Ahh, I'm sure someone has made a topic of this before, but I can't help asking it. What got you into classical music?
Are you a musician?
Did your parents listen to classical music?
Did a certain music course in college inspire you?
Are you a music educator?
As a child growing up in Texas, my mother used to take us to concerts by the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. I still remember hearing Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite (with dancers!) around the holidays. Later my parents brought home a huge haul of LPs that someone had just given away, and one of them was Prokofiev's Scythian Suite and Lieutenant Kije (by Herman Scherchen and the VSO), which I played to death (probably to my family's consternation). Probably even more worrisome, I then got Steve Reich's Violin Phase and It's Gonna Rain. ;D But it was all uphill.
--Bruce
My mother used to sing around the house and some of it was classical. Dvorak's "Songs My Mother Taught Me" is one I particularly remember. This, I believe, inspired my love of classical music and when given the chance to learn piano my fate as a classical music lover was sealed.
Listening to a radio programme called 'Forum' on Sunday afternoons (BBC Radio Solent), hosted by a teacher at my brothers' school. Played classical and light instrumental. I'd always suspected classical might be for me. This show confirmed that, and led to my first classical CD purchases. Which surprised my family, none of whom like classical.
Just as a post-script, all this happened some 16 years ago. During the time between then and now, I had long periods when rock and electronic dance music dominated my listening. But by 1997, classical was gaining the upperhand, and that's the year my collection really began to grow apace. By 2002, my listening was pretty much only classical (with a bit of Kate Bush and Tori Amos thrown in - both of whom I still adore), and though I had a bit of a 'renaissance' from 2003-2005, where I enjoyed a broad variety of music (aided by a high-capacity MP3 player ;)), I returned to classical in a huge way in 2006, and now it's pretty much all that goes into my ears. :)
none of my family members liked classical, or music for that matter.
I discovered classical music when i accidentally saw a clip of "Carmen", and i think you all know which part, yes, Hanbanera.
I couldn't have gotten away from it if I'd wanted to. (Fortunately I didn't! :D) Both my father (who died when I was a child) and my mother were classical-music lovers, and we had an extensive record collection. Still, it took me till my teen years to start listening actively on my own.
Today I perform extensively and teach flute and oboe privately.
I was bombarded with it during nap-time, of course! Although, I didn't begin collecting until a few short years ago, I've been listening regularly ever since the day I held my first violin.
My parents, especially my Father would play records every evening. Mainly classical and some jazz. My father hated TV and would call it 'The Idiot Box' ;). This is when I was aged -0-8 years old.
It was mainly things like; Beethovens #5, Schuberts 'Unfinished', Tchaikovsky Swan Lake & Nutcracker, Greig PC & Peer Gynt etc...
I didn't actively buy any classical music [although I was a huge music fan;mainly rock] untill I was 19. Bachs Greatest Hits ;D. Bach and Wagner were my faves in thoses days.
I had another surge with classical when I was 26.
I was mainly interested in 'progressive' rock styles from about 28-37 [but still listening to some classical].
Four years ago [after a couple of indifferent years musically] I attended a NZSO concert and was literally blown away. I'd 'come home' 0:)
The last four years have been my most intense immersion in classical, and even Opera.[Mention Opera to me 3 years ago and I would have launced into a tirade about it!].
I feel classical will be my main music of choice for some time now;the oceans are so deep. :)
I gradually discovered it in several ways. Mainly piano lessons when I was young, first with Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, I had an excellent teacher that introduced the greats to her students in a fun way. When we achieved certain marks with our theory test we were rewarded with plastic busts of famous composers and we strived to collect as many as possible. ;D
Film music was important for me in discovering the joy of orchestral music, specifically the music of John Williams, and our local classical radio station and PBS. My turning point was seeing Levine's Ring broadcast one summer, I was 12 or 13, and totally transfixed. I remember that vividly. The glorious singers, the story, the whole thing just floored me. I became totally enamored with Wagner (and still am) and pretty much went from there. The usual "gateway pieces" came after, like The Planets, Pictures, Carmina Burana, etc. It took me a long time to get into contemporary music though, only after being exposed to that frame of writing in college wind ensemble did I really appreciate it.
My parents really admire classical music and enjoy it, but don't listen to it, but my uncle is a lot like me and was a big inspiration. We still converse about recordings and composers all the time, more so now that I've learned even more over the years. I am a musician, my parents are as hobbyists, and I do plan to work in this field. :)
My dad is very into classical, especially the late romantics. My mum less so but she is a music lover.
Music is a hobby for me. Until my voice broke I sang in a couple of choirs, but I haven't been in a choir for the last while. I'm learning guitar now, again as a hobby. So no, not a musician in the real sense :).
I was massively overexposed to romantic music when I was a kid - maybe explains the twitches when I am subjected to it now*. But I've always loved folk, and I got into early music that way. Later into renaissance and baroque music. I got into post-romantic music initially via prog-rock stoner friends :P. I generally find vocal music more accessible - my first renaissance kicks were songs by Byrd and Dowland. Bach and Beethoven were also important.
Since I heard so much when I was a kid, there's not really one piece or one moment where I went - "ah ha!". :)
*Seriously, don't bring you kids to concerts if they don't want to go >:D.
