
> 
> Am I alone?


No you are not. I know precisely what you mean. With me it is Bach's B. Concertos, V. Concertos and Orchestral Suites. I've done them to proverbial death. I have at least five recording of each, each bought in the hope that it might re-vitalize my enthusiasm - alas to no avail.

With favourite pieces I find I have to ration myself or else, like too much chocolate, whiskey, etc, suffer negative consequences of one sort or another.

Such a pity. Still it was wonderful while it lasted.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

I would like to make a slightly different but related observation. The 'ruination' of which you speak is not necessarily the responsibility of the listener alone. Familiarity can often arise as a result of certain pieces being almost ever present to the point where as I was discussing with my father earlier in the week you can not really hear the work any more as your head is virtually stuffed with preconceptions and associations-this was in the context of his having listened to Proms performance of the Planets.....similarly the very sound of much of Rachmaninov's music is clouded by an over familiarity and I would really like to know how I might respond if this were not the case!

additionally-I really do spend a lot of time listening to the music of Dvorak but the 9th...no,and this is probably because of the above!


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## LarryShone (Aug 29, 2014)

I dont know about 'ruining' myself but I think I tend to ignore the popular pieces, Beethoven 5, 4 Seasons etc. The problem is there is still so much out there to discover. But then I put on an old favourite and all is right with the world again.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I will not offer specific examples right here, right now, but there are three descriptors (at least) that may encompass this phenomenon of the "ruined" musical work: 

1) Banality of theme(s)
2) Longueurs
3) Too much/many repetitions of material

All three may be at work to undermine long-term enjoyment, in various ratios, in the works in question.


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)

Sometimes I doubt I'll ever enjoy _The Rite of Spring_ again...


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## juliante (Jun 7, 2013)

Sadly, Mozart's Symphonia Concertante. I used to thrill to it, then listened yesterday after a long gap and found myself bored. I hope I get over it...!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Adam Weber said:


> Sometimes I doubt I'll ever enjoy _The Rite of Spring_ again...


The Rite, for me, is a counterexample, in the context of the three criteria I mentioned: 1) It is brimming with so many themes, a veritable stew of themes, so that questions of banality (or of paucity) of themes, are stillborn; 2) Longueurs--not an issue for me, in that, like Goldilocks' porridge, it is just right in length, if not in temperature; and 3) Too repetitious? Answered, actually, in point 1. Plus there is that kinetic vitality that so permeates it.

It is key to recognize that these criteria are entirely personal in nature--what I find dull and repetitive perhaps inflames another's imagination. But a suitable poll might point to some common factors at work.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I have overplayed some pieces over the years that I haven't voluntarily listened to in some time (Beethoven's Fifth among them) and had numerous pieces overplayed at me (Eine Kleine Nachmusik, Four Seasons, Fur Elise. . . ) Usually pieces that I have "ruined" or have been ruined for me are ones that don't speak to me much as I have become familiar with them anyway.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

I don't think I can really ruin my favorite music; it has become my favorite music for good reason. But some composers need more "downtime" than others. For example, Chopin. His music is and remains magic, but only when I listen to it with long intervals in between.


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## EarthBoundRules (Sep 25, 2011)

I burnt myself out on Beethoven's _9th Symphony_ a few years ago. After a long break I was able to appreciate it again.


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

juliante said:


> Sadly, Mozart's Symphonia Concertante. I used to thrill to it, then listened yesterday after a long gap and found myself bored. I hope I get over it...!


Ah, I worry I'm ruining this one for myself now - I only paid attention to it for the first time last year after reading Rosen's _The Classical Style_, having previously been a little dismissive of early Mozart. Since then it's one of my favorites and I listen to it all the time, but I should probably limit myself to avoid wearing it out!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

EarthBoundRules said:


> I burnt myself out on Beethoven's _9th Symphony_ a few years ago. After a long break I was able to appreciate it again.


Yep. I did that. Burnout came after collecting about 40 some CDs of the Ninth. Then I discovered there is more to classical music than adoration of a single symphony. I still like the Ninth, but don't listen to it very much.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't have this problem because I don't gorge on familiar pieces and basic repertoire. I listen to Beethoven's 9th once every ten years. Of course I would make an exception if there was an opportunity to attend a live performance. This happened last weekend with the 7th, and I really enjoyed it. It was performed by a no name orchestra in a high school, but they were very good players, and the school concert hall had great acoustics. But I never reach for a CD of the 7th. I already know it by heart.


