Unpopular Opinions

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

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 05:50:29 AM
It sounds like a Vivaldi concerto with most of the tunes and cadences taken out.

You're a mighty quick judge.

Madiel

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:24:52 AM
I'd recommend any of his solo keyboard works, and also his symphonies. To be more specific: Symphony No. 8 and Metamorphosis and Etudes for solo keyboard.

I figured out that Metamorphosis is one of the other things I've already heard.  :-X
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Madiel

#682
Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:51:42 AM
You're a mighty quick judge.

Of the impression a piece of music gives me?  Why not?

It might take me a long, long time to delve into a piece of music that interest me (hello, Vagn Holmboe), but it doesn't take me that long to tell whether or not it interests me.  And there simply isn't enough time in the world to investigate all the classical composers and pop musicians that DO interest me, never mind the massively larger number of ones that DON'T.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 05:52:56 AM
I figured out that Metamorphosis is one of the other things I've already heard.  :-X

And if your post about the Violin Concerto is any clue, you probably listened to it but once, and judged it not to your liking. In a quick manner, of course.

Madiel

#684
Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:54:38 AM
And if your post about the Violin Concerto is any clue, you probably listened to it but once, and judged it not to your liking. In a quick manner, of course.

I'll set you up with my Tori Amos collection. Promise to listen to each album at least 5 times before commenting.   See you in October.

EDIT: What possible purpose is there in repeatedly listening to something that didn't spark my interest the first time?  I'm not a music reviewer.  It's not my job to objectively assess Glass' work for your edification.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 05:57:51 AM
I'll set you up with my Tori Amos collection. Promise to listen to each album at least 5 times before commenting.   See you in October.

Already love Tori Amos, so that would be quite a pleasure for me to sit through. Also, I don't care whether or not you like or dislike something, rather it simply demonstrates your unwillingness to let something sit before sitting in judgment of it. I'd wager that not even someone engorged in classical music, like Karl, could have settled into a judgment so swiftly.

Madiel

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:59:33 AM
Already love Tori Amos, so that would be quite a pleasure for me to sit through. Also, I don't care whether or not you like or dislike something, rather it simply demonstrates your unwillingness to let something sit before sitting in judgment of it. I'd wager that not even someone engorged in classical music, like Karl, could have settled into a judgment so swiftly.

No, you are not asking me for my opinion about individual pieces.  You are asking me for my opinion ABOUT A COMPOSER.  I have heard at least a dozen different Glass pieces. At least.  NONE of them have made me think "oh hang on, there's something there that interests me".

That's all I'm looking for. The spark of interest.  And it simply isn't there.  The judgment is that there's no need to add Glass to the list of composers I'm interested in exploring.  Given how HUGE the list already is, I make absolutely no apology, none whatsoever, for repeating: I have heard Glass, quite a few times, and Glass doesn't interest me.  NOT "I have heard Glass' violin concerto, and Glass' violin concerto doesn't interest me".  That simply isn't how I operate.  If we're going to list interests, it's going to be composers, not composers' individual works.  If we're going to list likes/loves, THEN I'll talk about individual compositions.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

PaulR

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 05:57:51 AM
I'll set you up with my Tori Amos collection. Promise to listen to each album at least 5 times before commenting.   See you in October.

EDIT: What possible purpose is there in repeatedly listening to something that didn't spark my interest the first time?  I'm not a music reviewer.  It's not my job to objectively assess Glass' work for your edification.
You don't think.........it's kind of backwards to think "if something doesn't interest me the first time, why listen to it again"?  A second time through might reveal something that you didn't notice the first time through.  Similar to a 3rd time, 4th time.  You are missing a lot of great music if you only go by the first impression.

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 06:03:40 AM
No, you are not asking me for my opinion about individual pieces.  You are asking me for my opinion ABOUT A COMPOSER.  I have heard at least a dozen different Glass pieces. At least.  NONE of them have made me think "oh hang on, there's something there that interests me".

I haven't asked for your opinion on anything.

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: PaulR on September 21, 2012, 06:04:04 AM
You don't think.........it's kind of backwards to think "if something doesn't interest me the first time, why listen to it again"?  A second time through might reveal something that you didn't notice the first time through.  Similar to a 3rd time, 4th time.  You are missing a lot of great music if you only go by the first impression.

Indeed. It's why I still try and listen to Mozart's Symphonies, even though they have yet to do it for me yet.

