What's the point of listening to so much music?

[Saul]

I have always wondered this, especially hearing some people invest thousands of dollars to collect a huge library of Cds and Records.
I have never understood the urge. Or maybe because I'm a musician.

After listening to all this music for a number of times, Chopin, Bach, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and the rest, I don't really feel a great urge to listen to them again and again. Their music is in my head, and I know them already, so why spend so much time, money and attentiveness to something that is so familiar?

I used to listen more when I was a teenager and I had a passion to discover new music and new composers and also to listen. But now, after I did listened so much and got myself familiar with their music, I don't feel any strong urge to listen. And Especially when I do listen I don't bother myself about the performers so much. Hey give me a break there are some differences of reading the music, but the differences are not that great as some people would want you to believe, lots of it is hype.

Bottom line is that if you wont know who is the performer , you will never know who performed it.
It is more probable to guess a certain composer after listening to his music even without knowing who composed the music, because of the individuality of his composing style, so too with visual arts, if you were exposed to Monet, Degas, Chagall, Rembrandt and the other classics, you have a good chance to guess the originator of these works.

But trying to guess a performer of music? Or even an entire Orchestra? Or even a conductor?

I believe that its highly unlikely to guess correctly, furthering my assessment that this whole business of varieties in performance is nothing more then a well Orchestrated Hype.

But one thing does spark my imagination and passion for music, its not so much with listening, but it has to do with creating. There is no greater joy for a musician and I believe even for a listener, if they'll ever try, then composing and creating a new musical idea and developing it to a work of art.

Cheers,

Saul

[Philoctetes]

But they aren't the same, one only has to look at Kurerti versus Gilels in Beethoven piano sonatas.

[Saul]

But they aren't the same, one only has to look at Kurerti versus Gilels in Beethoven piano sonatas.

Yes, but my whole point is :

Who cares?

So what if they are not the same?

[greg]

But trying to guess a performer of music? Or even an entire Orchestra? Or even a conductor?

Sometimes possible- though probably easy for some. I once guessed that a piece was a Deutsche Grammophon recording, and it turned out I was right- surprised me, but then again, their recordings have a distinct sound.

Sometimes there comes a recording which totally rises above all the others, and can make you a huge fan of the music when before you didn't know what to think about it. It's definitely worth it. Perpetual discovery > perpetual stagnation.

[Philoctetes]

Yes, but my whole point is :

Who cares?

So what if they are not the same?

Well I do, for one. I like to hear the performer's perspective.

[DavidW]

When I say that I listen to classical music, it seems this question pops up.  I put it like this to them "did you like the cover to so and so song by blah?" usually pick a terrible cover.  They say no, then I say it's the same music, but you value one performance over another right?  They agree, and I say exactly it's the same with classical.  You just have to listen alot to classical to get a feel for the differences.

[springrite]

Yes, but my whole point is :

Who cares?

So what if they are not the same?

For you, "I don't care" is always translated into "who cares" and "no other people should care".

[Saul]

Sometimes possible- though probably easy for some. I once guessed that a piece was a Deutsche Grammophon recording, and it turned out I was right- surprised me, but then again, their recordings have a distinct sound.

Sometimes there comes a recording which totally rises above all the others, and can make you a huge fan of the music when before you didn't know what to think about it. It's definitely worth it. Perpetual discovery > perpetual stagnation.

I'm talking about performers.
Who says that one famous pianist's reading of a Beethoven Sonata is better then the other pianist's reading?
Beethoven is not here to judge...
It all falls down to personal taste...

If you have one or two versions of this performances by your favorite pianists, why there is this obsessive feeling to get all the recordings by all the pianists who ever recorded themselves?

[Philoctetes]

Recording by a music label is a different thing completly.

I'm talking about performers.
Who says that one famous pianist's reading of a Beethoven Sonata is better then the other pianist's reading?
Beethoven is not here to judge...
It all falls down to personal taste...

Even if he was alive, it wouldn't make his opinion any more valid.

[greg]

Recording by a music label is a different thing completly.

I'm talking about performers.
Who says that one famous pianist's reading of a Beethoven Sonata is better then the other pianist's reading?
Beethoven is not here to judge...
It all falls down to personal taste...

So why not listen to a bunch of them and see what you like best?

[Saul]

So why not listen to a bunch of them and see what you like best?

Because its really pointless to listen to so many pianists and then choose 'which one I like best'.

I'm sure if there would have been one good recording of these sonatas, I would have liked it. But now that there are hundreds, now go and sit down and 'choose which one I like better'.. common who needs that?

I'll rather be busy with something else...

