ever leave a composer behind?

Prokofiev for me, though not completely.


--

Absolutely, and an amazingly similar list to yours:

Composers whose music I at least know well and liked in parts, which now leave me entirely unmoved or worse, moved to anger, include Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Schostakowich, and Mahler.

These are the only ones who have actually left me, and the sincerity of Tchiakowski's struggle [and his response in music] seems to have allowed me an ever deepening love of at least quite a proportion his music.

Of course some composers meant everything to me from the first acquaintance and still do, including Haydn and JS Bach.

ATB from George

PS: Nowadays, I find it impossible to find much value in any Pop music of the easy sort, almost all Rock music, and I always struggled with a large portion of Jazz, though I find that there is one artist who loosely might be filed under Jazz[?] - Ella Fitzgerald, who has never put a foot wrong for me in her chosen repertoire, or actual style and musicality of performance.

J.S. Bach, by saturation.

Going deeper into the historical organ literature in untempered tunings reveals some real gems from which he was able to draw.

Mandatory inclusion into the AGO examination repertoire, only to hear an aging or inexperienced organist maul the music, finishes the process.

Dear David,

However did you do that?

Seriously, surely you back off a little if you feel saturation approaching. I could easily saturate my enjoyment of Beethoven's music for example, and go whole months without any!

For myself I can spend even a month where no music except that of JS Bach finds itself being listened to in this house.

ATB from George

quote:

Originally posted by David Dever:
Going deeper into the historical organ literature in untempered tunings reveals some real gems from which he was able to draw.

any mean tempered recordings you can recommend?

mean tempered would be all the white notes tuned pure, with the adjustments being made in placing the black keys.

mean tempered works generally stay in keys with few sharps or flats.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:

any mean tempered recordings you can recommend?

Try this one:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/hnum/3558085?rk=classic&rsk=hitlist

thanks pe-zulu!

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
These are the only ones who have actually left me, and the sincerity of Tchiakowski's struggle [and his response in music] seems to have allowed me an ever deepening love of at least quite a proportion his music.

i still love tchaikovsky's melodies, but the crudeness of his orchestration bothers me.

shostakovitch symphonies 1 and 15 still hold some interest, but not the others.

quote:

i admit to richard strauss, wagner, mahler, tchaikovsky and shostakovitch, at least for orchestral music.

I can't really say I've ever left a composer behind, although of your list I've never been a fan of Tchaikovsky - too obvious for me. Mahler I am cooler on than I used to be, Strauss has a limited output but still holds interest, but for me Shostakovitch is the best of the bunch the greatest 20thC orchestral composer IMO, he never ceases to move me. I especially like No 10.

regards,
mat

I once liked Elgar, not for the past 20 years though.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
do you have any composers that used to ring your bell, whom you have left behind?

i admit to richard strauss, wagner, mahler, tchaikovsky and shostakovitch, at least for orchestral music.

Interesting thread.

I don`t like the music from R. Strauss as well, although it is brilliantly orchestrated. For me, lacking depth and emotion, his music remains being superficial. But there are exceptions: op.24 "Tod und Verklärung" or "Im Abendrot" from "Vier letzte Lieder" are full of emotion and I like them very much.

Wagner was mainly a composer of operas. It would be a punishment for me to listen to a complete Wagner opera. But some parts of his music are quite enjoyable, the beginning of "Tannhäuser" or "Parsifal" or the "Ritt der Walküren" are examples for that.

About Mahler:
His music can really impress me, but often in an unwellcome way. Feelings like mortal fear or inner conflicts are shining through his symphonies and even the serene parts of his music seem to skate on thin ice.

What about the socalled favourite composers?
Beethoven`s Great Fuge is no pleasure for me to listen to as well as the Musical Offering from J.S. Bach.

Best wishes

Manfred

quote:

Originally posted by Manni:
What about the socalled favourite composers?
Beethoven`s Great Fuge is no pleasure for me to listen to as well as the Musical Offering from J.S. Bach.

nobody writes great music all the time, everybody writes crap some of the time ..

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:
nobody writes great music all the time, everybody writes crap some of the time ..

That's debateable, especially when considering composers who very carefully publish few works. Dutilleux comes immediately to mind, and Webern and Berg don't really seem to have written any truly bad music. Brahms was also very careful about what he published. Of course, this doesn't mean they didn't (or don't) write bad music, just that they don't let the junk reach people's ears.


