Tell us your listening history in regards to classical music What phases did you go through? How have your listening habits changed? or not changed? Any composers you used to love but now hate or vice versa? A very open ended thread. Share your stories.
Before I listened to classical music I mostly listened to pop music, things like N'sync and Britney Spears and stuff, that was what was popular when I was growing up. I can't remember when exactly I "got into" classical music, but it was around the time I started playing the viola. Then for christmas one year my grandma gave me a set of CDs featuring various works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.
My first listening phase I went through was a Baroque period phase. Coming from listening to pop music, I think the Romantic period music was a little too long and daunting for me. Classical music was too "happy" for my taste at the time. I hadn't even considered 20th/21st century classical music at this point. I think Baroque music appealed to me at first because most of the movements were about the same length as a pop song (3-4 minutes approx.), the music was very rhythmically driving and not complex. I think Baroque music has the strongest sense of a regular beat in all the periods of music which is another reason why I think it appealed to me so much coming from listening to pop music. Anyway, in this period of my listening, I mostly listened to Bach (pieces like the Brandenbergs and violin concertos) and Vivaldi. In fact, Vivaldi was my very favorite composer at that time. I never got into Handel for whatever reason.
As time went on and I got more used to listening to classical music, I eventually got used to listening to longer and more structurally complex works, I switched over to the Romantic period. This was my second phase in listening. Actually, at this time in my listening phase I listened to almost exclusively Romantic period works because compared to these piece, all the other periods of music just seemed emotionally drab to me. It was kind of like I was on emotional steroids at the time and the other periods of music besides Romantic period music just didn't satisfy me. At this point I knew about 20th/21st century music but it sounded so foreign and alien to me and I really didn't like it at all. It's funny how emotional Baroque music used to seem to me when I was new at classical music because now at this point (phase 2) in my listening and even to this day it doesn't move me at all the way it used to.
My first breakthrough with 20th century classical came with listening to the Rite of Spring while reading a listening guide. Sense my mind at this point was plagued with the stereotype that "modern music" had sacrificed emotions to intellectualism I didn't think a piece written in a modern style could be so dramatic and moving! I loved it! So during what I would say was phase 3 of my listening, I almost exclusively listened to late romantic composers (at this point the early romantics weren't cutting it for me anymore, with the exception of Beethoven, who I always loved) and the more accessible 20th century composers such as early Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. However, I still found composers like Schoenberg, Berg, Boulez, and Scriabin to be too alien to my listening habits at this point.
This changed when my mom got me a wonderful documentary about 20th century orchestral music by Sir Simon Rattle. I wasn't too interested in watching it when I got it but once I finally did it changed my perspective on modern music entirely. The way Sir Simon Rattle described the music with such enthusiasm and with so many colorful adjectives just converted me somehow. I no longer saw any 20th century music as inhuman intellectual exercises but as deliciously expressive as any other music I listened to. So this brought about phase 4 in my listening. I felt like a whole new world had opened up to me and I wanted to listen to as much as I could, therefore I went through a phase where I listened almost exclusively to 20th/21st century music.
Now I am in phase 5, which I would call my everything phase.
I am constantly on the lookout for new music that I haven't heard before, from any period, and in any classical or instrumental style. I am forming some trends in my listening now. I still listening extensively to 20th/21st century music since there is so much diversity in these periods of music. I still really like Romantic music, but I tend to find that a lot of the obscure romantic composers' music is pretty average-ish but there are definitely some major gems (Atterberg anyone?). I am discovering a new love of Mozart's music that I have never had before but I find that any other composer from the classical period I just find pretty boring, but I am still willing to listen with open ears. Same with the Baroque period. Aside from Bach and Handel, I find that most Baroque music is very similar and quite boring. Even Vivaldi, who I used to adore when I first started listening, I find almost mind-numbingly predictable.
I am listening to Opera more than I have before in any of my other listening phases as well. Also discovering I like quite a bit of Renaissance and medieval music. I'm also really enjoying listening to some traditional folk music. Such as traditional music from Asia and the Middle East. There's some really cool exotic sounding stuff there.
Anyway that is my listening history! Now share yours!
Before I listened to classical music I mostly listened to pop music, things like N'sync and Britney Spears and stuff, that was what was popular when I was growing up. I can't remember when exactly I "got into" classical music, but it was around the time I started playing the viola. Then for christmas one year my grandma gave me a set of CDs featuring various works by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.
My first listening phase I went through was a Baroque period phase. Coming from listening to pop music, I think the Romantic period music was a little too long and daunting for me. Classical music was too "happy" for my taste at the time. I hadn't even considered 20th/21st century classical music at this point. I think Baroque music appealed to me at first because most of the movements were about the same length as a pop song (3-4 minutes approx.), the music was very rhythmically driving and not complex. I think Baroque music has the strongest sense of a regular beat in all the periods of music which is another reason why I think it appealed to me so much coming from listening to pop music. Anyway, in this period of my listening, I mostly listened to Bach (pieces like the Brandenbergs and violin concertos) and Vivaldi. In fact, Vivaldi was my very favorite composer at that time. I never got into Handel for whatever reason.
As time went on and I got more used to listening to classical music, I eventually got used to listening to longer and more structurally complex works, I switched over to the Romantic period. This was my second phase in listening. Actually, at this time in my listening phase I listened to almost exclusively Romantic period works because compared to these piece, all the other periods of music just seemed emotionally drab to me. It was kind of like I was on emotional steroids at the time and the other periods of music besides Romantic period music just didn't satisfy me. At this point I knew about 20th/21st century music but it sounded so foreign and alien to me and I really didn't like it at all. It's funny how emotional Baroque music used to seem to me when I was new at classical music because now at this point (phase 2) in my listening and even to this day it doesn't move me at all the way it used to.
My first breakthrough with 20th century classical came with listening to the Rite of Spring while reading a listening guide. Sense my mind at this point was plagued with the stereotype that "modern music" had sacrificed emotions to intellectualism I didn't think a piece written in a modern style could be so dramatic and moving! I loved it! So during what I would say was phase 3 of my listening, I almost exclusively listened to late romantic composers (at this point the early romantics weren't cutting it for me anymore, with the exception of Beethoven, who I always loved) and the more accessible 20th century composers such as early Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. However, I still found composers like Schoenberg, Berg, Boulez, and Scriabin to be too alien to my listening habits at this point.
This changed when my mom got me a wonderful documentary about 20th century orchestral music by Sir Simon Rattle. I wasn't too interested in watching it when I got it but once I finally did it changed my perspective on modern music entirely. The way Sir Simon Rattle described the music with such enthusiasm and with so many colorful adjectives just converted me somehow. I no longer saw any 20th century music as inhuman intellectual exercises but as deliciously expressive as any other music I listened to. So this brought about phase 4 in my listening. I felt like a whole new world had opened up to me and I wanted to listen to as much as I could, therefore I went through a phase where I listened almost exclusively to 20th/21st century music.
Now I am in phase 5, which I would call my everything phase.
I am listening to Opera more than I have before in any of my other listening phases as well. Also discovering I like quite a bit of Renaissance and medieval music. I'm also really enjoying listening to some traditional folk music. Such as traditional music from Asia and the Middle East. There's some really cool exotic sounding stuff there.
Anyway that is my listening history! Now share yours!