The Classical Chat Thread

[Gurn Blanston]

Was it not the Huntley Brinkley Report that used the scherzo?

Yes, and IIRC, it was the Chicago/Reiner version they used. I grew up watching that news program every night before dinner, and always dug the theme, even back then!

[Moonfish]

It did for me.  Was the first seed planted in my curiosity and intrigue in classical music.

Purchased the soundtrack, then bought a full Beethoven 9th, then a full Beethoven symphony set.  The rest is history! 

That makes a lot of sense. The film is shaped so well around music. My kids (Hobbit fans) have spent a lot of time listening to the two sound tracks from the movies. I know that Howard Shore (seemingly) is not well regarded here on GMG, but it is definitely catchy symphonic music that they just keep listening to.  I wonder if his compositions could be a gateway to classical music?   I cannot really know for sure since my house obviously is filled with numerous auditory landscapes (esp Baroque), but Shore may have done classical music fans a favor by his numerous compositions? Will some of the audience be lured to the stacks of symphonies awaiting them?

[Ken B]

That makes a lot of sense. The film is shaped so well around music. My kids (Hobbit fans) have spent a lot of time listening to the two sound tracks from the movies. I know that Howard Shore (seemingly) is not well regarded here on GMG, but it is definitely catchy symphonic music that they just keep listening to.  I wonder if his compositions could be a gateway to classical music?   I cannot really know for sure since my house obviously is filled with numerous auditory landscapes (esp Baroque), but Shore may have done classical music fans a favor by his numerous compositions? Will some of the audience be lured to the stacks of symphonies awaiting them?

Why not? John Williams did I think.

For me it was weirder. I was 17, never listened to any classical, just in movies etc. Then waiting for a late night B&W movie I tried Carson, delayed due to football, and clicked around before settling on Merv Griffin. Yep, good ole Merv Griffin. Anyway he sat down at a piano and played a little Tchaikovsky. I liked it, so next day I went to the public library and through clunky heaphones listened to this on scratchy vinyl (same cover):
[asin]B000001G7C[/asin]

Within seconds my life changed forever.

[Karl Henning]

There you go.

[North Star]

Twerking to Dvořák: Getting hooked on classical

[EigenUser]

I finally organized my music. I have quite a bit more, but this is what I go to the most. The yellow scores toward the left are all the Ligeti .


It's funny. My parents and I complain that we have too many scores/textbooks. Since I graduated this past January, my math/engineering texts have been in huge stacks on the floor -- one of them must have been four feet. Some of it was really useless stuff, too, like homework that I graded that students never collected. The scores were lying around my desk in stacks as well. We also complain that we have too much furniture. I was sitting in the living room yesterday where there was an empty bookcase (no longer needed after a recent renovation to the family room) and I had the brilliant idea: "I know! We can put the books in the bookcase!" Reminded me of the Simpsons episode when Homer and Marge were at parenting class. Marge was really embarrassed to be seen there, but Homer was intrigued and taking copious notes and said to himself "The trash goes in the trash can! That makes sense!"

Having the furniture is nice, though, because it is more than enough to furnish an apartment for when I start grad school in the Fall.

[jochanaan]

That's quite a trick, EigenUser, to get them to adhere to the shelf above them!

[EigenUser]

My mom finally convinced my dad and I to clean out the garage today. A friend of my dad's moved away about five years ago, at which time he gave my dad a few boxes of stuff he didn't care about and didn't want to have to deal with. Well, it turns out that one of the boxes contained what must have been 75-90 CDs (didn't count yet, I could be way off as I am a horrible estimator), most of which were still in the wrapper unopened. We just discovered this.

The majority were classical (say, 80%). Among other things there are two different recordings of Debussy "La Mer", the Ravel SQ, some Haydn symphonies, some Schumann, Bruckner, even Messiaen's "Oiseaux Exotiques"!! How could we have Messiaen in our house without my knowing? That's ludicrous! Even weirder is knowing that it was there well before I know who Messiaen was.