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## bioluminescentsquid (Jul 22, 2016)

Faure's Pavane.
Well, it isn't my fault. When I was young, it was the piece that always played on the classics station around the time when I was picked up from school, during the hottest time of the day. I got a heatstroke once at that time (Of course, while listening to that piece) and I attribute the involuntary headache I get when I listen to that piece to that experience.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Like most young people, I started out in classical music playing certain pieces endlessly and probably driving my parents to the brink. The Strauss family, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Wagner were all put at risk of overexposure. By some miracle, very little of their music lost its appeal, and with the latter two the years have deepened my appreciation, though not heightened my pleasure, which could never be greater than it was back then. 

After decades of gorging constantly on music, I don't do a lot of listening now, and feel at no risk of getting tired of anything due to repetition. When I do listen it's apt to be to something unfamiliar, but not because I don't enjoy the old warhorses when they appear. They're likely to be warhorses for good reason, and I know that if I make myself ready to receive them again I'll be rewarded.

I do think that some works hold up better than others, but it's sometimes hard to say why. Certain very simple works can strike home no matter how often we hear them, while some more complex works that might appear to have more to offer become tiresome. On the whole I suspect that, all else being equal, music that takes longer to comprehend, technically and emotionally, is likely to remain more interesting through years of repetition.


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## brianvds (May 1, 2013)

I ruined Borodin's second symphony for myself by using it as a weapon.

When I was a student, I lived in a youth hostel, where lots of young and noisy students lived packed together - the apartments were small one-room affairs. And so, you constantly had to listen to other people's (mostly bad, bad) music. I was tolerant about this, but up to a point. It's one thing hearing soft strains of pop music now and then. It's another to be enveloped in "boom-boom-boom" so loud that the windows vibrate, for hours at a time.

Then I got a sound system. I big one. A very big one. So the next time they put up that stuff, I put on Borodin's second symphony. I turned up the volume control past loud, very loud and ridiculously loud to "thar she blows." It took about ten seconds before the entire building had gone quiet.

After that, every time they turned up their music too loud, out came the Borodin. And to this day I can't really enjoy the music. Music should never be used as a weapon.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

brianvds said:


> I ruined Borodin's second symphony for myself by using it as a weapon.
> 
> When I was a student, I lived in a youth hostel, where lots of young and noisy students lived packed together - the apartments were small one-room affairs. And so, you constantly had to listen to other people's (mostly bad, bad) music. I was tolerant about this, but up to a point. It's one thing hearing soft strains of pop music now and then. It's another to be enveloped in "boom-boom-boom" so loud that the windows vibrate, for hours at a time.
> 
> ...


But the huge level of satisfaction at the time seems worth it. But maybe should have picked a piece you didn't care for to use as weapon.


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

It happens to orchestras, too. As a teenager, I was in the audience once during a rehearsal of the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of its concert master, Rudolph Ringwall. He was inordinately fond of Tchaikovsky's Symphony #4, which he was conducting for the umpteenth time, much to the annoyance of the musicians. As they were playing, I could hear distinctly (Severance Hall had remarkable acoustics) some of the violinists singing along, quietly, "Shove it up your a--, Mr. Ringwall."


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> I will not offer specific examples right here, right now, but there are three descriptors (at least) that may encompass this phenomenon of the "ruined" musical work:
> 
> 1) Banality of theme(s)
> 2) Longueurs
> ...


My feelings exactly. If a piece of music becomes 'ruined' by repeated hearing, the fault lies with the music. I must have listened to Sibelius 4th and 6th symphonies more times than anything else but neither of them has palled, whereas I cannot enjoy Mendelssohn's 4th having heard it too often when I was a student. 
Greig's Piano concerto is an odd one. It was the first classical LP I ever bought, and I listened to various performances a lot (Backhaus especially). Then I sort of went off it, maybe through familiarity. Years later, I came back to it, trying different performances, hearing new things in it, and now I love the piece again.


