How to get started in classical music?
Apr 10, 2007 at 9:42 PM Post #16 of 48
Apr 11, 2007 at 1:16 AM Post #17 of 48
I would like to contribute my two cents on how to 'continue' on classical
music, not just starting. To that I'd advise following in our listenings the
historical or 'natural' order that composers have followed before us. And
trying to reach to a phase/stage as near as possible to our own time. That
means, listening to baroque, and classical/romantic music, a lot of it.
Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Bruckner, Mahler, and again Bach, and then
more Beethoven... Thats the golden age of music, and it shall remain so for
ever !

But some day you begin to feel some 'deja vue' with it. Some boredom at
times ? Maybe. Only for an instant, but thats enough to dare make a step
forward and discover some newer -more recent author. I think oyu should
not 'burn' intermediate stages, you should go step by step and enjoy the
music that was done in Europe at the end of XIX - beginning of XX. The
process of 'abandonement' of tonality and rythmic orthodoxy. It was not a
capricious but a much needed movement, by the elites at taht time - Wagner,
Berg, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Shostakovitch and the like. Only then, when
your ear 'asks' for it, trying some 20th century musicians, like Hindemith,
Henze, Krenek, Kurt Weill or others (what a surprise with this one - its
jazz mixed-up with classical !), and finally, if you ever feel the need to
it, -not otherwise !- listen and try to 'understand' your own time musical
authors, whatever country you live in. I mean second half of 20ht century,
there are so many - look try and compare ! Lutoslavski, Charles Widor,
Arnold Bax, Villa-Lobos, Martinu.... There is so much to choose from ...
Thats the music YOU would be doing if you were a porfessional ! And that is
the one most people do not discover ever.

Of course , I chose a rather particular path to follow, but the thread was
on 'classical music' right ? There are very interesting sideways to this -
somebody rightly said that jazz is the 20th century muic 'par excelence'.
Then you have classical/traditional music, like

Sorry for the long digression, but this is meant for beginers ok ? And the
whole point is - open you ears to music, to all of it, including classics.
And dont forget the classics of our time. Their music may seem difficult and
obstrussive, but not so if you follow the process that musicians have
followed themselves before. And dont forget to make it always a pleasure -
music is nothing is it is not a pleasure, or a relief of pain, or whatever
....

Hi, I was just listening Bachs Wohltemperierte Klavier, Buch 1 (piano), by Keith Jarret. ECM, 1988 DDD recording. AKG K701 brand new cams. Denon old DCD 1420, Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 head-amp.
 
Apr 11, 2007 at 3:10 AM Post #18 of 48
For specific recs to good quality recordings (cherry picked out of my personal library of ~ 3500 CD's), check my sig below. Ordered them into the different musical periods and all are links to places to buy them online.
 
Apr 11, 2007 at 3:31 AM Post #19 of 48
The web is also a good place to start - you can do some pretty quick searches and come up with lists of recommmended pieces and classic recordings of those pieces. Classics Today has a list of the 100 "essential" recordings for beginners. Grammophone also has archived reviews of recommended recordings. I am no afficionado, but I had the same thought you did about 2 years ago and I have very much enjoyed the learning curve. I think there are some excellent suggestions in this thread - the library is a good place to sample different recordings without any financial commitment and develop an appreciation of your own tastes before you start buying. I am in NYC and there is a very good local classical station - FM 96.3. I just read Tyson's list - it is very impressive. Anyway, good luck and enjoy.
 
Apr 11, 2007 at 5:38 AM Post #20 of 48
I love classical music and I think it's a great kind of music for testing audio equipment especially for sound stage.

For me, I find that the public library is a good choice. My library has a decent (not great) selection of CDs to test out. Also, the other recommendations too that were given.

If anyone is reading this and finds that classical music is not your cup of tea, there is nothing wrong with you. Stick your regular music and enjoy. You can still be an audiophile and not like classical music. For me, I can't live without it but that's just me.

That said, if the orchestra is not to your taste, check out chamber music. It does have a kind of intamacy like rock or jazz.
 
Apr 11, 2007 at 9:33 PM Post #21 of 48
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm certainly not going to pretend to like something just because it's on someone's "essentials" list, but I'm going to try to give everything a good listen or two. You guys are a great resource!

