Have you ever listened to classical music?

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Have you ever listened to classical music?

Postby Williamhawk » Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:48 am

Hello all,

Personally, I am a classical novice. I spent 50 years in Rock as many folks my age have.

But about 2000, as alternative waned and indie seemed to take it's place I began to feel lost.
How many old tired Bob Dylan albums was I going to buy? I mean, at this point listening to Dylan took a real effort. You had to try and like the stuff. Not at all like when Blonde on Blonde blew you away on first listen.
So many old rockers that did not know enough to walk away.

Anyway, in a constant quest for new sounds, continually bumping my head as I aimlessly went from genre to genre, I heard a few things that I liked in classical.

Now I'd say, 80% plus of my listening is of classical.

So my question is, have you ever taken the time to listen?
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Re: Have you ever listened to classical music?

Postby MoodyBlue » Sat Sep 23, 2017 7:30 pm

Hi
Yes, I have listened to classical music from the time I was very young until now. I am (63 now). those of us living within the sound of CFRB would listen to Starlight Serenade, a classical music program that ran week night evenings.

If I recall right, it was David Marsden that introduced me to Virgil Fox, an organist who played a lot of Bach. I did not care for Bach until I heard the album J.S Bach, live at Filmore East. Then after I got turned on to Bach, I developed an appreciation for Jazz.

CFNY had a great show on Sunday mornings called Master and Moderns, it was a show that featured the classics as well modern music.

NYtheSpirit.com is my new music home. I hope you enjoy it too.

Best regards,

John aka Moody Blue
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Re: Have you ever listened to classical music?

Postby Sunbeam » Mon Sep 25, 2017 12:36 am

I have to admit to a fondness for the big orchestral arrangements since I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey and got hooked on The Blue Danube (Johann Strauss, Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert Von Karajan cond), and Also Sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)...

Nothing beats Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, (my favourite version is the Telarc recording of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Erich Kunzel cond) for greeting the sunrise on a morning when you stayed up way too late partying and haven't got around to bed yet...

I discovered other pleasures in the Romantic and Baroque periods- Vivaldi's the Four Seasons, Holsts Planets, and others should be part of a basic classical repertoire.

A great avenue to discover classical is through a modern Dutch conductor/violinist- Andre Rieu.
I have seen Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra at both Maple Leaf Gardens, and at Skydome in Toronto, both thoroughly enchanting shows. He focuses on the Romantic period, with excellence.
Many CDs and live concert DVDs- start with From Holland with Love and work from there...
Here's a bit of background: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/ ... -interview

Another approach (to discover an interpretation of Bach) would be to find a copy of Virgil Fox Heavy Organ LIve at Fillmore East, or Live at Carnegie Hall. A man who put modern, controversial sensibility into the interpretation of Bach's music.

I used to enjoy browsing the record store shelves, the premium classical labels like Deutsche Grammophon: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/ , and
Angel Records: "Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. The Angel mark was used by EMI, its predecessors, and affiliated companies since 1898. EMI's classical-music operations were sold to Warner Music Group in 2013" --Wikipedia ...always had something I wanted but couldn't afford...

Then there's the "audiophile" labels like Telarc, Chesky, Nimbus, Mobile Fidelity and others, who offer wonderful-sounding recordings of performances that may or may not justify the technical excellence of the recording.

Budget classical labels like Naxos https://www.naxos.com/
...had nice displays of stuff you could peruse, and some excellent performances/recordings, too. Now, I guess you can do that online.

Have fun exploring the world of "classical" music, i'ts all just punk-rock from a pre-electric world.

Cheers
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Re: Have you ever listened to classical music?

Postby Sunbeam » Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:15 am

I just noticed my re-iteration of MoodyBlue's thoughts about Virgil Fox and J.S. Bach, that must have been subliminal when I wrote my article. Great minds think alike. The experience was parallel, not derivative.
Cheers
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Re: Have you ever listened to classical music?

Postby Sunbeam » Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:51 am

I do own at least one Deutsche-Grammophon pressing of William Russo's "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Orchestra" featuring the Siegel-Schwall Blues Band, and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

And I have one Angel pressing of "The Red Back Book", the music of Scott Joplin, by the New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, Conducted By Gunther Schuller.

Back in my active LP-buying days, those constituted my nod to the major "classical" labels :)
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