From ages 8-12, the only music I listened to were movie soundtracks, the Star Wars soundtracks in particular. I think those were crucial in forming my music taste, but I didn't start listening to classical music until about two years ago. At that time my tastes were mostly electronic music so I was attracted to things that seemed "out there." An acquaintance of mine introduced me to tape music from Maderna, Nono, and others, and eventually I became interested in instrumental music while my interest in electronic music diminished. I went from Ligeti to Xenakis to Messiaen to Boulez, and from there to Debussy — who was the big "gateway" for me into music made before 1900. Now I listen almost exclusively to all genres of classical music from all time periods. :)
I am quite enjoying this thread...thanks already to all who have posted. The entry points show how many different ways there are to get into all of this. (I'm also thinking of one of the posters here who hasn't been around much lately -- apparently very busy -- whose initial love was Berg.)
--Bruce
My mother listened a lot, and I apparently enjoyed it along with her. When I was 2, I loved Vivaldi, while by the time I was 5, she apparently had found that the best way to shut me up for an hour was to put on a Brahms piano concerto. At 10 I'd graduated to Mahler and Shostakovich.
Oddly enough, by my mid-teens I stopped listening to classical music entirely (probably in part due to frustration after a damaged shoulder had forced me to give up playing violin, which I was moderately decent at) and it wasn't till about ten years later that I started listening seriously again--but this time I started with late 20th century music and worked backwards.
No one in my family was involved in classical music. My dad had more than a few Stan Getz albums, but I did not even listen to those until I was out of the house at 18.
My first exposure to classical music was to Peter and the Wolf at the public library near my aunts house. My sisters and I would walk there after school and wait for our parents to pick us up when they were off from work. I wandered across the street and almost daily sat down with Prokofiev...
In junior high, I played in the school band. I was not particularly committed to music, however. I did enjoy playing the french horn though. My listening did not expand any more until college when I actually had a job and a bit of disposable income.
The first classical album I bought was George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra performing Prokofiev's Lt. Kijè... the theme from it was used in a Sting song that I enjoyed at the time. At the same time, I got a few recommendations from the record store attendant and took home a disc of Rossini overtures, Gershwin's Rhapsody and F Concerto, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. The performances on the later three were largely forgettable... and I sold them to a used CD dealer a few years after during a move.
My tastes in music have vacillated quite a bit, but for most of my adult life, I have been a jazz fan... Particularly hard bop. Only fairly recently has my interest been focused on classical music. I picked up the first of the Gardiner Bach pilgrimage CDs and have been exploring every thing I could find since then. :)
As a kid I didn't really care for any music. My brother and sister listened to all that garbage like Nirvana. The game final fantasy 7 had good music but it wasn't until I got a computer that music hit. I did have some classical music all the time, but it didn't really work out until the moonlight sonata and its amazing 3rd movement. From then it was just exploration all the way, to my family's shock, to opera! The Marriage of Figaro, rene jacobs, by chance I checked it out from the library and listened to it 100 times until It clicked.
No music lovers in the family, infact they hated it.
I am self taught in this, no one in my family has the same greed for classical music, apart from my great grand father.
I basically went into classical music through an headphone upgrade couple of years ago. I was mostly into acoustic / country-rock / folk music, when i bought a new headphone (HD650 to name and shame the culprit ;D ). That spurred the usual rediscovery of my CD collection, and as that model was also hailed for classical music, i eventually gave it a shot out of curiosity on Vivaldi's Summer (what a surprise), and was just totally immersed in the music.
no parents's LPs or music education to blame...just Sennheiser... ;D
My father is a musician. At the age of 8-9 they sent me to music school. But I really started to listen carefully to classical music 3 years ago. Now I also like to listen to contemporary music. And in autumn I'm going to study music(clarinet) at university.
Quote from: edward on July 21, 2007, 06:00:25 PM
My mother ... apparently had found that the best way to shut me up for an hour was to put on a Brahms piano concerto.
Brilliant!
It was my everlasting hunger for "new" music.
I started with metal since i was a little boy, in my early 20's i got into 70's prog rock and classical was next in the list, so here i am, addicted eversince. 8)
Ritchie Blackmore attributed the backing guitar solo to the pre-chorus of "Man on the Silver Mountain" to J.S. Bach's influence. I soon learned that he utilised a set of chord changes from Mozart to back his brilliant "Highway Star" solo as well. From there it was Yngwie, Uli Jon Roth,etc. all whom cited great composers as influences.
Today I don't listen to Rock and Metal like I used to. Where in the '80's I was 98% Rock/Metal and 2% Bach and Paganini; today you could make that about 90% "Classics" and 10% Rock (mostly Extreme Metal today).
But I never lost my love and appreciation for '70's Rainbow, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath. Those bands pointed me in the right direction, by using so many "Classic" influences in their songwriting and virtuoso guitar playing.
Quote from: Haffner on July 22, 2007, 04:49:11 AM
Ritchie Blackmore attributed the backing guitar solo to the pre-chorus of "Man on the Silver Mountain" to Bach's influence. I soon learned that he utilised a set of chord changes from Mozart to back his brilliant "Highway Star" solo as well. From there it was Yngwie, Uli Jon Roth,etc. all whom cited grest composers as influences.