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## znapschatz (Feb 28, 2016)

My experience with the Grieg was similar. It was one of the first classical LPs I acquired, and I played it to death. But I never got tired of it, and love it still.


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## Adam Weber (Apr 9, 2015)

I'm sure I could "ruin" any piece for myself, no matter how good it is. But then, that depends on what you mean by "ruin." When I say "ruin", I don't mean I've lost respect for the piece, I simply mean I've grown tired of it--for the time being. I think that has more to do with my psychology than the quality of the piece (although that also plays a factor). I don't think I'm apt to "ruin" many pieces nowadays, though--I over listened to _The Rite of Spring_ in highschool, and for better or worse I'll never be that obsessive or passionate about music again.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Now not at all. once I think I used to be arrogant from time to time when it was about classical too well known pieces like Tchaikovsky 1 piano concerto or the same Vivaldi´s 4 seasons or sometimes I knew pieces way too much into details, they were too familiar for me, it´s like a very good friend is always nearby and one day you take his or her presence for granted. 

So, now even the most well known pieces of music sound very fresh to me, but well, maybe it´s due to the fact that I don´t listen to them very often


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

For me, a concerto lover, the two composers who exhausted my interest most grievously were Liszt and Saint-Saens. I started out listening avidly to their concertos in my youth, along with all the other biggies--Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Grieg, Beethoven, etc.--but, unlike those giants, I began to suspect that there was no "there" there, in the Liszt and the Saint-Saens efforts--especially the latter's empty noodling in his world-weary slow movements. Odd, in that both men were titans at the keyboard, and could and did execute well in other works. Just me?


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Isn't it curious that music is an art form in which we can consume repeatedly. I can only recall reading one novel twice. "I've read it" means I've got the gist of it and I don't need to read it again. There are only a few movies I've watched twice. However, a piece of music is an art form many people seek to hear again and again. Some wouldn't say about the great masterworks "yes, I've heard it, I got the gist of it" (I guess this is for all styles of music depending on what you like: classical, country, jazz, rock and roll, folk etc)

(Yes, I know there are a few people who read all of Dickens' novels, Jane Austin, Shakespeare etc over and over. Like we here on Talk Classical listen to LvB symphonies over and over. But I think that music lends itself to repeated listening where books do not lend themselves as well to repeated reads)

I am lucky I guess that my musical memory isn't great. I haven't been able to memorize a piece of music I've been learning to play.

There are a few pieces of music that are ruined by repeated listens: again LvB 5 and 9 that a few have already mentioned. Grieg's piano concerto first movement is a bit tiring to listen to now. There is nothing new for me with Beethoven's violin concerto, and Dvorak's ninth symphony. 

What can help with the fatigue is to hear a new performance, some new ideas infused into the piece.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

senza sordino said:


> What can help with the fatigue is to hear a new performance, some new ideas infused into the piece.


very interesting comment and it made me think about those ideas . Aren't they already in a piece of music itself? Can an interpreter really infuse new ideas into it? Everything is already in this piece of music....perhaps it's a process of rediscovering new in the same piece of music, finding out what is "inside", not bringing it from "outside", because it is a piece of music that already contains all those meanings and ideas which an interpreter brings to the surface.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

All Beethoven symphonies. A case of being over-played by me throughout the years.

Hey Ludwig, it's not YOU, it's ME!!!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

hpowders said:


> All Beethoven symphonies. A case of being over-played by me throughout the years.
> 
> Hey Ludwig, it's not YOU, it's ME!!!


I was pushing the same effect. Thankfully, there is Mahler for me to focus on for now.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Florestan said:


> I was pushing the same effect. Thankfully, there is Mahler for me to focus on for now.


For many years I listened to and collected complete sets of the Beethoven 9. They are extraordinary works, but at this point I am guilty of over-listening. One day I am sure I will return to them. So the Beethoven I favor now are the less popular pieces like the Diabelli Variations and the Hammerklavier Sonata.

Beethoven will always remain in my top three composers of all time, among the other mega-geniuses Bach and Mozart.


