# Anyone else enjoy listening to classical music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635 "2017-10-23T15:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/21 "2017-10-24T00:29:13Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Listening to a 3.5 hour opera is only for the hard-core… Eh. I took Little Pianola to hear _The Marriage of Figaro_, over three hours, when she was 12, and she was rapt throughout, even though she’s not particularly musical. Wolfgang was a magic man. See _Amadeus._. Serious Mozart people scoff at it (“He was NOT A MORON!!!”), but it’s a good gateway drug for newbies (“Hey, this is some DAMN GOOD STUFF, for a moron!”). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/22 "2017-10-24T00:37:31Z")
Also convinced the Ukulele Lady to come to the Met and take in _Parsifal_ with me two years ago…over FIVE hours, which was her idea of Hell on earth. But between Wagner’s arguably finest music and the amazeballs story, she has never complained to me afterward. Kundry is the most fascinating yet enigmatic female character in all of opera. (First person who quotes Mark Twain on Wagner gets a fat lip, got it, buster?) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/23 "2017-10-24T04:09:56Z")
Search for videos of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts and his Omnibus shows. He’s always engaging. If they’re a little too advanced for you, feel free to leave them for later. Start perhaps with his “Anatomy of a Symphony Orchestra” [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj0m0S5_oyg) or “What is classical music?” (part 1 of 4) [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ1b6hSUosU) I’ll keep musical recommendations to a minimum, because there are lots already posted here and in the other classical threads. Franz Lehar, an aria (with English subtitles) from his operetta “Giuditta” sung by Anna Netrebko (I guarantee you’ll like it :D): “Meine lippen, sie kussen so heiss” [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S66-wbpzALs) Wagner, overture to his opera _Tannhäuser_ [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-KayEaK-es) It’s not as sophisticated as some other music, perhaps. But recently, I’ve been impressed by how dramatic and effective it is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/24 "2017-10-24T13:11:20Z")
My favorites are Mussorgsky and Holst. I don’t know much _about_ them, but I know what I like. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/25 "2017-10-24T13:55:36Z")
I’m like you - I love listening to it but I don’t know much about it. And frankly, I don’t feel the need to study it. I just want to listen and enjoy. This time of year is when I find myself turning on the classical radio channel in the car. It just seems to match the weather. ---
**Author:** ![flip-68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@flip-68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flip-68)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/26 "2017-10-24T16:04:55Z")
Felix Mendelssohn : The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) - Overture try this - it’s the most amazing and exhilarating piece of music I’ve ever heard ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/27 "2017-10-24T17:17:24Z")
Wagner’s music isn’t as bad as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/28 "2017-10-24T17:49:34Z")
I was brought up on classical music, so to me it’s the default option. I like baroque, but I also like [Schubert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52r9_bXWBw), [Brahms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdRZaruVQU0) and [Sibelius](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qiAMOiygs) - and here’s a grand version of Sibelius’s [Finlandia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE0RbPsC9uE) from the Last Night of the Proms last month If you want to explore and understand more, you might get some interesting insights from [BBC Radio 3](https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3) and their[podcasts](https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio3/category/music) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/29 "2017-10-24T18:14:44Z")
A not so bad place to start is [here.](http://oyc.yale.edu/music/musi-112/lecture-1) Yale lecture series on how to appreciate classical music. Not everything in there is all that useful, but he does go into what you should be listening for, how to pick out melodies and harmonies, and all that. He plays music and annotates it…“And here come the tubas…”, “now we go to 4-4 time”, “Here comes a key change.” to give you a better idea of what is going on. Plus he plays quite a bit of music in the class that I found enjoyable, and turned me on to other composers I hadn’t heard of before. Had never heard of Mussorgsky prior to watching, now ‘pictures at an exhibition’ is on a loop in my house many days, for some reason, it is great cleaning music. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/30 "2017-10-24T21:16:19Z")
Doubt this is actually opera, despite the title, obviously more of a rock rendition, but works for me: [Nightwish "The Phantom Of The Opera" with lyrics - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VgLKXD-BoY) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/31 "2017-10-24T23:35:14Z")
> [@flip-68](#): > > Felix Mendelssohn : The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) - Overture . . . I keep seeing this limping crow… ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/32 "2017-10-25T01:26:10Z")