Yeah, he "borrows" a lot of stuff (in a good way...). He uses quite a few lengthy exerpts from the Well-Tempered Clavier in Blackmore's Night songs, too.
My grandfather was an amateur tenor, I guess that I've inheritated a part of my passion from him, genetically (even though I quite dislike Opera). My father was mildly involved, the only things he used to listen to were Mozart's 40th (Mackerras) and Beethoven's Emperor (Arrau); when I was a child I was convinced that the Arrau portrait on the cover of the CD was Beethoven himself ???
Some years later I found some stuff at home, Beethoven's Pastoral and Mozart Violin Sonatas, I was in awe of the music, but didn't deepen the thing.
When I was about twelve I started taking piano lessons for no longer than 2 years. Then my musical interests changed. When I was about twenty my interest renewed, I found at home one of those "All stars" boxes including one CD with excerpts from each composer and started exploring Grieg, Schubert, Handel, Beethoven, Wagner in solitude. I became a Wagner admirer indeed, and I remember going back to my father and trying to have a musical discussion on the matter with him. I asked him if he did like Wagner, the answer was "No, Wagner no.". "Why?". "He's too boring."
It is only since three or four years that my passion has become systematical.
Quote from: Greta on July 21, 2007, 04:37:37 PM
...When we achieved certain marks with our theory test we were rewarded with plastic busts of famous composers and we strived to collect as many as possible. ;D ...
Aha! You're Schroeder's sister! ;D
I'm gratified, though not surprised, to see how many people here got into our music through metal. This gives me hope for the next generations: as long as there's hunger for music different from the norm, our music will never be forgotten.
I have mentioned this story in older threads, but I might as well repeat it here. My mother had a small collection of LPs, including a few classical ones. When I was about 8 years old, this one captured my interest and I listened to it again and again until it was finally destroyed.
(http://www.xmission.com/~dh/forum_images/VCS2659.jpg)
It is Mussorgsky/Leibowitz - Night on Bare Mountain and Mussorgsky/Ravel - Pictures at an Exhibition, conducted by Rene Leibowitz. After looking for a long time, I finally found a near-mint copy, so I have it again. The imagery that these pieces conjured up fascinated me, and I never got sick of hearing them. I still listen to them fairly regularly, and I have many recordings of each one.
Another one that got me interested was a Columbia LP entitled "Bach's Greatest Hits". I also have a copy of that one in my record collection. That LP is a good basic sample of Bach's music; it includes original versions and a few modern arrangements of a variety of his best-known works.
My mother was pleased that I became interested in classical music, and she bought tickets to a number of Utah Symphony concerts, which I always enjoyed (and still do). It grew from there. In the late 1980's, I began actively collecting LPs and 45s, and by the early 1990's, I was also buying CDs and 78s. Thanks to the cheap prices of classical LPs, my collection was able to grow rapidly even when I was a starving student. Now that I am a well-fed working professional, I can indulge this habit as much as I want to.
Heather
Quote from: The Emperor on July 22, 2007, 03:49:37 AM
It was my everlasting hunger for "new" music.
I started with metal since i was a little boy, in my early 20's i got into 70's prog rock and classical was next in the list, so here i am, addicted eversince. 8)
Quote from: Haffner on July 22, 2007, 04:49:11 AM
Ritchie Blackmore attributed the backing guitar solo to the pre-chorus of "Man on the Silver Mountain" to J.S. Bach's influence. I soon learned that he utilised a set of chord changes from Mozart to back his brilliant "Highway Star" solo as well. From there it was Yngwie, Uli Jon Roth,etc. all whom cited great composers as influences.
Today I don't listen to Rock and Metal like I used to. Where in the '80's I was 98% Rock/Metal and 2% Bach and Paganini; today you could make that about 90% "Classics" and 10% Rock (mostly Extreme Metal today).
But I never lost my love and appreciation for '70's Rainbow, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath. Those bands pointed me in the right direction, by using so many "Classic" influences in their songwriting and virtuoso guitar playing.
Quote from: Harry on July 21, 2007, 11:26:32 PM
No music lovers in the family, infact they hated it.
Those statements actually cover my story too ;D
QuoteHow did you "discover" classical music?
The queen of Spain wanted me to find a shortcut to India but I accidentally crashed into classical music instead.
How did I discover Classical music?
I used to take piano lessons growing up and was exposed to Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky but never really liked listening to Classical music much, preferring hard rock and Rn'B well into my 20s. A few years ago at the age of 32 I saw a copy of Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Parsifal at my Mom's house. I knew who Bach was but Wagner was totally new to me. I also new that my mother has GREAT taste in music so I asked her if I could borrow these recordings and well.... needless to say I have not played a single non-classical record in the past 3 years. I'd say for me WAGNER was the discovery of a lifetime...that man's "music dramas" are beyond belief- probably the most over-the-top emotionally powerful music I have ever heard.
marvin
My mom is a professional pianist, meaning I was exposed to classical music before I was even born, what with her belly stuck so close to the keyboard while she was pregnant! There was a constant stream of classical music in my house while I was growing up, from my mom's solo playing to her piano students to her accompanying singers. Add to the equation the fact that my dad loves opera and listens to it a lot, and it becomes clear that there would have been no escape for me!
