Best Classical Music Listening Guide

[dave b]

I know this has been asked before but I wanted to get some new opinions re the best companion book for listening to classical music, for beginners

[Sergeant Rock]

I know this has been asked before but I wanted to get some new opinions re the best companion book for listening to classical music, for beginners

Not a book, but this forum is ideal. You just have to wade through the nonsense (but that's half the fun  )

It's been too long (decades) since I needed a guide in book form so I can't really help you (I have no idea what's currently available). But I am serious about the value of this forum. Stick around. You'll learn a lot.

Sarge

[dave b]

Thanks, Sarge (reminds me of my Marine Corps days in the mid-sixties). I do learn a lot here. I have the National Public Radio guide to the 350 best pieces etc and Classical Music 101, but the real education is here. I think I spend more time reading the topics and responses here than I do listening to classical music

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks, Sarge (reminds me of my Marine Corps days in the mid-sixties).

And I thought you were....well, young. So you're an old fart like me. Interesting. 

Sarge

[dave b]

Isn't 61 young? Sort of. Maybe not. Feels like it though. Only some days.

[hornteacher]

Phil Goulding's Book is rather fun to read and is great for beginners.  AND Goulding is a retired military man!  Link is below:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Music-Phil-G-Goulding/dp/0449910423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206147047&sr=1-1

[dave b]

I have that book right here and it is great....

[OzRadio]

This forum is more valuable than any book I've looked at, but I did pick up the Billboard Encyclopedia to Classical Music last week and it was worth the $5 I paid. As a new guy I've learned a lot from it.

[c#minor]

I would recommend that you find a composer that really hits you to your soul and then explore their works. This is the way that i started and i now own every piano work Chopin ever wrote and have had many good times of just sitting and listening to music. I have obviously branched out very much but i still have a keen and unbridled love of Chopin and will never regret first exploring his works before i really began to branch out. The problem with those books, though they have a lot of good music, is that some of it your just not going to like. Everyone has preferences and if you follow those books you might make purchases of good music, that you just wont like. Exploring the world of classical music is an adventure. Find your own path.

Now this is just the way i went about it, but i feel that going about things this way i have been able to strongly identify with the composers that i love. So much so that it has led me to reading books about the composers lives as well as about their music.

Good luck and i am sure no matter what way you go about listening to this wonderful music, you will find vast amounts of joy.

[dave b]

Thank you. Very very insightful....I have already noticed re some of the things you said. I find that although I see a particular composer and work listed in the, say, top 100, I don't like the sound of the piece at all. So I did what you suggested, to a certain extent, and Respighi comes to mind with his Ancient Airs and Dances. I had never heard of him before, as he is not one of the major major composers, as you all know, and yet his works struck me as very beautiful. Likewise with Dvorak and Vaughan Williams. The guidebooks are fine for just seeing what is out there, but I would never buy a recording just because it was listed as great.
I just cannot believe how vast the universe of classical music is. I knew it was vast but did not expect to see it as being so endless. I guess that is part of my fascination with it. Thanks for your insight and advice.....Great advice...

[Solitary Wanderer]

I have several but the one I return to the most is this one:



They offer several options for each recording and a composer biography  

[Bogey]

Probably Que's playlist of late.  0:) 

Like Sarge said, this forum, hands down.  Folks here know there stuff, what's actually worth listening to, have actually listened to it, and in most cases, can point you in the direction of where to get it.

[Que]

Probably Que's playlist of late.  0:) 

Like Sarge said, this forum, hands down.  Folks here know there stuff, what's actually worth listening to, have actually listened to it, and in most cases, can point you in the direction of where to get it.

Thanks, that's quite a compliment, Bill.

Can only confirm your assessment of the value of this forum: has been from the moment I joined a primary source of information on what is interesting music and what are good choices in recordings.

Q

[marvinbrown]

I have that book right here and it is great....

  It certainly is GREAT! Notice how Wagner ranks immediately after the big 3: Bach, Mozart and Beethoven! 

  marvin

[hornteacher]

  It certainly is GREAT! Notice how Wagner ranks immediately after the big 3: Bach, Mozart and Beethoven! 

  marvin

Yeah, I love the first paragraph though where he lists all of Wagner's terrible personal flaws.   

[marvinbrown]

Yeah, I love the first paragraph though where he lists all of Wagner's terrible personal flaws.   

  From what I remember and it's been a while- "racist", "anti-semitic" "adulterer" but hey he couldn't resist ranking him in at No.4- at least he had good sense and taste in music to appreciate Wagner's genius!

  marvin

 

[Grazioso]

The BBC's Discovering Music series of free audio lectures:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/audioarchive.shtml

[Daedalus]

I have several but the one I return to the most is this one:



They offer several options for each recording and a composer biography  

Another vote for this book - very useful and always my first guide to exploring new composers and pieces of music. The biographies are concise but quite detailed and very interesting. The details of each piece are often too short but are invaluable as a starting guide.

Personally, I also really like the Unlocking the Masters series by Amadeus Press. Great for beginners and experts alike. Very readable text too. I have the ones for Mozart, Mahler, Sibelius and the general instrumental works edition. My Mahler one is particularly well thumbed  I like to read the essays on each symphony before listening as I feel that they generally bring to my attention the most important things to listen out for. The good thing is they aren't too technical and they also allow the reader autonomy to find their own meanings in the work. I have the Haydn, Beethoven and Shostakovich books on order.   
They are all available on Amazon.

I like Schonburg's The Lives of the Great Composers - a very interesting biography of the greats. I always come back to it.

I got a recommendation on here the other day for Chamber Music by Melvin Berger, which I ordered last week and I must say is a terrific book dealing with the genre. Readable biographies of each composer and great write-ups of their best chamber works. I'm really pleased with that purchase and I hope it will push me down some new pathways in classical music.

Lastly, another genre based book - I have this huge book called The Symphony - I cannot remember who it is by. It is a collection of concert notes on some of the most famous symphonies. The text can lean towards obfuscation occasionally, however some of the write-ups are great and give you some real context for the music.

Hope this helps.

D.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Lastly, another genre based book - I have this huge book called The Symphony - I cannot remember who it is by.

Probably Michael Steinberg. There are companion volumes on the concerto and choral music.

[Daedalus]

Probably Michael Steinberg. There are companion volumes on the concerto and choral music.

Yes, that's the one!