Thread: Any of you fall into a nice groove of exclusive composers or works?

Has any of you listened to so much classical music at this point that you're content with listening to few select works or composers and you could care less about expanding your horizons?

For me, I alternate between Mozart's piano sonatas, Mozart's late symphonies, and Bruckner's 8th. These three works give me endless enjoyment. It's familiar ground for me because, like the nose of a statue, I've jaded these pieces to a sort of comforting finish. I can pick out details from Bruckner's 8th like no one else. I can predict the next note on every Mozart sonata. And I still enjoy every minute of it, no matter how many times I've heard it.

My memories have also managed to cling to specific melodies of these pieces. If I listen to the k330 sonata, I remember first hearing it played by Horowitz on a bus. If I listen to the Scherzo of Bruckner's 8th, I remember being in bed and hearing Bruckner for the first time. Nostalgic stuff!

Anyway, how about you? Have you settled into a nice comfortable groove or are you always on the edge by finding new pieces to listen to?

I always like to explore new music....that goes for all genres not just classical. However, I can always go for some Mendelssohn no matter what mood I'm in. He's a "comfortable" composer for me.

Originally Posted by pasido

...Anyway, how about you? Have you settled into a nice comfortable groove or are you always on the edge by finding new pieces to listen to?

Kind of both.

Since the three years when I joined this forum, my discovery of music new to me has gone forward in leaps and bounds. But since the last 6 months or so, my intake of music new to me has slowed considerably. A bit of music overload and other areas of my life taking hold.

So right now I'm more in a nice comfortable groove compared to before, when I was discovering things at a faster rate. My constant focus is chamber music of all periods - esp. solo & duo sonatas, quartets, quintets, trios, etc.

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My Mendelssohn comfort disc.

Originally Posted by Sid James

Kind of both.

Since the three years when I joined this forum, my discovery of music new to me has gone forward in leaps and bounds. But since the last 6 months or so, my intake of music new to me has slowed considerably. A bit of music overload and other areas of my life taking hold.

So right now I'm more in a nice comfortable groove compared to before, when I was discovering things at a faster rate. My constant focus is chamber music of all periods - esp. solo sonatas, quartets, quintets, trios, etc.

Do you have any favorite chamber works? For me it's always Schubert's C Major Quintet and Beethoven's C Minor.

I do this all the time. I love to explore new music, but I frequently will get into "moods" where I'll only listen to a particular composer or work over and over for a while. Pretty much any time I hear a new piece that really grabs me, I'll devote all my attention to it and the composer for like 1-2 weeks lol.

Now with that said, I always move on. I love to explore new things, but when I find something that really suits my fancy it's nice to stretch out my enjoyment as long as possible lol.

It was the summer of 2008. I had Glazunov mania. I got new 3 CDs which I listened to fervently, to make a total of 5 in my happy collection, and another was added at the end of the summer. I remember crying very hard the day I got that 6th CD and gave it a first listen, it was crazy. Oh those days of going early in the morning on the internet to look up his music on the local radio station playlists for the day, so I could plan to listen to them. Back then, very little was on youtube, and I had expended much of what interested me. And oh those days of spending hours upon hours looking up biographies and reviews and suggested works and all that stuff... those were the days.

<3 <3 <3

Those days have long passed, and that mania was deluded with dozens of other Russian composers. That is where I am today. I continue to be in a Russian groove, and as long as I keep discovering new stuff, it will continue. Of course I listen to tons of other composers, but not many with same enthusiasm.

This has never happened to me.

I'm in a fixed rotation of 10 or so operas, not because they're "old comfies" or anything, but they remain incessantly thrilling and full of material (musical, textual, and historical) yet to explore. When they cease to amaze, I'll move on, or else die or something.

Originally Posted by pasido

Do you have any favorite chamber works? For me it's always Schubert's C Major Quintet and Beethoven's C Minor.

Virtually anything by Beethoven or Schubert is okay with me. Lots of favourites of their chamber works. But as I said, I like chamber music from across the ages. But my biggest areas of interest is Beethoven and beyond, up till today. Eg. some favourites coming after 1900 are string quartets of Janacek, Berg, Tippett, Elliott Carter, Shostakovich, and also things like Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, works by contemporary Australian composers - have been listening to Nigel Westlake and Carl Vine SQ's - and quite a few others. It's such a rich area, is chamber music. It's neverending.

I think it's normal for people to have their "favorites" and pieces they enjoy coming back to again and again. For me it's more composers than their particular pieces. I love Nielsen, Sibelius, Hanson, Diamond, Beethoven, Raff, Glazunov, Dvorak and Mahler. Even though I love Mahler's symphonies I don't listen to them as often as I would like because they are so long but if I have a day off I like to stick one on. That said a good portion of my listening is exploring new music. Even after 40 years I enjoy the excitement of a new discovery. I just wish my wife got as excited as I do!

Kevin

Yes and no. I've definitely refined what I listen to a lot, and come to realize what composers I tend to enjoy the most, but I still enjoy branching out and even continually trying with old works I didn't previously click with. I love having those old nostalgic favorites, but listening only to them would bore me after a while.

Originally Posted by pasido

Has any of you listened to so much classical music at this point that you're content with listening to few select works or composers and you could care less about expanding your horizons?

For me, I alternate between Mozart's piano sonatas, Mozart's late symphonies, and Bruckner's 8th. These three works give me endless enjoyment. It's familiar ground for me because, like the nose of a statue, I've jaded these pieces to a sort of comforting finish. I can pick out details from Bruckner's 8th like no one else. I can predict the next note on every Mozart sonata. And I still enjoy every minute of it, no matter how many times I've heard it.

My memories have also managed to cling to specific melodies of these pieces. If I listen to the k330 sonata, I remember first hearing it played by Horowitz on a bus. If I listen to the Scherzo of Bruckner's 8th, I remember being in bed and hearing Bruckner for the first time. Nostalgic stuff!

Anyway, how about you? Have you settled into a nice comfortable groove or are you always on the edge by finding new pieces to listen to?

That must have been something, how did Horowitz get his piano onto the bus?

I'm like those who say "yes" and "no" to this question. I recogonise the type of behaviour referred to by the OP, and have, in the past, settled down to listening exclusively to a few specific works for days on end, even though I have tons of other material. But inevitably I get fed up with that after a while and go seeking something new. It's not difficult to find something new because I listen to radio quite a lot and they're always coming up with material I would never have considered buying but which I often enjoy, and which sets me off in new directions. No disrespect intended to the OP but I suspect that he may be going through a bit of a fad stage right now in focusing exclusively on a very narrow range of works. I wouldn't mind betting that in due course the situation will change and a search for greater variety, or change of focus, will become the order of the day.

I was at such a point when I first joined this forum with the difference that the groove included hundreds of pieces. Still, I know exactly what you mean and no matter how many new pieces I expose myself to, I can be pretty certain that I'll still listen to some of my top favorites over and over.