But if I'd been given an escape, I wouldn't've taken it.
My father was a professional musician (double bass) and both he and my mother loved music. Two of my sisters learned the piano, one learned the violin, and I also learned the violin. Music was just a natural and inevitable part of my childhood. I was given my first recordings when I was 11 (Menuhin playing the Mendelssohn violin concerto --- on 78 rpm discs).
Quote from: Mozart on July 22, 2007, 01:22:31 PM
The queen of Spain wanted me to find a shortcut to India but I accidentally crashed into classical music instead.
i think it was China
My father was a very amateur pianist (though far more talented than he gives himself credit for -- although he basically stopped playing altogether once I started playing frequently) and used to play a bunch of the Joplin rags and a couple easy Mozart pieces (the easy and famous C Major sonata "facile," the "Twinkle Twinkle" variations); he was never as into classical music as I currently am, but he did frequently play Beethoven's 6th and 9th symphonies and the Joplin rags on the CD player when I was a wee one. I don't remember this, but when I was very small, I called the 9th Symphony "The Man" (presumably because the choral section begins with the tenor). My family still gets a kick out of this.
I started taking piano lessons when I was four, but stopped after two years. Then I took two more years of lessons starting in 4th grade. This gave me a solid background, and I later independently learned a bunch of the Joplin rags, but I was mostly into rock (of many types) from about that point on, and picked up guitar in 8th grade. It took phases of progressive rock and jam rock for me to realize that what interested me most was the music itself and not the attitudes/images associated with a lot of the acts I enjoyed (high school ::)).
It was about this time that my grandfather gave me a CD of Robert Casadesus playing four Beethoven piano sonatas. This was my moment of no return, and I have forever since been an avid fan of Beethoven and classical music in general. I started taking piano lessons again in college (actually, a semester of harpsichord first) and that pretty much solidified my rediscovery of the joy of music!
My parents listened to Film and Broadway soundtracks and pop vocalists.
My 8th grade music appreciation class helped,and then they sent us to the Academy of Music to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra-I remember they did Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff.
I stumbled upon our(now defunct)claasical radio station,where I first heard Bartok Piano Concerto No.2.That was it.
I am amazed at the young age some GMG members started liking Classical music. As pointed out in my previous posts, I did not really appreciate Classical music until recently, in my early 30s, even though I had been exposed to it at about the age of 12 when I started taking piano lessons. But then again, I can not think of many teenagers who actually listen to WAGNER (beyond the Ride of the Vikings)- doubtful I would find any if I looked hard for them.
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 01:15:24 AM
I am amazed at the young age some GMG members started liking Classical music. As pointed out in my previous posts, I did not really appreciate Classical music until recently, in my early 30s, even though I had been exposed to it at about the age of 12 when I started taking piano lessons. But then again, I can not think of many teenagers who actually listen to WAGNER (beyond the Ride of the Vikings)- doubtful I would find any if I looked hard for them.
marvin
I started out when I was almost 16. But no Wagner! ;D Or any of the late Romantics.
Just the beginner's diet of Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and some war horses like the Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky 1st piano concerto, the Grieg concerto, the Schumann, etc. You get the picture. 8)
A few years later, when I was 17/18 years old I had a friend who loved to indulge in Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner and introduced me to their works. It was grand and exciting music, but I honestly don't think either of us had a fair understanding of the deeper emotional content of this music. .. :) That only came when I was in my mid/late twenties. And even now that I have returned after several years to Mahler, I feel my emotional comprehension of his music is much more complete.
Q
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 01:15:24 AM
I am amazed at the young age some GMG members started liking Classical music. As pointed out in my previous posts, I did not really appreciate Classical music until recently, in my early 30s, even though I had been exposed to it at about the age of 12 when I started taking piano lessons. But then again, I can not think of many teenagers who actually listen to WAGNER (beyond the Ride of the Vikings)- doubtful I would find any if I looked hard for them.
marvin
Yes, I'm weird. I started listening to classical music without outside influence. Ive never meet anyone who knows alot about it, or anyone my age who likes it, not to mention my family who completely hates it. I doubt I'll ever listen to wagner or mahler, they are on top of my eww list.
Quote from: Mozart on July 25, 2007, 01:45:28 AM
Yes, I'm weird. I started listening to classical music without outside influence. Ive never meet anyone who knows alot about it, or anyone my age who likes it, not to mention my family who completely hates it. I doubt I'll ever listen to wagner or mahler, they are on top of my eww list.
My family wasn't hot on my fondness of classical music either! :)
My parents had nothing with any kind of music, and felt rather intimidated by my taste in music.
Q
Quote from: Que on July 25, 2007, 01:59:43 AM
My family wasn't to hot on my fondness of classical music either! :)
My parents had nothing with any kind of music, and felt rather intimidated by my taste in music.
Q
If you want to upset my father, play opera lol. He doesnt mind the instrumental stuff as much but opera makes rage chemicals in his brain or something. My mum just cant concentrate on things like that for more than a few mins. She doesnt mind it as much but she'll never enjoy it. My brother thinks I listen to it to be an elitist. Theres a good light year of distance between us and I guess thats why my tastes are so different. Any higher form of expression is not understood.
