What got you into classical music?

[Rod]

Originally posted by urtextmeister:

Rod,

I am shocked to hear about your rock past (present?). How long ago was it that you discovered Beethoven and Handel and do you see contradictions between these two great composers and AC/DC or do you see similarities?

As individuals AC/DC are down to earth no nonsense characters in a genre full of bull****. The music is simply and strictly constructed along classical lines, almost sonata form-like (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo 'cadenza' using the earlier material, recap, coda), with strong anthemic emphasis. Music with a very electric intensity, tasteful by this genres standards.



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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Pastorali]

Originally posted by Rod:
As individuals AC/DC are down to earth no nonsense characters in a genre full of bull****. The music is simply and strictly constructed along classical lines, almost sonata form-like (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo 'cadenza' using the earlier material, recap, coda), with strong anthemic emphasis. Music with a very electric intensity, tasteful by this genres standards.

...and all that on authentic instruments...

[Gurn Blanston]

[Joy]

Well, anyone who knows me knows this story of how I got "hooked on classics" especially Beethoven. When I was around six years old and watching the Olympics somewhere during the celebrations they always play Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" theme, still do 'til today, I had to know who this person was who composed this, I was so enthralled by it. Some time later I bought all 9 Symphonies and got hooked even more and never looked back to quote a few of the members here and it just took off from there. Then my appetite started to grow even more so I began reading all the biographies and books I could get my hands on to learn more about him and his music. Still am actually. It's a never ending learning process.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Beyond Within]

After watching Clockwork orange when I was 16 I wanted to hear that music I heard in the movie.

I bought Beethovens 9th, and the obsession never stopped.

[qsx85j4c]

Originally posted by AndrewMyers:

I dunno, these 'kids today' have got it too easy with their MP3s and their CD burners! I recently bought a complete set of the 32 piano sonatas and it was really the culmination of 10 years of seeking them all out them individually in concerts or on radio. It was a fantastic reward finally to have them all in one place.

I wonder if the sense of adventure would have been the same if I'd just burnt the lot in one go from a friend? Have we lost an essential sense of struggle now we have our easy access digital everything? Like there's no need to turn up to a concert on time, or even sit still and concentrate for 70 minutes when you can pause a CD whenever you need to?

That is an interesting point you make. In some ways I disagree -- if you want to get the latest, say, Limp Bizkit or Oukast, then you can get what you're looking for with minimal effort. On the other hand, there's a lot of crap to wade through to find worthwhile and/or non-mainstream things.

Just try to download a piece of classical music -- you'll be lucky to find the whole thing, or attribution to the correct performers, or even the correct composer (the people who rip classical mp3s apparently think 60% of classical music was composed by Mozart and the rest by Bach and Beethoven). (Of course, I haven't really attempted to download much of anything since I graduated from school and got a real job and some money and could thus afford to buy cds, so possibly things have changed.)

On the other hand, digital media and the internet do make certain things easy. It's much easier to find a specific recording since you don't have to depend on your local record stores. The other thing that is great about it is the ability to find out about and hear things you might not otherwise and sample things that you might not buy if you couldn't listen first. In addition to classical music, I listen to lots of indie rock, which I can't hear on the radio (I live in Washington DC, which has about the worst collection of stations imaginable) so I appreciate the the opportunity to go to a band's website and hear some of their music and order their cds if I like them. I think that when you find something you really like this way, that you would never have otherwise been aware of, it provides something of a sense of adventure.

Anyway, to return to the original topic, I was introduced to classical music through learning piano. When I got to the point where I could actually play some serious music, I found it useful and enjoyable to listen to recordings of pieces for piano, and then I went on from there.