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## LOLWUT (Oct 12, 2016)

Mahler's Adagietto. No goosebumps anymore.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

hpowders said:


> For many years I listened to and collected complete sets of the Beethoven 9. They are extraordinary works, but at this point I am guilty of over-listening. One day I am sure I will return to them. So the Beethoven I favor now are the less popular pieces like the Diabelli Variations and the Hammerklavier Sonata.
> 
> Beethoven will always remain in my top three composers of all time, among the other mega-geniuses Bach and Mozart.


My top three are Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mahler. Mendelssohn very well may have stood with the greats (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven) if he had not been distracted from composing to run/manage an orchestra hall. A shame Fanny Mendelssohn was not allowed to fully develop her composing talent.


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## LOLWUT (Oct 12, 2016)

Florestan said:


> My top three are Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mahler. Mendelssohn very well may have stood with the greats (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven) if he had not been distracted from composing to run/manage an orchestra hall. A shame Fanny Mendelssohn was not allowed to fully develop her composing talent.


Mendelssohn is up there with the greats.


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## JamieHoldham (May 13, 2016)

Pachelbel's Canon is a piece I really just don't enjoy anymore at all - the only piece after 100s of listens I just can't get anything out of it anymore sadly.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Florestan said:


> My top three are Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Mahler. Mendelssohn very well may have stood with the greats (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven) if he had not been distracted from composing to run/manage an orchestra hall. A shame Fanny Mendelssohn was not allowed to fully develop her composing talent.


Really? Interesting. Felix and Fanny were very close. When she died, Felix soon followed. I love the Mendelssohn String Quartets and the two Piano Trios. Another case of a composer who died much too young.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Olivia Newton John "Have You Never Been Mellow". The answer is No, and also I'm not sure that I want to, and hearing that song makes me homicidal.


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## Friendlyneighbourhood (Oct 8, 2016)

JamieHoldham said:


> Pachelbel's Canon is a piece I really just don't enjoy anymore at all - the only piece after 100s of listens I just can't get anything out of it anymore sadly.


I couldn't even get through it twice


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

OP: The story of my life.

All Beethoven and Brahms symphonies. Too much exposure.

I take refuge in Brahms chamber music and Beethoven's piano sonatas to make up for it.


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Can't say I ruined it, but... Handel's Water Music would spring to mind. *Sigh*. I've lost a dear friend.


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## Rys (Nov 26, 2016)

I've ruined Mozart's 21st Piano concerto. It is one of the first recordings I had. 

I listened to it too much for a while, that I heard every note in my head before it was played. Nowadays I stay away from . :lol: That happened to all of the recordings I got back then.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

It happened to me with Dvorak's 9th. So I didn't listen to it for a few years. Now I enjoy it again. In moderation of course.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

I almost ruined Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony, but then told myself to not listen to it for a while- and now I barely listen to it, but still love it!


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

None. There's nothing I listen to QUITE that often for this to happen. I've covered such a wide swathe of classical in a relatively short time that I almost regret not knowing certain pieces well enough.

That said, I probably don't feel the need to listen to Beethoven's first symphony again. I tried to get to know the early symphonies really well that I've just over listened to that one in comparison to his better symphonies which warrant more attention.

I sometimes worry that I'll overdo Mozart's operas because sometimes I put one on and it doesn't interest me....but it's just that I have to be in Mozart Mood, I've learned this so I just don't force it.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I'm surprised Chopin was only mentioned once in this thread. A lot of slightly melancholic teenagers who like classical music probably over-played Chopin. I loved learning some of the pieces on piano, but I definitely ruined many of them from over-listening. 

Possibly also just changing tastes as you get older. There are some things I listened to then that I still listen to now and I played those a lot too, so perhaps it isn't too much playing, but changing tastes.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


> I couldn't even get through it twice


I still love it


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Balthazar said:


> Initial enthusiasm may wane with increased familiarity, but repeated listening has never ruined a classical work for me.[/QUOTE
> 
> Several instances where "Initial enthusiasm...[waned]..."with increased familiarity...": Ravel's Bolero, Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony, Dvorak's "New World" Symphony, Grieg's Piano Concerto, Rossini's William Tell Overture, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Pat Fairlea said:


> My feelings exactly. If a piece of music becomes 'ruined' by repeated hearing, the fault lies with the music. I must have listened to Sibelius 4th and 6th symphonies more times than anything else but neither of them has palled, whereas I cannot enjoy Mendelssohn's 4th having heard it too often when I was a student.
> Greig's Piano concerto is an odd one. It was the first classical LP I ever bought, and I listened to various performances a lot (Backhaus especially). Then I sort of went off it, maybe through familiarity. Years later, I came back to it, trying different performances, hearing new things in it, and now I love the piece again.


