What is currently stuck in your head?

[North Star]

Nate, I think John means that he wants the music to develop, when he says that it tells a story, and it has nothing to do with programmatic vs. absolute music.

[EigenUser]

Nate, I think John means that he wants the music to develop, when he says that it tells a story, and it has nothing to do with programmatic vs. absolute music.

...In which case this is totally subjective (as far as if this matters for it to be good or not). I assumed that he was referring to the "story" of the Leningrad, though, since that is the part that stands out in my mind.

[Mirror Image]

Well, the length of some of his works is overlong, I agree. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy them in sections. There's no way I'm going to be able to fully appreciate Des Canyons aux Etoiles or even the Turangalila-Symphonie if I listen to the thing from cover to cover. I'd like to say that this would be true, but it isn't. Part of it is my own problem with pieces of long duration, but I also think that Messiaen had a tendency to stretch his works out. No one is perfect, and I still enjoy his music very much. Very much.

Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 does tell a narrative, and for me this is really that work's only saving grace. I still dislike it immensely, but hey, its my loss. Maybe in time I'll come to appreciate it. Over the past few months I've decided to try and forget about personal taste (which isn't easy) and try to find positive qualities in anything I listen to. I figure if John Lennon and Simon Rattle like Stockhausen, then there must be something there -- they both certainly know better than I do.

Though I really like music that tells a story (and often add one of my own if there isn't one readily available ), I don't think it is necessary at all. I mean, can we really say that any one of Bach's keyboard suites or Ockeghem's masses aren't worth hearing since they don't tell a story? Or the non-programmatic Shosti 9?

Of course, the Turangalila-Symphonie does tell a story very blatantly -- the very same one told by Wagner in his Tristan and Isolde. Besides, even without a story I find most of Messiaen to be pure joy. I was so happy yesterday doing homework while listening to Des Canyons aux Etoiles (which doesn't really tell a story, but does bring to mind the grandiosity of the great West). Vingt-Regards..., Trois Petites Liturgies, Visions de l'Amen, and L'Ascension all make me ecstatic. Oiseaux Exotiques is a kind of scherzo (or maybe I should say divertimento) in the sense that it is a fun little work. Each of the Sept Haikai bring me to a different scene, mentally. And Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum is just plain powerful.

I'm not trying to convince you that you should like Messiaen or that you shouldn't like Shostakovich. Both are towering 20th-century figures and fantastic composers. I don't know why you seem to want to convince me that I shouldn't like Messiaen, but I can assure you that won't happen. He is currently my fourth favorite composer and his music has a balance of emotion and structure that really impresses me. He doesn't use sentiment against intellect. Instead he seems to be preferring to find a way to merge the two and use one to strengthen the other.

Besides, if Messiaen is good enough for Matt Groening, he is good enough for me!

Now that you are listening to classical again, I need to know if you've heard any music of Maurice Ohana and what you think of him.

I certainly can understand and relate to your viewpoints about Messiaen, Nate. I'm not trying to convince you to like his music or dislike his music. I'm simply throwing my own two cents into the fountain. That's great that you get Messiaen but I'm afraid I won't ever be able to grasp a lot of his music. As you know, I like the earlier works, but I also like Quartet for the End of Time, but these are the only works I truly enjoy. When I speak of a narrative, I'm talking about the development of the music from point A to point B to point C, etc. Not necessarily a 'story' if you will, but a sense of flow and some kind of drama and tension, because without these elements, I don't think I could ever enjoy the music, which is why I could never enjoy a composer like Boulez, Stockhausen, or Messiaen. Truth be told, I get more from Xenakis than I do any of the afore mentioned composers.

Anyway, yes, it's all subjective to what we respond to and what we get from music. Let's see I've heard Ohana's Cello Concerto and it didn't really speak to me, but I've only heard it once via YouTube. I believe this was around the time you were discovering the work for yourself.

[North Star]

This thread title always makes me think of FRASIER.

[Mirror Image]

This thread title always makes me think of FRASIER.

Haha! That's a great episode. Baby was quite the bird. She really hated that doorbell. "Cute, but stupid."

[Ken B]

"Cute, but stupid."

Okay guys, enough on Turangalila.

[North Star]

Okay guys, enough on Turangalila.

*clicks "report to moderator"*

[Mirror Image]

Okay guys, enough on Turangalila.

[Jay F]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWA0rbYVTLo

[Brian]

Woke up this morning with the theme from the finale of Mozart's Concerto No. 22 set against a big band jazz orchestra. The tune goes in an unexpected direction and winds up quoting Woody Guthrie's line "This land was made for you and me." It works bizarrely well.

[Mookalafalas]

Woke up this morning with the theme from the finale of Mozart's Concerto No. 22 set against a big band jazz orchestra. The tune goes in an unexpected direction and winds up quoting Woody Guthrie's line "This land was made for you and me." It works bizarrely well.

Wow. I envy you. 

[Mirror Image]

I've currently got Nielsen's Symphony No. 5: I. Tempo giusto—Adagio non troppo stuck in my head.

[Ken B]

I've currently got Nielsen's Symphony No. 5: I. Tempo giusto—Adagio non troppo stuck in my head.

Take it off repeat John.

[Mirror Image]

Take it off repeat John.

It finally went away now, Ken, but, now, I'm having Bruckner's 9th crush my cranium.

[EigenUser]

I've had various works of Messiaen stuck in my head (a good thing for me, I guess) for the past couple of months. Melodies from his earlier works are so much fun to whistle: Turangalila-Symphonie, Trois Petites Liturgies, Visions de l'Amen, etc.

This morning, though, I woke up with Faure's Requiem stuck in my head. I realized that the beginning of the Agnus Dei sounds strikingly similar to Bach's Jesu....

[Linus]

My head once repeated the following popular tunes:

- the "Moonlight" sonata adagio, which turned into
- "Komm, süsser Tod, komm selge Ruh", which turned into
- Cottrau's "Santa Lucia", which turned into
- "Bridge over Troubled Water", which turned into
- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Then back to "Moonlight" again and so on ad nauseam.

The horror, the horror.

[Mirror Image]

My head once repeated the following popular tunes:

- the "Moonlight" sonata adagio, which turned into
- "Komm, süsser Tod, komm selge Ruh", which turned into
- Cottrau's "Santa Lucia", which turned into
- "Bridge over Troubled Water", which turned into
- "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Then back to "Moonlight" again and so on ad nauseam.

The horror, the horror.

Sounds like you need to listen to some Schnittke now.

[RJR]

Fêtes, Debussy. Ansermet conducting. Happy New Year to all.

[EigenUser]

Fêtes, Debussy. Ansermet conducting. Happy New Year to all.

Yup, I've had that stuck in my head many times before. Gigues, too.

Currently, Bruckner 6 has been on repeat in my mind.

[Ken B]

Yup, I've had that stuck in my head many times before. Gigues, too.

Currently, Bruckner 6 has been on repeat in my mind.

Progress.