[North Star]

My mom finally convinced my dad and I to clean out the garage today. A friend of my dad's moved away about five years ago, at which time he gave my dad a few boxes of stuff he didn't care about and didn't want to have to deal with. Well, it turns out that one of the boxes contained what must have been 75-90 CDs (didn't count yet, I could be way off as I am a horrible estimator), most of which were still in the wrapper unopened. We just discovered this.

The majority were classical (say, 80%). Among other things there are two different recordings of Debussy "La Mer", the Ravel SQ, some Haydn symphonies, some Schumann, Bruckner, even Messiaen's "Oiseaux Exotiques"!! How could we have Messiaen in our house without my knowing? That's ludicrous! Even weirder is knowing that it was there well before I know who Messiaen was.

Very cool indeed!

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Richard Strauss said about Sibelius:  "I have more skill, but he is greater." what does that exactly mean? That Strauss has more skill in handling orchestra etc. but Sibelius is overall greater? And do you agree with Strauss? Just curious.

[Ken B]

Richard Strauss said about Sibelius:  "I have more skill, but he is greater." what does that exactly mean? That Strauss has more skill in handling orchestra etc. but Sibelius is overall greater? And do you agree with Strauss? Just curious.

Sounds apocryphal but I probably agree with it anyway.

Both are greater than Ravel of course.   

[EigenUser]

Sounds apocryphal but I probably agree with it anyway.

Both are greater than Ravel of course.   

Ugh, Ken's on the prowl again with his Ravel-hating . Better pull this out (I knew it would come in handy):

ravel is fine, nice [...]

[Ken B]

Ugh, Ken's on the prowl again with his Ravel-hating . Better pull this out (I knew it would come in handy):

It's not Ravel-hating Nate, it's Ravel-only-moderately-liking. 

[Moonfish]

That's quite a trick, EigenUser, to get them to adhere to the shelf above them!

He lives somewhere in the southern hemisphere. 

[North Star]

Richard Strauss said about Sibelius:  "I have more skill, but he is greater." what does that exactly mean? That Strauss has more skill in handling orchestra etc. but Sibelius is overall greater? And do you agree with Strauss? Just curious.

Sibelius, infamous for his poor (or even just less than brilliant) orchestral writing? Perhaps not. That's like someone saying that they can paint a wall more skillfully than Monet, while Monet could actually do it in the same time. E: not that I'm comparing Ricky to a wall painter.

[EigenUser]

He lives somewhere in the southern hemisphere. 

That's a trick that only collections with large amounts of Ligeti will do.

[Moonfish]

That's a trick that only collections with large amounts of Ligeti will do.

[jochanaan]

Richard Strauss said about Sibelius:  "I have more skill, but he is greater." what does that exactly mean? That Strauss has more skill in handling orchestra etc. but Sibelius is overall greater? And do you agree with Strauss? Just curious.

Uncommonly modest of R. Strauss, if you ask me! And uncommonly perceptive.  Strauss's music may have more obviously colorful orchestration, but Sibelius' work stays with one at the heart level.  Yet I would not call Sibelius' orchestration skills less than Strauss's.  At dynamic marking especially, Sibelius is as specific and sensitive as any composer who ever wrote.

[EigenUser]

Uncommonly modest of R. Strauss, if you ask me! And uncommonly perceptive.  Strauss's music may have more obviously colorful orchestration, but Sibelius' work stays with one at the heart level.  Yet I would not call Sibelius' orchestration skills less than Strauss's.  At dynamic marking especially, Sibelius is as specific and sensitive as any composer who ever wrote.

Didn't Strauss say something like "I may be a second-rate composer, but I'm a first-class second-rate composer."

Look at this. Here are two pages from the first movement of the Ligeti "Chamber Concerto" -- with all of those ghastly-looking cadenzas. On the left page (next to the "1" I wrote and circled) he tells the harpsichord to play "as fast as possible" ("prestissimo possible"). Then, on the right page (next to the "2"), he tells the violins to play slightly faster than the harpsichord.

You might have to right-click "view image" to see it right-side up.

[amw]

Not the first to do that >.>


... and a few pages later: