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Classical music for dummies

The main difficulty I find with classical music is which version. If you ask where to start in heavier rock and someone suggests Led Zeppelin then you get to hear Led Zeppelin playing their music.

If you ask for classical suggestions, and some suggests Beethovens 9th (for example), there are multiple versions available. I know any version gives you a taster but there is a world of difference between some versions.
 
That's also what's so fascinating - this music critic says that it was this fact, that two recordings of the same piece sounded so totally different - which got him into record collecting. He's been doing lots of accessible videos during lockdown which he hopes will help people find where to start with particular pieces.

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I have found that my classical music appreciation has been considerably enhanced by listening to Tidal streaming. Free Spotify might have the same effect for you, particularly if you don't already have a streaming subscription.
 
Hmmm very difficult. Normally there’s one piece that sets people off on a journey...

Try these:

Baroque

Bach Cello Suites
Vivaldi Gloria
Biber Battalia

Classical
Mozart symphonies no. 40 and 41
Beethoven Symphonies 3/5 and 7
Schubert Quintet in C

Romantic
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake you could also try his 5th and 6th symphonies.
Mahler’s 5th symphony
Sibelius 2nd symphony and Finlandia
Chabrier Espagna
Ravel La Valse and Bolero

Wagner overtures and orchestral music from Ring Cycle
Rachmaninov 2nd symphony

20th Century
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
Bernstein Candide Overture
Barber Adagio for Strings
Schoenberg Verklate Nacht
Shostakovich 5th Symphony

It’s a mixture of great tunes and great works

Try them on YouTube or a streaming service. If any of them float your boat let us know and I’m sure we’ll find more.
 
lordsummit said:
Hmmm very difficult. Normally there’s one piece that sets people off on a journey...

Try these:

Baroque

Bach Cello Suites
Vivaldi Gloria
Biber Battalia

Classical
Mozart symphonies no. 40 and 41
Beethoven Symphonies 3/5 and 7
Schubert Quintet in C

Romantic
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake you could also try his 5th and 6th symphonies.
Mahler’s 5th symphony
Sibelius 2nd symphony and Finlandia
Chabrier Espagna
Ravel La Valse and Bolero

Wagner overtures and orchestral music from Ring Cycle
Rachmaninov 2nd symphony

20th Century
Stravinsky Rite of Spring
Bernstein Candide Overture
Barber Adagio for Strings
Schoenberg Verklate Nacht
Shostakovich 5th Symphony

It’s a mixture of great tunes and great works

Try them on YouTube or a streaming service. If any of them float your boat let us know and I’m sure we’ll find more.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting this I’m gonna have a listen, not got into Classical at all but as I get older I’m enjoying a lot more types of music.
 
If you hate them let me know and I’ll try again!! It’s very difficult. What I write today could be very different tomorrow!
 
lordsummit said:
If you hate them let me know and I’ll try again!! It’s very difficult. What I write today could be very different tomorrow!
Click to expand...
At least it gives a starting point, with a popular beat combo they write and play a song, classical you have the writer, the band and the guy waving the stick - hard to work it all out cos the band and stick guy changes. Most streaming services seem to have trouble working things out too.
 
Amber Audio said:
At least it gives a starting point, with a popular beat combo they write and play a song, classical you have the writer, the band and the guy waving the stick - hard to work it all out cos the band and stick guy changes. Most streaming services seem to have trouble working things out too.
Click to expand...

To be honest there aren’t many awful recordings. If it’s on Decca/RCA/Deutsche Gramaphon/Chandos/Phillips It’ll be someone good. Plenty I’ve missed there but it’s a starting point. The big orchestras are amazing.

I should have put some Richard Strauss in there as well!

Try Richard Strauss Don Juan
 
lordsummit said:
How did it go?
Click to expand...
Bit of an eye opener, enjoyed it much more than expected. Let ROON Radio go with suggestions until lunchtime. It’s an area I’d written off early on as a youth, similarly Jazz - some of that sounds like just out of tune noise to me, even bad Punk kinda had a tune.

Thinking I’ll dip in for a few hours every so often and do a bit of reading up, not really sure the differences between Classical and Baroque/Others, I thought is was all Classical. It’ll take me away from guessing the 80’s Synth model for a while :)
 
Good. Of you like that try no. 41 and the Schubert Quintet in C. If you like that probably better to travel forwards in time first and explore that era, rather than going back in time and exploring the baroque period. Save that joy for later!!
 
My approach was I bought over a thousand albums from the collection of a deceased person in Cambridge whose small house had LPs in every room; and the staircase. It had been picked over by dealers for the plums but there was wasn’t much missing vis a vis composer and how many were playing/singing. The collection filled a Mk11 golf with only room for the driver. £300 a while ago.
It was too much choice. We ended up using as a reference if sometime caught our eye elsewhere. I’ve probably played just 5% but all were perfect despite a little dust here and there. Now I’d just buy a streaming subscription TBH.
In our semi, my listening room is the master bedroom with the party wall covered in LPs.... never a murmur from them next door
 
My dad got me into classical at a young age by taking me to performances. Seeing things live has been the best way to develop a sense of what I like -- and forge a personal connection to a composition. Still the pieces that affect me the most are those I've seen performed. Another good resource which I know isn't around anymore was a set of recording guides Gramophone would put out. I work as a researcher for two composers based in London and talking to them has led me to find more contemporary music.

WQXR and WDAV are two good radio stations.
 
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