AGGGGHHHH! Don’t listen to Art Music as a background to vacuuming. LISTEN to it. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/33 "2017-10-25T05:35:15Z")
I love classical music with one big exception: I can’t stand violin solos. To me the violin was meant to be played wioth 99 other violins, some cellos and violas and maybe a banjo or ukeklele or two. NOT by itself. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/34 "2017-10-25T06:11:22Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > I love classical music with one big exception: I can’t stand violin solos. To me the violin was meant to be played wioth 99 other violins, some cellos and violas and maybe a banjo or ukeklele or two. NOT by itself. “Damned scraping” is what my wife and I call most solo violin pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/35 "2017-10-25T07:01:08Z")
I got started late, and now it is most of what I listen to. My goal is to listen to all of Beethoven, even Wellington’s Victory, and I’m almost there. My issue is that I’m almost totally tone deaf. I found that Robert Greenberg’s Great Course CDs very helpful. I’ve listened to the Orchestral Music Series and the Beethoven Symphony Series, and it helped me understand a lot more of what was going on. I might get the String Quartet series some day if the price goes down. I’m getting better. I can now listen to PDQ Bach and get at least some of the jokes. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/36 "2017-10-25T07:48:26Z")
> [@Zetetic\_Skeptic](#): > > Would love to talk about it with whoever out here in SDMB land also enjoys classical music. I love it. I listen to classical music every day. I don’t enjoy opera, with the exceptions of certain arias and chorals. What I would like to recommend you to listen to is preclassical opera. In preclassical opera (and choirs), the human voice functions very much like any other instrument, and the effect is a sublime one in my opinion. I’m not a Christian, or a believer for that matter, but I’m mesmerized by ancient church choral music. I listen to a wide range of classical music. Of the nine favorite stations on my Internet radio, five play classical music - the others play jazz, rock, English news and French news. I change them depending on my mood and/or the type of work I perform on the computer. Plus, for many reasons the best way to deal with traffic jam is to listen to classical music. ---
**Author:** ![flip-68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@flip-68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flip-68)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/37 "2017-10-25T10:43:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I keep seeing this limping crow… that’s where I first heard it too 🙂 - my dad had a recording of the music which he dug out for me when he knew I liked it. also, OP Bill Baily did a great introduction to classical music. he’s a comedian and multi-instrumentalist ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/38 "2017-10-25T11:09:35Z")
I don’t just listen to classical music; I perform it (as part of a choir admittedly, but a world-class calibre one). It’s a wonderful thing. I already mentioned the Dorling Kindersley on Classical Music book in the other thread, so instead I’ll mention the [Ten Pieces project](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/51w6NrlYC6xm88J90T4Dq5M/watch-the-ten-pieces-films) the BBC has been doing to introduce young children to classical repertoire. It’s all done in short snippets (either excerpts or just short pieces), it’s intended to be introductory rather than comprehensive and of course the language will be aimed at schoolchildren rather than adults, but nonetheless it’s as good a place to begin as any AND they work in new works as well as the old warhorses of the repertoire. They’ve recently released the info for Ten Pieces III, but you can see the full films (or individual sections) for the previous two at the above link as well. Have a watch/listen - if you can get past not being the intended audience, you might find a few pieces that intrigue you enough to explore further. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/39 "2017-10-25T12:04:35Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > In preclassical opera (and choirs), the human voice functions very much like any other instrument, and the effect is a sublime one in my opinion. I’m not a Christian, or a believer for that matter, but I’m mesmerized by ancient church choral music. I agree. I’m also not a Christian, but I enjoy pre-modern choral church music. Two things about listening to it, though. - Modern listeners are not used to listening to several complex overlapping voice parts, so it’s a bit of an acquired taste. - And it makes a big difference if you can follow the words, which are usually in Latin. The words matter, and it makes a difference if they are sung with meaning, and listened to with understanding. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635/40 "2017-10-25T12:18:51Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I like J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Gershwin, and Aaron Copland. My favorite piece is “Sheep May Safely Graze”, preferably as a solo piano piece. Nice. Andrew Rangell played this (the Egon Petri piano adaptation) on his wonderful CD “A Recital of Intimate Works.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-enjoy-listening-to-classical-music/799635.md?page=3)