Composers you don't get

[The new erato]

Well, I certainly don't find anything offputting in Wainberg's wonderful string quartets that should be immediately approachable for anybody appreciating Shostakovich's. Playing vol 1 on cpo now.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Well, I certainly don't find anything offputting in Wainberg's wonderful string quartets that should be immediately approachable for anybody appreciating Shostakovich's. Playing vol 1 on cpo now.

Don't get me wrong Erato, I have Weinberg's SQ, and I do not dislike them, simply have to find the right mood in myself to connect on a deeper level with them.

[milk]

I have trouble with Haydn. I like a few pieces but, on the whole, I can't get into him. Like someone here said, maybe if I try again I'll succeed in understanding him.

[The new erato]

I have trouble with Haydn. I like a few pieces but, on the whole, I can't get into him. Like someone here said, maybe if I try again I'll succeed in understanding him.

A sense for slightly gruff humour seem to be essential IMO.

[milk]

A sense for slightly gruff humour seem to be essential IMO.

Perhaps I'll find it one day.
They say he was much influenced by CPE Bach and I love him. 
I do like his keyboard concertos (Brautigam has a great recording of them) and some of his trios. But I don't seem to get to them these days.
I love Trio No. 44 In e Major, Hob. XV: 28: II. Allegretto!

[Rinaldo]

http://nyan.cat/

(yes i know, you can't get that out of your head too now. You are welcome).

GMG-friendly version:

http://www.youtube.com/v/KiKPgmN5jTg

[cilgwyn]

Just checked out last years' Pulitzer Prize winning piece by Jennifer Higdon, her Violin Concerto (http://youtu.be/yW-7awt9MCE). Couldn't see any substance behind the whole display of quasi virtuoso lines and orchestral tricks. Planning to give it a chance though, a couple of more times. Hopefully it will grow on me.

I bought the Hilary Hahn cd of it for SOME reason! A mistake I think. I have had it packed up,ready to send back to Amazon,for over a week. (I can't stand those miseries in the main post office,I had a nice local branch & the b****** closed it!) Or I could be incredibly generous & put in the box with all the cds I'm taking to a charity shop? Anyway,hopefully it will go off on Monday.
Have to say,the bit I heard on Youtube does sound like the usual overrated tosh. Maybe,I might play it a few times,then it'll stay in the box,like allot of contemporary pieces. It's coupled with the Tchaikovsky 'warhorse' which is allright now & again,but I do hate this 'craze' for coupling new with old, ie Brahms Violin Concerto followed by Stravinsky,Beethoven by Bernstein. It's okay once or twice,but then I just find myself programming one or the other of them out. An irritating marketing gimmick & I agree with that bloke on Musicweb,from the point of lasting musical enjoyment,a bit of a mistake (although,Hahn's doing pretty well on it!). Call me unadventurous,but when I buy a cd I favour 'like with like'!

[DavidRoss]

I bought the Hilary Hahn cd of it for SOME reason! A mistake I think. I have had it packed up,ready to send back to Amazon,for over a week. (I can't stand those miseries in the main post office,I had a nice local branch & the b****** closed it!) Or I could be incredibly generous & put in the box with all the cds I'm taking to a charity shop? Anyway,hopefully it will go off on Monday.
Have to say,the bit I heard on Youtube does sound like the usual overrated tosh. Maybe,I might play it a few times,then it'll stay in the box,like allot of contemporary pieces. It's coupled with the Tchaikovsky 'warhorse' which is allright now & again,but I do hate this 'craze' for coupling new with old, ie Brahms Violin Concerto followed by Stravinsky,Beethoven by Bernstein. It's okay once or twice,but then I just find myself programming one or the other of them out. An irritating marketing gimmick & I agree with that bloke on Musicweb,from the point of lasting musical enjoyment,a bit of a mistake (although,Hahn's doing pretty well on it!). Call me unadventurous,but when I buy a cd I favour 'like with like'!

Hmmm.  I'll have to give it another listen.

Hahn's been packaging new works with warhorses throughout her career.  More than a gimmick, I think it's a way of getting broader exposure for new works when people buy the CD for the warhorse.  And I regard filling out the CD with other music as a bonus...and really dislike getting only 30 or 40 minutes of music with a medium that easily contains 80.

