Classical music fans?

[nerdanel]

I'm starting to listen to classical music actively for the first time in a few years, and I'm hoping to get to discuss it with others. I'm wondering if there's any interest here in starting a "listening thread" for classical music, much like the "reading" threads for books in other forums, in which we would listen to and discuss various classical pieces. Right now, I'm mostly interested in concertos and sonatas that are for violin, piano, or cello soloists, as well as symphonic works - but I'm flexible. Anyone else?

[Primula Baggins]

I would be interested, though I can't commit to anything until October.

It would be helpful if we could make use of iTunes, or some other common source (there's a lot of music on YouTube, but the quality is poor). I have a huge stack of classical CDs, but probably not the same as anyone else's. Though sometimes there's fun in comparing versions of the same well-known piece.

[nerdanel]

Right now, I'm using Napster streaming (free.napster.com), which should be accessible to everyone (I don't *think* there's a US-only limitation, but we should check.) That would at least give everyone access to the same versions.

I'm not looking for anything too high-stress or committal for now - just to get a discussion going with like-minded people, and maybe for all of us to get some exposure to pieces we haven't heard before.

This thread is brought to you due to an SF Symphony concert I attended yesterday, in which I was thoroughly captivated by an unusual piece I'd never heard before, Ligeti's Lontano (I think the French must have invented the phrase je ne sais quoi as a response to this piece.)

[Primula Baggins]

I only know Ligeti from the 2001 score, and apparently his music was distorted there. That sounds interesting.

[Inanna]

I would be interested - I have not been into classical at all, but am willing to explore it. I listened to a "sampler" CD a while back - and didn't particularly fall for it. Exploring it with folks might help me.

Am planning to gift NY Philharmonic concert tickets to R for his b'day....

[Whistler]

I am listening to Ligeti at this moment.

Nice work, but you can't dance to it.

[Primula Baggins]

Clearly I need to learn more about Ligeti. Among many others.

[axordil]

I am listening to Ligeti at this moment.

Nice work, but you can't dance to it.

Why do I have an image of American Bandstand in my head...

[Primula Baggins]

Don't you always associate Whistler with American Bandstand? I do.

[Teremia]

Well, one COULD dance to Ligeti, I suppose -- why not?

Just not your usual sorts of dances.

[Primula Baggins]

It probably helps to have a Monolith handy.

[WampusCat]

I am unfamiliar with Ligeti.

But I have been known to dance to Yo Yo Ma playing Bach on solo cello. Sigh...

And to do housework to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue...

And to twirl in place to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade...

And to weep to Chopin's preludes...

And to laugh helplessly at Peter Schikele's (P.D.Q. Bach) announcement of Beethoven's 5th as if it's a sports event...

So count me in.

[Primula Baggins]

I adore Peter Schickele. His Beethoven's Fifth is a classic of classical music.

Then there's the Schleptet in E-flat minor, with the wind notes sustained for so long that you hear people collapsing and knocking over their music stands. . . .

And the cantata "Iphigenia in Brooklyn," with the unforgettable recitativ "Oh, ye gods! Who knows what it is to be running? Only he who is running, running, running [deep hooting note] knows." Followed, of course, by the brilliant aria "Running knows."

[WampusCat]

Ah yes, "Iphigenia in Brooklyn" ... happy memories.

And of course the Monk's Aria, which I was able to trot out in Latin class (the teacher was not amused):

Et expecto resurrecreation;
Et in unum Dominos and checkers;
Qui tollis peccata mundi morning.

Mea culpa kyrie elei-
Sonny Tufts et Allah in Pompeii;
Donna nobis pacem cum what mei;
Agnus and her sister Doris Dei;
Lord, have mercy on my so-o-o-lo.

Et in terra chicken pox romana;
Sic sic transit gloria mañana;
Sanctus estes Kefauviridiana
In flagrante delicto Svetlana;
Lord, have mercy on my so-o-o-lo.

Credo in, at most, unum deum;
Caveat nabisco mausoleum;
Coitus interruptus bonus meum;
Kimo sabe watchum what you sayum;
Lord, have mercy on my soul ... so low

[Primula Baggins]

I'd forgotten that aria. "Credo in, at most, unum deum."

[axordil]

Schickele is best live.

Now back to the actual subject at hand. Wouldn't we want to try to drag in some of the more musically inclined folks around into the discussion? You know, the ones with training? I mean, we have writers talking about reading...

[Primula Baggins]

Wampus, Teremia, and Nel are all gifted musicians, Ax. That's not to say there aren't more who could join in.

[Crucifer]

When we say classical music, do we mean music of the classical era or all the different genres that fall under the umbrella of "classical"?

[Primula Baggins]

I'm pretty sure it goes beyond the classical era, if Ligeti has been mentioned.

"Serious music"?

Music whose performers usually wear black or white tie and evening dresses?



There was an interesting article in a recent New Yorker pointing out that "concert etiquette" is a fairly recent development—that audiences used to wander around and chatter during concerts, and that it was very rare to hear more than a single movement of a symphony or concerto; concerts were made up of excerpts and famous bits, and it wasn't unheard of for people to shout requests at soloists—and not for encores, either. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was daringly innovative in that it starts softly—it assumes the audience is already listening, which was not common then.

Now, of course, we all know not to clap between movements (also a new development) and not to applaud at the end until the conductor lowers his or her baton. But we weren't always so well trained.

[Whistler]

Howdy there, I'm Oedipus Tex
You may have heard of my brother Rex
Oedipus Tex, that's what I said
But my friends just call me Oed

Now, that's what I call serious music. Just for the record, I have Schickele's autograph on my Biography Of P.D.Q. Bach.

No, you can't see it.

Everybody, please stay on topic.