Classical stupidities

[Dancing Divertimentian]

- I had a haydn violin concerto album by Grumiaux and Raymond Leppard, and I was genuinly concerned if Leppard was making enough money to buy food since I thought he was only good enough for conducting orchestral accompaniment.

That one made me laugh.

[Diletante]

Oh dear. Today I was talking with this guy who just wasn't very bright. Besides, he was completely ignorant about classical music, even more than the regular person. I mean, every person I've ever mentioned Tchaikovsky to had at least heard his name. This guy had no friggin' clue. Some conversations we had:

Me: So, do you read?
Guy: Erm... No, not really.
Me: Really? Why?
Guy: Well, I don't have any books.


Me: (puts on a familiar moment of the 4th movement of LvB's 9th) So, this is Beethoven.
Guy: Oh yeah, that sounds familiar! (pause) Y'know, I once saw a video of Beethoven with the, you know, stick.
Me: Huh? A video of Beethoven conducting?
Guy: Yeah! He had this stick in one hand and made gestures with the other. My uncle has this video!


Guy: (the singing starts "Oh Freunde! Nicht diese Töne!") Hey, that's Beethoven singing, right?


Me: (puts on the first movement of Mozart's 40th) So, this is Mozart. Do you recognize it?
Guy: Oh yeah!
Me: Nice. Do you know where Mozart was from?
Guy: Germany? Italy?
Me: No, he was Austrian.
Guy: Ah, from Australia!
Me: No, from Austria.
Guy: Australia?
Me: No, Austria!
Guy: (blank stare) Austria? Australia? What's the difference?


When he said "that's Beethoven singing" I could barely hold my laughter and my face contorted into a grimace that made him ask: "is something wrong?". I laughed and told him: "oh, it's just that classical music makes me so happy!" 

[Florestan]

Me: So, do you read?
Guy: Erm... No, not really.
Me: Really? Why?
Guy: Well, I don't have any books.


Me: (puts on a familiar moment of the 4th movement of LvB's 9th) So, this is Beethoven.
Guy: Oh yeah, that sounds familiar! (pause) Y'know, I once saw a video of Beethoven with the, you know, stick.
Me: Huh? A video of Beethoven conducting?
Guy: Yeah! He had this stick in one hand and made gestures with the other. My uncle has this video!


Guy: (the singing starts "Oh Freunde! Nicht diese Töne!") Hey, that's Beethoven singing, right?


Me: (puts on the first movement of Mozart's 40th) So, this is Mozart. Do you recognize it?
Guy: Oh yeah!
Me: Nice. Do you know where Mozart was from?
Guy: Germany? Italy?
Me: No, he was Austrian.
Guy: Ah, from Australia!
Me: No, from Austria.
Guy: Australia?
Me: No, Austria!
Guy: (blank stare) Austria? Australia? What's the difference?

Priceless gems, all of them! Thanks for sharing! 

[DFO]

Say, Tanuki; wasn't that guy an Argentinian public official? It sounds
like one of them.

[Papy Oli]

Believing that CD expenses in that field would remain reasonably within budget, and that owning multiple recordings of a single piece was nonsense....

....stupid boy....

[Dana]

I bought a very bad bargain recording of the Faure Requiem, then wondered why the music was so bad. Honestly, why did this Faure hack bother writing music at all?


Me: Hey, do you know if Leonard Rose is still alive?
Violinist: You tell me, you're the violist.
Me: (said with much scorn, as though everyone knew this) Leonard Rose is a cellist!
Violinist: Oh...

[Harpo]

I bought a very bad bargain recording of the Faure Requiem, then wondered why the music was so bad. Honestly, why did this Faure hack bother writing music at all?

I LOVE the Faure Requiem! I sang some of his art songs in college and they were beautiful too. I tried some of his piano pieces but they were too hard and probably not as good as the vocal music.

[Harpo]

When I was 16, I had just come home from music camp and felt very cultured. To show off, I played a 33 1/3 rpm record of some classical pieces for a boy who had come to visit. The first was a Scherzo. He said it sounded awfully fast and I said that scherzo meant lively. I announced that the next piece was an operatic aria by Jussi Bjoerling (a man). When it came on, Mr. Bjoerling sounded like Alvin the chipmunk. I had been playing the record at the wrong speed! Blush.

I sent this story to a teen magazine for their "My Most Embarrassing Experiences" column. They printed it and gave me $10.

[Air]

This blinkered Wagnerian ignored (most of) Schumann's music until 2002 (age 41)...

Ditto, except I didn't start listening to much Schumann until I was forced to play Papillons two years ago.... I've been a loyal disciple ever since.  I wonder what this is with people and Schumann?

[Florestan]

I tried some of his piano pieces but they were too hard and probably not as good as the vocal music.

You're quite wrong on that, Faure's piano music is exquisite.

[Harpo]

You're quite wrong on that, Faure's piano music is exquisite.

You're probably right, since I usually like Faure. I may have just given up playing them because they were hard. We may have some Faure piano recordings in our CD collection--if so, I will listen.

[Chaszz]

Doesn't primitivism show the opposite, that tonality is a sophisticated system, and not something that comes naturally to humans?

I understand from reading about the history of Western harmony that the addition of the third to the major triad was a daring and somewhat recent invention. Prior to that it was considered a dissonant relationship. Before I read that it would have seemed to me that the third was as natural in relation to the first as is the fifth. So the one-three at least is not "natural" to the human ear in all cultures and times, even though the one-five probably more or less is. And to me that was a big surprise. The one-three-five is perhaps the granddaddy progenitor of what we call tonal music.

[not edward]

I bought a very bad bargain recording of the Faure Requiem, then wondered why the music was so bad. Honestly, why did this Faure hack bother writing music at all?

Fortunately I bought the EMI box of the chamber music before the Requiem, which I still dislike.

The chamber music box, though.... wonderful.


My most stupid moments have probably been my "modern music sucks" phase and then its successor, the "conservative 20th century music sucks" phase. Fortunately, both are long since over now.

[71 dB]

Fauré is first rate composer. His chamber music is top quality, the Requiem is one of the most beautiful classical compositions ever and his piano music is wonderful.

0:)

I had really stupid opinions of classical music before I "found" it, like this: How can I enjoy music composed by simple people who didn't even have electricity? 

[Diletante]

About two years ago I thought Shostakovich was an "obscure" composer (i.e. not well-known).

[Florestan]

Fauré is first rate composer. His chamber music is top quality, the Requiem is one of the most beautiful classical compositions ever and his piano music is wonderful.

At last we agree on something! 

[71 dB]

At last we agree on something! 

I'm sure we agree about many things, you just remember when we don't. 

[Florestan]

I'm sure we agree about many things, you just remember when we don't. 

0:)

[monafam]

...and that owning multiple recordings of a single piece was nonsense....

....stupid boy....

I'm still at this point in my listening career.      

I feel like 75% of my posts might fall in this topic at times, especially if I go out on a limb on something.  As a result, you will see a lot more questions than answers from me.....

[Dana]

I think someone around here told a story about their acquaintance saying "I know Beethoven wrote the 9th Symphony... Who wrote the rest of them?!"