Thread: Classical music?

I'm a huge fan of the Bach Cello Suites - I find it both haunting and enlivening all at the same time.

I'm also a big fan of orchestral pieces, since seeing the symphony in person and the concussion wave of the first note of a piece just hits me like a mack truck.

Mark

I love classical music. On weekends and evenings when I'm not having to play army, I do what I consider to be my real job; I'm a violin maker. Vivaldi for me is hands-down the best composer ever (ancient or contemporary), and not due to the overplayed, and played-out Four Seasons. Bach works for me, as do Beethoven, Mahler, Straus and Debussy, to name but a few. I still can't wrap my head around Wagner, though. Tried and tried again, and nothing...

=-O violin MAKER!? whatdya know i'm a violin PLAYER hahaha. I've listened to classical since i was a twinkle in my dad's eye. Everywhere we went it was classical music wrr101.1fm :-) Most people listen to classical to fall asleep, i listen to keep me awake. The things you can think up while listening to classical is amazing! I enjoy pretty much every composser but I can't resist Smetena, Mussorgsky, Saint-Saens, or Dvorak. I too lean towards the more Romantic era composers with big full orchestras. I'm probably different though because i have to listen to it loud, and be surrounded by it. I love it!

i can't get around Wagner either....or modernism as a whole :-\

The two composers I would happily never listen to again are Webern and Stravinsky. I had to write essays on them at university and I cannot really stand the sound any more!
I was always interested in instrument making. I still have an electric cello in mind although it has been on the plans for ten years. I did get round to making a fretless bass - but that is technically easier than the cello I think. Maybe I will get round to it when I retire.... in 35 years!

Technically I like Bach, but musically it does nothing for me. One of those things for me that is beautifully complex, but not beautiful.

HA! Thanks, Nicky. When I was going through the short list of composers I didn't even think of Stravinsky. Now you made me think of him. Thanks a lot. NOw I have to go find something else to think about so I can stop. Dammit. And now Phillip Glass just popped into my head. All right, that it! NO MORE, please no more.

Originally Posted by nickyspaghetti

The two composers I would happily never listen to again are Webern and Stravinsky. I had to write essays on them at university and I cannot really stand the sound any more!
I was always interested in instrument making. I still have an electric cello in mind although it has been on the plans for ten years. I did get round to making a fretless bass - but that is technically easier than the cello I think. Maybe I will get round to it when I retire.... in 35 years!

Are you thinking of making one spefically electric (shallow body, no f-holes, etc.) or making a traditional one and electrifying it?

I was planning a body maybe with some chambers routed into it rather than a regular body. I played a regular cello with pickups in a band and was really sick of feedback and swore to make one but I no longer play in a band and so it is not such an issue for me. To be honest the main reason I didn't was that I am not great at electrics and I knew that it would probably need significant equalisation built in. I suppose I could have just hauled round a rack mounted one!
Anyhow now I rarely play cello and I don't have the time or tools to think about it for a while.

Nice links nicky - thanks. Horowitz is a great pianist. I like Richter too - they say he could span an octave between his thumb and index finger.....

I enjoy all classical music really. It is probably a bit passé but I do love Mozart. I just took up the piano again after 20 years and have finally finished the last variation of "twinkle twinkle" - it is such a hoot to play!! Mozart is/was the man!

Here is one of my all time favourites. Richter absolutely nails it in my opinion - you can feel the music seething..... Chopin is a smart-ass. :

YouTube - Richter plays Chopin Revolutionary Etude