Unpopular Opinions

Started by The Six, November 11, 2011, 10:32:51 AM

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Karl Henning

I guess not everyone thinks highly of "Kashmir," but that's a track grabbed me tight at the collar when first I heard it.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

jowcol

Quote from: karlhenning on November 19, 2011, 08:25:47 AM
I guess not everyone thinks highly of "Kashmir," but that's a track grabbed me tight at the collar when first I heard it.

Kashmir is a GREAT tune-- one of their very best.  I've probably got less than 10 Zep songs on my MP3 Player, but that is DEFINITELY on it.


  But the album as a whole didn't have much an affect on me, and I must admit that the epic length "in My Time of Dying" did nothing for me-- I'm a huge blues fan, but other then some decent (but not overwhelming ) slide licks, there wasnt much.
"If it sounds good, it is good."
Duke Ellington

The Six

As much as I like him for other things, I feel that Bartok can never be forgiven for his mocking of Shostakovich in his Concerto for Orchestra. Criticize the piece is one thing, but I don't understand the mentality where one feels the need to shoehorn a bad parody into an otherwise serious piece.

Karl Henning

I can see tut-tutting, but to consider it unforgivable . . . I dunno.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Opus106

Quote from: The Six on December 02, 2011, 08:46:08 AM
As much as I like him for other things, I feel that Bartok can never be forgiven for his mocking of Shostakovich in his Concerto for Orchestra. Criticize the piece is one thing, but I don't understand the mentality where one feels the need to shoehorn a bad parody into an otherwise serious piece.

Could you please point out when in the piece this happens? I hadn't heard of this before.

Quote from: karlhenning on December 02, 2011, 09:31:45 AM
I can see tut-tutting, but to consider it unforgivable . . . I dunno.

Psst... it's unpopular.
Regards,
Navneeth

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Karl Henning

Quote from: Opus106 on December 02, 2011, 09:33:49 AM
Could you please point out when in the piece this happens? I hadn't heard of this before.

Psst... in the Intermezzo interrotto. : )
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Opus106

Quote from: karlhenning on December 02, 2011, 09:38:55 AM
Psst... in the Intermezzo interrotto. : )

[whisper]Thanks muchly![/whisper] I haven't heard Shostakovich's 7th yet, at least not completely... I found the march too boring when I came across the work a long time ago. Will give those to a 'comparative' listening soon.
Regards,
Navneeth

The Six


Mirror Image

Here's some more unpopular opinions: Rossini was a hack, Messiaen was on crack, Brahms and Clara Schumann spent some time in the sack...

Rinaldo

Fresh one after yesterday's Met broadcast of Rodelinda: Renée Fleming is a queen of the obnoxious.

Geo Dude

Quote from: Rinaldo on December 04, 2011, 05:18:18 AM
Fresh one after yesterday's Met broadcast of Rodelinda: Renée Fleming is a queen of the obnoxious.

I don't find her obnoxious myself, but I do find her voice a bit plain, for lack of a better term.  She doesn't hold my interest.

Florestan

Nice thread, folks. :)

Here's mine: if you want to ruin a teenager prospective to become a Classical music lover, give him Mahler. Chances are very high that he'll become a Late Romanticism nut and forever scorn any music scored for less than 200 instruments; thus he'll narrowly limit himself to only 40-50 (and certainly not the best) years of the whole history of music making .  ;D





Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Karl Henning

Quote from: Florestan on December 05, 2011, 06:19:42 AM
Nice thread, folks. :)

Here's mine: if you want to ruin a teenager prospective to become a Classical music lover, give him Mahler. Chances are very high that he'll become a Late Romanticism nut and forever scorn any music scored for less than 200 instruments; thus he'll narrowly limit himself to only 40-50 (and certainly not the best) years of the whole history of music making .  ;D

Dude, I just don't do piano solo music, anything important that a composer has to say, he's probably said in his works for orchestra ; )
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Lethevich

Dvorak's 9th is a step-down
The Missa Solemnis could do with some cuts
Sibelius is nearly as overrated as Mahler
Schumann's PC isn't all that interesting
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Florestan

Quote from: karlhenning on December 05, 2011, 06:29:11 AM
Dude, I just don't do piano solo music, anything important that a composer has to say, he's probably said in his works for orchestra ; )

Take for instance JS Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms: their chamber output is just as good (I'd say even better in some cases) than their orchestral one. Not to mention that orchestra is a very relative term: what for Haydn was a grand one, for Mahler would have been the equivalent of a piano reduction.  ;D
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Florestan

Quote from: Lethe Dmitriyevna Pettersson on December 05, 2011, 06:34:55 AM
Dvorak's 9th is a step-down

Kind of John Philip Souza with an Austro-Hungarian flavor...  ;D

Quote
The Missa Solemnis could do with some cuts

Must give it a long due new listen.

Quote
Sibelius is nearly as overrated as Mahler

I can stomach Mahler much better than Bruckner; however Sibelius is far superior to both in being much more concise.  ;D

Quote
Schumann's PC isn't all that interesting

I just love it, unabashedly (non-Late) Romantic as I am - but it overshadows his equally splendid Violin and Cello Concertos.  :)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Florestan on December 05, 2011, 06:19:42 AM

Here's mine: if you want to ruin a teenager prospective to become a Classical music lover, give him Mahler. Chances are very high that he'll become a Late Romanticism nut and forever scorn any music scored for less than 200 instruments; thus he'll narrowly limit himself to only 40-50 (and certainly not the best) years of the whole history of music making .  ;D

That was me, when I first started listening. Somehow I managed to move on from there. So at least in my case, you're wrong!  :P
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Florestan

Quote from: Velimir on December 05, 2011, 06:46:18 AM
That was me, when I first started listening. Somehow I managed to move on from there. So at least in my case, you're wrong!  :P

I should have written "contemporary teenager" and I would not have been wrong anymore. What say you?:)
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Lethe Dmitriyevna Pettersson on December 05, 2011, 06:34:55 AM
Dvorak's 9th is a step-down
The Missa Solemnis could do with some cuts
Sibelius is nearly as overrated as Mahler
Schumann's PC isn't all that interesting

I agree with all of these except observation #3. Sibelius and Mahler remain among my favorite orchestral composers.

My turn:

Beethoven's best quartets are the Razumovskys (Op. 59).
Beethoven's best late quartet is Op. 135.
Masses would be a lot easier to listen to if they removed the long, doctrinally specific Credo movement.
Prokofiev is just not all that good as a symphonist.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach