Music you used to listen to often but not anymore

[Uhor]

I used to listen to the whole cycle of Sibelius Symphonies pretty often. It was the first composer I really got into.
Years later I find myself only listening to Symphonies No.5-7 and occasionally No.4, The Oceanides and Luonnotar.
Never quite understood the Tapiola hipe. Yes there are interesting modern textures and atmospheres in there but the themes are so simple and dull I don't even find what it is done to them interesting.

I used to listen to a lot of Ravel, specially the String Quartet, Introduction et allegro, Daphnis et Chloé and L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. I now almost exclusively listen to Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé.

Ligeti, same thing. The whole of his "cluster" works were on my regular listening but now I resort to occassional listening. Never quite accepted his change of style and what accounts to a harmonic simplification for the sake of rhythmic invention.

Wagner has become an occassional indulgence, Das Rheingold I still hear as fresh as the first time and the Tristan prelude the strongest though perhaps that one (despite all its modernity) shows it's age the most.


Tchaikovsky is out of my listening altogether, so is Dvorak.

I could go on how my listening habits change over time towards clearer non-romantic soundscapes (though with rich harmonies still seductive to the ear) but I guess you can extrapolate by now.

[Holden]

When I first started collecting CDs (I already had an extensive LP collection) choice was nowhere as wide as it is now. Also, I wanted to replicate what I had on LP with this new medium and basically had to wait until it was released. For example, it took a while for the Cluytens/BPO LvB to become available. The same for a lot of my Chopin, Schumann, etc. What was released initially were the warhorses, many of which I did not have in LP form so I decided to sample them. My first CD was HvK conducting Tchaikovsky Ballet Suites, very enjoyable for the first few listens but it soon grew to be passe.

So early on I bought Barbirolli's Peer Gynt (with vocals), Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, The Brandenburgs, Grieg PC and so on. I mention these because I've not listened to any of them in years.

Something might prompt me in the future to relisten to some of these. They are all quality performances of enjoyable music.

[Karl Henning]

John Williams. When Star Wars was new, I bought the double-LP of his music. At least, I think it was a double. I never go out of my way to listen to his music outside of its cinematic context.

[krummholz]

Let's see... I used to listen to RVW all the time. Now, very very rarely.

[71 dB]

When I got interested of classical music some 25 years ago I was into such composers as Rachmaninov (Piano Concerto No. 2), Chopin (Piano Concertos), Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition & A Night on the Bare Mountain) and Sibelius (Symphonies 2 & 7).

While exploring classical music more and finding new composers and works, I lost most of my interest in these mentioned composers and works. I even developed some kind of allergies to the music of Sibelius and Rachmaninov! Chopin and Mussorgsky I still like, but I almost never listen to their music anymore.

The bigger my classical music collection grew, the harder it is to revisit a certain composer or work. Also, nowadays I listen to music much less than I used to years ago.

[71 dB]

John Williams. When Star Wars was new, I bought the double-LP of his music. At least, I think it was a double. I never go out of my way to listen to his music outside of its cinematic context.

John Williams' music of course works best with the movies, but I think for movie music it holds up well even by itself. Try for example the soundtrack album for the movie Minority Report.

My friend once said nicely that movie soundtracks are souvenirs of movies. Nowadays when it is so much easier to watch movies with great quality at home movie soundtracks are less important. Why listen to the Star Wars soundtrack album, when you can watch the damn movie! In 2K or even 4K!

[Brahmsian]

Beethoven and Brahms

[vandermolen]

John Williams. When Star Wars was new, I bought the double-LP of his music. At least, I think it was a double. I never go out of my way to listen to his music outside of its cinematic context.

+1, although today I did listen to his fine score from 'Saving Private Ryan'.

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Ravel: piano concertos

[DavidW]

Vivaldi and Faure.  It is not that I've become disinterested, it is because they've been crowded out and I also just don't spend as much time listening to music as I used to.

[Mirror Image]

Vivaldi and Faure.  It is not that I've become disinterested, it is because they've been crowded out and I also just don't spend as much time listening to music as I used to.

This is always disappointing to read. You must not have a lot of free time these days.

[VonStupp]

As a younger man, I listened to a bit of kitschy classical music, along the lines of Ferde Grofé and Don Gillis, but I find I don't do that anymore. Maybe it was a beginner's listening stepping stone. I might include Michael Daugherty into this idea, but when Naxos releases his music, I generally give it a listen.

