Nighttime vs. daytime listening

[Ciel_Rouge]

What do you prefer? Does most of your listening happen during the day or maybe you prefer nighttime for this? Or maybe you do both and listen to different pieces? I personally do most of my listening at night in bed, on a DAP with (decent) earbuds

[Sorin Eushayson]

...I personally do most of my listening at night in bed, on a DAP with (decent) earbuds

I do the same, with some nice Bose earbuds.  It is at night (the time of day when I can focus on something in silence without interruption) when I do my serious listening, i.e. reviewing new albums or works.  During the day I'll implement some cheaper sound-isolating earbuds for when I'm out about town and listen to old favourites! 

[haydnguy]

Same here. Especially if it's a new piece (to me) I listen at night when I listen uninterrupted.

[Bulldog]

Day or night - makes no difference.  The type of music I listen to depends on my mood, not the time of day.

[Lethevich]

For house listening there isn't any difference, but when using a portable player I much prefer nighttime - less intrusive ambient noise, fewer people.

[Dr. Dread]

Weeknights and weekends. During the weekday, it plays quietly in the background at work.

[Grazioso]

I find that certain (types of) pieces are better suited in mood to morning, afternoon, or nighttime listening. Likewise, the day of the week and the season shape what I feel most "fits" the time. This is nothing unusual: Indian ragas, for example, have traditional associations with different times of day and seasons when they are considerate most appropriate to perform.

As such, I have no preference beyond fitting the piece to the mood and, more importantly, having uninterrupted time to really relax and focus without interruption. Music should never be sonic wallpaper but be engaged actively .

[Dr. Dread]

Music should never be sonic wallpaper...

Why not? The music doesn't mind.

[hornteacher]

Haydn in the morning.
Mozart at lunch.
Brahms in the afternoon.
Dvorak in the evening.
Beethoven at night.
Bach on Sundays.

[snyprrr]

Didn't Schoenberg say that all modern music should be played at night?

I struggle to find classical music to listen to in the daytime.

any brass music
French symphonies, well, french anything for that matter

as far as modern music, the only I can listen to in the daytime are:

Stockhausen-Gruppen: it just has an exhuberance (didn't he like to parade his music around town...during the day?)

Henze Sym No.1

orchestral Xenakis: too loud to play at night

but that's it.

[Ciel_Rouge]

Alright, since we tend to go in the nightly direction here, let's get more specific. Is it:

1. evening listening
2. late night listening
3. whole-night listening with birdsong in the morning

I have to admit that I mostly do No. 2 and very often No. 3.

[George]

Didn't Schoenberg say that all modern music should be played at night?

I struggle to find classical music to listen to in the daytime.

Any music from the Baroque or Classical period works well for me during the day. Beethoven as well. Modern is fine too.

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm retired; my days and nights are free so I listen whenever the mood strikes. The only rule I have is: no J. S. Bach before noon. Bach in the morning is highly irritating. After noon, though, he's the greatest composer ever. 

Sarge

[greg]

Daytime- I listen to 3 CDs a day in class during the weekdays, 1 CD (or 1 CD worth of music) that stays in my car during weekend driving.  

Nighttime- Used to be addicted to listening to only one of Brahms' symphonies or piano concertos for a year or two, and then moved on to the same with Mahler for roughly 3 years.
Recently, I haven't hardly been doing that, but instead either not listening to music at night or listening to some on youtube- mainly Mahler and Wagner Preludes.

I find modern music to be good anytime except right before bed because it can be so invigorating, but late Romantic music is best right before going to sleep because it's so draining. (Also, I don't like the idea of waking up to Baroque or Classical because it just seems so cliched and traditional- actually makes me nauseous thinking about it.)

When you're finished listening to Mahler 9 and realizing over and over again how it's the most profound thing conceived by a human and the greatest thing that life could possibly offer, it's really hard to go through the day sometimes. Nothing even compares, so everything just seems pointless.

[greg]

I'm retired; my days and nights are free so I listen whenever the mood strikes. The only rule I have is: no J. S. Bach before noon. Bach in the morning is highly irritating. After noon, though, he's the greatest composer ever. 

Sarge

Nice! 

[Sergeant Rock]

When you're finished listening to Mahler 9 and realizing over and over again how it's the most profound thing conceived by a human and the greatest thing that life could possibly offer, it's really hard to go through the day sometimes. Nothing even compares, so everything just seems pointless.

Which is why I reserve those "the meaning of life" symphonies for late evenings: I include Mahler 9 and 10, Bruckner 9 and Brian's Gothic in that category.

Sarge

[greg]

Nice choices, to say the least. 

[ChamberNut]

I had the most glorious afternoon walk yesterday, whilst listening to Brahms' String Quartet No. 1.  0:)

Day or night, rain or shine - time does not exist when I listen to music. 

[Grazioso]

Why not? The music doesn't mind.

Because life is too short to approach important things in a half-assed manner, pardon the expression. If you decide you want to bother with something as serious, complex, and stimulating as classical music, why not take the time to really listen so you can get the most out of it, instead of vitiating the experience by half listening to bits and pieces in the background? Sure, to each his own, but that sort of pseudo-listening just seems like a waste of a great opportunity. It'd be like skimming through the world's great novels instead of really reading and thinking about them. I've always found that you get the most out of things when you're fully attentive to them, and when you put some effort into them.

But back to the original topic, I generally find baroque music most suited to morning listening, classical to mornings or, more so, afternoons, and romantic through contemporary music best reserved for nights, particularly if you're talking about intense, weighty "ponder the meaning of life" symphonies and the like.

[Dr. Dread]

Because life is too short to approach important things in a half-assed manner, pardon the expression. If you decide you want to bother with something as serious, complex, and stimulating as classical music, why not take the time to really listen so you can get the most out of it, instead of vitiating the experience by half listening to bits and pieces in the background? Sure, to each his own, but that sort of pseudo-listening just seems like a waste of a great opportunity. It'd be like skimming through the world's great novels instead of really reading and thinking about them. I've always found that you get the most out of things when you're fully attentive to them, and when you put some effort into them.

You can do both. It's not one or the other.