Works for which you're not yet ready?

[Mark]

No matter how broad our tastes in music, we periodically encounter works which make us baulk and wish we'd not bought them. Given time, of course, we often grow to appreciate (and even love) these same works, as our listening becomes ever more diverse and our opinions change.

Today, I tried but couldn't appreciate this:



Admittedly, the conditions for a first listen weren't ideal: I was travelling in rush hour on the Tube across London. This said, the apparent chaos and spiky angularity of these quartets did rather aptly fit the chaotic, jostling scenes of tired commuters through which I myself pushed and shoved. Certainly, I'll need to approach these works at a better time. Until then, I reserve judgement.

Which works did you once find yourself ill prepared for, or which are currently, for you, 'no go' territory?

[hornteacher]

Anything by Bartok and/or Bruckner.  I know there's some good stuff there if I could find the time and focus to explore.  Maybe someday.  I finally got into Sibelius so maybe there's hope.

[c#minor]

I'll second Bartok, i bought his 3 piano concertos and i am on my 3rd listen and have yet to really enjoy them. They are growing on my a little, so i will continue to listen.

Hornteacher,
I used to be the same with Bruckner until i layed down with the lights off and listened to Bruckner's 9th. I was a little jittery by the end, but it has been one of the best listening experiences in a long time.

[BachQ]

How is this thread different from: "works which you presently dislike" ? ?  Maybe I'll never "be ready" for it.

Stated otherwise, how do I know whether I'll eventually come to appreciate a work I currently dislike?

[PerfectWagnerite]

Anything by Elgar.

[jochanaan]

Hey, if it's ready for me, I'm ready for it!

[Renfield]

Hey, if it's ready for me, I'm ready for it!

The man has a point! (Which I second.)

[hornteacher]

Hornteacher,
I used to be the same with Bruckner until i layed down with the lights off and listened to Bruckner's 9th. I was a little jittery by the end, but it has been one of the best listening experiences in a long time.

Jittery?  Is there caffene in Bruckner? 

I remember listening to the opening of the 9th some time ago and loving the horn parts.  Maybe I should start with this one.

[EmpNapoleon]

Stated otherwise, how do I know whether I'll eventually come to appreciate a work I currently dislike?

That's a great question. 
It should give critics something to think about.

[mahlertitan]

Jittery?  Is there caffene in Bruckner? 

I remember listening to the opening of the 9th some time ago and loving the horn parts.  Maybe I should start with this one.

definitely, 9th is a very moving piece, if you listen it through and listen it carefully, you'll get to Bruckner in no time.

btw, I know this isn't that big of a deal, the 9th is unfinished, so if you want an "ending", you should get the Bruckner's 9th by Johannes Wildner.

[c#minor]

Jittery?  Is there caffene in Bruckner? 

I remember listening to the opening of the 9th some time ago and loving the horn parts.  Maybe I should start with this one.

Not quite . I have what they are now calling ADD. It's hard for me to make it all the way through a Mozart Symphony without wanting to get up and fidget with something. So getting through a Bruckner with absolute stillness and no stopping was an acomplishment for me.


Wait till you hear the 2nd Movement, its very exciting, in a Bruckner kind of way.

[gmstudio]

No matter how broad our tastes in music, we periodically encounter works which make us baulk and wish we'd not bought them. Given time, of course, we often grow to appreciate (and even love) these same works, as our listening becomes ever more diverse and our opinions change.

Today, I tried but couldn't appreciate this:



Admittedly, the conditions for a first listen weren't ideal: I was travelling in rush hour on the Tube across London. This said, the apparent chaos and spiky angularity of these quartets did rather aptly fit the chaotic, jostling scenes of tired commuters through which I myself pushed and shoved. Certainly, I'll need to approach these works at a better time. Until then, I reserve judgement.

Which works did you once find yourself ill prepared for, or which are currently, for you, 'no go' territory?

It's not you, these pieces are awful.  

As a matter of fact, this is the VERY disc that made me realize that most of 20th Century classical is awful.   "Composers" shove this garbage upon us, devoid of any sort of thought, melodic/harmonic content...a complete disregard for the listener...and a few academics lap it up as gospel. Meanwhile the real composers of old are turning in their graves as this schlock that passes for "art music" gets its turn.

Is it any wonder concert halls sit empty? Is it any wonder classical CD sales sink further and further into the abyss? It's because for decades crap like this has been forced upon an unsuspecting public who desire nothing more than a decent melody.

Apologies for the threadjack...that CD really touches a nerve with me.

[mahlertitan]

Wait till you hear the 2nd Movement, its very exciting, in a Bruckner kind of way.

