# Some days do you just hate music?



## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I'm finding myself simply unable to listen to anything today, which is unfortunate because it is Sunday and I have lots of leisure time and was looking forward to tackling a new Opera. Why does Brahms have no taste? Why is Chopin such whiny garbage? Why can't Wagner just get to the point already? Why can't Beethoven just lighten up once in a while? Why does Bach keeping harping on with paint-by-the-number counterpoint? And f*** everyone who wrote stuff after 1890.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Why does everyone like Beethoven so much???? 

Well, I saw part of this movie about Stravinsky and Coco Chanelle, only the beginning, with the Riot of Spring. I just flipped out, and left the room.


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

Yeah, on days like that you're probably oversaturated with it. Leave music alone for a while and come back to it refreshed. Afterward, if any of those opinions remain, you probably just plain hate that composer or something.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Never are there days when I hate music. There _are_ days when I am not real happy with myself.


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## Nix (Feb 20, 2010)

I never hate music either. But some days I've just had too much of it! (and I hate those days)


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

This weekend I watched seven operas - five early operas by Mozart, The Gambler, and Luther. I'm getting a bit saturated, and looking forward to going low brow and watching True Blood on TV.

[just back from it, nice episode]


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## Iforgotmypassword (May 16, 2011)

If I'm in a really bad mood then music can either soothe my mood or exacerbate it. Sometimes silence is golden. However I never just strait up hate music, I'm just sometimes not in the mood for it.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

I come closest to hating music the week before juries, and right before big listening exams for music history.


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

There are some days where I don't listen to it *that* much. So that I'll only remember looking at a Rachmaninoff prelude on YouTube or something. I guess those are the days where I was over saturated. Otherwise, I need music like I need air and I don't think I've ever hated it.


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## Stasou (Apr 23, 2011)

Maybe on a day when I have a bad reed.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

This thread makes me think of that hilarious Tweet feed, First World Problems.:lol:


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Stasou said:


> Maybe on a day when I have a bad reed.


Yes indeed. Well, some of those days, anyway. If I hated music every day I was frustrated with reeds, I'd have quit clarinet a long time ago.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Perhaps I should go and listen to some Mahler, tends to make everything else sound better by comparison.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Couchie said:


> Perhaps I should go and listen to some Mahler, tends to make everything else sound better by comparison.


I swear this ends Couchie's Great Mahler Lampooning of 2011, no more cheap shots. I actually realized the other day that maybe the 5th isn't as completely awful as Couchie previously had been lead to believe.

Now, _Bruckner_.... :devil:


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I've never had a "I hate music day". Some days I just don't feel like listening to particular composers or periods, but for me there's always so many wonderful works to choose from. Mostly I feel there's not enough time to listen to all the music I want to hear.


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

mmsbls said:


> I've never had a "I hate music day". Some days I just don't feel like listening to particular composers or periods, but for me there's always so many wonderful works to choose from. Mostly I feel there's not enough time to listen to all the music I want to hear.


Same here because I listen to so many different types, variety is the spice of life.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Not so much hate as to take a rest from it for a while. After work the first thing I usually do is switch on the stereo but recently I've been trying to crack the Medieval Total War game and I need the sounds from the game to accentuate my sad little mwu-ha-ha moments.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Quite the opposite : whenever I hate something in this cruel world, It's music and only music can keep me calm ...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> This weekend I watched seven operas - five early operas by Mozart, The Gambler, and Luther. I'm getting a bit saturated, and looking forward to going low brow and watching True Blood on TV.
> 
> [just back from it, nice episode]


Well seven operas in a day is pretty impressive. I was initially thinking "is this guy insane?" but on the positive side, it's no different than say listening to seven chamber, orchestral works or vocal works in a day (or at least a mix of these things), a thing which I often do, given time (although some of those pieces can be quite short, not as long as a complete opera). Actually, I'd be lucky to get through 7 operas which are new to me in the space of 12-18 months or more.

As for the original topic, "hate" is a strong word, but yes, lately I have been feeling quite a bit of "music overload." I'm finding it harder to listen to composers new to me. I'm basically exploring composers in depth who I already know to some degree. Familiarity can be kind of like a blanket. I have discovered so much music that was totally unknown to me around the time I joined this forum (which was early 2009) so now I definitely do not have that rate of mentally "picking up" new things quickly. I like to do things throughly or not at all. This can definitely be a weakness. I like to engage fully with a piece, including things like aspects of it's composition/gestation and historical context. I've also been getting into "lighter" or less mainstream classical type music now - eg. operetta, broadway musicals, film music, popular songs, light music arrangements by guys like Mantovani & Andre Rieu. These provide some welcome relief from more "weightier" things which I kind of focussed on in the past two years or more. Agreed, "variety is the spice of life"...