Its like tasting every single apple from a different country and deciding now which apple is the best? The French apple or the Big Apple from NY , or the Italian apple, or the Spanish apple...

Just give me an apple and I'll be content... who needs the hassle.. I'll rather be busy finding a new fruit, perhaps a pear...

[Mirror Image]

What's the point of listening to so much music?

I like listening to a lot of different composers. A different "flavor," if you will, everyday. Why eat the same thing everyday? It gets old quick. I'm someone who is in constant change and live for variety in the music I choose to listen to. All of this also depends on my own mood or just what I feel like listening to. One day I might be in the mood for Berg, the next day I might want to listen to Villa-Lobos (which I'm doing right now ), etc. There's so much beautiful music available to us that, in my opinion, it would be a shame not to experience at least a fraction of it. Why listen to two or three composers? There's so many great ones to choose from.

[Saul]

What's the point of listening to so much music?

I like listening to a lot of different composers. A different "flavor," if you will, everyday. Why eat the same thing everyday? It gets old quick. I'm someone who is in constant change and live for variety in the music I choose to listen to. All of this also depends on my own mood or just what I feel like listening to. One day I might be in the mood for Berg, the next day I might want to listen to Villa-Lobos (which I'm doing right now ), etc. There's so much beautiful music available to us that, in my opinion, it would be a shame not to experience at least a fraction of it. Why listen to two or three composers? There's so many great ones to choose from.

Ok but why listen to the same music recorded by hundreds of different people?

Lol, if you''ll think about it , there's something absurd about the whole thing...

[Mirror Image]

Ok but why listen to the same music recorded by hundreds of different people?

Lol, if you''ll think about it , there's something absurd about the whole thing...

I don't think there's anything absurd in listening to say 20 different versions of Holst's The Planets if that's what you like and enjoy listening to. Every recording has something different to offer. Each conductor performs it differently and has a different interpretation of the work. Since I'm talking about The Planets, you can compare just the first movement Mars The War-Bringer and each version of just this movement alone is different. Sometimes the conductor will make a change to the tempo, sometimes the conductor will put more emphasis here or there, this is the part of classical music that I find refreshing.

Again, there's nothing wrong with somebody who listens to 20 different recordings of the same work. If you think it's crazy or outlandish, then that is your right, but I don't see any harm in it and, in fact, I'm glad that person loves that work enough to dedicate their own time in figuring out what they like/dislike about the recording in question. In the end, if anything, they can offer help to those who maybe don't know which version of The Planets they should listen to first. It's always helpful, especially to the classical novice, to find someone who knows much more about a composer's music and their recordings than I do, especially if the composer is virtually unknown to me.

[Saul]

I don't there's anything absurd in listening to say 20 different versions of Holst's The Planets if that's what you like and enjoy listening to. Every recording has something different to offer. Each conductor performs it differently and has a different interpretation of the work. Since I'm talking about The Planets, you can compare just the first movement Mars The War-Bringer and each version of just this movement alone is different. Sometimes the conductor will make a change to the tempo, sometimes the conductor will put more emphasis here or there, this is the part of classical music that I find refreshing.

Again, there's nothing wrong with somebody who listens to 20 different recordings of the same work. If you think it's crazy or outlandish, then that is your right, but I don't see any harm in it and, in fact, I'm glad that that person loves that work enough to dedicate their own time in figuring out what they like/dislike about the recording in question.

I used to think this way... but for a good time now, I figured out that all these performances are the same, with minor adjustments. I also believe that many people are busy with this because it makes them feel that they are 'on top of things' when it comes to classical music, feeling intimidated and embarrassed to answer falsely about a given recording, or performance.

Since when listening became an art?

[Sid]

Whether or not it's worthwhile to listen to many different recordings of a work really depends on the listener. I like to listen to different interpretations, but that doesn't mean I necessarily buy them. I don't only listen to my own cd's, I have a friend with quite a good collection, and we get together regularly to listen to eachother's stuff. Then there's the local library network, which has an excellent collection of classical cd's, some out of print. Then there's the radio. There's also YouTube, but I don't usually access that.

Before I go to a concert, I try to listen to at least one recording of some of the works they'll be performing. If I have access to two or more recordings, then that's a bonus (but usually one is ok). Like I'm going to a song recital, which will include Mahler's Ruckert Songs, this weekend, and I own Christa Ludwig's interpretation, but I've also borrowed Alison Coote's and Felicity Lott's recordings from the library. Listening to different versions of the same work can give you a deeper insight into the work and what the composer is doing.

