/classical/

Alkan edition
youtu.be/K4DEnboF7xE

This thread is for the discussion of music in the Western classical tradition, as well as classical instrument-playing.

How do I get into classical?

This link has resources including audio courses, textbooks and selections of recordings to help you start to understand and appreciate classical music:
pastebin.com/NBEp2VFh

that hasn't happened in a while

Suk's Asrael Symphony is gorgeous
youtube.com/watch?v=BV-MrEILTRk&list=OLAK5uy_n3UqP8LPH9DG01mP4yN67nPE_cnpyN4pU&index=1

what happened

We paid the rent late this month.

rachmaninoff is just that bad

anyway, as i was saying--

zika baby can't concentrate for an hour at a time

it's not that i can't, it just never pays off as much. purcell's timon of athens at a crisp 20 or so minutes is a perfect piece of music (better than anything mahler ever wrote). as is his circe, which is even shorter (better than anything mahler ever wrote too). almost everything he wrote is perfect. the only time things start to fray a bit is in his longer works, king arthur and so forth. it's impossible to sustain the same sense of balance and pleasing cohesiveness across so much time.

Simple: you combine a well-crafted 25 minute movement with a 20 minute movement, then another 15 minute movement, then another 15 minute movement, then a 25 minute finale, and bam, you have a well-crafted hour and forty minute piece.

Corrupt Jannies

balance and pleasing cohesiveness

We measured the predictability of tone sequences in music by Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern and found the successive pitches were less predictable than random tone sequences.

For listeners, this means that, every time you try to predict what happens next, you fail. The result is an overwhelming feeling of confusion, and the constant failures to anticipate what will happen next means that there is no pleasure from accurate prediction.”

Some of the things that were done by those composers such as Schoenberg undermined this cognitive aid for making music easier to understand and follow. Schoenberg’s music became fragmented which makes it harder for the brain to find structure.

Atonal music is so unpleasant that it's played in Berlin train stations to scare off drug addicts.

I've only tried the first couple pieces of each part of Annees. Pretty good. Not sure if it'll replace my favorites but nice to have around. The main thing that sticks in my memory is I remember trying his recording of the Hungarian Rhapsodies some time ago and I hated the sound of the piano or something, just couldn't stand listening to it, which is why I was a bit apprehensive. But yeah, pretty good, and I'll definitely listen to more of his Liszt's throughout time (also added his Harmonies poetiques, for example).

also, with the example piece I posted, especially noting the tracktimes, I do wonder if there is a trade-off between atmosphere and profundity for a more immediate tunefulness, but we shall see. Even if so, again, I'm not the type to just stick to one interpretation forever regardless, so could be nice to hear Annees performed a different way than I'm used to.

Bach

youtube.com/watch?v=hdsE35ODXj0

hated the sound of the piano or something

That's weird, I feel all his recordings are pretty well balanced and with a lot of depth, so that if you like the piano in one instance you should probably like it in all of them. He recorded the whole thing over a period of about 15 year I think but obviously it was all remastered and prepared for the 99 cd box (which is what I listen to)
hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDS44501/98

Ooo very cool. How much of it have you listened to? That's enough Liszt for a lifetime already! His interpretations have completely clicked for you?

lol. well done.

how do you tag your files? is this too autistic?

absolutelybaching.com/music-articles/the-axioms-of-classical-music-tagging/

I kinda glossed over the transcriptions and reductions and interpolations and re-reversions and such, so obviously I haven't listened to all 99 cds' worth of music. More like a third of that or less (Liszt wrote a SHITTON of transcriptions of his own orchestrla works and even MORE of works by other composers, it's honestly kind of annoying)

His interpretations have completely clicked for you?

With the exception of a few specific works (some major, like the previously mentioned Transcendental Etudes, the Concerto Pathetique for 2 pianos and the Sonata, but also some minor like the Malédiction, the Hexaméron, his piano concerto pre-n°1, a Berceuse, etc), yeah, Howard has really given me more than any other interpreter when it comes to Liszt (I can't recall listening to any recordings by him of any other composer, though, but I'm sure he's played plenty others).

