Classical Music: Brilliant or Boring?

by The Big Question Posted 2012/01/24 19:20:53

Related Topics: Music, Classical Music, Boring

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581 votes
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	Brilliant	481 votes	83%
	Boring	100 votes	17%

+32

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MorningPanda 2012/01/24 22:15:29

Brilliant

+9
Lady Gaga has nothing on Mozart
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More polls by The Big Question

The River Rat 2012/01/25 01:59:20

Boring

For the most part, meh.

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Lt. Fred to The Riv... 2012/01/25 02:46:15

+1
As with everyone, most of it isn't very good.

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Lt. Fred to Lt. Fred 2012/01/25 02:57:22

Damn, typo. I meant everyTHING. Most of everything is bad. Most sports players are boring. Most books are poor. Most art isn't worth looking at. Only a small part of anything is worth anything.

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Theresa 2012/01/25 01:56:28

Brilliant

+3

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Adam W to Theresa 2012/01/25 02:28:08

+3
That's one of my favorites. Horowitz plays it brilliantly there.

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Theresa to Adam W 2012/02/26 03:32:59

+1
indeed he does!!

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☆Snapefangirl☆ 2012/01/25 01:47:44

Brilliant

Beautiful:

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Adam W to ☆Snapef... 2012/01/25 02:35:35

+1
If you like that Beethoven 5th, you should hear Kleiber's. It's amazingly intense, and considered by many to be the best recording of the work.

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Franklin to Adam W 2012/01/25 04:29:16

listening to real music on the net is sad its almost painful ...knowing what it should sound and "feel" like and having shallow digital noise in place of the proper rise and fall of the notes ...I can see why young people don't like it- fact is they have never heard it !

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Franklin to ☆Snapef... 2012/01/25 04:25:58

+2
the 5th is the original "head banger metal " its sad to see it so flat and hollow in this dingy digital world ! ...I understand now why the youth are so dull and blank- O to have live to see something as mighty as an Ocean trapped in tine bottle ....

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Adam W to Franklin 2012/01/25 04:44:03

+1
I know, the sound quality is horrible. Unfortunately, it's not always convenient to go to concerts. The Kleiber 5th has bad sound, because it is an old recording, 70s, I believe. Deutsche Gramophone is not known for their sound quality, especially their early digital recordings. EMI, Decca, and BIS, are all much better, although not comparable to a live performance. Still, I put quality of performance over sound quality. I would rather listen to a dusty old Richter recording, than a new Lang Lang performance. Likewise, I'd rather have Furtwängler, than Dudamel.

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Franklin to Adam W 2012/01/25 04:53:14

+1
I have great ears , it is a blessing in an edit studio when I am getting paid , the rest of the time its a curse ...I never realized how much I would miss

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TheMadChameleon 2012/01/25 01:45:50

Boring

I'm biased. I had to play piano for 13 years and was not allowed to quit, so that was a 24th of my day gone, minimum, every day. Not practicing piano was a worse crime in my parents' books than if I had dropped out of school. I grew to hate it pretty quickly, and from there started hating the music I played, and all other classical music with it. Maybe once I have had a few more years without playing classical music I will grow to appreciate it more.

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davidl to TheMadC... 2012/01/25 03:37:03

I feel your pain. One of the happiest days of my life was finding out that my piano teacher had a heart attack when I was taking lessons at 14, and had to retire. Who knows? You might get lucky ;)

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TheMadC... to davidl 2012/01/25 13:57:37

+1
Well, I quit as soon as I got into college, and thank goodness there's nothing anyone could do about that.

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davidl to TheMadC... 2012/01/25 15:05:48

But of course, you'll make your kids take lessons. We did, but let them quit after one year. They're better off for taking the lessons, but one year is plenty if they just don't have the desire

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TheMadC... to davidl 2012/01/25 17:17:13

I've got time to figure that out. I'd probably want any future kids to try some sort of musical instrument, but not necessarily piano if they don't like the idea.

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davidl to TheMadC... 2012/01/25 17:51:42

Agreed, actually my daughter played coronet, as her middle school had band. Son did piano because he didn't want to do band. Just something, anything, is much better then nothing.

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Franklin to TheMadC... 2012/01/25 04:57:14

call me in a year or two and I will treat you to a concert ...nothing comes close to the feeling of letting the waves of raw music wash over you , but it has to be live - and you have to have an open mind LOL

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Alvin 2012/01/25 01:39:49

Brilliant

+3
Some of the most emotionally touching music ever written is considered classical. and not just a golden oldie.

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214scifi 2012/01/25 01:34:23

Brilliant

+4
I LOVE CLASSICAL MUSIC! It never goes out of style.

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Franklin to 214scifi 2012/01/25 04:30:27

after a few hundred years is safe to make that call ! - LOL but you really have to hear it live or at least on tape ...not digital !

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214scifi to Franklin 2012/01/26 01:39:33

I used to go to the symphony in the park back in the early 80s. When I lived in Kansas. And a lot of the classical music I listened to early on was on cassette and vinyl.

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Jada_Ringo 2012/01/25 01:32:48

Brilliant

+2
I know many musicians for I go to a performing arts high school, I have even worked with them on musicals. They are amazing. They are just truly amazing.

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Hula girl - Friends not Fol... 2012/01/25 01:32:19

Brilliant

+1
Many rock and roll songs were once classical pieces so those musicians were way ahead of their times.

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NPC 2012/01/25 01:31:46

Brilliant

+2
Wagner, Mozart, Beethoven and Handel are some of my favoirtes.

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Lordy :D 2012/01/25 01:29:15

Boring

Classical Music is just not my thing.