Quote from: Que on July 25, 2007, 01:36:01 AM
I started out when I was almost 16. But no Wagner! ;D Or any of the late Romantics.
Just the beginner's diet of Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven and some war horses like the Four Seasons, Tchaikovsky 1st piano concerto, the Grieg concerto, the Schumann, etc. You get the picture. 8)
A few years later, when I was 17/18 years old I had a friend who loved to indulge in Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner and introduced me to their works. It was grand and exciting music, but I honestly don't think either of us had a fair understanding of the deeper emotional content of this music. .. :) That only came when I was in my mid/late twenties. And even now that I have returned after several years to Mahler, I feel my emotional comprehension of his music is much more complete.
Q
You have confirmed, more or less my suspicions Que. Wagner, Mahler and Bruckner take time to appreciate. I am now convinced that they are not as accessible as say Mozart, Tchaikovsky, even Beethoven and Bach. What is amazing is that the more exposure one has with these 3 composers the more one truely appreciates them. I still have trouble with Mahler. It takes time, experience and dare I say it maturity.
marvin
Quote from: Mozart on July 25, 2007, 01:45:28 AM
I doubt I'll ever listen to wagner or mahler, they are on top of my eww list.
Thats what I thought initially, but you will be surprised (sometimes) at how your taste in music will have changed over the years. Composers you once liked no longer appeal to you and others you would never think of listening to become your favorites. I guess I would go so far as to say, in answer to this thread's question: "How did you discover Classical music?" that you NEVER stop discovering classical music!!!!
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 02:40:11 AM
Thats what I thought initially, but you will be surprised (sometimes) at how your taste in music will have changed over the years.
Very true. Once, the thought of listening to Schoenberg, Berg ... even Mahler, held fears for me. I was utterly convinced that only the tuneful stuff would endure in my listening. In fact, I even used to find most of Mozart rather bland (he's still not entirely to my taste, but I like his later works much more than I used to). Shostakovich was also once an absolute no-no. Hard to believe it now. ;D
I don't think I would ever get bored of Mozart, no matter how "bland" he might be. Oh and I think Mozart's later works began when he was about 17. :)
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 02:40:11 AM
Composers you once liked no longer appeal to you and others you would never think of listening to become your favorites.
That's true, but it was the opposite for me. In the beginning of my classical exploration Mahler and Wagner where amongst my favourites; a reason why I began listening to Bruckner was that I was so fond of Wagner - only orchestral works, not Opera - I started looking for some sort of symphonic translation of his music, which could guarantee a procrastination of the magic, so I came to Anton, whose 4th I still really appreciate.
It was maybe through Webern that my musical ideals changed in the research for less gigantic, prolix, syncretic forms of expression, so I've almost erased late-romanticism from my list.
And I don't think Wagner takes time to appreciate, his great emotional emphasis, his inclination towards sentimentalism makes him - in my opinion - one of the most accessible composers ever. Wagner can't lie, while for example Mozart is able to kid the artless listener in a subtle way. Of course I'm not talking about Wagner Operas.
Quote from: Scriptavolant on July 25, 2007, 02:54:33 AM
And I don't think Wagner takes time to appreciate, his great emotional emphasis, his inclination towards sentimentalism makes him - in my opinion - one of the most accessible composers ever. Wagner can't lie, while for example Mozart is able to kid the artless listener in a subtle way. Of course I'm not talking about Wagner Operas.
I agree with this. I find Wagner to be one of the easiest composers to like - I *am* talking about the operas. The music is very direct. Still, I'm 21 so perhaps there's a perspective shift coming up one of these days. I find Mahler and Bruckner much harder.
Quote from: LaciDeeLeBlanc on July 21, 2007, 03:43:34 PM
Are you a musician?
No.
Quote from: LaciDeeLeBlanc on July 21, 2007, 03:43:34 PMDid your parents listen to classical music?
No.
Quote from: LaciDeeLeBlanc on July 21, 2007, 03:43:34 PMDid a certain music course in college inspire you?
No.
Quote from: LaciDeeLeBlanc on July 21, 2007, 03:43:34 PMAre you a music educator?
No.
I discovered classical music at age 14 in the home of a friend of my father. He spinned Tchaikovsky's First PC. I was mesmerized, hooked and caught. Classical music has been a daily presence in my life ever since.
As for formal musical education, I have none.
Quote from: Tancata on July 25, 2007, 04:00:44 AM
I agree with this. I find Wagner to be one of the easiest composers to like - I *am* talking about the operas. The music is very direct. Still, I'm 21 so perhaps there's a perspective shift coming up one of these days. I find Mahler and Bruckner much harder.
Tancata I am pleased to hear that you responded well to Wagner's OPERAS on first hearings. Yes the overtures and preludes to Wagner's operas are quite easy to get into as Wagner is very lyrical and the music very melodic and straightforward. However, once the singing starts (the actual opera- and notably Tristan und Isolde) I would imagine that a lot of people would have problems, especially those who are not accustomed to opera- let alone the length of these works. Regarding Mahler- yes as far as I am concerned he is harder to appreciate. Although it often surprises me when Mahler fans argue that they have a problem appreciating Wagner. To each his own I guess??
marvin
Quote from: Mark on July 25, 2007, 02:46:41 AM
Very true. Once, the thought of listening to Schoenberg, Berg ... even Mahler, held fears for me.
