Unpopular Opinions

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

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Gurn Blanston

Quote from: starrynight on September 14, 2012, 12:42:49 PM
Are they unpopular opinions in general?  Which brings up how do you define or even know what is unpopular in general, or is it just among people you know, or does it just mean pieces which aren't that well known rather than unpopular?  Obviously some things have more acclaim and will take the limelight more, that's inevitable and doesn't have to reflect badly on lesser known works.

If these 2 are considered representational, then I would say unpopular in general, since the majority of those who express an opinion on either of them tend to be negative. I personally feel that these people suffer from cranio-rectal inversion syndrome (CRIS), but hey, that's just me; Mr Unpopular himself. :)

8)
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Haydn: that genius of vulgar music who induces an inordinate thirst for beer - Mily Balakirev (1860)

TheGSMoeller

20th Century SQs

Britten > Shostakovich

Madiel

I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

springrite

Quote from: orfeo on September 14, 2012, 07:39:54 PM
Oh Lordy. Another recording to buy?
Be patient. Wait till the Complete Chopin Symphonies boxset to come out. You'd get a much better deal then,.
Do what I must do, and let what must happen happen.

Madiel

#564
And how long's that going to take?  I mean, as far as I know no-one's recorded Symphony No.5 yet!

http://www.justsheetmusic.com/sheet-music/frederic-chopin-symphony-no-5/

EDIT: Follow the links, you'll also find Chopin performing the William Tell Overture.  I'm not kidding. I wish to God that I was, but I'm not.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Superhorn

   What's gnu, said the wildebeest . 








;D                                                                  ;D                                                           ;D

eyeresist

Quote from: karlhenning on September 14, 2012, 10:16:28 AMFlash-freeze gnu's vomit, thaw, steam, serve on artisanal multigrain toast, and the result is æsthetically superior to Glazunov.
Such invective for such a harmless composer! Do you not even like the Seasons?

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 14, 2012, 01:38:36 PM20th Century SQs

Britten > Shostakovich

My arse > Britten

Brian

Quote from: eyeresist on September 16, 2012, 07:17:45 PM
Such invective for such a harmless composer! Do you not even like the Seasons?
My favorite Glazunov, way ahead of the Seasons, is the opulent String Quintet Op 39. If you didn't know better you'd think it was Borodin. Checked the log; I've listened to Glazunov 10 times in 2011-12 and 6 of those 10 have been the quintet.

eyeresist

Quote from: Brian on September 16, 2012, 07:19:47 PMMy favorite Glazunov, way ahead of the Seasons, is the opulent String Quintet Op 39. If you didn't know better you'd think it was Borodin.

I'm afraid I find Borodin a bore.

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 14, 2012, 01:38:36 PM
20th Century SQs

Britten > Shostakovich

Quote from: eyeresist on September 16, 2012, 07:17:45 PM
My arse > Britten

I was unaware your arse composed music, well, I guess all of ours do in a way.

eyeresist

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on September 16, 2012, 10:46:14 PMI was unaware your arse composed music, well, I guess all of ours do in a way.

*Deleted comment about Concerto for Trouser Trumpet*

CaughtintheGaze

Glazunov might have composed one of my favorite pieces ever:

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

(poco) Sforzando

Quote from: Brian on September 14, 2012, 10:32:45 AM
Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Brahms' First Piano Concerto are among my least favorite works by anybody, ever.  :(

Hmmm. Very interesting, as I feel similarly. No wonder I always like and admire Brian (our Brian, not the composer that is). I have always felt that the Violin Concerto is one of Beethoven's few complete failures in a large form, its first movement an abortive attempt to reconcile lyricism with sonata form (a problem he solved far better in the 4th piano concerto and elsewhere), followed by a banal set of variations and a dull rondo finale. As for the Brahms, it opens like a house on fire with one of the most magnificent themes ever, but its sprawling construction fails to maintain momentum. The rondo is perhaps the most successful movement, but I literally find myself unable to remember any part of the slow movement after I've heard it.
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Papy Oli

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 17, 2012, 12:25:22 AM
Glazunov might have composed one of my favorite pieces ever:

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


This is superb. Thank you for posting that ! :D
Olivier

Luke

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on September 17, 2012, 07:29:27 AM
Hmmm. Very interesting, as I feel similarly. No wonder I always like and admire Brian (our Brian, not the composer that is). I have always felt that the Violin Concerto is one of Beethoven's few complete failures in a large form, its first movement an abortive attempt to reconcile lyricism with sonata form (a problem he solved far better in the 4th piano concerto and elsewhere), followed by a banal set of variations and a dull rondo finale. As for the Brahms, it opens like a house on fire with one of the most magnificent themes ever, but its sprawling construction fails to maintain momentum. The rondo is perhaps the most successful movement, but I literally find myself unable to remember any part of the slow movement after I've heard it.

Ah, but if the fact that it is unmemorable is held as evidence against a the quality of a piece, surely it falls down when someone else finds the same piece eminently memorable. Personally, the whole of the Brahms Piano Concerto 1 runs easily from start to finish in my head, second movement most certainly included (OTOH I can't do the same with many other pieces which I 'ought' to know like the back of my hand - they simply haven't imprinted themselves as deeply no matter how much I listen, but that is surely my fault, not theirs). I'm aware of issues that others point out when criticising this piece - that the second subject recapitulation is unconvincingly literal, for instance; that the B material of the rondo is weak - and on paper I can even agree with them (it is, TBH, a little embarrassing to see in the score quite how literal that second subject recap is after the tumult of the development).... but then in the event I simply don't feel any of these things when listening to the work. It just bowls me over.

Hello, Sfz, BTW - it's been a while! Hope you've been keeping well  :)

Madiel

Quote from: Papy Oli on September 17, 2012, 11:16:58 AM
This is superb. Thank you for posting that ! :D

Seconded. Was rather lovely.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Karl Henning

Quote from: orfeo on September 18, 2012, 02:58:48 AM
Seconded. Was rather lovely.

Just a note:  I don't subscribe to either of the blunt opinions I recently posted, which served both to comply with the thread, and to underscore a rhetorical point.

Just a further note:  Obviously, of any music which is the brunt of some person or other's dislike, we can find many fans.  Seems to me that troubling to exercise that utterly obvious point is at odds with the thread.  But, hey: knock yourselves out
; )
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

Rinaldo

Here's a fresh one after a performance of Le Carnaval romain I've attended: Berlioz was a hack! >:D

Dancing Divertimentian

Quote from: Rinaldo on September 18, 2012, 02:52:29 PM
Here's a fresh one after a performance of Le Carnaval romain I've attended: Berlioz was a hack! >:D

False.


Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Rinaldo on September 18, 2012, 02:52:29 PM
Here's a fresh one after a performance of Le Carnaval romain I've attended: Berlioz was a hack! >:D

It's a shame, it sounds as if the performance you attended did not properly do justice to a thrilling Berlioz piece. I hope the rest of the concert was better performed.