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Poet003 2012/01/25 01:25:01

Brilliant

+2
I am not a music major .I love how classical music inspires me to think abstract and symbolist but then I love how blues/country/folk/rock n roll create a more exspressionist mood as a whole for me.Jazz seems more of a blend of exspressionist and symbolist/abstract.Yet there is a movement in classical music called exspressionist that began in the early 20th century.I dont know much about it though.

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Lt. Fred to Poet003 2012/01/25 02:47:48

+2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Rite of Spring, by Stravinsky. The best example of expressionism.

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Mark In Irvine 2012/01/25 01:15:36 (edited)

Brilliant

+3
are you kidding TBQ? Mozart. Beethoven, Stravinsky, Debussy, Strauss, Britten, Barber, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Copeland, Gershwin ... you must not do much listening to music, TBQ!!!

give the soundtrack to the movie "Amadeus" a listen ... and give it some time to sink in ... there are some melodies that are as close to heaven as can be ...

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Lt. Fred to Mark In... 2012/01/25 02:48:24

+1
Not to mention Mahler or Shostakovich (my favourites). Or Sibelius.

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Mark In... to Lt. Fred 2012/01/25 18:48:21

True, though I haven't quite caught Mahler-fever yet ... I am a fan of Shostakovich though, but not too familiar with Sibelius.

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Adam W 2012/01/25 01:14:49

Brilliant

+3
Classical music is some of the most intricate music composed. It is varied, spanning centuries, and covers many emotions. Really, it is superior, at least technically, to most music today. Not objectively superior, but one can't argue it isn't more complex. Contrary to popular belief, there are more composers than Mozart, and Beethoven. If you've only heard "Fur Elise", and still call it a "song", you have no right to say you "love classical music." They were great composers, but if they don't move you, there are many others to try. I love classical, and still prefer many composers over Mozart. There is so much beautiful, exiting classical music to be explored, and I only wish people would look into it, for their own sake. Not "to make you smarter" (it won't make you smarter on any subject but classical music, it's not magic), or any other convoluted reason, but to enjoy the music. Unfortunately, it has a stigma of being "boring" or "stuffy" which is false. With youtube, you have no excuse to say it's too "high class" for you. Nearly all classical can be found there, for free. I'll now post some less known, although not obscure classical works, that are not boring, and are not all the same. Please listen.

Here is the piece that really got me started in classical music, by Ra...

Classical music is some of the most intricate music composed. It is varied, spanning centuries, and covers many emotions. Really, it is superior, at least technically, to most music today. Not objectively superior, but one can't argue it isn't more complex. Contrary to popular belief, there are more composers than Mozart, and Beethoven. If you've only heard "Fur Elise", and still call it a "song", you have no right to say you "love classical music." They were great composers, but if they don't move you, there are many others to try. I love classical, and still prefer many composers over Mozart. There is so much beautiful, exiting classical music to be explored, and I only wish people would look into it, for their own sake. Not "to make you smarter" (it won't make you smarter on any subject but classical music, it's not magic), or any other convoluted reason, but to enjoy the music. Unfortunately, it has a stigma of being "boring" or "stuffy" which is false. With youtube, you have no excuse to say it's too "high class" for you. Nearly all classical can be found there, for free. I'll now post some less known, although not obscure classical works, that are not boring, and are not all the same. Please listen.

Here is the piece that really got me started in classical music, by Rachmaninoff:

Now, tell me this is boring! It's by Shostakovich

Now, how about Liszt?

You've probably all heard this one, and it's not boring, it's by Grieg.

And finally, Finlandia, with an incredibly exhilarating opening. By Sibelius.

So, you see, classical is not boring! It is full of music, waiting to be discovered. It is not dead, it is thriving, if only you would look. It is an incredibly fulfilling experience. But please ,watch the videos, and decide for yourself.
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Zervur 2012/01/25 01:01:39

Brilliant

+3
There is, of course, boring classical music too.

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Adam W to Zervur 2012/01/25 01:27:20

+2
Of course. Joachim Raff always puts me to sleep. Or at least his 7th symphony does.

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Lt. Fred to Zervur 2012/01/25 02:48:57

+1
Nearly everything written after 1950 is terrible.

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Adam W to Lt. Fred 2012/01/25 02:57:27 (edited)

Not everything. There was classical being composed after then. Like Shostakovich, Hovhaness, Stravinsky, Copland, etc. Of course there was also other great music then too. Obviously, not all good music is classical, there is plenty of good non classical, composed after 1950, and before. Listening to only one genre, or time period, is limiting yourself musically.

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Lt. Fred to Adam W 2012/01/25 03:02:19 (edited)

Only a little Shosta (though it's absolutely top notch). Stravinsky had entirely given in to Serialism. Copeland is pretty much a jazz composer, and I have never heard of Hovhaness.

The overwhelming classical community had given in to serialism and all the rest, destroying worthwhile composition. If classical musicians ever want to write anything with the slightest bit of artistic merit, they have to totally reject modernism.

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Adam W to Lt. Fred 2012/01/25 03:23:57

Hovhaness is an American composer, who is completely tonal, and generally not too weird. Not all of his works are top notch, but his 2nd symphony "Mysterious Mountain" and "Mount Saint Helens" Symphony, are both good. At least I would recommend them.

I would say Copland fall more into nationalism, (like Grieg, in a way) although I agree, modernism, serialism, and minimalism all seem odd to me. They are all techniques focused on what's new, and "exact" not what sounds good. You can have modern "absolute music" like Sibelius's 4th Symphony, and not completely go crazy with mathematics, form, and atonality. I wish more composers today would try that, because I'm sure they'd have a market.

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Lt. Fred to Adam W 2012/01/25 03:36:37

+1
Minimalism makes nice film musak. That's the best I can say about it.

Yeah. Sibelius was brilliant. Too bad he didn't write a note for half his life.

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