Yes, in fact my first ever Bruckner memory had something to do with the Scherzo. I think i was 15 or 16 at the time, and I heard this on TV, i still remember it was a documentary about Claudio Abbado doing a rehearsal with Gustav Mahler youth orchestra, and they played the Scherzo. I was totally overwhelmed by it, it was something quite unique and unusual, and i went out and got a copy of the 9th right a way.... unfortunately, the next few years were "sidetracked" by my discoveries of Mahler, Schubert, and Shostakovitch, so it took about 3 more years for me to finally being able to appreciate Bruckner's music.

[Greta]

I remember listening to the opening of the 9th some time ago and loving the horn parts.  Maybe I should start with this one.

I did. It was my "gateway" piece for Bruckner. Only because a Mystery Orchestra game had been started on it, so I had to listen to the 1st mvmt opening several times, and really fell in love with it. It's gorgeous, the whole symphony is amazing.

I think there are a lot of great vocal works I'm not ready for, masses and such. And a fair amount of operas too. Or maybe they're just not my preference...but when I get time I will give them a chance.

[12tone.]

Composers I still have trouble with and find really boring:

- Bax
- Sibelius
- Tchaikovsky (except the ballets)

[c#minor]

Ahhhhh Tchaikovsky boring???
I know it's all opinions but i cease to understand how Tchaikovsky could be boring. My first love, aside from piano music, was his 5th symphony. What a shame, but then again i can do without Brahms symphonies, and most people can't understand that.

I have had very little exposure to Sibelius, from what i have heard its okay but i have yet to hear the symphonies.

[Lethevich]

I've tried a lot, but I'm still ambivolent towards Wagner. So at the moment, and for the near future, I will ignore most of his music. I will certainly revisit him many times in future, with the expectation that he shall one day "click" with me.

"Composers" shove this garbage upon us, devoid of any sort of thought, melodic/harmonic content...a complete disregard for the listener...and a few academics lap it up as gospel.

...and the normal people who enjoy and buy it, of course (plenty of whom can be found on this very forum).

Is it any wonder concert halls sit empty? Is it any wonder classical CD sales sink further and further into the abyss? It's because for decades crap like this has been forced upon an unsuspecting public who desire nothing more than a decent melody.

Why are concert halls just as empty when pre-Schoenberg music is played? Other than particularly desirable "big name" concerts, which rich idiots treat as a social event. Many people on this forum have already mentioned that new music concerts they have visited are often sold out or highly attended.

Claims of a "poor public" and their "raped ears" don't appear to correlate with what is being performed. Classical programming is staggeringly conservative (although it can vary depending on location) - which is precisely why when new music is performed, reviews often mention the good attendence that the performances have drawn...

Outside of the tonal warhorses, your point is on even less solid ground. I recall a BBC Proms concert of a British concervative symphonist (perhaps Bax) playing to an almost deserted hall a few years ago. it would be ungracious to bend this to fit your point by saying that this is because the bogeymen scared away the audiece for Bax. People evidently just did not want to listen to him.

Edit: Added word.

[Brian]

I did. It was my "gateway" piece for Bruckner. Only because a Mystery Orchestra game had been started on it, so I had to listen to the 1st mvmt opening several times, and really fell in love with it. It's gorgeous, the whole symphony is amazing.

I'm in need of some Brucknerfication too, so will take this recommendation up. I love the horn call at the beginning of the Fourth, but nothing that follows it, and absolutely adore the slow movement in the Seventh, but not the surrounding movements. The rest I perhaps am "not yet ready" for. I also find the Goldberg Variations utterly mystifying/meaningless, as well as the vast majority of atonal/serial modern music (which I expect never to like, really), Sibelius' Fifth and Sixth, and most chamber music. The chamber music thing is actually because of a deliberate campaign; I don't want to reach the age of, say, 25 and find out I've heard all the great masterpieces already (I'm still a teenager), so I have been consciously avoiding chamber music and, until recently, opera.

[Renfield]

Concerning Bruckner's 9th:

Am I the only one that reads into that Scherzo the ticking of a clock, as time runs out? An eerie work, Bruckner's 9th. (Especially if one considers the finale fragments which I was able to appreciate, courtesy of Mr Harnoncourt. )

[Lethevich]

Concerning Bruckner's 9th:

Am I the only one that reads into that Scherzo the ticking of a clock, as time runs out? An eerie work, Bruckner's 9th. (Especially if one considers the finale fragments which I was able to appreciate, courtesy of Mr Harnoncourt. )

My favourite performance (Abendroth) of that scherzo has the main theme played 50% faster than most performances It's like galloping horses - a wonder to behold It has perverted me into finding every other scherzo I ever hear sound far too slow