Sung composers that you just "don't get"

[X. Trapnel]

Alberto--I saw the results of BBC poll and found it peculiar. Was there any explanatory apparatus? Admittedly, I don't find any of these works, apart from the Rossini, boring (why Bruckner 7 and not 5?). One may not like these works, find the aesthetic alienating (I think this is what they meant by "boring") but most are of unflagging inspiration/invention. Simply to state these non-preferences in a journalistic context with no discussion is intellectually lazy.

[eschiss1]

Re symphonic transcriptions, it was in hearing a performance of a recording of Bernstein's string orchestra performance of Beethoven's opus 131 that was my first clue how much I later came to treasure the work, if I make any sense. (But then, I became obsessed with classical music in part and most proximately because of my exposure to Borodin's music in Wright and Forrest's Kismet; if that sort of thing was their purpose they succeeded.)

[semloh]

This is an endless source of interesting exchanges, and I think they are very relevant for a group championing works which lie outside the approved canon.
Haydn - my first real delight in classical music; his wit and endless invention tell us a lot about the man, I think.
Mozart - my second, attracted by the tinge of sadness that I feel inhabits much of his work (especially the pieces that seem most jolly!) and marks him out from Haydn.
Yes, I know what you mean about Bach being cerebral - I am 'mathematical', though not by profession, and my sister is a maths professor.... but I really believe that the magic of a lot of Bach is that it can bring the cerebral and the emotional together - joy in life, sadness at its loss, and so on, they're all there in Bach - though as a non-religious person I do find it more difficult to appreciate that side of his work.
The comments about Bruckner have been interesting - one very long symphony with 10 movements? For me the jury is still out.
X-Trapnel - re the Ives - yes those are so good!
Eschiss1 - you have prompted me to seek out that Bernstein recording - sounds like just what I need to help me appreciate the Op.131.
Allan - It's hilarious really - Tchaik 1 is exactly what I had in mind (plus those dreadful plinky-plonk ballet scores!) as I assembled my disparinging comments. Sorry. But, isn't musical taste a wonderful thing!

Lastly, I would hate to parade the results of the Australian music polls - very little beyond what you'd expect - except perhaps a rise of appreciation for Mahler and VW (most Aussies say "who?" when you mention his name). Although votes on popularity don't have much meaning I think they do influence the radio programmers and CD producers! Thank goodness we haven't had a "most boring" poll.

[fuhred]

Bartok! For the most part (3rd Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra excepted) ugly, ugly, excruciating drivel.

[TerraEpon]

I don't like Bartok either....excepting, oddly enough, his pedagogical pieces which usually have a catchy little tune or something else.

[reineckeforever]

This is a very nice topic,
Rossini, all his music apart 2 or 3 operas (Barbiere di Siviglia, italiana in Algeri...maybe Cenerentola)
Guglielmo Tell is without end and I am not able to understand all the instrumental music, expecially piano music.
Many people suggest there are treasures of sublime irony and amazing inventions...I don't find anything of this...also empty pedantry and self-congratulation...irony for me are for example Hummel's rondò op.11, Haydn piano sonatas, Saint-Saens piano concertos...ecc
In this way the direct Rossini's son is Eric Satie..
Mozart piano sonatas....a little boring compared with Haydn's ones
then Mahler symphonies...but i like very much all the lieder
For finding pleasure in Reger's music (I love it all) I can suggest clarinet quintet
for Busoni I agree completely with Alan
and for a lot of contemporary music, mi humble advice can be to try with live concerts...i consider music only for ears...but for contemporary music, the visual side can help. (Le marteau sans maitre for example)
bye, Andrea

[Christopher]

Several people have mentioned Reger in this string as a composer who is widely enjoyed.  To be honest, I had never even heard of him until joining this site 6 months ago!  Is he really that popular and there has been a gaping hole in my knowledge?  Or is he more of an unsung?  And what should I listen to first by him?

[Alan Howe]

Reger: start, perhaps, with the the Four Böcklin Tone Poems.

[Alan Howe]

Allan - It's hilarious really - Tchaik 1 is exactly what I had in mind (plus those dreadful plinky-plonk ballet scores!) as I assembled my disparinging comments. Sorry. But, isn't musical taste a wonderful thing!

I meant Tchaikovsky's beautiful 1st Symphony in case there was any misunderstanding...

[Alan Howe]

Bartok! For the most part (3rd Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra excepted) ugly, ugly, excruciating drivel.

Or the composer of some of the most rhythmically exciting music ever composed? And the glorious VC2...

[TerraEpon]

Many people suggest there are treasures of sublime irony and amazing inventions...I don't find anything of this...also empty pedantry and self-congratulation...irony for me are for example Hummel's rondò op.11, Haydn piano sonatas, Saint-Saens piano concertos...ecc

Why do you have to 'understand' the music to enjoy it? Much of Rossini's piano music is pleasant and tuneful and it doesn't aim to be anything else. It doesn't make sense that, on THIS forum especially, people just dismiss something like that.

[reineckeforever]

hi Terra Epon,
I'm sorry for my basic english. With "I am not able to understand" I meant only that I don't find beauty in much of Rossini's music. Simply, I don't find it neither pleasant neither tuneful. I think that on this topic we can post our opinions. Bye, Andrea

[X. Trapnel]

Terra Epon--One person's "pleasant" is another person's "inspid." The question of taste is unaswerable.

[fuhred]

Reger: start, perhaps, with the the Four Böcklin Tone Poems.

...and definitely the Mozart Variations. A really fun work.

[fuhred]

Bartok! For the most part (3rd Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra excepted) ugly, ugly, excruciating drivel.

Or the composer of some of the most rhythmically exciting music ever composed? And the glorious VC2...

Rhythmically exciting, maybe... but attach that to a harmonic sense that sounds like someone scraping their fingernails down a blackboard covered in rancid dromedary giblets - well, you get the idea (lol)