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Classical Tasting Menu (for the classically illiterate)

This may not be available or practical, but my local town hall used to do a free organ recital, so the organist could practise.
What I'm trying to say, is if you can get to a venue where classical music is featured (like cello foursomes) it'll give you a feel for the classics.

I dont own much classical stuff, but a concert is to die for imo. These people are proper clever. Good luck
 
Yank said:
Berg - "Lulu"
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Always preferred Wozzeck, but good choice! It is one of very few operas I genuinely enjoy. In a similarly leftfield vein, but totally different, Glass’ Einstein On The Beach is a wonderful thing, but not really classical music in any real sense. Certainly a bridge piece for those coming in via electronica/techno etc.
 
Central Audio said:
I think opera is the last place to start from especially 20th century composers.
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Not so - Nessun Dorma from Turandot - probably the most popular piece of opera ever - dates from 1926. Porgy and Bess dates from 1934 and West Side Story from 1957.

And this is wonderful and very accessible. The Cunning Little Vixen, Janacek 1923. absolutely delightful.

 
Central Audio said:
Yes but I’m guessing he wants something to get his teeth in to, not a little snippet that’s accessible surrounded by 2 hours that isn’t.
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I've seen The Cunning Little Vixen twice in Prague and Brno, together with three other people who "never listen to opera" and we all absolutely loved it and came away smiling. It's a wonderful opera to see live and shouldn't be missed when it's staged. That's true of a few other operas like Ravel's L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges 1925, though it helps to speak French or see subtitles because the Collette libretto is so charming and witty.

 
Central Audio said:
I think opera is the last place to start from especially 20th century composers.
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There used to be a fabulous dancing fountain show in Alton Towers, with coloured lights, it danced to opera pops. The big tunes from Carmen, Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, Die Walküre, Götterdämerung etc etc

The Three Tenors is a good taster.
 
I would recommend a chronological approach.

Start off with some Scarlatti piano sonatas, then the Bach Brandenburg Concertos. Then listen to Haydn's Paris Symphonies and Opus 76 string quartets, and Mozart's piano concertos and Gran Partita. Beethoven follows with his piano sonatas, symphonies, and Opus 18 string quartets. I would then listen to a variety of chamber music from Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Dvorak. Then I would go to Tchaikovsky's symphonies 4, 5 and 6, followed by piano music and string quartets from Debussy and Ravel. Finally, you may want to check out the Bartok string quartets, along with some Shostakovich symphonies and string quartets.

This is a very bare framework, but by using this approach, you can hear the progression of music from the Baroque era to the Modern/contemporary. Have fun!

And listening to Classical radio programs is another great idea...
 
For people just getting into classical, I recommend sticking to established great composers only, and a small number of their greatest hits. The late baroque to the early post-war era encompasses the core of what is termed classical music. Earlier periods and post-war music typically are more challenging for most listeners to get into. Recorded opera is typically harder to get into. (Live productions would be the very best intro here.) Some genres like organ music or liturgical Renaissance polyphony, which includes some of the most exquisite music yet written, can be more challenging yet.

Bach – Brandenburg Concertos
Bach – Goldberg Variations
D Scarlatti – Any Keyboard Sonatas (Mikhail Pletnev is the best place to start)
Mozart – Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Mozart – Symphony #40
Mozart – Piano Sonata K331
Haydn – Symphony #104
Haydn – Nelson Mass
Beethoven – Symphony #3
Beethoven – Symphony #5
Beethoven – Symphony #9
Beethoven – Piano Concerto #5
Beethoven – String Quartet #7
Beethoven – String Quartet #16
Beethoven – Archduke Piano Trio
Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
Beethoven – Appassionata Sonata
Schubert – String Quartet #14
Schubert – Symphony #8
Chopin – Etudes
Chopin – Ballades
Schumann – Symphony #3
Schumann – Piano Concerto
Brahms – Symphony #1
Brahms – Symphony #4
Brahms – Piano Concerto #2
Dvorak – Cello Concerto
Dvorak – Symphony #9
Dvorak – String Quartet #12
Mahler – Symphony #1
Stravinsky – Rite of Spring
Stravinsky - Petrushka
Debussy – La Mer
Debussy – Preludes, Book I
Ravel – Gaspard de la nuit
Ravel – Daphnis et Chloe (suites)
Bartok – Concerto for Orchestra
Janacek – String Quartet #1
Janacek – Taras Bulba
Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto #2
Rachmaninoff – Preludes
Prokofiev – Piano Concerto #3
Prokofiev – Symphony #5
Shostakovich – Cello Concerto #1
Shostakovich – Symphony #5
 
Any thoughts from @Columbo, our OP, as to whether any of these approaches to getting into classical appeal?

In some ways it is bit like asking for a recommendation for speakers, everyone lists their favourites! I mean, I love string Quartets but how many folk who don’t know much classical would find one an inviting introduction to the world of classical music; very few I would guess. Perhaps a bit more information on what sort of music @Columbo likes which might help us to help him by trying on his musical shoes.
 
camverton said:
In some ways it is bit like asking for a recommendation for speakers, everyone lists their favourites! Perhaps a bit more information on what sort of music @Columbo likes might help us to help him by trying on his musical shoes.
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This. Just go on YouTube and sample stuff. Maybe start with a list of composers but not much more than that. Very difficult for others to tell you what you like. Start with a list of what you actually like listening to and go from there. Could be anything, and not necessarily any of the big name works.
 
camverton said:
In some ways it is bit like asking for a recommendation for speakers, everyone lists their favourites! I mean, I love string Quartets but how many folk who don’t know much classical would find one an inviting introduction to the world of classical music; very few I would guess.
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That’s why I asked where the OP was coming in from! If from music like jazz or even a lot of rock a string quartet with its easily followed individual parts; melody, bass, counterpoint etc may be the best starting point. I certainly feel an overlap between this classical form and jazz or rock isn’t there to the same degree with dense symphonic works. Less is often more!
 
Tony L said:
Where are you coming in from? This matters IMO. My entry point was from fairly leftfield rock/pop, electronica etc and I found both ends of the timeline far more accessible than the middle, e.g. I loved Bach, Stravinsky, Schoenberg/Berg/Webern, Stockhausen, Glass, Reich, Reilly, Cage etc. I didn’t really get Mozart, Beethoven etc. To this day I’m not a huge symphony fan, I tend to prefer chamber music, string quartets, solo piano etc.

Chances are you can ignore all of that as my journey is atypical and is still around the fringes, but it is a huge area to explore and I guarantee you will love a lot of it once you find your area.

tldr; definitely shortlist Bach; Goldberg Variations, sonatas for violin/cello, Brandenbergs etc.
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Yep. "Which music from the last 500+ years of Western composition might I like?"

I discovered I like Early Music and Baroque and I like a lot of c20th composition. Most of the stuff in the middle leaves me cold.

I suspect that's because the really old stuff and the relatively new stuff often has a few rough edges in the way hardcore punk or free jazz does.
 
Tony L said:
I’d almost go as far as arguing Bach was jazz. Maybe jazz is improvised Bach?
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An interesting theoretical question would be "if Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert etc were alive today, what genre of music would they be working in?"

I can well imagine Bach coming back as Joe Zawinul, Mozart as Paul McCartney, Beethoven as Bob Dylan and Schubert as Burt Bacharach....
 
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