First Einaudi. I agree with you he is sappy and gooey, way too sweet for my tastes, yet I applaud his striving for a return to melodiousness, a seemingly lost art. Somewhat simplistic.
Beethoven was not pop even in his time. He was shocking and revolutionary. He started being a Mozart-Haydn mold kind of composer then suddenly broke out into his full greatness with Symphony #3 in E flat, Eroica. It is normal and not a Beethoven invention to repeat certain musical phrases. In technical terms it is called recapitulation. Where Beethoven departed from the mold was he did so with interesting twists and never simply to repeat a catchy tune. Beethoven's tunes are never exactly singable. Beethoven did not give hoot about tunefulness. He wove a tapestry of themes and ideas some quite shocking, like a ton of bricks even. Take his Grosse Fugue opus 133. Even his publisher was stunned. Originally the last movement of opus 130 quartet. Breitkopf und Hartel made him remove it and publish it as a stand alone work. The more one explores Beethoven the more one realizes his towering genius. He is every bit the genius he was billed to be.
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Originally posted by scacchipazzowell im hopelessly outgunned on this, i will retreat for a while and brush up on my classical music. i do listen to classical quiet a lot, usually my wife plays classic radio in the car, but i never pay attention to who's who really, i generally dislike the majority of it, which puts me off. then i remind my self that if i listen to a normal generic radio station a usually hate 95% of whats played.
First Einaudi. I agree with you he is sappy and gooey, way too sweet for my tastes, yet I applaud his striving for a return to melodiousness, a seemingly lost art. Somewhat simplistic.
Beethoven was not pop even in his time. He was shocking and revolutionary. He started being a Mozart-Haydn mold kind of composer then suddenly broke out into his full ...[text shortened]... us. He is every bit the genius he was billed to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s0Mp7LFI-k
Don't give up hope. There are myriad jewels to be explored/enjoyed/discovered. Some if not most classical radio is trite, but then again broadcasting is never free and bills need to be paid. I am sure you must have a decent library system in the UK. Pick a composer. Select from his various works in each category. Start with the easier ones and work up to the difficult ones. For example Beethoven's early piano sonatas, all lovely, accessible, tuneful without being sappy, brilliant and enjoyable. Repeated listening primes your ears. Once steeped in the sauce of easier works then you work up to a massive, complex work such as the late piano sonatas like #29 Hammerklavier(opus 106), a wondrous work, lengthy, yet thoroughly enjoyable. Opus 11 in C minor #32 is much more difficult, but also extraordinarily rewarding. Do the same with the string quartets. Opus 18 contains six works. My favorite is #3 simply because it was my first introduction to Beethoven's quartets.
Then move on to the middle quartets, the Razumovsky set of three of which #8(in order of Beethoven's twelve) in E minor is the most accessible. Here's a clip for comparison in the master's evolution: Much more difficult, but worthy of listening to repeatedly until the serene joy of music invades your mind!
If you have any questions about which works to explore just fire off a question I am more than happy to oblige.
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Originally posted by scacchipazzothanks for the suggestions. im sure ill get into it more at some point.
Don't give up hope. There are myriad jewels to be explored/enjoyed/discovered. Some if not most classical radio is trite, but then again broadcasting is never free and bills need to be paid. I am sure you must have a decent library system in the UK. Pick a composer. Select from his various works in each category. Start with the easier ones and work up t ...[text shortened]... ions about which works to explore just fire off a question I am more than happy to oblige.