Ah. Well, based on your rec I'll spend some serious time going through the set. And yeah, I know what you mean about all of the 'fluff' pieces. Hell, it makes even going through such a big set annoying, like which ones to add and listen to and which ones to skip over lol

Aigh, one last time, since the last thread was abducted by state terrorists and disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic

Szymanowski is one of the most important, unique, fascinating, and overlooked composers of the first third of the 20th century. Please take a moment to appreaciate Szymanowski.
youtube.com/watch?v=3k6Ad3F3_mg
youtube.com/watch?v=II6KQXv8nns
youtube.com/watch?v=s_HC_NLVHts
youtube.com/watch?v=ShqaKRv3tZ8
youtube.com/watch?v=KGQz868v4lo
youtube.com/watch?v=RBKQ1w-VqSw
youtube.com/watch?v=Uvre-WnH9jw
youtube.com/watch?v=1b7MSNVruBo
youtube.com/watch?v=jCvcMcxMGek
youtube.com/watch?v=uT00G955oUg
youtube.com/watch?v=nUSToo_LQWY
youtube.com/watch?v=3-odw1ROAzw
youtube.com/watch?v=I-QOcXf5ypM
youtube.com/watch?v=zHfS4FwXTPw

It's been fun sharing one of my favourite overlooked guys. See ya next time I decide to do something like this

at last. a theme befitting the sister poster.

since the last thread was abducted by state terrorists and disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic

kek

Bach

youtube.com/watch?v=xXSfSc-kDjY

mfw the waiter arrives to my table with my chicken tendies

Wow, glorious performance. Gonna listen to the rest of it.

Listening to English Handel music (Semele) and can't understand what they're saying.

You don't need to, it's just about the music of it. But if you really want, then you do it like you would at a live performance and read along with the music.

now playing, some orchestral Debussy

youtube.com/watch?v=iyw28eESGOQ&list=OLAK5uy_nESCqVG3x1NIP_qZo5yD-k0JDDNIv1Y3U&index=1

youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nESCqVG3x1NIP_qZo5yD-k0JDDNIv1Y3U

Currently preferring Debussy's music in orchestral form -- it's sounding so good lately.

I know I already love a couple of his Italian operas despite having no clue what's going on :D. That being said, there are a couple operas where I thought knowing what was going on enhanced the enjoyment just a little...so recently I've tried doing my first time opera listens with the libretto. So far the experiment has proved that it's mostly unnecessary. Only some Wagner stuff has made me feel you need the text to fully enjoy it, and even in his case I liked Tannhauser without knowing anything.

youtube.com/watch?v=5xqTYzA7tNM
just enjoy the melodies

wait wait wait wait, people actually care about librettos? lol dude just go read a verse novel if that's what you care about, otherwise just enjoy the music

a third of the praise for Wagner is for the story and poetry

Wagner the composer >>>>>> Wagner the anything else.

Kinda sad

Well duh, including and especially Wagner the writer, thinker, person, human being

"...the least of Wagner-- his music..." - James Joyce

Yeah we were all there, bud

I generally like Howard because he's one of the few pianists that actually follows Liszt's metronome markings whenever Liszt provided them.

For example, Feux follets is often played as a virtuosic showpiece, but Liszt actually specifies a slower tempo than what most play (120-126 to the eighth note)

youtube.com/watch?v=Uaawjsye9FM
Yunchan Lim is a good modern pianist, but he's very much in that virtuosic tradition and treats this as a showpiece, and I think it loses that ghostly, spooky character that the piece is supposed to have.

youtube.com/watch?v=cq59-dojRz0
Howard takes it very close to the metronome marking, and maintains the original, wispy character of the piece which sounds far more interesting to me.

youtube.com/watch?v=Kss_U_Wks7M
Arrau is even better here. Similar approach, though with more care given to Liszt's rhythms.

Perhaps the piece that Howard does best is Liszt's late masterpiece, La lugubre gondola (2), which is probably the most demonic, scary piece that Liszt ever wrote. The metronome marking for this one is 88 to the quarter note, a clear Andante. But most pianists play this as if it were an Adagio.

youtube.com/watch?v=axhKyU6amY8
Zimerman takes a whole 10 minutes to get through it, and while it's interesting to hear it this way and certainly adds to the atmosphere of the piece, it loses its Faustian bite that it's supposed to have.

youtube.com/watch?v=9XNkXBoswoM
Howard gets it right again with the correct tempo that Liszt wanted for this piece.

Brahms

youtube.com/watch?v=Q2al0NjTyBA

speaking of opera, what do you guys think of Verdi's Aida, and what recording would you recommend?

youtube.com/watch?v=hHu3jw8ZkOM&list=OLAK5uy_mkQEbTtz8yU_rC69OAOirs_iwfumNj-0A&index=1

James Joyce

opinion discarded.

James Joyce

opinion regarded

James Joyce

I care too much about his works to take his opinions seriously, but I still like to know them

Hell yeah another Howard supporter here

I'll often bust out irl Joyce's quote of "literature is the most spiritual of all the arts."

someone should be regarded because he's Irish and wrote a giant book.

no.

he thinks Joyce's two novels are giant

lol

Interesting stuff, thanks for the effort post, I'll keep this mind. This offers explanation for the discrepancy I posted in the first piece of S.163, where his runtime is almost half(!) of others. Maybe that is the way Liszt intended it to be as well.