--

quote:

Originally posted by Todd A:
Dutilleux comes immediately to mind, and Webern and Berg don't really seem to have written any truly bad music.

i haven't been able to decide what berg's and webern's music is, good or bad - but i'm still listening to it from time to time.

Dutilleux is new to me. just ordered a cd of his orchestral works from amazon to find out more. thanks!

Great question Mike, and I've enjoyed reading the answers so far. I'd like to encourage people who haven't already done so to give the reasons (as far as they can determine them) for their change of heart.

For my part I haven't listened to classical music long enough, or intensively enough to get into some composers (e.g. Mahler) let alone fall out with them. And classical music still accounts for only around 40% of my listening (with the rest made up of 50% jazz and 10% rock/pop). I can't believe anyone could ever fall out with Bach!

I guess the nearest thing I have to losing interest in a composer is that I no longer hold Steve Reich and the minimalists in especially high regard. Reich was an easy way into classical music for me, as I listened exclusively to rock/pop when I was younger. He has his moments (Music for 18 Musicians, especially, is still great), but compared with the richness and complexity of many other composers, his approach seems rather limited now. I still listen to his stuff, but it doesn't grab me the way it used to.

Over the years, I've gradually dialled down my interest in new rock/pop. Most of my CD buying in this area consists of filling in the gaps (Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, etc.). Some contemporary acts (e.g. Kings of Convenience, Sufjan Stevens) have captured my imagination, but more often than not, I'm disappointed when I decide to try something by a contemporary act. I have no time for the likes of Winehouse, Duffy, or whatever the latest big thing is supposed to be - life is just too short, and there is too much fantastic music (most of it being made by Scandinavian jazz artists!) out there, to waste time on such ephemera.

Regards
Nigel

droodzilla,

In the past two years, i have begun to listen to music in a way i had never experienced. i am empty of everything except the sound for extended periods - it is an effort.

It makes everything about the experience of listening to music more intense.

I find myself spending more and more time in classical music, looking for a new experience.

i have been listening to music for forty six years, and classical has always been in the mix.

now i'm trying to get a grip on the 20th century. of all composers, hindemith is the only one to formulate a complete set of rules of composition that incorporated all advances to about 1940. his most famous work is the "Mathis der Maler" (abbado/berlin), which is 27 minutes long.

so i speculate that if i learn his rules, and study this score, and listen to it for a while,
i will come to have "new ears" i can try out on other 20th century composers.

it's an experiment :-)

quote:

do you have any composers that used to ring your bell, whom you have left behind?

Mike: I don't think I've left any composer behind but I do go in spurts, so to speak. Because I can only really focus on a few at most, at a time, many composer tend to be "ignored" for long periods of time but I usually return to them eventually. It usually follows a pattern of what piece(s) I'm learning on the piano. When learning a Beethoven sonata or a Brahms piano trio I literally will spend a year or more just working on these exclusively. Then at some point you realize you need a break from it (to think/ponder about it subconsciously maybe?) and I'll swing to something completely different (like currently I'm working on the Franck cello sonata and Schumann's Bunte Blaetter).

To answer the question though, any composer that "rang my bell" in the past will continue to do so it seems forever but I do take breaks from all composers eventually from time to time. Ones that I intuitively know that will not do it for me in the first place I simply don't give a chance or consider to begin with (Schoenberg, Berg, Hindemith etc.) : )

The rest are keepers and I just keep digging and digging deeper into the experience; a lifetime is hardly enough time for this task.
Regards,
Doug

the pieces i learned were all based on learning trumpet parts. that brings a lot of literature into your life you might not find enjoyable for listening.

there was a fashion in early (pre. 1960) 20th century music that made use of orchestral color as a substitute for content. This music was perceived as "good for the everyman". A lot of it came from Germany and Russia.

I know that literature now, and would like to learn new music.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeeschman:

i haven't been able to decide what berg's and webern's music is, good or bad - but i'm still listening to it from time to time.

I like Berg's Violin Concerto and Webern's String Quartets.

All best,
Fred

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:


PS: Nowadays, I find it impossible to find much value in any Pop music of the easy sort, almost all Rock music, and I always struggled with a large portion of Jazz ...

I'm sorry to hear that, George.