Next year, I'm gearing up to see Mahler's 9th symphony with the Sydney Symphony under Ashkenazy in May. I have never owned this work. My friend has Karajan's interpretation, so we'll be getting into that a couple of times before we go. The local library also has many good recordings of it. I am looking at purchasing maybe two cd's of the work, to properly get my head around it (it's a long work, about 80 minutes!).

Of course, there is also much repertoire now available with which you can't compare recordings - because only maybe one recording is available. In my own collection, I have cd's of Stanford, Hovhaness and Saygun that I think may be only available on those Naxos recordings. So yes, in much of the repertoire that I am interested in, multiple readings are not available. However, I have been getting into the piano repertoire much more lately, and it is interesting to hear different pianists perform the same work - my friend and I have different recordings of classics like Liszt's Sonata in B minor and Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata, and it is very interesting to hear what different pianists get up to with these epic scores.

But I think listening to 20 different recordings of a work is a bit too excessive, I'd rather put my energies into listening to things that I haven't heard before. & repertoire and eras as well (the variety?)...

[Mirror Image]

I used to think this way... but for a good time now, I figured out that all these performances are the same, with minor adjustments. I also believe that many people are busy with this because it makes them feel that they are 'on top of things' when it comes to classical music, feeling intimidated and embarrassed to answer falsely about a given recording, or performance.

Since when listening became an art?

You have different objectives regarding music and, again, you have every right to your opinion, but just because you find fault in someone who does this doesn't mean it's wrong.

Hearing a work played a different way with a completely different perspective affords you the opportunity to fall in love with the work all over again. There are also other times when I've heard one recording of a work and didn't particularly enjoy what the conductor did with the music, so that's when I turn to an alternative performance and sometimes its the music itself. Like, for example, I didn't really appreciate Martinu's music, in particular his symphonies, until I heard Vaclav Neumann conduct these works. The previous symphony cycle I had was Bryden Thomson's, which his way with Martinu was very exaggerated and too Romantic. His approach to the music was too sentimental when it should have been more emotionally detached. Neumann let the music speak for itself and anyone with an ear for music can hear that difference.

Listening is a crucial part of music, especially for a musician. If all you do is run your mouth and think you know everything, then you'll never get anything accomplished and you certainly won't learn anything.

[Saul]

To further demonstrate the extreme hype when it comes to variety of performances, take for example Valentina Lisitsa who in my opinion is superior to Lang Lang and many other 'notable' pianists.

Yet she is not really famous, and she didn't perform in any major concerts, yet the formers went around the world on a hot air balloon stretching their fingers and hairs for all to see, and made millions of dollars.

So where is the art in all of this?

Without a doubt some people get lucky in the business of music, and they also become very famous and very successful, but this not always comes with a merit of superior artistic capabilities. What is the ratio of the Albums sold by Lang Lang compared to Listisa?

1000 to 1, perhaps way more then that.

Therefore its important while listening to different interpretations of a given work not to attach 'hype' and 'fame' to your final judgment regarding who you like better.

Here's an analogy...

Many people go crazy for Starbucks, and are even ready to pay three times more for it then a regular cup of coffee, when the truth is that this Starbucks coffee is no better then the regular coffee sold in 'Joe's coffee shop'.

In short my theory is that many people fool themselves into believing that one interpretation is somewhat superior to the next, when the truth is that objectively there is no way knowing definitely which is really superior, because after all its all a matter of taste, there is no real truth to this entire affair.

[Mirror Image]

To further demonstrate the extreme hype when it comes to variety of performances, take for example Valentina Lisitsa who in my opinion is superior to Lang Lang and many other 'notable' pianists.

Yet she is not really famous, and she didn't perform in any major concerts, yet the formers went around the world on a hot air balloon stretching their fingers and hairs for all to see, and made millions of dollars.

So where is the art in all of this?

Without a doubt some people get lucky in the business of music, and they also become very famous and very successful, but this not always comes with a merit of superior artistic capabilities. What is the ratio of the Albums sold by Lang Lang compared to Listisa?

1000 to 1, perhaps way more then that.

Therefore its important while listening to different interpretations of a given work not to attach 'hype' and 'fame' to your final judgment regarding who you like better.

Here's an analogy...

Many people go crazy for Starbucks, and are even ready to pay three times more for it then a regular cup of coffee, when the truth is that this Starbucks coffee is no better then the regular coffee sold in 'Joe's coffee shop'.

In short my theory is that many people fool themselves into believing that one interpretation is somewhat superior to the next, when the truth is that objectively there is no way knowing definitely which is really superior, because after all its all a matter of taste, there is no real truth to this entire affair.

Did you even read my posts?

[Saul]

Did you even read my posts?

Sure I did, I welcome your opinions.