Hallo everyone,
while I always enjoyed classical music (thanks to my father's CD collection), I re-discovered it recently and fell in deep love. I'm still getting to know the core classical canon and don't really know music theory, so I probably won't add much to the discussions, but it's nonetheless wonderful to have such a great & active place of research like this forum at my disposal. I'm looking forward to reading your recommendations and thoughts!
My favorite composers as of now are Vivaldi, J. Strauss II, Paganini, Brahms and Sibelius* - but to be honest, I really like almost everyone I'm listening to. These 5 simply stand out to me because of how happy their music makes me; it fills me with a will to live. My most beloved instrument is by far the violin, both solo and especially with an orchestra, and my least preferred pieces are those for solo piano (I'm sorry, I know the piano part is kind of a heresy... maybe it will change with time).
If I had to choose, my most listened to piece is the entirety of 24 caprices (performed by honestly anyone, I love many versions, but especially the live Alexander Markov ones for the liveliness). I find them energetic & relaxing at the same time, plus they're extremely effective as a stress relief for me.
I speak Polish, English, German and French. Once again hallo!
*I discovered him 2 days ago & didn't listen to many of his works yet, but I fell in love with Karelia & Karelia Suite (as well as with Symphony no 1) so hard that I couldn't stop listening to different recordings of the same movements, over and over. The only other time this happened to me was with 24 caprices. So for that alone, Sibelius gets to already be part of my favorites list.
Hello, Pizzicato-Polka, and after your lovely introduction, welcome. You will find many here who share your love of the composers you mention.
In any case, have a good time. And also, feel free to give us a glimpse of musical life in Poland. (I hope to get there some day.)
--Bruce
Hello and welcome to GMG ! ;D
A warm welcome from Romania! Enjoy your time here!
Quote from: Pizzicato-Polka on March 23, 2022, 05:57:15 AM
...I fell in love with Karelia & Karelia Suite (as well as with Symphony no 1) so hard that I couldn't stop listening to different recordings of the same movements, over and over...
When you wrote that you were also telling my story, but nearly fifty years ago. ;)
Try
En Saga, it was the first tone poem l ever learned, And is still my favorite.
Your pardon - welcome!
( I sometimes get excited enough about music to forget my manners. )
Welcome Pizzcato-Polka!
Looking forward to reading your observations and reactions to music as well as (hopefully) what life is like for you in Poland. Would love to visit there someday.
And delighted to hear that you are enjoying Sibelius' music. He's a big favorite of mine (hence why I chose my "name" and avatar). And like LKB, I really enjoy his tone poems too. :D
PD
Welcome!
My grandparents on my father's side were from Poland and I enjoyed playing bass in polka bands when I was in college. I, too, would like to visit there some day.
Glad to have you on board!
Welcome!
I'd say we have plenty of Sibelius related discussions to read up on... :D
Welcome!
Greetings :)
Hello and welcome to GMG.
I am probably the only member already here that does not like the sound of a solo piano so we share that in common.
There are a large number of Polish people living and working here in Ireland and I have a number of friends among them. I just love their food.
Enjoy your time here and ask questions. The nice people here are very willing to help you.
:)
Greetings from Norway!
Welcome from Canada! :)
Thank you a lot for all the kind replies!
Quote from: Brewski on March 23, 2022, 06:00:07 AM
And also, feel free to give us a glimpse of musical life in Poland. (I hope to get there some day.)
--Bruce
Thank you! It's a bit hard for me to attend musical events, so I'm afraid I won't be able to do much first-hand reporting. However, I can still try to inform about interesting PL releases, be it new or older. And to everyone who said they'd love to visit, I hope you get your wish someday and like your stay!
Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on March 23, 2022, 07:33:29 AMLooking forward to reading your observations and reactions to music as well as (hopefully) what life is like for you in Poland.
