Desnobifying Classical Music

H. Cantatas

 

I. Sonatas

 

J. Music for Movies

 

K. Instrumental suite

 

L. Lieder

 

M. Masses & Motets

 

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Great thread, as per usual Sir Guy of the Smile of Monkey! Interested to read about and hear all the excellent classical music I've been sleeping on.

If anyone is interested, here's some lore to go along with the famed Golden Record @GuySmiley'sMonkey mentioned, which is orbiting space aboard both Voyager 1 & 2: Along with the ever-enduring Fifth, the interstellar track list also includes Beethoven's 13th String Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 130, or the crushingly romantic and sad af piece sometimes referred to merely as the "Cavatina", performed by the Budapest String Quartet (my preference, however lies in the Kodály Quartet's rendering).

It (opus 130) is one the last pieces Beethoven ever composed, alongside the indomitable, before-its-time-brilliant Große Fuge, his universe-building 14th String Quartet & 16th Quartet (all in 1826, a year before his death) and he was working on his 10th Symphony when he died, which to this day stands incomplete, like Schubert's still marvelously legible, heroic 8th symphony.

Since AI has been a topic in other recent threads, I'll leave this link up for people who are interested in an AI-completed version of the 10th Symphony, which is sure to ruffle a few classical music lover's feathers, but if anything is an interesting thought experiment, a what-if that no one asked for, but I digress.

More lore/easter eggs: The Cavatina appears last on the track list for the Golden Record, and is preceded by Blind Willie Johnson's heartrendingly soulful, haunting, wordless master's take on an old English hymn, titled "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground". The easter egg here is that the two last songs were artfully chosen to showcase the boundlessness of human genius; the penultimate piece is composed by a blind musician, and the final, by a deaf musician.

 

I'd just like to write a few words explaining why this thread takes the form it does, why it's heavy on actual music and light on writing.

Imagine that you've loved Western art music for the past twenty years and someone asks you to explain why. Which reasons would you give? Your answer might consider one or more of the following points:

1. Music wasn't invented in 1954 with the writing of "Rock around the Clock." Listening to classical music opens the door to hundreds of extra years of cool stuff to explore and enjoy.
2. Music is a reflection of a culture, whether it's the indigenous music of Australia or sixteenth century Venice. By understanding music you're looking through a window into history and the people who shaped it.
3. It can affect emotion and mood in a positive way. Classical music can be both calming and exhilarating. I'm not saying that it has a monopoly on these things, but different styles of music move me in different ways.
4. Because it was how I rebelled against my peers / conformed to my parents ideals / whatever socio-cultural influences you faced growing up.

The first three of these are some possible effects of listening to classical music: Effects, rationalisations but not necessarily reasons.

When I want to explain why I listen to any style of music, classical included, I just want to say, "because it can sound like this" and then press play.

What's your story? Why do you listen to the sorts of music you do? How did you come to like them? Any memories that you can point to that shaped your musical tastes?

 

How does one respond to THIS?

Just wow. So many memories. First exposure? Perhaps Dvorak’s 9th on a fraternity brother’s, fiancée’s, fathers system: all tubes, 9 track masters and Klipschorn’s? Or… Copland’s Appalachian Spring live at Tanglewood on the lawn, whilst sucking down 1990 Troplong Mondot St. Emillion? Or…

Seriously, quality classical (any) is what music, and the height of musical civilization, is all about (to me). That said, I’d LOVE to see the Gyodo Monks play LIVE (check out their records if you can find them).

Music, quality music, (not manufactured scheit), is LIFE.

 

cant wait for this one to drop

new schubert Lied fire ammirite guys lol

 

I'm reminded of this whenever the funeral from Götterdämmerung comes up on Roon Radio.

 

loved that film and that piece. The 80s...