advertisement


Introduce me to classical music please

oldius

oldius

Manchester City, dogs, family and food.
For an unknown reason I decided to try out some classical music while I worked today and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I listened, on Spotify, to:

Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major, K. 218: I. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, György Pauk, Jörg Faerber

I have no idea where to begin, nor what I might like, but I'd be grateful for an introduction to essential classical music. I must say that the scale and smoothness that I have experienced through my B&W 801's today has been wondrous and that's through Spotify!
 
CDs, LPs or streaming? My twopennorth:
Not many LP bargains left in the world and surface noise on classical can be so tragic as to bring you to tears for the wrong reason.
CDs are a perfect medium for classical and a bargain at budget and s/hand prices.
If you're happy to try via Spotify, i suggest you download to ibooks or print Naxos' catalogue. They have a 'basic collection' section, running to around 100 discs. Try them out as you go and see what you like.
I won't suggest works/composers because i happen not to enjoy Mozart that much and you, it seems, do.
Enjoy the journey
Mick
 
A great place to start for sure:
Edward Elgar, Concerto for Cello in E minor, Op. 85
Jacqueline du Pré/London Symphony Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
 
I am happy with cd's. I do stream but only really to decide which cd to buy.
 
Switch on Radio 3, especially Essential Classics on weekday mornings and CD Review/Building A Library on a Saturday.
 
Get out and listen to some. Check out listings sites to find what's on. Plenty of free classical gigs.
 
OK so Spotify first then, when you find one you like, maybe invest in a Penguin guide to read about the plethora of performances of each work. Be careful though, it's habit forming.
 
I have a large vinyl collection but increasingly find myself going digital because of the cost of vinyl.
 
Classical while working is good. Especially if not too challenging. Of all the teachers in the special school I did Career Guidance in, the one with the calmest class had stuff like Mozart playing in the background much of the time.

Agreed about the concerts. I've been to a couple at Media City in Salford Also, prices for concerts at the Liverpool Philharmonic don't tend to be too prohibitive, so I assume they are similar elsewhere.

There are huge gaps in my knowledge of classical, but here are a few of my faves.

Elgar and Dvorak Cello Concerti (Though I don't much like the Du Pre cuts)

Clarinet Concerti by Mozart, Weber and Crusell.

Piano Concerti by Mozart. In fact lots of things by Mozart.

Most things by Dvorak. The first thing I really latched onto as a kid was the New World Symphony and I still love it. Just because it is very popular doesn't mean it is somehow tainted, as some have tried to imply to me.

Most things by Elgar and Vaughan Williams.

Chopin piano stuff.

Rachmaninov for darker moods :)

Bach Brandenburgs.

Handel Water Music/ Fireworks, etc.

Songs by Schumann.

If there is a pattern emerging here it is that I love a good tune and I really can't get on with some of the more modern/avante garde/ atonal/experimental stuff.

Interestingly, whilst I'm aware of Naxos' rep for fine budget recordings, I've not found one yet that I actually enjoy. Maybe just unlucky.

Although it is compressed to hell. Classic FM is a decent source of popular classics to get you started.

Mull
 
I think the Penguin Guide and Gramophone books have ceased to be. The Gramophone had an excellent basic library suggestion at the front of the book. Try to get hold of a second hand one on eBay. Use the basic library suggestion to start your journey. Perhaps start with more Mozart. Go with something you like and build from there. Enjoy.
 
Del monaco said:
I think the Penguin Guide and Gramophone books have ceased to be. The Gramophone had an excellent basic library suggestion at the front of the book. Try to get hold of a second hand one on eBay. Use the basic library suggestion to start your journey. Perhaps start with more Mozart. Go with something you like and build from there. Enjoy.
Click to expand...

Penguin still exists, but appears to be a shadow of its former self, at least judging by these reviews:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0141399759/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
I'd recommend trying composers from a variety of eras to see what you like. Too often all classical music seems confusingly lumped together as one entity to the uninitiated and you are likely to have a preference to the style of a certain era.

Try a few key composers from each of the Early/Renaissance/Baroque/Classical/Romantic/20th Century periods.

By doing this I now largely stick with with composers from the late 19th and early 20th Century. I love Debussy, Ravel, Grieg, Bartok, Prokofiev, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Copland, Ives etc.

It's fun to explore the era once you know what sort of thing you like. I personally am not keen on early classical and can't stand the Baroque era eg. Handel, Vivaldi, Bach (apart from maybe his Organ works) etc. All the staccato violins and piercing high pitch trumpet drives me mad.

Jonathan

PS If you're a vinyl man get some of the early Wide Band Decca SXL series LPs in good condition. You'll think you just spent thousands upgrading your system the sound quality is that good!
 
Saturday morning on Radio 3 is very useful.

They have "Building a Library", where they compare various recordings of some piece to recommend one, and then later in the morning they review new releases, playing some extracts, which is great way to hear new things without commitment!
 
Indeed. Subscribe to the online version on iTunes and it will likely give you access to a year or so of episodes.
 
Keep a classical music playing radio station on all the time, at home, at work, in the car, and make a note of what grabs you, then take it from there.

(I disagree about Elgar, as an introduction to classical music, what with composers like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schumann, Schubert, Haydn out there.)
 
oldius said:
For an unknown reason I decided to try out some classical music while I worked today and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I listened, on Spotify, to:

Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major, K. 218: I. Allegro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, György Pauk, Jörg Faerber

I have no idea where to begin, nor what I might like, but I'd be grateful for an introduction to essential classical music. I must say that the scale and smoothness that I have experienced through my B&W 801's today has been wondrous and that's through Spotify!
Click to expand...

Since you started with Mozart, its probably an idea to carry on with him for a bit: The requiem would get you started on his choral stuff, The Magic Flute is the one to start with for operas. A fave of mine is Keith Jarret's interpretation of the masonic music on ECM k-467-488-595

Then you have all the stuff that Mozart would have been influenced by, so try Gluck's Alceste for instance

Plenty to listen to if you've never tried :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top