Vaughan Williams's Veranda

[vandermolen]

I agree, but I jumped to the 3rd symphony... 

A good choice as you enjoyed Symphony 5.

[71 dB]

A good choice as you enjoyed Symphony 5.

Symphony 3 has been one of the most enjoayble ones so far. Also listened to the 4th. Seems like the least interesting so far.
RVW's symphonies haven't been "mindblowing" or even impressive so far and listening to the rest feels a burden... 

[vandermolen]

Symphony 3 has been one of the most enjoayble ones so far. Also listened to the 4th. Seems like the least interesting so far.
RVW's symphonies haven't been "mindblowing" or even impressive so far and listening to the rest feels a burden... 

Maybe try No.9 before giving up completely. Sounds like you're not really on his wavelength which is fair enough; either we relate to music or we don't but I'm glad that you enjoyed A Pastoral Symphony. I shall be playing it myself during the next few days as it can be seen as VW's 'War Requiem', since it was composed not long after the First World War in which Vaughan Williams (already in his 40s) served as an ambulance driver on the Western Front in France.

[Karl Henning]

I don't understand it being any problem that RVW's music is not "mind-blowing," at least not from an Elgar enthusiast...because if Elgar's music is "mind-blowing," my name is Archibald Ponsonby.

[relm1]

Symphony 3 has been one of the most enjoayble ones so far. Also listened to the 4th. Seems like the least interesting so far.
RVW's symphonies haven't been "mindblowing" or even impressive so far and listening to the rest feels a burden... 

I agree with vandermolen but RVW is one of the great symphonists of the 20th century.  My teacher once said this very wise words: if everyone agrees something is great and you disagree, you might be wrong.  No two of his symphonies are alike yet they all have the same fingerprint.  This is a characteristic of all great symphonists.  Beethoven, Shostakovitch, Mahler, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Ralph Vaughan Williams, etc.  There is a real journey in hearing/experiencing their music. 

[Karl Henning]

I agree with vandermolen but RVW is one of the great symphonists of the 20th century.  My teacher once said this very wise words: if everyone agrees something is great and you disagree, you might be wrong.  No two of his symphonies are alike yet they all have the same fingerprint.  This is a characteristic of all great symphonists.  Beethoven, Shostakovitch, Mahler, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Ralph Vaughan Williams, etc.  There is a real journey in hearing/experiencing their music. 

Well said.

[71 dB]

My teacher once said this very wise words: if everyone agrees something is great and you disagree, you might be wrong. 

Well, then I am wrong and I can't help it. I'm doing this the wrong way again. I haven't enjoeyd this at all because of the "pressure" to be right here. I have noticed that I enjoy exploring music the most when I do it privately on my own ignoring what other people think. It seems a no brainer to get advaces online about what to try/listen to next, but it just doesn't work for me well. So, from now on I explore RVW further my own way.

Thanks everyone for the help, but unfortunately this isn't working for me. Getting anxiety from listening to music makes no sense.

[Roasted Swan]

Well, then I am wrong and I can't help it.

There is no "wrong" or right in musical taste.  Ignore any pressure to agree that RVW is a great composer.  I happen to feel my life is enriched by knowing his music and I think the only "pressure" from people is a well-intentioned desire to share that enriching experience with others.  It is NOT about conforming.  There are lots of other composers received wisdom tells me I should like more than I do or dismiss more than I do.  I'm a professional violinist who doesn't particularly like the late Beethoven String Quartets - HERESY!!!  I'm off to hang my head in multiple shames!

[Karl Henning]

Thanks everyone for the help, but unfortunately this isn't working for me. Getting anxiety from listening to music makes no sense.

Dude, if folks suggesting to you, that to denigrate RVW symphonies as "not mind-blowing" is wrongheaded, triggers Anxiety in you, I respectfully submit that that is Your Trip.

[Karl Henning]

I'm a professional violinist who doesn't particularly like the late Beethoven String Quartets - HERESY!!!  I'm off to hang my head in multiple shames!

