Specialist or generalist?

[Mark G. Simon]

I also like cute violinists.   

And you specialize in one of them.

[Montpellier]

Choose general because my interests shift often.  I centre on tonal/chromatic music from the first half of the 20th century but it could be classical next week or contemporary; sometimes popular from the 60s-80s. 


.

[jochanaan]

Very much a generalist, although I do tend to favor the most "extreme" composers of many eras: Machaut, Gesualdo, Bruckner, Mahler, Varèse, Messiaen, Feldman... and yes, I do include Bach and Beethoven among those "extreme composers."

[Norbeone]

Generalist, but I do admit that the vast majority of my listening is to Bach. But I listen to lots of other very different composers, too.

[mikkeljs]

Interrestingly question. I have no doubt, that I´m a generalist and this has of some reason been the only thing I could say for sure about myself as a musician.
I often find myself listening to music of the same ´kind´ though, but my trick is, that when I do that, I go systematically for something completely different or opposite.   

[Don]

Generalist, but I do admit that the vast majority of my listening is to Bach. But I listen to lots of other very different composers, too.

Same here.

[drogulus]

     I think of myself as a generalist, though not an overly broad one. My posts make me look more like a specialist than is the case.

[Heather Harrison]

I am definitely a generalist; my collection of classical music includes recordings from ancient times to the present day, and probably most genres are represented.  I'm not limited to classical music either; it actually accounts for a bit less than half of my collection of CDs and LPs.  Popular music from the earliest recordings to the 1960's is well-represented; it trails off after about 1970, but there is some from later times.  I have a lot of jazz from 1917-c. 1950, and my post-1950 collection is growing.  There are also a few CDs and records of old country and blues, mostly from the 1920's-1940's.  In "world" music, my taste is also quite broad; most regions of the world are represented in my collection, and within particular regions, many genres are represented.

There is a wide variety of music out there, and I can't seem to get enough of it.

Heather

[marvinbrown]

Very much a generalist, although I do tend to favor the most "extreme" composers of many eras: Machaut, Gesualdo, Bruckner, Mahler, Varèse, Messiaen, Feldman... and yes, I do include Bach and Beethoven among those "extreme composers."

  hmmmm.....no Wagner, Richard Strauss, nor Berg jochanaan  I can't think of more extreme composers than those 3.

  marvin

[Florestan]

I'm the strictest specialist: I listen only to what I like.

[marvinbrown]

I'm the strictest specialist: I listen only to what I like.

  Do you find that that approach prevents you from discovering new music?  OR hinder any possible change in musical tastes over a period of time? I ask this because as I look through my collection (I am a specialist too) I notice that my exposure to new styles of music is limited.
Sometime I am reluctant to explore new music for fear that I might not like it.


  marvin

[Mark]

Sometime I am reluctant to explore new music for fear that I might not like it.

I used to be like that, many years ago. Then I just thought, 'F**k it! I'll try something different.' And it worked. Got out of my comfort zone and haven't looked back.

[marvinbrown]

I used to be like that, many years ago. Then I just thought, 'F**k it! I'll try something different.' And it worked. Got out of my comfort zone and haven't looked back.

  I would love to have that attitude Mark, it would do me a lot of good or at least more good than harm.

  marvin

[bhodges]

  I would love to have that attitude Mark, it would do me a lot of good or at least more good than harm.

  marvin

Just a couple of suggestions for "avenues into new music," Marvin.  Since you like Verdi, you might investigate Michael Finnissy's Verdi Transcriptions for piano.  (Or any of his Gershwin arrangements.)  There is enough Verdi there for you to recognize, yet he has done something quite different.  Same with the Gershwin.  Here's the info:

http://www.divine-art.com/CD/92027info.htm

Or, since you love opera, perhaps try out a DVD of something more contemporary, such as Dawn Upshaw in Saariaho's L'amour de loin, or her recital DVD from the Chatelet, that has a shorter Saariaho piece for voice and electronics.

If you can get into the mindset: "I'm free not to like it," that can be very helpful.  I listen to a ton of new music, but certainly don't like all of it!    But that risk is part of the exhilaration.

--Bruce

[marvinbrown]

Just a couple of suggestions for "avenues into new music," Marvin.  Since you like Verdi, you might investigate Michael Finnissy's Verdi Transcriptions for piano.  (Or any of his Gershwin arrangements.)  There is enough Verdi there for you to recognize, yet he has done something quite different.  Same with the Gershwin.  Here's the info:

http://www.divine-art.com/CD/92027info.htm

Or, since you love opera, perhaps try out a DVD of something more contemporary, such as Dawn Upshaw in Saariaho's L'amour de loin, or her recital DVD from the Chatelet, that has a shorter Saariaho piece for voice and electronics.

If you can get into the mindset: "I'm free not to like it," that can be very helpful.  I listen to a ton of new music, but certainly don't like all of it!    But that risk is part of the exhilaration.

--Bruce

  Bruce, you know me so well! I found Finnissy's Verdi transcriptions on amazon.co.uk and it went straight into my shopping basket.  I just had to have it  .  In addition, I picked a few Finzi cds (much inspired by Mark) off of the Naxos label- I couldn't believe how affordable they were, most under £3  .  In the spirit of this thread, this should be a positive step towards "generalizing" my collection.

  marvin

 

[Florestan]

  Do you find that that approach prevents you from discovering new music?  OR hinder any possible change in musical tastes over a period of time?

Not at all, Marvin. Actually, it was a joke. I'm a generalist.

[Grazioso]

Sometime I am reluctant to explore new music for fear that I might not like it.

Don't be afraid of not liking something at first. It might grow on you in time, and I find I often end up loving that type of music more than something that's very immediately appealing.

[tjguitar]

I would say I'm a specialist but only because time and money have not exposed me to the wealth of other music that is out there.


Good thread.

[Kullervo]

I am a generalist, but I generally stay within the period 1800 to 1920, but those are not by any means a limit, nor are they carved in granite.

[jochanaan]

  hmmmm.....no Wagner, Richard Strauss, nor Berg jochanaan  I can't think of more extreme composers than those 3.

Well, they're actually pretty high on the list too, as are Schoenberg and Webern.  I never meant the list to be exhaustive.