[Mirror Image]

Well, I certainly don't find anything offputting in Wainberg's wonderful string quartets that should be immediately approachable for anybody appreciating Shostakovich's. Playing vol 1 on cpo now.

What I find so off-putting is all the Shostakovich-like elements in the music. It makes me want to listen to Shostakovich instead, which I do.

[The new erato]

What I find so off-putting is all the Shostakovich-like elements in the music. It makes me want to listen to Shostakovich instead, which I do.

Perfectly legit of course, but the fact is that Weinberg in his better moments only superficially resembles Shostakovich, which was why I put it like "immediately approachable for anybody appreciating Shostakovich's" instead of saying that the quartets resembles Shostakovich's, which, the more I listen, they don't. But there's no denying they are not on the same, even, level as them.   

[71 dB]

I suppose I don't get any of the composers I don't appreciate myself but are generally kept in high esteem. 

Does it even matter what we get? During the last few years I have concentrated on music I enjoy the most and it's really what counts in the end. I keep an open mind which lets me find new favorites but I don't force myself to "get" anything. I have come to understood there are too many composers for one lifetime.

[Grazioso]

I suppose I don't get any of the composers I don't appreciate myself but are generally kept in high esteem. 

Does it even matter what we get? During the last few years I have concentrated on music I enjoy the most and it's really what counts in the end. I keep an open mind which lets me find new favorites but I don't force myself to "get" anything. I have come to understood there are too many composers for one lifetime.

Depends what you want to get out of music (or art and life in general): solely entertainment, or also a broadening of knowledge and perspective?

[ibanezmonster]

I have come to understood there are too many composers for one lifetime.

I feel like there are far from enough (especially good ones). I've only been listening for last 10 or so years, and it's really hard to find another composer I've never heard of that strikes me as "great." If I have 50 more years of listening experience, it will probably mainly be having a detailed knowledge of composers' output.

[71 dB]

Depends what you want to get out of music (or art and life in general): solely entertainment, or also a broadening of knowledge and perspective?

In my case both.

I feel like there are far from enough (especially good ones). I've only been listening for last 10 or so years, and it's really hard to find another composer I've never heard of that strikes me as "great." If I have 50 more years of listening experience, it will probably mainly be having a detailed knowledge of composers' output.

I haven't found new favorite composers in a long time but classical music is not everything. There is other things to discover.

At the moment I am exploring Carly Simon's output.

In classical music genre a work that I really enjoy at the moment is Piazzolla's Concerto for Bandoneón, String Orchestra and Percussion, 'Aconcagua' on Naxos 8.572271

[Josquin des Prez]

There are too many composers for ones lifetime only if you decide not to attinge to the essential, or if you decide to have a life.

Luke seems to have the same obsession for Alkan that i have for Enescu, or Kapustin. I have to investigate this deeper, before i dismiss him altogether.

[Luke]

There are too many composers for ones lifetime only if you decide not to attinge to the essential, or if you decide to have a life.

Luke seems to have the same obsession for Alkan that i have for Enescu, or Kapustin. I have to investigate this deeper, before i dismiss him altogether.

I do! But I have it for Enescu too. Not Kapustin, though, not yet anyway. 

[DieNacht]

Cage (but I understand I´m not supposed to either), except from some early pieces ...

+ most of the later Webern.

Also somehow have a minimal interest in the minimalists ...

[Josquin des Prez]

+ most of the later Webern.

That's the best Webern. 

[MDL]

That's the best Webern. 

You're right, of course; the Cantatas, the Variations for Orchestra and Das Augenlicht are fascinating, beautiful works, Webern's greatest achievements, but I do think they're quite tough; not as accessible as the Six or Five Pieces for Orchestra, for example.

[Octo_Russ]

For me it's Messiaen, i started out trying to listen to his piano music, his birdsong music, and it's just random chaos to my ears, also his organ music leaves me feeling empty, it goes nowhere, so i'm really put off by him, the only thing i somewhat like is his theme and variations for violin and piano, i'm thinking of listening harder to his Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant Jesus, or maybe i just need to admit i'll never get him.