Like I said in the previous thread where I mentioned him first, he's not just an excellent pianist and interpreter, but an actual internationally recognised authority on Liszt

Ulysses is 732 pages longer than it should be.

having heard many, many recordings of Elgar's symphonies, I got recommended this one when looking for one with broad tempos, so let's find out how it is

youtube.com/watch?v=ofLdGCxG3rw&list=OLAK5uy_llkNxRHgdajg1w62FDIunXLiiQxDIrjkM&index=1

for reference, Solti takes this movement at 17:45 versus the 20:43 here

classical fans are supposed to be smart, and yet people like you post here

say yes to Joyce, yes to Beethoven, yes to Proust, yes to Mozart, yes to Kafka, yes to Bach, yes to Yeats, yes to Brahms, yes to TS Eliot, yes to Schumann -- you getting it now?

Your brain is 732 times smaller than it should be

classical fans are smart and we don't pretend to like something just because we're told by some self-appointed expert that it's high art.

Joyce is garbage.

I like Prévin with the Royal Philharmonic. For reference he takes 19 minutes and a half on that movement.

we don't pretend to like something just because we're told by some self-appointed expert that it's high art.

Agreed

Joyce is garbage.

Lost me there, bud

Yeah Previn's Elgar is among my top three favorites for sure, just wanted to try a different one that's even slower. A lot of Previn's recordings are among my favorites now that I think about it.

Ulysses? More like Useless

this is like when people say "you're only pretending to like classical." see how silly that is? and yet you're doing the same thing they are

anyway this is my last Anon Babble post for the thread, let's get back on topic please

Ulysses is a load of condescending drivel written by a degenerate Irishman.

ha gotem ur so smrt

sure thing bud

go back to

go back to >>>/dimwit/

I have actually read a large portion of Ulysses, and I can confirm that it is like looking at a turd with a microscope.

I've read it in its entirety a number of times, and can confirm that you're a sad little guy.

I enjoyed inspecting a turd with a microscope.

get help.

Get a hobby other than being an edgy, pointless contrarian; if possible get laid even if you have to pay for it

I put pointless spaces in my posts like I'm on tumblr or some other similarly retarded site.

It makes me feel smart. Please updoot.

Lol what if someone wrote a piece that was all space and no content

I'm not being a contrarian. I seriously find Joyce's pathetic and out of touch attempts at portraying ordinary life to be cringe inducing and nauseating.

Music is an inherently superior artform to literature anyway and the only way LITlets like yourself can cope with that fact is by spewing verbal diarrhea in places where you don't belong.

fuck off and die.

I'm not being a contrarian

Joyce is objectively shit and I will not give in to peer pressure.

Imagine using a fucking youtuber-core basedjak picture like that and expecting to be taken seriously

Imagine posting like some sort of leddit retard putting unnecessary brakes after ever couple sentences

Imagine fucking off and dying

looks like I touched a nerve. maybe try instead?

I will not give in to peer pressure.

lol

looks like I touched a nerve

fuckin lmao

Smetana
youtube.com/watch?v=aN1lugSMiPY&list=OLAK5uy_kJWlk7Kqz1ZW4vot9uR2rw8QemUSaps7s
thank you shlomosister

not /classical/. try >>>/lit instead. it should be more your speed.

can't even do the "not sure" shitposting right

rofllll

I was quite sure. hence why I didn't type "not sure". I will have a word with your carer about your internet access.

no, actually I'm very clever, you don't even know dude, look at how clever my replies are please

lmaof xd

"At every fuck I gave you your shameless tongue came bursting out through your lips and if a gave you a bigger stronger fuck than usual, fat dirty farts came spluttering out of your backside. You had an arse full of farts that night, darling, and I fucked them out of you, big fat fellows, long windy ones, quick little merry cracks and a lot of tiny little naughty farties ending in a long gush from your hole."

- James Joyce

Took you long enough to google his letters to his wife, my tiny, tiny man

the fact that you defend a degenerate Irishman who wrote nothing of real value so aggressively tells me a lot about you.

the fact that

kek lmao xDD

Favorite classical guitar pieces?

it is a fact. post a quote by Joyce to prove he wrote anything of merit.

rofl that makes no fucking sense you moron lol lmao even here have a quote

I wrote anything of merit

-James Joyce
kek fuckin retard kek

I accept your concession.

youtube.com/watch?v=cnvbdv5ofx0

I accept your concession.

lol what a fucking shitclown