VS

[Karl Henning]

John Williams' music of course works best with the movies, but I think for movie music it holds up well even by itself. Try for example the soundtrack album for the movie Minority Report.

My friend once said nicely that movie soundtracks are souvenirs of movies. Nowadays when it is so much easier to watch movies with great quality at home movie soundtracks are less important. Why listen to the Star Wars soundtrack album, when you can watch the damn movie! In 2K or even 4K!

Minority Report was certainly solid work on Williams's part

[71 dB]

This is always disappointing to read. You must not have a lot of free time these days.

For me it is not the amount of free time, but Youtube  . There is no time for music that much when Jack Vincent releases a video where he taste tests Finnish long drinks or Photonicinduction tortures a running belt with excessive voltage or Michael Penn has released a new math video or Natemares has a new "Conan O'Brian in Finland" reaction video (Nathan must be the best laugher in the World, at least in Canada!) or Tom Green eats lettuce on busy street or Kyle Kulinski vents about social media censorship and that is only a very small fraction of what I watch on Youtube. Music theory videos, music production videos, urbex videos, liminal spaces... ...sometimes even cat videos! It is a miracle I have any time for music listening anymore!

[71 dB]

Minority Report was certainly solid work on Williams's part

[Spotted Horses]

Middle period Beethoven (5th Symphony, etc). Now I rarely listen to anything but Late Beethoven (mostly string quartets and piano sonatas, 8th symphony).

[Mirror Image]

For me it is not the amount of free time, but Youtube  . There is no time for music that much when Jack Vincent releases a video where he taste tests Finnish long drinks or Photonicinduction tortures a running belt with excessive voltage or Michael Penn has released a new math video or Natemares has a new "Conan O'Brian in Finland" reaction video (Nathan must be the best laugher in the World, at least in Canada!) or Tom Green eats lettuce on busy street or Kyle Kulinski vents about social media censorship and that is only a very small fraction of what I watch on Youtube. Music theory videos, music production videos, urbex videos, liminal spaces... ...sometimes even cat videos! It is a miracle I have any time for music listening anymore!

Hah, well I've done my best not to get sucked into the YouTube vortex, because I have more reverence and love for music than I do YouTube. I do think YouTube can be a useful tool for finding documentaries on music or on a composer that you just can't buy online or stream from Netflix or something. YouTube is also great for sampling a recording that I'm considering buying. It is an excellent resource, but one has to realize that there's just so much junk on it, too, and this junk isn't worth my own time. But that's just my own perspective.

[71 dB]

Hah, well I've done my best not to get sucked into the YouTube vortex, because I have more reverence and love for music than I do YouTube. I do think YouTube can be a useful tool for finding documentaries on music or on a composer that you just can't buy online or stream from Netflix or something. YouTube is also great for sampling a recording that I'm considering buying. It is an excellent resource, but one has to realize that there's just so much junk on it, too, and this junk isn't worth my own time. But that's just my own perspective.

I'm a Youtube junk junkie!  0:) I didn't watch Youtube hardly at all before about 2015. That's when I happened to find really interesting stuff on there and realized what a cornucopia it is. There is tons and tons of "junk" for everybody's taste. I don't watch much TV and I certainly don't subscribe to streaming services such as Netflix.

[Florestan]

Beethoven and Brahms

Ditto. 

[Florestan]

Now I rarely listen to anything but Late Beethoven (mostly string quartets and piano sonatas, 8th symphony).

I'm the opposite: I rarely listen to anything but early Beethoven or those middle and late works which are untypical of their period. I cannot stand anymore the grand, heroic, in-your-face-revolutionary, don't-even-bother-anymore Beethoven. The odd-numbered symphonies, for instance, are anathema to me --- I instantly turn off the car radio, or change the channel, whenever they are broadcasted by the Romanian classical music station (which incidentally is one of the best of their kind worldwide). The Seventh in particular gets this treatment --- to think that 30 years ago it was my favorite piece of music by anyone ever...  Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis. 

Btw, the 8th symphony is very untypical. It displays in full that "serene gaiety" which Thomas Mann in The Buddenbrooks marked as a distinctive feature of the 18th century.

[Florestan]

I certainly don't subscribe to streaming services such as Netflix.

Your loss, buddy. Netflix is great.