We've all (or, most of us have) said, multiple times, that anyone is at liberty to like or dislike whatever music they please, for their own reasons.  That ain't the res.

[71 dB]

There is no "wrong" or right in musical taste.  Ignore any pressure to agree that RVW is a great composer.  I happen to feel my life is enriched by knowing his music and I think the only "pressure" from people is a well-intentioned desire to share that enriching experience with others.  It is NOT about conforming.  There are lots of other composers received wisdom tells me I should like more than I do or dismiss more than I do.  I'm a professional violinist who doesn't particularly like the late Beethoven String Quartets - HERESY!!!  I'm off to hang my head in multiple shames!

20 years ago I wasn't cynical at all and didn't understand that people are very different. So, I tried to convert the whole World to be Elgarians and I was baffled about why so few people showed interested. Even when I joined this forum 10+ years ago I tried promoted Elgar and of course failed miserably. Since I have become very cynical and I just don't care. In a way it is a relief. I have come to realize the only thing that matters is what I think myself. Doesn't matter if Karl things Elgar isn't mindblowing, because Elgar blow MY mind. Doesn't matter if Karl thinks John Williams is a hack who stole all music from ealier composers. Doesn't matter if Karl doesn't like Star Wars. It just doesn't matter because I have my taste and I live with it enjoying Star Wars (well before Disney at least), Spielberg movies, Elgar, Dittersdorf, Bruhns, The Prodigy, Kesha, Tangerine Dream, The X-Files, classic Doctor Who, Better Call Saul, Autechre, S-Express, Carly Simon, King Crimson and yes, even late Beethoven String Quartets (in fact among the Beethoven I enjoy the most!). All my life I have been confused about being different from other people, but I have slowly learned who I am and what I like and I don't need other people to tell me I am something else.

I am a weirdo, a person who doesn't really have a "place" in this World because the World doesn't know what to do with people like me. I don't fit into any "box". Maybe that's why I sometimes fall into asking help with exploring music in order to feel being part of something, but that really isn't working. Maybe I am an Elgarian, but since there are so few Elgarians online it doesn't mean much. On the Tangerine Dream board I feel myself very alien despite of Tangerine Dream fans being perhaps the nicest community on Earth, but all their welcoming and warmth do not remove the fact that a lot of music I listen to (e.g. classical or electronic dance music) isn't their thing at all. They are fanatic about Tangerine Dream and I am not. Well, I have over 100 Tangerine Dream CDs and about 20 concerts on DVD, but these guys have 500 or so! They are willing to pay $100 for a rare Tangerine Dream CD (their soundtracks are rare as hell). I am not and that's why I have so few soundtracks by them.

I have been exploring contemporary composers on my own during the past few years and it has worked for me. It helps that there really isn't "consensus" yet about who are the greatest contemporary composers and what are the greatest works, so I can explore Sergio Rendine's and David Maslanka's music without pressure of enjoying this or that.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Dude, if folks suggesting to you, that to denigrate RVW symphonies as "not mind-blowing" is wrongheaded, triggers Anxiety in you, I respectfully submit that that is Your Trip.

"Not mind-blowing" is by definition a personal reaction and I would not have characterized it as "denigrating." Your comeback, (mentally imagine schoolyard voice) "oh yeah, well Elgar ain't mind-blowing neither, so there!" struck me as unnecessarily argumentative, from behind my screen anyway.

To 71 dB, regarding Vaughan Williams. There is genius in the music, at least in some of it. You may or may not find it resonates with you. That's the nature of art. But enough people love it enough that you probably owe it to yourself to hear it, once at least. I'd suggest you don't bug out before you've heard the second.