Yes Schoenberg, Berg's operas and to a certain extent R. Strauss' (ELEKTRA and Salome) hold fears to anyone expecting to walk away from these composer's operas whistling "catchy" tunes (as you would..... say.....with Carmen) there simply aren't any (catchy tunes that is) ;) !
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 05:08:09 AM
Yes Schoenberg, Berg's operas and to a certain extent R. Strauss' (ELEKTRA and Salome) hold fears to anyone expecting to walk away from these composer's operas whistling "catchy" tunes (as you would..... say.....with Carmen) there simply aren't any (catchy tunes that is) ;) !
marvin
Well put,
Marvin.
As you might agree, I think that people as a general rule would be cheating themselves if they never really gave those operas a chance. One of the things I admire most about Schoenberg was his overall "
chutzpah". The guy has some incredibly admirable
cojones, si?
Quote from: Haffner on July 25, 2007, 05:15:23 AM
Well put, Marvin.
As you might agree, I think that people as a general rule would be cheating themselves if they never really gave those operas a chance. One of the things I admire most about Schoenberg was his overall "chutzpah". The guy has some incredibly admirable cojones, si?
Si of course! LOL...he was certainly daring. I remember the first time I "discovered" Struass ELEKTRA...the first thought that went into my mind was "What the hell is this? :o) It was so dissonant it did not make any sense on first hearing...then when I saw Bohm's movie opera and after repeated listenings I was able to connect to it on so many levels....music is discovery after all (I think D minor (our D minor)) said that!!!
marvin
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 05:24:24 AM
Si of course! LOL...he was certainly daring. I remember the first time I "discovered" Struass ELEKTRA...the first thought that went into my mind was "What the hell is this? :o) It was so dissonant it did not make any sense on first hearing...then when I saw Bohm's movie opera and after repeated listenings I was able to connect to it on so many levels....music is discovery after all (I think D minor (our D minor)) said that!!!
marvin
Your post has me smiling! I haven't checked out the Bohm/Elektra dvd, but now I'm
dying to!
Elektra still makes my jaw drop with amazement.
And
D can be a very wise man...
It was actually only two years ago that I first listened to a classical music CD for fun. It started with me looking for a recording of some pieces I was playing solo at the point, and I quickly found that I liked the music of Antonio Vivaldi. For a few months after that, I was good for the occasional listen to a piece by Vivaldi, and I collected about ten CDs by him. However, it was not that long after that I heard two pieces of music played by college orchestras that would change my life. First, it was Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, then Dvorak's Ninth. I purchased the complete symphonies of both composers, and quickly expanded my Tchaikovsky collection to include ballets, concertos, chamber stuff, suites for Orchestra, etc. Soon I discovered Brahms, Beethoven, Bach and Berlioz, and my collection started expanding through the 18th and 19th centuries, only within the last year expanding to the twentieth century. In any event, it's been 2 years and 350 CDs since that first purchase, and I spend several hours a day with music on now.
That's a bit of a rambling explanation, but there you go.
Interesting how quickly perspectives can change.
12 months ago I was only familiar with Mahlers 5th and found it a tad 'difficult' to 'get into'.
Today I'm very familiar with his #2, #4 & #5 and hearing his #2 live in March was one of the best concert experiences I've had 0:)
A friend who sang in the choir that night complained to me beforehand about how she disliked Mahler. The day after the concert she emailed me to say she was a convert ;)
Rachmaninoff/Biret - piano works
Some "original" interpretations in here, some very interesting some come as a bit odd.
edit . Oops, wrong topic, it should have been the "listening" one ;D
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 02:40:11 AM
...I guess I would go so far as to say, in answer to this thread's question: "How did you discover Classical music?" that you NEVER stop discovering classical music!!!!
Amen, brother! :D
Quote from: marvinbrown on July 25, 2007, 05:02:07 AM
...Although it often surprises me when Mahler fans argue that they have a problem appreciating Wagner.
Me too, since Mahler loved Wagner so much.
Quote from: Scriptavolant on July 25, 2007, 02:54:33 AM
...And I don't think Wagner takes time to appreciate...
Of course he does! At least four hours, to be precise. ;D
Quote from: Mark on July 21, 2007, 03:58:47 PM
...I had long periods when rock and electronic dance music dominated my listening. But by 1997, classical was gaining the upperhand, and that's the year my collection really began to grow apace...I returned to classical in a huge way in 2006, and now it's pretty much all that goes into my ears. :)
So there may be hope for a son who for years has been blasting rock and heavy metal even though he played cello well as a reluctant adolescent? The other trance-addicted one occasionally drops a word like "I like all kinds of music" but immediately clams up after admitting anything that might make me feel good. My kids had good music all around them in contrast to my having to laboriously seek it out. I learned the sources gradually like the classical music radio station, the lending record library, etc. A really wild pleasure was actually going to a music shop, seeing all those scores, records, other people as well just normally and naturally buying music, discussing it, incredible...
