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March 29, 2024, 04:01:14 am

Author Topic: Classical Music  (Read 15952 times)  Share 

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jamonwindeyer

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #15 on: January 26, 2017, 04:38:48 pm »
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Those actually exist?

Yep! There's even one written by Muse, called Exogenesis. Probably the most listened to 21st century symphony purely because it was stuck at the end of a platinum selling rock album ;)

Edit: A purist probably wouldn't call it a proper symphony, but its in the style ;D

--- Holy cow Peter that's one intense recommendation list!
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 04:42:36 pm by jamonwindeyer »

RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #16 on: January 26, 2017, 04:40:09 pm »
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~For the Romantic Purist and the curious~

While it's often the case that we tend to stick with the Romantics and forget about the the 20th Century composers, I'd move away from Romantics ASAP as beautiful as they are (I know it's hard -- I've been there, you Romantic Purist). But once you, (yes you - even you who stumbled into this thread with no interest in CM) start listening more widely, you'll come to the consensus that everything has a unique flavour, colour and texture of sounds. It's all very exciting once you hear it -- Queen and David Bowie were never artists that I liked listening to in my childhood, but wider-listening reaalllyy helped me change this, so hopefully you'll see that this will change not only your appreciation for Classical music in general, but also everything else under the branch of music (adverse effects of this may include hating all current pop songs). Especially when you study music, you begin to appreciate musician's choice of tempo at a particular section, the way they treat the cadenza points, the interweaving melodic/harmonic lines, and even more generally, the composer's work. In fact, I don't even believe that you have to study music to see it, but you do need to look out for it. As with any books you read, to fully appreciate what you hear, you'll need to hear the philosophy or the foundations of what spurred the characteristics we see in Classical, Baroque, Romantics etc. You can research them more by looking it up online. There are dozens of research ready for you to get a general grasp of it. OR if you're lazy and would like to just listen, go for it -- I remember listening and learning at first of CM mostly from the comments I read off the youtube videos haha (it helped nurture my love for it at least though).

In particular periods of times as you've probably noticed (to my curious but unsure CM listener), each composer has a characteristic unique to them as well as from the time when they lived. You've probably stumbled upon the 'impressionists', when you were curious about CM and was like "I liked some of their work, but some of them are really funky, not to my liking at all" -- or if you listened to Stravinsky, all that was running through your head was "what on earth am I listening to?". Fear not, I'm here to remove all your doubts about them and introduce them in a way I think makes sense from my listening journey, because they are hands-down magical once you understand how precious their music is. Take the Impressionists as an example for arguments' sake.

History-time: --- The 'impressionists' were moving away from the Romantics completely, away from sentiments, away from all the exorbitant displays of outbursts and emotional introversion, to a more evocative stance, to a world of hidden moments and secrets, the present as well as to an extent, the human experience through the lens of a complex and more subconscious human mind. Emotions became less of a focus during this time. Painters in France were capturing fleeting moments of the present onto their canvas. Texture-wise, their work suggested a sense of layered dimensions; there was more attention cast on the everyday, the moments which everyone living can understand despite whatever their  circumstances are. No more was it about the humble, the 'quiet life' as in the Romantics and so often showcased in their work -- the 'impressionists' were subtle, but were still expressing very important ideas, which were already well-grounded in Romantic tradition. They were expressing humility, honesty, melancholy, but in a slightly grey tone compared to the Romantics, one in which wholly accepted the environment, its destructiveness, the way it can topple over anything and still be appreciated in the most unexpected of moments. It depicts human life through something so accessible, yet unpredictable, completely so out of touch, yet so physically a part of this world: the human mind.

I'll put down a few pieces which show this - at least to me, so you are no longer in the dark about that strange and obscure curious love that strange neurotic people often have for these tedious, uneventful set of 'sounds' (which I hope you will discover that you're absolutely wrong):

And if you are my Romantic Purist reader, look no further:
A lot of that content reminds me of the rote learning I had to do for my Grade 7 piano exam.

Yep! There's even one written by Muse, called Exogenesis. Probably the most listened to 21st century symphony purely because it was stuck at the end of a platinum selling rock album ;)
Well shit.

RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #17 on: January 26, 2017, 05:26:53 pm »
+1
*Ahem* excuse me. It took me quite awhile to write that let's not reduce my love and hard-work to a pointless student exercise of memorising, shall we  ::)
Never said your work was what I had to memorise. Just reminded me of it :P

--But tbh, that was really nice
« Last Edit: January 26, 2017, 05:36:02 pm by RuiAce »

sweetiepi

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #18 on: January 27, 2017, 12:36:02 pm »
+1
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heids

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2017, 01:04:33 pm »
+1
On phone so ceebs responding in depth, peter...

Yeah, I generally don't enjoying the baroque or classical periods that much as romantic (ugh when people think CM is just Bach and Mozart and maybe Beethoven, who's at least a significant improvement ;)), and having mixed feelings about more contemporary.