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Last year I have gone through a spell of over 6 months where I was not interested at all anymore in music. Glad to be back.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

With the amount of rubbish random noise out there in the streets from road and air traffic, people and general entertainment, how the hell could you _not_ want to listen to classical music everyday? (Unless one is a perverted listener who ejoys listening to random noise anyway).


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

You mean... those days? Menstrual period? Och, dear, don't ask me... I'm sure you know yourself.


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

I just remembered of one guy's story from the imslp forum. He was a great amateur pianist, studied for 10 years and had memorized the entire Liszt Etudes, some big sonatas like Prokofiev 6 and other pieces. He uploaded recordings now and again and it was always top notch playing, I probably would have bought a CD of his if he ever wanted to release one by himself. 

Well, anyway, he worked this hard because he loved the music so much. He quit his job (I think he was about 27 when he started playing)and opted to accompany to earn a living. He bought a grand piano and filled his apartment with musical scores and cds. Then, one day, after 10 years of this and a few solo piano recitals at local halls picking up buzz, something just snapped. He no longer loved the music and, quoting, couldn't understand why he wasted so much time on piano technique. I don't know if he went back to his job or what, but that story scared the **** out of me. I don't think I could ever let myself have a day where I hate music, I'd be too afraid of turning into him.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Sid James said:


> Well seven operas in a day is pretty impressive. I was initially thinking "is this guy insane?" but on the positive side, it's no different than say listening to seven chamber, orchestral works or vocal works in a day (or at least a mix of these things), a thing which I often do, given time (although some of those pieces can be quite short, not as long as a complete opera). Actually, I'd be lucky to get through 7 operas which are new to me in the space of 12-18 months or more.


Well, I *am* insane with my opera obsession, but I said in a weekend, not in a day. I started Friday night with one (The Gambler), saw four Mozart early operas on Saturday (they are short) then saw another Mozart one on Sunday morning, and Luther on Sunday evening. I'm not *that* insane to watch all seven in a day. There aren't enough hours in a day for seven operas if you're also planning to bathe, eat, and sleep. And be the most prolific poster for this darn website.


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## Sofronitsky (Jun 12, 2011)

Yeah, it took me a week and a half to enjoy Rachmaninov's _Aleko_. I have no idea how someone can listen to a new opera almost every day.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Well, I *am* insane with my opera obsession, but I said in a weekend, not in a day. I started Friday night with one (The Gambler), saw four Mozart early operas on Saturday (they are short) then saw another Mozart one on Sunday morning, and Luther on Sunday evening. I'm not *that* insane to watch all seven in a day. There aren't enough hours in a day for seven operas if you're also planning to bathe, eat, and sleep. And be the most prolific poster for this darn website.


It's all right for you - I am reliably informed that the area in which you live has 27 hour days....

Either that or you keep a harem to do all the chores


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## Serge (Mar 25, 2010)

Sofronitsky said:


> Yeah, it took me a week and a half to enjoy Rachmaninov's _Aleko_. I have no idea how someone can listen to a new opera almost every day.


It took me a lifetime and I haven't enjoyed a single one so far. (Well, except for that _Jesus Christ Superstar_ thing.) Sure looks like a lengthy process...


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> or you keep a harem to do all the chores


Nice idea. You know that I've been planning to found a poligamous household for sopranos. Anna, Kristine, Miah, Isabel, Danielle, Patricia, and Nino would be a good start. Does this count as a budding harem?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

Sofronitsky said:


> I just remembered of one guy's story from the imslp forum. He was a great amateur pianist, studied for 10 years and had memorized the entire Liszt Etudes, some big sonatas like Prokofiev 6 and other pieces. He uploaded recordings now and again and it was always top notch playing, I probably would have bought a CD of his if he ever wanted to release one by himself.
> 
> Well, anyway, he worked this hard because he loved the music so much. He quit his job (I think he was about 27 when he started playing)and opted to accompany to earn a living. He bought a grand piano and filled his apartment with musical scores and cds. Then, one day, after 10 years of this and a few solo piano recitals at local halls picking up buzz, something just snapped. He no longer loved the music and, quoting, couldn't understand why he wasted so much time on piano technique. I don't know if he went back to his job or what, but that story scared the **** out of me. I don't think I could ever let myself have a day where I hate music, I'd be too afraid of turning into him.