- Warren
 
Apr 12, 2007 at 12:55 AM Post #22 of 48
Quote:

Originally Posted by chroot /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm certainly not going to pretend to like something just because it's on someone's "essentials" list, but I'm going to try to give everything a good listen or two. You guys are a great resource!

- Warren


Personally, I kinda don't like "essential's" lists. Just take it with a grain of salt. Basically, there are 4 kinds of classical music. You have :

*Baroque

*The classical period of the 1700s

*The romantic era of the 1800s

* 20th century music.

They also come in forms of chamber music too

I know this is just a rough generalization but it's basically how it's broken down. Find out what period you like best and concentrate on it perhaps.
For me, I tend to prefer baroque and 20 century works the best and that's what I concentrate on most but I have to admit that I also enjoy the other categories as well often enough

Perhaps you can take this route as a way to organize your venture into this huge genre. Also reviews of CDs at Amazon.com can be helpful to some degree.
 
Apr 12, 2007 at 2:00 AM Post #24 of 48
Quote:

Originally Posted by chroot /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm certainly not going to pretend to like something just because it's on someone's "essentials" list, but I'm going to try to give everything a good listen or two. You guys are a great resource!

- Warren


Essentials lists are a good guide, especially if you have some idea you might like something. But a lot of people who make up the lists think that the have to hit all of the bases, so there's bound to be something there you don't care for. And once you find something you really like, you'll be off of any list in a hurry. I found from a couple of CDs from the library that I like chamber music for winds. With a few months, I had music that will never be on someone's essentials list (unless it's a list of chamber music for winds
cool.gif
) but I love all of it. There are also places on the web that I've seen occasionally, can't think of one off hand, that have full movements of works instead of just 30 second clips like amazon. They might be amateur performances, but they can give you a really good idea of what some music is like.

Also, if you have a college near you with a music program, they probably have inexpensive or even free chamber recitals.
 
Apr 12, 2007 at 2:22 AM Post #25 of 48
If you can afford it, go to concerts from your local symphony orchestra. It's a great way to start appreciating "classical" music, because you can see what's happening and learn to discern the different instrument sounds.
 
Apr 12, 2007 at 2:39 AM Post #26 of 48
Quote:

Originally Posted by Spareribs /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Personally, I kinda don't like "essential's" lists. Just take it with a grain of salt. Basically, there are 4 kinds of classical music. You have :

*Baroque

*The classical period of the 1700s

*The romantic era of the 1800s

* 20th century music.


Why did you miss out renaissance/gothic
frown.gif


Usually, "quite" usually, people who like the sound of gut strings are very picky in terms of Baroque and Mozart performances.

That's why my classical hobby started with Jordi Savall/Le Concert des Nations' "Vivaldi: La Viola da Gamba in Concerto" and Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante's Vivaldi's Concerti per molti strumenti

But you know, starting with something familiar like Karjan's Beethoven symphonies and Harnoncourt Brandenburgs, then moving onto more purist music can build your classical obsession.
 
Apr 12, 2007 at 11:57 PM Post #27 of 48
Quote:

Originally Posted by Assorted /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Why did you miss out renaissance/gothic
frown.gif


Usually, "quite" usually, people who like the sound of gut strings are very picky in terms of Baroque and Mozart performances.

That's why my classical hobby started with Jordi Savall/Le Concert des Nations' "Vivaldi: La Viola da Gamba in Concerto" and Fabio Biondi/Europa Galante's Vivaldi's Concerti per molti strumenti

But you know, starting with something familiar like Karjan's Beethoven symphonies and Harnoncourt Brandenburgs, then moving onto more purist music can build your classical obsession.



You are right. I should have also included renaissance/gothic too. I absolutly love it. My breakdown of categories was very general though. I wanted to try to keep it as simple as possible in this overwhelming genre for the casual beginner but yes, renaissance is important too and should not be ignored. I love renaissance music a lot, especially these days.
 
Apr 14, 2007 at 2:53 AM Post #29 of 48
I can't say I'm sure how often the "introduction to classical" works are successful. I listen primarily to classical these days and I still have trouble with the supposed newbie-friendly works like anything by Chopin, Carmina Burana, Scheherazade etc.
 
Apr 14, 2007 at 5:18 AM Post #30 of 48
Orff isn't exactly a top composer, but there's plenty in Chopin and the Russians like Rimsky to please even the most seasoned listener. Good music is good music, whether it's well known and popular or not.

See ya
Steve
 
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