[relm1]

20 years ago I wasn't cynical at all and didn't understand that people are very different. So, I tried to convert the whole World to be Elgarians and I was baffled about why so few people showed interested. Even when I joined this forum 10+ years ago I tried promoted Elgar and of course failed miserably. Since I have become very cynical and I just don't care. In a way it is a relief. I have come to realize the only thing that matters is what I think myself. Doesn't matter if Karl things Elgar isn't mindblowing, because Elgar blow MY mind. Doesn't matter if Karl thinks John Williams is a hack who stole all music from ealier composers. Doesn't matter if Karl doesn't like Star Wars. It just doesn't matter because I have my taste and I live with it enjoying Star Wars (well before Disney at least), Spielberg movies, Elgar, Dittersdorf, Bruhns, The Prodigy, Kesha, Tangerine Dream, The X-Files, classic Doctor Who, Better Call Saul, Autechre, S-Express, Carly Simon, King Crimson and yes, even late Beethoven String Quartets (in fact among the Beethoven I enjoy the most!). All my life I have been confused about being different from other people, but I have slowly learned who I am and what I like and I don't need other people to tell me I am something else.

I am a weirdo, a person who doesn't really have a "place" in this World because the World doesn't know what to do with people like me. I don't fit into any "box". Maybe that's why I sometimes fall into asking help with exploring music in order to feel being part of something, but that really isn't working. Maybe I am an Elgarian, but since there are so few Elgarians online it doesn't mean much. On the Tangerine Dream board I feel myself very alien despite of Tangerine Dream fans being perhaps the nicest community on Earth, but all their welcoming and warmth do not remove the fact that a lot of music I listen to (e.g. classical or electronic dance music) isn't their thing at all. They are fanatic about Tangerine Dream and I am not. Well, I have over 100 Tangerine Dream CDs and about 20 concerts on DVD, but these guys have 500 or so! They are willing to pay $100 for a rare Tangerine Dream CD (their soundtracks are rare as hell). I am not and that's why I have so few soundtracks by them.

I have been exploring contemporary composers on my own during the past few years and it has worked for me. It helps that there really isn't "consensus" yet about who are the greatest contemporary composers and what are the greatest works, so I can explore Sergio Rendine's and David Maslanka's music without pressure of enjoying this or that.

Don't take this all so personally.  This is just a place where people have lots of opinions and sometimes agree other times disagree.  Nothing wrong with that.  I happen to agree with a lot of what you said and there isn't really much point of saying something someone else said.  I usually agree with Karl except for when he's wrong about Williams.    It's fine for him to feel that way and you (or me) to disagree.  No reason to take it so personally but on forums, if you have an opinion, others do have the right to disagree and that shouldn't cause anyone any grief.  Think of this place as a bunch of mates at the local pub.  Conversations are friendly but opinions will not always agree and we can still share a pint while arguing our opinions.

[Karl Henning]

[...] I usually agree with Karl except for when he's wrong about Williams.   

[Karl Henning]

"Not mind-blowing" is by definition a personal reaction and I would not have characterized it as "denigrating." Your comeback, (mentally imagine schoolyard voice) "oh yeah, well Elgar ain't mind-blowing neither, so there!" struck me as unnecessarily argumentative, from behind my screen anyway.

Check.

[Karl Henning]

There is no "wrong" or right in musical taste.  Ignore any pressure to agree that RVW is a great composer.

OTOH, it is not at all unreasonable to expect admirers of RVW to speak up on his behalf, in the RVW thread.

(Oh, God—the pressure, the pressure!)   

[André]

OTOH, it is not at all unreasonable to expect admirers of RVW to speak up on his behalf, in the RVW thread.

(Oh, God—the pressure, the pressure!)   

It goes without saying, but saying it is not a bad thing anyway  0:)

[relm1]

If it makes everyone feel better, I'll go on the Havergal Brian thread saying HB isn't mind blowing and he sounds like third rate RVW.

[cilgwyn]

If it makes everyone feel better, I'll go on the Havergal Brian thread saying HB isn't mind blowing and he sounds like third rate RVW.

Go on,I dare you!

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Go on,I dare you!

It blows my mind that people listen to that stuff!