I'd be willing to bet though given enough time this guy would get back into his music. It sounds like he just went through a burn-out phase. For myself, I had gone about 5 years of playing at least 3 hours of classical guitar a day, and because I also teach guitar lessons, some of these days I was playing in total like 8-10 hours of guitar a day. Until recently I just got sick of it. I'm practicing way less lately, but _listening_ to way more music. I think the listening side of things is also incredibly important for musicians and aspiring composers. Now I am slowly starting to get the itch to play again, and have found kind of fresh inspiration and a new outlook. So with music (and everything really) its just a balance, one should really just follow their heart where it leads them. As stated above 'variety is the spice of life'.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

I haven't ever hated classical music, but there have been times when I've hated the piano in particular.

Like after my recent New York piano competition last year. We had three hours of music repertoire we had to memorize for this competition (including 2 piano concerti), and we had only 15 minutes each to play for the first round of the competition. I played the first piece brilliantly (the Prokofiev toccata), then they asked me to play the last movement of one of my sonatas and I just _couldn't_ remember it.  I had to almost fake my way through it before they stopped me. I had prepared for so long for this competition, to have it end like that was devastating to me. I've had similar disappointments in competitions in the past that have been tough for me to swallow, but this was the worst. It was just too much to memorize, too much for me to handle.

Since that time last year I just haven't had the urge to practice as much as I used to (3-5 hours a day every day). I still managed to give a good junior college recital last fall, but since then my practicing has gone waaaay down. Now with a good, secure job I have little desire to practice at all. Not sure if I'll keep up piano after my final college recital this fall.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> Like after my recent New York piano competition last year. We had three hours of music repertoire we had to memorize for this competition (including 2 piano concerti), and we had only 15 minutes each to play for the first round of the competition. I played the first piece brilliantly (the Prokofiev toccata), then they asked me to play the last movement of one of my sonatas and I just _couldn't_ remember it. I had to almost fake my way through it before they stopped me. I had prepared for so long for this competition, to have it end like that was devastating to me. I've had similar disappointments in competitions in the past that have been tough for me to swallow, but this was the worst. It was just too much to memorize, too much for me to handle.


Oh, honey! That's lousy.  I'm sorry that happened. But at least you went for it; the _fear_ of having something like that happen is most of what has prevented me from ever doing a clarinet recital so far. I was preparing for a recital last year. It was a rather ambitious program for me (including the Copland concerto), and I ended up canceling it. Which was embarrassing and disappointing. I'm not sure what made me most mad at myself--that I thought I could pull it off in the first place, that I didn't work hard enough to feel prepared, or that I chickened out. I played my jury at the end of the year like everybody who isn't doing a recital does, and I've hardly played my clarinet since. I just haven't wanted to. I hope I get passed this soon.

And I hope your love for piano rekindles as well. I have a feeling it will. It seems everyone has their slumps, but I think that something that has been so important to somebody for a very long time rarely just goes away.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

mmsbls said:


> I've never had a "I hate music day". Some days I just don't feel like listening to particular composers or periods, but for me there's always so many wonderful works to choose from. Mostly I feel there's not enough time to listen to all the music I want to hear.


100% my thoughts exactly and precisely.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> I haven't ever hated classical music, but there have been times when I've hated the piano in particular.
> 
> Like after my recent New York piano competition last year. We had three hours of music repertoire we had to memorize for this competition (including 2 piano concerti), and we had only 15 minutes each to play for the first round of the competition. I played the first piece brilliantly (the Prokofiev toccata), then they asked me to play the last movement of one of my sonatas and I just _couldn't_ remember it. I had to almost fake my way through it before they stopped me. I had prepared for so long for this competition, to have it end like that was devastating to me. I've had similar disappointments in competitions in the past that have been tough for me to swallow, but this was the worst. It was just too much to memorize, too much for me to handle.
> 
> Since that time last year I just haven't had the urge to practice as much as I used to (3-5 hours a day every day). I still managed to give a good junior college recital last fall, but since then my practising has gone waaaay down. Now with a good, secure job I have little desire to practice at all. Not sure if I'll keep up piano after my final college recital this fall.


I have so much admiration for artists who enter competitions. I can't begin to understand how stressful this must be.

Hope one day you can love piano again.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

haha...i've never had a day i've hated music altho it all seemed to melt on a bad one once...still, i do have times when i grab a disc or record and put something on only to take it off two minutes later...nothing to do with the music, just not into sitting and listening at the time...i'll usually do like Alma and watch some tube


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

If I have a migraine I don't want to listen to music, I'm sensitive to both sound and light.

I also have gone through periods where I did not want to listen to music, I would characterize as apathy not hate. My longest period of going without music was a full year.


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

I've never hated music. Ive hated plenty musicians though. Lol!


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## Keychick (Jun 9, 2011)

Badinerie said:


> I've never hated music. Ive hated plenty musicians though. Lol!


Thats a keeper!


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## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

I never hate music, sometimes I shouldn't listen to certain composers though; if I'm feeling depressed, for instance, it's a very bad idea to listen to Chopin.


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