Thank you! I'd say in general life is good, nothing to complain. :) But if you meant recently, in the context of Russia's invasion on Ukraine, then I'm afraid I'd like to rest from this topic on this forum. I'll just admit it's hard, as I have an Ukrainian friend who has to hide in house all day, hearing non-stop explosions and fighting around. Reading the news is depressing, especially as we know here that Poland might be next on Putin's list in future, NATO country or not. For now I'm trying to support Ukraine by donations. I also had an argument with a close Russian friend about the topic, and it hurt me deeply, since it turned out said friend supported Kremlin's propaganda. Obviously it's all nothing compared to Ukrainians' suffering, but still weighs heavy on me. Classical music is how I want to focus on what's beautiful in mankind.
Quote from: aligreto on March 23, 2022, 10:12:27 AMI am probably the only member already here that does not like the sound of a solo piano so we share that in common.
Thank you! I'm honestly relieved to hear that, haha! And I'd love to visit Ireland, it seems like such a beautiful country.
Quote from: LKB on March 23, 2022, 07:27:40 AM
When you wrote that you were also telling my story, but nearly fifty years ago. ;) Try En Saga, it was the first tone poem l ever learned, And is still my favorite.
Thank you! It's so heartwarming to me that 2 different people, many years and miles apart, had the same reaction. And thank you so much for the recommendation! I enjoyed En Saga a lot, loved how the mood was changing through it, and how it so clearly told a story! I also adored how it could feel like listening to the wind, at first as a delicate breeze, and then heavy with a quickly upcoming storm.
These are my favorite fragments (I listened to this version first, so the timestamps are from it; I then listened to the Lahti/Vänskä recordings from 1892 + 1902 too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdhG_dM_Suw
1.04-1.43 - this is the delicate breeze I was talking about, just magical.
4.10-5.02 - my favorite melody from the whole piece, by far. So wonderfully elegant, to me it kind of... carries away the soul to a dance, the way Strauss waltzes carry away the feet (if that makes any sense). I wish it recurred more!
13.05-15.00 - that increasing intensity is fantastic, I just adore the thundering background! Especially in the final moments of this part - that was my opinion already with FRSO/Saraste, but Lahti/Vänskä take the cake with the much more bombastic accent on those last notes, what an explosion! On the other hand, the thundering background in this part sounds more imposing/unsettling as a whole in FRSO/Saraste to me (not to say it's not the case with Lahti/Vänskä, but I just felt it
more). And I'm sure there are many other beautiful recordings out there! Is your fav L/V, as it seems to be the case for anything Sibelius for most people, or someone else?
Welcome aboard! I'm a HUGE Sibelius fan, so I look forward to conversing with you about this composer in more detail.
Another friendly and warm welcome from here too!
Thank you again, everyone!
Quote from: Mirror Image on March 25, 2022, 07:52:51 PM
Welcome aboard! I'm a HUGE Sibelius fan, so I look forward to conversing with you about this composer in more detail.
I'm honoured you say so, but also afraid I'm not that good at expressing my musical thoughts (I just write how a piece makes me feel), and my recording comparisons aren't educated at all either. So if I do talk about it, I just hope to not be annoying! :-\
Quote from: Pizzicato-Polka on March 26, 2022, 02:51:17 AM
Thank you again, everyone!
I'm honoured you say so, but also afraid I'm not that good at expressing my musical thoughts (I just write how a piece makes me feel), and my recording comparisons aren't educated at all either. So if I do talk about it, I just hope to not be annoying! :-\
Do not fear that and just write what you feel. Be simple and true. :)
Welcome from East Sussex, UK.
I had a fascinating holiday in Poland in 1980 - it will have changed a lot since then!
I travelled, with a friend, by train from the Hook of Holland to Warsaw and it was quite an experience. We visited Warsaw, Kracow, Lodz and Wroclaw. I came back with an LP set of music by Szymanowski. I'm also a fan of Sibelius.
Quote from: Pizzicato-Polka on March 24, 2022, 06:47:38 AM
Thank you a lot for all the kind replies!
Thank you! It's a bit hard for me to attend musical events, so I'm afraid I won't be able to do much first-hand reporting. However, I can still try to inform about interesting PL releases, be it new or older. And to everyone who said they'd love to visit, I hope you get your wish someday and like your stay!
