Who listens to classical music?

Emp_Fab

I've always loved certain pieces but I'm not a habitual listener.  I'm just wondering at what age am I supposed to start sitting in an armchair with a pipe and slippers, listening to Chavfuckovski's 3rd symphony in C# by the Royal Bavarian State Orchestra through an expensive HiFi?

rolls1392

Don't know about the age thing.
I like some classical music and I only occasion play my classical guitar.

goldtop

Don't worry, it might just be that you lack discernment.

But I will say that it's not as worrisome as paunchy blokes in their 50s and 60s knocking out The Stumble again in a pub jam.

strtdv

I'm 30 and have listened to classical for years. My father listens to it a lot and my grandfather was an organist so I suppose that's where I got the interest in it.
Good as rock n roll is, I struggle to think of any that compares to the genius of Mozart or Beethoven, or my personal favourite Handel.

fields5069

I like "old music" mostly, not orchestras normally but quartets, etc. playing old instruments. Violes, harpsichords, single voice etc.

I have this and it is stunning:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pellegrina-Ferdinando-Christine-Lorraine-Princess/dp/B01KAVNKLE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1499762178&sr=8-1&keywords=huelgas+ensemble+ferdinando

Emp_Fab

From my limited exposure, I'd say the way Vivaldi uses strings appeals to me but my favorite piece to date is Dvorak's Claire de Lune.  Beet-oven's Moonlight Sonata is lovely too.

artinski

Emp_Fab said:

I've always loved certain pieces but I'm not a habitual listener.  I'm just wondering at what age am I supposed to start sitting in an armchair with a pipe and slippers, listening to Chavfuckovski's 3rd symphony in C# by the Royal Bavarian State Orchestra through an expensive HiFi?

I do - in fact I am listening to some piece by Haydn right now. It is being broadcast by the Bavarian radio (BR 4)! Yes, yes, in the old-fashioned way by means of electromagnetic waves...

guitarfishbay

Many Chopin Etudes are mind blowing on piano. Anyone who likes technical guitar playing would probably appreciate them. 

Fretwired

I probably listen to more classical music than anything else - whilst I like the classics (Bach, Mozart etc) I tend to listen to modern composers.

ICBM

I do, quite a lot - everything from the Renaissance to modern avant-garde.

It's wonderful to listen to but also humbling to realise how little I know about music, as a self-taught rock guitarist.

guitarfishbay

Emp - maybe get tickets to see your local professional orchestra when they do a more mainstream 'classics' type of show.

I think seeing a good orchestra live in a good sounding venue is a real experience, way better than listening to recorded stuff.

Plus it's not necessarily all about old composers. In the past year I've been to see music from the Zelda games played live by orchestra, an Oscars movie themes night, and a We Will Rock You Queen + Orchestra gig... there's often a bunch of cool shows put on that would appeal to someone with modern tastes

beed84

I'm a a big fan of classical music. Like @strtdv said, the genius of Beethoven and the like is unparalleled. Although there's a huge wealth of work to get through, that's kinda what makes it fun.  Get yourself a classical music guide, such as classic fm, and begin to sift through it. That's what I did as I didn't know where to begin. Here are a couple of my favourite pieces to get you going:

Beethoven's Egmont Overture - the opening sequence gets me every time, and the drama that ensues is epic!



Barber's Adagio for Strings - a mesmerising piece that washes over you with ease:



Enjoy

HAL9000

I listen to some, but not a huge amount of, classical. My favourites are probably the Sibelius symphonies, but also quite keen on Verdi and (small doses of) Mozart. For me Sibelius is the one who paints pictures with music in a way that no-one else does.

viz

@beed84 said:

Barber's Adagio for Strings - a mesmerising piece that washes over you with ease:



Enjoy

And here's the amazing choral version, sung in beautiful New College Chapel, which is long and narrow with nothing to soften it, and imo is the epitome of the term, "church reverb". Listen to the whole thing but be sure to check out that 10-second echo ringing round the walls at 5:50 onwards!! Glorious. 

Roland

I often wonder what JS Bach would have written for modern instruments.

ICBM

Roland said:

I often wonder what JS Bach would have written for modern instruments.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41A3V6B75ZL.jpg

Ravenous

Emp_Fab said:

...Beet-oven's Moonlight Sonata is lovely too.

Populist and overdone. (I assume you mean the soppy first movement. The less-played final movement is pretty clever though.)

Listen to his "Tempest" sonata instead. (Listen to it carefully, at least twice as it takes a while to spot the interconnections.) It'll take your head off.

Elx

CHRISB50

I listen to quite a lot of classical guitar. 

I really like Gerard Cousins who was on the first series of Guitar Star. His album is pretty good, and he's a fantastic guitarist. 

ICBM

Ravenous said:

Listen to his "Tempest" sonata instead. (Listen to it carefully, at least twice as it takes a while to spot the interconnections.) It'll take your head off.

What's easily forgotten today is that when it was written, this wasn't possible. We take recorded music for granted, and the ability to listen to something over and over, dozens or hundreds of times if we want. In Beethoven's day the listener couldn't hear it again until the next time it was performed, which might be a long time if ever.

That probably implies that his audience were capable of the same sort of understanding of music as he was in order to write it, at least to a basic level - or it would have largely gone over their heads.

stickyfiddle

Roland said:

I often wonder what JS Bach would have written for modern instruments.

He'd have loved sequencers...