Of your recommendations, the ones I already knew were Mahler 2 (how good is the ending!!!), the Debussy pieces and Rites of Spring (always loved it). Will listen to the others! I agree that I'd love to widen my tastes ever further.  ;D

You're right that I know almost everything Chopin inside out, similarly Beethoven. So much love for them, though I prefer orchestral music (ideally piano concertos to get the best of both worlds) to plain piano music like most of Chopin's; nothing can beat the sheer agony or soaring exhilaration of the strings taking a powerful melody.

As for today's recommendations: was going to recommend Dvorak's 9th (New World) symphony, his most famous and most insanely brilliant work, but then I was listening to his 7th and 8th and cello concerto and I can recommend them all. :P

Also re. the Rach 2, MSO is playing it at one of their Sidney Myer music bowl free concerts next month!
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RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #20 on: January 31, 2017, 01:10:46 am »
+1
I tried playing a Debussy piece for 7th grade.

Big mistake. But I pulled through because I tried hard enough.

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RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #21 on: January 31, 2017, 10:01:46 am »
+1
Omg hahah. But the good thing is you puled through. Debussy is infamous for making deceptively simple but quite demanding pieces.

When I played this, it was my first introduction into the 20th Century composers. By learning this, it also made me appreciate the pedal and its cool features for adding 'colour' to the music as well :P
It's such a soothing piece. Making ME play it was the bad mistake :P The piece itself is beautiful imo.

I have trouble playing pieces that are too soft, and mostly centred around piano. Which really makes me better at Baroque and Classical period pieces, but I'm alright at Romanticism. Just never touching Impressionism again...

peterpiper

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #22 on: February 01, 2017, 10:00:59 am »
+2
Weird piece of the day:

Stravinsky - Circus polka: for a young elephant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOr_H3JqdDs

Stravinsky - Tango
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcXTFRXenwI
« Last Edit: February 01, 2017, 10:04:11 am by peterpiper »
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heids

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #23 on: April 04, 2017, 11:49:12 pm »
+2
Two hauntingly beautiful short masterpieces of Ravel's:

1) Pavane to a Dead Princess

2) Piano concerto, 2nd movement (just wait till the orchestra first comes in a couple of minutes in... *sighs besottedly*)
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RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #24 on: December 08, 2017, 04:13:54 pm »
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So, how many composers do you guys know of that seem to compose a bit 'outside' of the styles in their year?

What I mean is something like this. I played a Mendelssohn piece this year for my 8th grade. But it felt so weird, because I was playing a piece from a romantic period composer yet his composition style was really classical. Basically curious as to how many composers are like him in those regards

Yertle the Turtle

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #25 on: December 08, 2017, 04:24:26 pm »
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Two hauntingly beautiful short masterpieces of Ravel's:

1) Pavane to a Dead Princess

2) Piano concerto, 2nd movement (just wait till the orchestra first comes in a couple of minutes in... *sighs besottedly*)
Don't know the second one, but Pavane to a Dead Princess is absolutely awesome. I personally love Tchaikovsky, Symphony 4, Symphony 5, Piano Concerto 1, 1812 Overture, the list goes on.
If you want to find an absolutely majestic piece of music, listen to Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations, as well as the first movement of his famous Cello Concerto. Love it...
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peterpiper

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #26 on: December 08, 2017, 05:55:33 pm »
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Don't know the second one, but Pavane to a Dead Princess is absolutely awesome. I personally love Tchaikovsky, Symphony 4, Symphony 5, Piano Concerto 1, 1812 Overture, the list goes on.

Blasphemy! :P Ravel's craftsmanship is so impeccable in that concerto <3 It's on another level to his Pavane imo. The score of this concerto is like a dream to look at. It's just phenomenal how he brings out the timbre, the potential of every instrument and stretches it to create something so unprecedented, yet so human and pretty.

Tchaikovsky's great too. Though, I'm a little surprised you didn't mention his symphony 6.
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Sconey

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #27 on: December 11, 2017, 10:23:27 pm »
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As a trumpet player, Mahler's 5th Symphony is awesome. This is a great trumpet solo at the start-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwQumQpug_E

As Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is great. Another beautiful trumpet solo-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GuQg0rWDbo

And this is really stretching the definition of the word 'classical, but Mambo from West Side Story is a fun piece! Composed by the man Bernstein himself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp33WX9xIGs

Yertle the Turtle

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #28 on: December 12, 2017, 08:45:43 am »
+1
As a trumpet player, Mahler's 5th Symphony is awesome. This is a great trumpet solo at the start-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwQumQpug_E

As Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is great. Another beautiful trumpet solo-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GuQg0rWDbo

And this is really stretching the definition of the word 'classical, but Mambo from West Side Story is a fun piece! Composed by the man Bernstein himself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp33WX9xIGs
I'd never listened to Mahler's 5th, despite my brother recommending it, but I love it. Thanks so much for bringing it to my attention!
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RuiAce

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Re: Classical Music
« Reply #29 on: December 12, 2017, 07:25:25 pm »
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Why does this look so fucking hard.

Also, welp, bump.
So, how many composers do you guys know of that seem to compose a bit 'outside' of the styles in their year?

What I mean is something like this. I played a Mendelssohn piece this year for my 8th grade. But it felt so weird, because I was playing a piece from a romantic period composer yet his composition style was really classical. Basically curious as to how many composers are like him in those regards