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Is There a Great Composer You Plain Just Don't Like

164K views 2K replies 383 participants last post by  EdwardBast 
#1 · (Edited)
I have been listening to classical music since I was a teenager, about 40 years. My specialty is in the Romantic and Classic eras, but I try to expose myself to all kinds of Classical.
I know what I am about to say is tantamount to blasphemy on these forums, but I just don't like Johann Sebastian Bach. There, I said it. Outside of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor I can honestly say there is one piece of his that doesn't either put me to sleep or make me nervous or give me a headache, or all three of the above.
I know, I know. I've studied enough to know that Bach is one of the greatest of all the gods in the Classical spectrum. I know how extremely influential he was. I know most Classical fans adore him. I have given him chance after chance. I feel that there must be something in me that is somehow deficient to not appreciate his genius.
I am not looking for anyone to contradict my views, I fear they are set in concrete. I was wondering if anyone else has a virulent dislike to one of the acknowledged geniuses of Classical composition?
I am still very new to the forums and I was wondering what you think!
 
#781 · (Edited)
To answer the original question: I don't think so. I'm sure there is something I like from just about any composer and any time period. But in general anything pre-romantic, as great as it may be, starts to bore me a lot quicker than romantic music. Romantic, late romantic and some modernish music is what I like to listen to most of the time.
 
#785 ·
I just find his music to just be really static (and I think that was intentional). Thus, I don't blame you. I guess Part's music is similar, but I just like his orchestration better, so the stasis bothers me less.
 
#790 ·
For a long time mine have been Bruckner and R. Strauss, but at this point I think I probably have to remove Bruckner from my list. The last half-dozen or so times I've heard a Bruckner symphony, I've liked it.

I'll probably ride this for awhile, sinking my teeth into Bruckner's music, and then I'll work harder on R. Strauss again.
 
#791 ·
Ravel and Tchaikovsky. And Brahms (well only his symphonies) Tchaikovsky is just so easy and doesn't offer very much to think about. I prefer Bruckner, who is much deeper. I use to like Tchaikovsky, but only in Manfred and francecsa da Rimini, which are his most powerful compositions. Tchaikovsky oscilliates between sugarplum Wagner and semi-quotation of some russian plain-chant. I'm sorry but this doesn't make him a great composer.
Ravel, is I think underrated, but I just don't get it. We see him criticize Strauss for putting too much notes, and he composes pieces with no purpose. plus, he completely denies Wagner. It's always the same thing with Ravel, even if it's great, it's a little bit superficial.
And as an accomplished (sort of) violinist, i can tell you that I hate all virtuoso composers of the 19th century. Wieniawsky, Paganini (maybe not him), Sarasate, Ernst, it's not interesting at all. it's not even music anymore! it's violin stunts and useless monkey tricks! Music should give the audience something to think about. Who could give them something to think about otherwise?
morality: praise Wagner and Bach.
 
#799 ·
I don't hate him as a composer, because I've heard other things by him I like, but I've never been able to connect with Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. I have quite a few versions on LP and CD, but none of them do anything for me. I seem to have a bind spot for Symphonie Fantastique too.
 
#810 ·
I think Liszt's transcriptions are very sympathetic to the music he's adapting. It's clear that he fully understood the music he was adapting, and wasn't just going for effect. In today's world, there may not be as much need for piano transcriptions, but that doesn't take away from Liszt's unique ability to transcribe for piano.
 
#817 ·
Vivaldi, Strvinsky was right about him.
Haydn, a country bumpkin version of Mozart
A great deal of Beethoven.
Most of Schubert
Schuman
Huge chunks of Berlioz
Brahms, deadly dull.
Verdi. Worlds best oompah master. No one better at mindless bombast.
Debusy
Mahler
Berg
Schonberg
Brukner
Most of Hindemith
Most of Prokofiev
Bernstein
Glass
Delius. Flacid version of Vaughn Williams.
Durafle
 
#820 ·
Well if I don't like them, I don't think they're particularly great :3

Personally, I'm not terribly fond of Philip Glass. I'm not a huge fan of the minimalist aesthetic as a whole, but his music in particular just tends to bore me, more-so than that of Mozart. Perhaps one day I'll wind up enjoying it, but for now, most of his music is just not particularly interesting to me. I'll take Reich any day over Glass.
 
#823 ·
Personally, I'm not terribly fond of Philip Glass. I'm not a huge fan of the minimalist aesthetic as a whole, but his music in particular just tends to bore me, more-so than that of Mozart. Perhaps one day I'll wind up enjoying it, but for now, most of his music is just not particularly interesting to me. I'll take Reich any day over Glass.
Reich is definitely the best upbeat/pulse minimalist for my money, if only for The Desert Music, but on the whole I'd much rather go with Feldman when I want to listen to the sound of nothing much happening.
 
#824 ·
drpraetorus-

Vivaldi, Strvinsky was right about him.

No, he wasn't. Stravinsky was judging Vivaldi based upon the limited range of his works then known... and available exclusively in performances that were far from being HIP. Vivaldi's sacred choral/vocal works, operas, and sonatas have a wealth of marvelous music in them. By the same token... if you invest some real effort in the exploration of the Baroque repertoire you will find that Vivaldi's (or Telemann's, etc...) concertos are no more "all alike" than the average Romantic concert.

Haydn, a country bumpkin version of Mozart

Absolute blasphemy! Haydn was the father of the modern symphony and string quartet. His best works in this genre are equal to all but one of two of Mozart's absolute finest... and there are far more of them. His choral oeuvre is every bit equal... if not superior to Mozart. As much as I love Mozart's Requiem, I would probably take Haydn's Creation over it.

A great deal of Beethoven.
Most of Schubert
Schuman

Accck!

Huge chunks of Berlioz

Brahms, deadly dull.

Double Accck!

Verdi. Worlds best oompah master. No one better at mindless bombast.

Except that his oompah and bombast are far from mindless, but serve the drama of his operas perfectly.

Debusy
Mahler
Berg
Schonberg
Brukner
Most of Hindemith
Most of Prokofiev
Bernstein
Glass
Delius. Flacid version of Vaughn Williams.
Durafle

That's Debussy and Duruflé

:eek::confused:

Who do you like then? lol

Now isn't that the sort of comment that got me in trouble?
 
#826 · (Edited)
No, he wasn't. Stravinsky was judging Vivaldi based upon the limited range of his works then known...
Oh surely that wasn't common of him to make that mistake! And so many people hanging on his golden word...!

:tiphat:
 
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