Re: One of the best introductions to classical mus... - Page 4

Greeneyedlady21 · ‎01-06-2015

@suzyQ3 That sounds so pretty. I love some classical music. Pachabel's Canon, Vivaldi's Four Seasons, a few others. And anything played on cello by Yo Yo Ma.

Nessun Dorma is opera, but I love that too. And I'm no fan at all of opera.

"This isn't a Wednesday night, this is New Year's Eve"

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

Rachmaninoff, Grieg, Dubussey. When we were young, my mom introduced us to them and told us the stories the music represented, especially Grieg's Peer Gynt. Also Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. We were mesmerized by this music and their stories. I have an abiding love of classical music and have broadened my library, but these are still my favorites. However, they make me very melancholy these days.

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

on the bay · ‎03-09-2010

@itsmetoo-my favorite of all time-

Handel's Messiah by the Morman Tabernacle Choir,

then there's the always popular Tschaikovsky's Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Suite-makes you want to dance and sing!

"If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things you never knew. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? can you paint with all the colors of the wind?"

house_cat · ‎03-09-2010

I started by listening to the classical stations on Satelite Radio. I'd keep track of the ones I liked, so I could start my own library. It turns out that Mozart is the one that most speaks to my soul. I listen to it in my car, mostly, because to DH, "classical" music is 70s rock and roll, which I wasn't a big fan of in the 70s and am even less now. The thing I most enjoy about classical music is the fact that it has no lyrics - it clears my mind, almost like meditation. I'd like to take a music appreciation class at the local college to learn more about it.

~ house cat ~

violann · ‎03-10-2010

@Mominohio- It is my guess that none of your music teachers ever taught you to use your voice well, and if you were taught by a capable, qualified vocal music teacher a major percentage of people can sing quite beautifully.

When I was teaching classroom music I used to refuse to acknowledge that there was such a thing as being “tone deaf” and only recently I have grudgingly agreed that there is a minuscule percentage of the general population that is physiologically unable to match pitch.

If ANYONE wants to sing/improve a singing voice, seek out a good church choir director or college level voice teacher, and don’t ever let anyone convince you that you can’t sing.

violann · ‎03-10-2010

@suzyQ3 wrote:
I not only love classical music; I need it. :-)

I listen and interpret what it does to me and for me. Some make me weep, others make me think about my life, but there are some examples that remind me how amazing it is to be alive, to have hope in dark times, to love, and to laugh.

Enjoy Dvorak Slavonic dances No.4

A major favorite of mine too! Have you ever listened to the Dvorak Legendes? Also lovely, a little dreamier, less spirited.

songbird · ‎03-21-2010

I never listened to it until I met my husband. He grew up with it because his mom was an opera singer. His father was a concert pianist. That's how they met. He started me with Mozart. His music is very melodic, simple and most people that don't like Classical music end up listening to his music. I never liked Beethoven or any "Romantic"period music. I found him all power and no melody. The only romantic music I listen to is Tchaikovsky who grew up listening to Mozart Which I find ironic. So I just stick to Mozart and Haydn and the other "Classical period" Classical music. I like some opera and have seen a couple of them. I would recommend anyone to see an Opera performance instead of listening to it first. It's more theatre then anything else. Only afterwards listening to the music. You will appreciate it later.

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@violann wrote:
@suzyQ3 wrote:
I not only love classical music; I need it. :-)

I listen and interpret what it does to me and for me. Some make me weep, others make me think about my life, but there are some examples that remind me how amazing it is to be alive, to have hope in dark times, to love, and to laugh.

Enjoy Dvorak Slavonic dances No.4
A major favorite of mine too! Have you ever listened to the Dvorak Legendes? Also lovely, a little dreamier, less spirited.

@violann, do you have one of the Legendes that you particularly like so that I can google it?

Yes, my choice here is spirited. I think that is especially the reason it sticks in my mind among so many other classical works, although I appreciate others for what they evoke. It's just that special something in his dance No.4 that can make me think that everything will be okay. :-)

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

@itsmetoo

Went into my CD library and pulled for your consideration. Used a number of these while teaching. Would ask that you give consideration to the choral arts, as this category is often times not acknowledged. Notice is given simply to orchestral pieces, string quartets and the like.

If I were to recommend one choral "anything" to which you could devote time, it would absolutely be the "Lacrimosa" by Mozart, from his Requiem. Lacrimosa will tear at your heart and soul. Refrain from listening to it on your computer. You need to immerse yourself in the sound of it through a CD recording.

Here are recs:

1. The Greatest Choral Show on Earth, Decca

2. Famous Overtures, Gallery of Classical Music, Platinum Disc Corporation

3. Schuman, Beethoven, Brahms, Sounds of Excellence, Platinum Disc Corporation

4. Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Handel, Platinum Disc Corporation

5. Wagner, The Masterpiece Collection, Unison Music

6. Handel, Water Music, Fireworks Music, Trio Sonata in E Major, Supraphonet

Though the labels sound pretty generic, the orchestras and choirs are all notable.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@violann wrote:
@Mominohio- It is my guess that none of your music teachers ever taught you to use your voice well, and if you were taught by a capable, qualified vocal music teacher a major percentage of people can sing quite beautifully.
When I was teaching classroom music I used to refuse to acknowledge that there was such a thing as being “tone deaf” and only recently I have grudgingly agreed that there is a minuscule percentage of the general population that is physiologically unable to match pitch.
If ANYONE wants to sing/improve a singing voice, seek out a good church choir director or college level voice teacher, and don’t ever let anyone convince you that you can’t sing.

You are correct. I was part of the end of the boomer generation, and classes were very large in our public schools back then. There really wasn't any voice instruction done in music classes. That would have been something one would have to pay for in private lessons, and my parents didn't have the funds for such things, nor I the interest.

We certainly did sing a lot in elementary school music, and there was jr. high choir that I remember as being mandatory, but no real instruction going on that I recall.