Thank you! I'd say in general life is good, nothing to complain. :) But if you meant recently, in the context of Russia's invasion on Ukraine, then I'm afraid I'd like to rest from this topic on this forum. I'll just admit it's hard, as I have an Ukrainian friend who has to hide in house all day, hearing non-stop explosions and fighting around. Reading the news is depressing, especially as we know here that Poland might be next on Putin's list in future, NATO country or not. For now I'm trying to support Ukraine by donations. I also had an argument with a close Russian friend about the topic, and it hurt me deeply, since it turned out said friend supported Kremlin's propaganda. Obviously it's all nothing compared to Ukrainians' suffering, but still weighs heavy on me. Classical music is how I want to focus on what's beautiful in mankind.
Fear not! I was thinking more in general. I totally get how one needs distractions/ways to destress from all of the news particularly lately. Feel free to share what you like and if and when. I also meant that I love learning about different cultures, history, food and of course, music too. :)
And I hope that eventually you and your Russian friend's relationship will heal too and that your Ukrainian friend will remain safe and will be able to rebuild their life.
Will check out your youtube links soon. And like you, I have lousy knowledge of musical terms and so trying to express myself (musically at least) can be difficult for me.
PD
Thank you all for the encouragement! And to
Pohjolas Daughter, thank you esecially for the kind words regarding my friends, I hope so too.
Quote from: vandermolen on March 26, 2022, 03:37:46 AMI had a fascinating holiday in Poland in 1980 - it will have changed a lot since then!
I travelled, with a friend, by train from the Hook of Holland to Warsaw and it was quite an experience. We visited Warsaw, Kracow, Lodz and Wroclaw. I came back with an LP set of music by Szymanowski. I'm also a fan of Sibelius.
Oh, for sure! It changed a lot even from the 90s, when I was a kid, to now. I remember Warsaw being rather bleak when I visited it as a child, for example, now it's much prettier. I was to Wroclaw only last year & was very impressed with its representative part, I wish I stayed longer! As for Krakow, I visited a lot and it always is a delight. But I still wasn't to Lodz, so you got the upper hand here! I hope to go someday, the Herbst palace seems beautiful.
Also I'm envious of your trip to the Netherlands! How did you find Hook of Holland? :)
Quote from: Pizzicato-Polka on March 26, 2022, 02:51:17 AM
I'm honoured you say so, but also afraid I'm not that good at expressing my musical thoughts (I just write how a piece makes me feel), and my recording comparisons aren't educated at all either. So if I do talk about it, I just hope to not be annoying! :-\
No worries. Say you want about a piece of music. No judgement from me.
Quote from: Pizzicato-Polka on March 26, 2022, 04:56:27 AM
Thank you all for the encouragement! And to Pohjolas Daughter, thank you esecially for the kind words regarding my friends, I hope so too.
Oh, for sure! It changed a lot even from the 90s, when I was a kid, to now. I remember Warsaw being rather bleak when I visited it as a child, for example, now it's much prettier. I was to Wroclaw only last year & was very impressed with its representative part, I wish I stayed longer! As for Krakow, I visited a lot and it always is a delight. But I still wasn't to Lodz, so you got the upper hand here! I hope to go someday, the Herbst palace seems beautiful.
Also I'm envious of your trip to the Netherlands! How did you find Hook of Holland? :)
The Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland) is a port. I like it as I always enjoy visiting Holland and arriving their by ship is quite special.
I enjoyed my trip to Poland very much but all that I remember about Lodz was that the view out of our accommodation (a student hall of residence in holiday time) window was of a blast furnace!
Hello. :) I'm not generally keen on solo instruments, particularly piano, but have found a few pieces I enjoy now.
Thank you for the insight,
vandermolen!
Quote from: steve ridgway on March 27, 2022, 06:43:39 AM
Hello. :) I'm not generally keen on solo instruments, particularly piano, but have found a few pieces I enjoy now.
Hallo! I'm really curious about what are the solo pieces that you like.
I also found some to my liking, ex. the four ballades by Chopin (I especially adore the 4th, with that calm starting melody which is almost hypnotizing, and how it evolves into a stormy rage, and then changes again, and again...).
My turn to welcome you, Pizzicato-Polka. I haven't been on this forum for a few days, so I'm only welcoming you today.
About Sibelius, I really like his second symphony, the violin concerto and the symphonic poems En Saga and of course Finlandia.