Best,
Fred

quote:

Originally posted by Florestan:
Ones that I intuitively know that will not do it for me in the first place I simply don't give a chance or consider to begin with (Schoenberg, Berg, Hindemith etc.) : )

this is the strait-jacket i'm trying to break out of as a listener.

i think i'll take fred's advice and pick up the berg violin concerto and webern string quartets.

richard strauss wrote some real powerhouse brass parts that i enjoyed for a long time just because of that. as a listener, i want more these days. The way he reiterates material in codas, constantly ratcheting up the size and volume of the orchestral forces, now seems boring.

i guess i'm shunning music of long acquaintance that now seems too "obvious" in favor of music that still seems "fresh".

funny how beethoven, bach, mozart, haydn, brahms and even some mendelssohn always seem "fresh".

right now, stravinsky is alluring,
and the hindemith is wearing quite well.

IMO the Berg Violin Concerto is one of the great violin concertos and a masterpiece of 20th century music.One of the few "atonal" works to enter the mainstream repertoire and justifiably so. Try and get hold of the Menuhin/Boulez/ BBC SO version.

Andrew

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
Andre Previn ... love his work though.
Munch

I particularly liked his Greig Piano Concerto on the BBC

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:

quote:

Originally posted by GFFJ:
Nowadays, I find it impossible to find much value in any Pop music of the easy sort, almost all Rock music, and I always struggled with a large portion of Jazz ...

I'm sorry to hear that, George.

Best, Fred

Dear Fred,

I am now working with the constant companionship of pop radio, and this is not helping. Just occasionally a new song catches me! I love it! For me it has some catch in it that really pleases me, but most of it is not at all entertaining for me, and after a while ceases to be background sweeteness, as I never could be in the presence of music and not listen! I listen to lift music a seriously as Haydn or Bach much to the worry of those who might be with me. I cannot help it, and once the radio [for example] starts to really annoy me the spiral becomes an acceleration of dispair, with the hope that eventuall my current favourite song will comes on. The chosen station plays classics from Simon and Garfunkle or other special favourites about once an hour which saves my sanity!

On Jazz, Mr Geoff P has tried very hard to help me - the kind people on this Forum are more than a few - with a success rate as hit and miss as popular radio, and often I can find a sort of faux-sensibility in the more serious rock genre. It proclaims its seriousness by being less saccharine than easy-going pop, but if only it were all as sincere as its avowed intent, I would like it better. In a manner, sometimes I prefer the simplicity of a light pop song which manages the trick of seeming at least sincere, and has something special, and that is usually in the music, though sometimes also in the poetry.

It is only taste, but I am finding pleasure in Poulenc's Chamber music as a new [though slightly known] departute, and know that as time allows Ravell will captivate me in far more than I know of the music already. I know Prokofiev's music in small part, and I suspect that here lies another treasure trove for me.

I wish I had more time for learning new music, but really I also wish I knew every quartet and trio of Haydn so that I could recognise and identify each movement of each work, as I mostly can with Bach's keyboard works.

For twelve months [in 2004/5] I almost listened to nothing else except Bach on the Harpsichord and Organ [pace David Dever], and it was probably the biggest single leap in learning new [to me] music that I could ever expect to make.

After that marathon, so much music is apt to seem somewhat slight. So much seems to require no especial effort to listen to, and does not especially reward the effort which I simply cannot help making with any music ...

Best wishes to you as well, from George

quote:

It is only taste, but I am finding pleasure in Poulenc's Chamber music as a new [though slightly known] departute, and know that as time allows Ravell will captivate me in far more than I know already. Prokofiev is know in small part, and I suspect that here lies another treasure trove for me.

Hi George

An interesting departure, and, as it is in the direction of French chamber music, I hope you don't mind me asking what you think of Debussy. I don't remember ever seeing you write about his music, and wonder if this reflects a negative assessment, or simply a lack of interest. For my part, I remember being startled the first time I heard "Prelude a l'apres-midi...", and also by the piano etudes. It seems like such a radical departure from anything that came before.

I agree with the comment about serious rock versus pop music. A band like Pink Floyd appear to take themselves very seriously, yet appear to have little to say of any great profundity (though, musically, they have their moments - most of them in late 60s/early 70s). Give me a great pop song anyday!

Regards
Nigel