But yet, others can hear Mendelssohn's 4th endlessly without tiring of it....how does that make it the fault of the music if it makes you weary but not someone else?


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

I feel burnout listening to a certain type of music for a relatively short period of time. For example, my daily routine consists of about 1hr Piano, 1hr Violin, 1hr Symphonies, and 1hr Opera or Recitals. I need the change, but can return to the same again.


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## Clairvoyance Enough (Jul 25, 2014)

I used to focus about 80 percent of my listening on things I didn't "get" but wanted to, a habit I've since abandoned because my current impression is that some of those things actually did grow on me, but that I didn't notice because I learned to like them and grew tired of them simultaneously. 

There are some things I love so much that I make a point to hear them sparingly, like my emergency reserve of enthusiasm for music when nothing seems to be hitting it for me - the last contrapunctus in Art of Fugue, 4th prelude of Book 2 in the WTC, the first act of Die Walkure, first movement of Mahler's ninth, adagio of Bruckner's ninth, etc. 

I know the frustration of returning after a hiatus of several years to no effect. In my experience breaks are most effective when you either take them from music entirely or take them via other genres of music without cheating, probably for at least month.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Sonata said:


> None. There's nothing I listen to QUITE that often for this to happen. I've covered such a wide swathe of classical in a relatively short time that I almost regret not knowing certain pieces well enough.
> 
> That said, I probably don't feel the need to listen to Beethoven's first symphony again. I tried to get to know the early symphonies really well that I've just over listened to that one in comparison to his better symphonies which warrant more attention.
> 
> I sometimes worry that I'll overdo Mozart's operas because sometimes I put one on and it doesn't interest me....but it's just that I have to be in Mozart Mood, I've learned this so I just don't force it.


Such a wise word.:tiphat:


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Debussy: Suite Bergamasque - IV. Passepied (Gieseking)

I listen to this piece often and it never bores me, it's genius is like organic. Tomita's version is amazing, and it was my introduction to it.





Debussy: Passepied (Tomita electronic arrangement)


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## Jacred (Jan 14, 2017)

Can't ruin what can't be ruined.


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## Tchaikov6 (Mar 30, 2016)

I forgot to mention that I ruined Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade as well... a pity- it used to be my favorite piece, now I can't listen to it.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Nope. No such thing for me. I may take a break from a piece if I've listened to it too much recently, but it will never be ruined.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Tristan said:


> Nope. No such thing for me. I may take a break from a piece if I've listened to it too much recently, but it will never be ruined.


I agree with this. I don't think it's truly possible (for me) to ruin the greatest works of music, and if I feel like this is happening, I've always discovered a key element(s) to the work that I wasn't assimilating to begin with, which was the actual cause of its perceived "downfall" -- not the work itself (unless I overrated it and it was never truly worthy in the first place).


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## Melvin (Mar 25, 2011)

hm interesting. I can relate to this phenomenon. I think it has to do with being younger in general. I used to be able to get so much more enjoyment out of listening to the same things over and over again. If at any time I needed a musical thrill, I had my go-to's and they would never fail to bring me uplifting joy. But it can be sad to see that now when you try to return to that place of absolute satisfaction by simply playing that piece again, it just doesn't work like it used to. When I was younger, it was easier to do that I think. It really is sad to not be able to get back there so easily.
But this means it is time to move on to new things! Now you have the opportunity to start "ruining" all the chamber music of Brahms and Schubert! :lol: I'd listened to these pieces ad infinitum when I was younger. It doesn't ruin them. There's no way I could expect to be able to listen to them every single day any more like I used to, but it really is nice to have pieces that you know inside and out. And you can always return to them later in life every so often.


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## mathisdermaler (Mar 29, 2017)

Tristan und Isolde act 2  it was like a drug. I listened to it everyday and now its no longer enough to "get me high"


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## Melvin (Mar 25, 2011)

Yeah, it's kind of like "chasing the dragon".


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