ZB
I didn't discover classical music. Classical music discovered me.
I have absolutely no idea what I mean by that.
Quote from: Joe Barron on July 26, 2007, 08:27:34 AM
I didn't discover classical music. Classical music discovered me.
I have absolutely no idea what I mean by that.
Divine intervention? 8)
Q
I got into classical music first in high school because I played piano. As I got better, I started playing pieces by famous composers. My first love was playing Beethoven, but then I found Rachmaninoff's pieces and was enchanted. I loved his rich chords and loud, banging passages.
When I went to college, I stopped playing piano because I didn't have access to one anymore. And so I stopped listening to classical music. I have always loved music, however, and I started listening to other music, like indie rock. I explored lots and lots of bands and kept finding more intricate, rich music, like Bjork and Radiohead. Eventually, I realized that even the most complicated rock/pop music couldn't hold a candle to classical music so I started listening again.
At first I picked up works by modern composers, Messiaen, Ligeti, Schnittke, etc, and gradually, I've moved backwards in time. I like Mozart better now, but still prefer thorny atonal works.
I was 9 years old when I first heard Offenbach's "Can Can" dance in his opera. After that, I was hooked...
Now I'm 16 :)
Quote from: Bonehelm on July 27, 2007, 05:01:48 AM
I was 9 years old when I first heard Offenbach's "Can Can" dance in his opera. After that, I was hooked...
Now I'm 16 :)
I was hooked to the dancing girls :)
Quote from: Mozart on July 27, 2007, 05:06:44 AM
I was hooked to the dancing girls :)
Right, like we really needed to know that. ;D
Quote from: Bonehelm on July 27, 2007, 05:11:09 AM
Right, like we really needed to know that. ;D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktVhGWzvmV0 ;D
My family wasn't particularly musical, although they did enjoy listening to classical music on occaision, but I discovered this kind of music on my own, when I started borrowing classical Lps out of my public library, which had an extensive collection, and got hooked for life as a teenager.
I had already learned to play the French horn in elementary school, and played it all through high school college, graduate school, and afterwards, having studied music and education, musicology and horn at Hofstra, Queens college, CUNY and Stony Brook, SUNY.
I went on to play horn in numerous orchestras, concert bands, opera companies, chamber ensembles etc on a freelance basis, and was a substiture music teacher at various public schools on Long Island, and auditioned(unsuccessfully) for orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Washington National, and New Jersey symphony among others, as well as performing in countries as diverse as Australia, italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, Fiji and Samoa, and wrote music criticism for the student newspapers at Queens college and Hofstra.
I was forced to abandon paying the horn because of a physical disability several years ago, but have been involved with programs to foster the appreciation of classical music for the elderly and infirm, and other disabilities such as Cerebral palsy, and have been doing such programs in New Rochelle, NY, and previously at United Cerebral Palsy on Long Island.
I am hoping to expand my programs to wherever possible and to try to motivate more people, of any age from teenagers to older people ,to make classical music a part of their lives, and have conceived of starting an orginazation to attempt to do this by going to the people.
Quote from: Superhorn on December 15, 2008, 07:34:16 AM
My family wasn't particularly musical, although they did enjoy listening to classical music on occaision, but I discovered this kind of music on my own, when I started borrowing classical Lps out of my public library, which had an extensive collection, and got hooked for life as a teenager.
I had already learned to play the French horn in elementary school, and played it all through high school college, graduate school, and afterwards, having studied music and education, musicology and horn at Hofstra, Queens college, CUNY and Stony Brook, SUNY.
I went on to play horn in numerous orchestras, concert bands, opera companies, chamber ensembles etc on a freelance basis, and was a substiture music teacher at various public schools on Long Island, and auditioned(unsuccessfully) for orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Washington National, and New Jersey symphony among others, as well as performing in countries as diverse as Australia, italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, Fiji and Samoa, and wrote music criticism for the student newspapers at Queens college and Hofstra.
I was forced to abandon paying the horn because of a physical disability several years ago, but have been involved with programs to foster the appreciation of classical music for the elderly and infirm, and other disabilities such as Cerebral palsy, and have been doing such programs in New Rochelle, NY, and previously at United Cerebral Palsy on Long Island.
I am hoping to expand my programs to wherever possible and to try to motivate more people, of any age from teenagers to older people ,to make classical music a part of their lives, and have conceived of starting an orginazation to attempt to do this by going to the people.
Well done :) What you are doing is really superb! I wish you the very best of continuing success with your programs :)
Mwahhh, Classical music discovered me....... ;D
Classical Music: "Man On The Silver Mountain" Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
Opera: "Child in Time" Deep Purple
Quote from: jamesjohnson on January 21, 2009, 10:02:21 PM
The high point of Baroque is George F Handel J. S. Bach
Fixed.
It'll kill the Corkster.
I was out walking in the woods, minding my own business, when a Pavarotti disc fell on me head.
I remember a grocery store my mother went to offered a classical LP with a purchase over some amount. They were packaged in green boxes with gold writing and one I remember that completely captivated me was Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade. I must of played that a hundred times, and was very interested from then on in whatever else she brought home - which ended up including all the most standard rep - but still, for a kid growing up in Louisiana, it was like a candle in the darkness.