Madiel

Quote from: PaulR on September 21, 2012, 06:04:04 AM
You don't think.........it's kind of backwards to think "if something doesn't interest me the first time, why listen to it again"?  A second time through might reveal something that you didn't notice the first time through.  Similar to a 3rd time, 4th time.  You are missing a lot of great music if you only go by the first impression.

See above. I do NOT go by the first impression of composers.  Hearing samples of an individual work of a composer is simply a means, for me, of sampling a composer.

Any composer I am interested in, their individual works will get multiple listens.  If that wasn't the case, I most certainly would not have bought the big batch of Holmboe I just bought, because the vast majority of his works have not revealed their secrets on first listen.

In fact, I wouldn't have bought most of Tori Amos' albums - the musician I am most obsessed with!  Of her 12 main albums I would say I probably only found 2 or 3 instantly appealing.  I found several of them utterly bewildering, including the one I would now rate as the very finest.  So please don't get this notion that I "go by first impressions".  Before any composer or pop artist gets into my collection, they have been sampled and considered a very large number of times, and once they're in, I continue to look for the rewards from their work.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Madiel

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 06:05:28 AM
I haven't asked for your opinion on anything.

No. You just asked what I, and others like me, had heard of Glass.  And now you're just going to tell me I'm listening to it wrong.

I did listen to Metamorphosis quite a few times, for the record, as it was on a CD that was lent to me.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 06:10:59 AM
And now you're just going to tell me I'm listening to it wrong.

That's not what I said at all.

DavidRoss

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:54:38 AM
And if your post about the Violin Concerto is any clue, you probably listened to it but once, and judged it not to your liking. In a quick manner, of course.
Evaluating a 25-minute-long concerto from, what, 30 seconds of hearing? ...with a mind already prejudiced against it?  Shades of Paul Best! (You don't happen to think Beethoven was a hack, do you?) ;)

But thank you for being so candid. I always appreciate it when folks are so upfront about letting us know the worth of their opinions -- popular or not! (BTW, dismissing Glass as a bore is a very popular pastime.)

"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

PaulR

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 06:07:58 AM
Indeed. It's why I still try and listen to Mozart's Symphonies, even though they have yet to do it for me yet.
Oh, you only need to listen to 39, 40, and 41.  POSSIBLY 25   8)

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: PaulR on September 21, 2012, 06:14:01 AM
Oh, you only need to listen to 39, 40, and 41.  POSSIBLY 25   8)

Already tried and done, multiple times by different orchestras and different conductors. It just hasn't clicked for me yet, but I'll keep on trying. I know I'll find that one that will unlock the door.

DavidRoss

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 06:12:34 AM
That's not what I said at all.
Of course it's not. But if you look carefully, you'll note that he didn't suggest you had said it, but rather that you would say it in the future. Rather consistent, wouldn't you say?
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

Madiel

Quote from: CaughtintheGaze on September 21, 2012, 05:54:38 AM
And if your post about the Violin Concerto is any clue, you probably listened to it but once, and judged it not to your liking. In a quick manner, of course.

So this WASN'T criticising my method of listening?

Okay then.

Quote from: DavidRoss on September 21, 2012, 06:13:22 AM
Evaluating a 25-minute-long concerto from, what, 30 seconds of hearing? ...with a mind already prejudiced against it?  Shades of Paul Best! (You don't happen to think Beethoven was a hack, do you?) ;)

Where did you randomly pluck the figure of 30 seconds from?  You posted a Youtube clip that was over 6 minutes long.
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

CaughtintheGaze

Quote from: DavidRoss on September 21, 2012, 06:15:45 AM
Of course it's not. But if you look carefully, you'll note that he didn't suggest you had said it, but rather that you would say it in the future. Rather consistent, wouldn't you say?

Well I am a straw dog, as my Professor would say.  ;D

PaulR

Quote from: orfeo on September 21, 2012, 06:16:40 AM
So this WASN'T criticising my method of listening?

Okay then.

Where did you randomly pluck the figure of 30 seconds from?  You posted a Youtube clip that was over 6 minutes long.
is 6 minutes really enough time to judge whether you like a piece or not?  If yes, how does one know the initial attraction of a piece will maintain its shine through multiple listenings?  If no, how can one possibly know, in one 6 minute listen, that you wouldn't find the music interesting in the future?