Quote from: jamesjohnson on January 21, 2009, 10:02:21 PM
The high point of Baroque is George F Handel...
No love for Bach?
No doubt Handel is great but there's greatness aplenty in both composers. :)
When I was a kid our local department store had a rack of $3.99 cassette tapes that usually had a good selection of the old Columbia Great Performances (the ones that looked like old newspapers, like this one, which I played so much I wore it out):
(http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/21/01/1aa87220eca03f7e7f9c1010._AA240_.L.jpg)
By various methods of guile I managed to convince my grandmother or mom to buy me one now and then. Thus I cut my teeth on a lot of Szell, Ormandy, Bernstein, and Walter -- could have done a lot worse, I suppose :)
Those old covers still make me smile; I've managed to reacquire most of the performances on CD in various guises, but if you look in my iTunes, you'll find they all have the old Great Performances cover art; just my way of being eccentric...
Quote from: donwyn on January 22, 2009, 07:42:25 PM
No love for Bach?
No doubt Handel is great but there's greatness aplenty in both composers. :)
In retrospective, i believe what james meant is that Handel represents the high point of the Baroque as a
style, Bach being a bit, erm, unorthodox. I think.
I got tired of listening to rock on CDs, and had a number of friends who preferred classical music. So I would join them record shopping on weekends. I learned which labels were which, and would buy whichever ones were on sale at Tower and other, local, record stores in DC. I hardly listened to rock or pop for about ten years, eventually determining that I preferred rock on LP.
Now, it's as if I inhabit two completely separate musical worlds. I have different rooms, even. I'll go for a year or two without listening to one or the other very much at all. I've been listening to classical nearly exclusively for close to a year, and it shows no sign of abating. I have a few pop LPs and CDs I've bought so I wouldn't be caught short ("new" LPs can go OOP pretty quickly), but they've sat unopened (for over a year in a couple of cases).
Today, Jan. 26th, is the third anniversary of my "discovery", so to speak, of western classical music. I would not say I was totally unfamiliar with it or the characters involved. For example, I knew that Mozart "composed Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star when he was 12"* when I was about the same age. Even though I liked this Viennese Classical sound (heard via TV commercials and such), I didn't bother following it up. I swear it wouldn't have been easy as it is today to do so.
Three years ago to the day I'd been to an open/public quiz, which is a very popular pastime in this city. The answer to one of the questions asked was about Mozart writing from memory Allegri's Miserere, which he had heard at the Sistine Chapel. It was then I gave a thought to listening to this man's music. Thanks to the Internet, I found an internet station. And I've been spending a lot of money ever since. 0:)
* I know it's utter rubbish, and that's why I put it within quotes.
My grandmother forced me to study piano when I was little. I'm not sure I liked it... the teacher (our neighbors' daughter) had to chase me for a while through the yard before we could start, then I would kick the piano hard. I think I became fond of listening to music when I was 10, through those Clásicos populares CDs. Discovering Prokofiev's 6-7th piano sonatas and Liszt's works was subsequently a major turning point.
My maternal grandparents took me to Tanglewood when I was 6-7 years old. Heard/saw Koussevitsky conduct the Boston Symphony in an all Tschaikovsky program. The R&J Fantasy Overture, Excerpts from Swan Lake. and the Pathetique Symphony.
That did it. Hooked for life. And I'm now 73 yrs young.
The background music of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" did it for me. I think it was the third time I watched it that I paid more attention to the music and thought: "Hey, that music sounds good!". Before that, I couldn't care less about classical music.
Quote from: tanuki on January 26, 2009, 06:41:39 PM
The background music of Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" did it for me.
Wow. That film has pulled in a LOT of people! I have had it burnt on disc for quite some time now, but I've yet to watch it.
Quote from: LaciDeeLeBlanc on July 21, 2007, 03:43:34 PM
Ahh, I'm sure someone has made a topic of this before, but I can't help asking it.
What got you into classical music?
Are you a musician?
Did your parents listen to classical music?
Did a certain music course in college inspire you?
Are you a music educator?
being introduced to it at an early age; music lessons.
not professionally
uh huh.. my mother took me with her to operas as a kid
no
no
"The World at War" theme on UK TV had a faboulously haunting effect on me when I was a wee boy in the early 70's, and I was attracted to programs like Aquarius and The South Bank show even at that age. Went on to learn the violin, ditched it to watch Batman instead, then five years later at secondary school took up the Cello, then lost the damn thing, then watched the South Bank Show one night where there was a Gustav Holst feature, Mars from The Planets Suite then grabbed me and said, "Hey, remember Classical Music? BUY ME!"
So I bought Holsts Planets on the Classics for Pleasure label, James Loughran conducting the Halle Orchestra. Then...er...I bought a Strauss Waltzes LP...and then I saw 2001 on New Years day 1983 on BBC2 and vowed to get the music, which I did a week later, with the very fine Afro-American conductor Henry Lewis and the RPO giving an ear blasting Zarathustra and an equally rich Til Eulenspiegel all for £1.99!!
That's how I got hooked on Classical Music. I read the cover notes, most of which were beyond me at that time, and really didn't know the first thing about what I was listening to - but I was unquestionably hooked from there on.