# Classical Music Lovers...Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006 "2000-12-04T20:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 11, 2000, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/41 "2000-12-11T20:09:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SqrlCub \* > **On those types of recordings Uke, they never quite get the dynamics right. It is either mf or p but no in between.** Really? It was my understanding that the Welte-Mignon apparatus… (GOD, I love saying that! “Professor! Engage the WELTE-MIGNON APPARATUS!”) …reproduced accurately any piano-playing that was programmed into it, including dynamics. It left ordinary piano rolls simply nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/42 "2000-12-12T11:27:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Guinistasia_ > Ah…the Russians…but you forgot Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin! You got me with RK (though I can’t say I’d miss Borodin much). As for the Big T, I can’t agree (_especially_ the 1812) > [@](#): > > It starts out with an Orthodox hymn praying for God to watch over them as they go into battle. I know the traditional hymn well: _O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thy inheritance, grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and preserve Thy dwelling through Thy cross_ Definitely the best part of 1812; I’ll take a simple version of the above over the 15+ minutes of gratuitous bombast that T tacks on. I don’t mind Swan Lake or even the Nutcracker (tis the season after all), but I find the symphonies ponderous and the piano stuff boring–all in all, IMHO he’s flavorless, predictable, and incredibly overrated compared to his counterparts. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Maeglin_ > ArchiveGuy, you’re speaking my language. Prokofiev is pure genius. Tchaik is a traitor to his Russian roots, and with few exceptions, a shallow crowd-pleaser…You did overlook Scriabin, though. He is definitely worth listening to. I agree on both counts, though I’ll admit my Scriabin is very rusty–something I should remedy given the other recs posted. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/43 "2000-12-12T15:55:03Z")
Neither disagreeing with nor adding me-toos to any of the above, I would add: Ferde Grofe–Grand Canyon Suite Richard Strauss–Also sprach zarathustra Edvard Gried–Peer Gynt Suite Gustav Mahler–Symphony of a Thousand Stomo Yamashta–Sea and Sky Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff–Russian Easter Overture Antonio Vivaldi–Gloria Richard Wagner–Tannhauser Overture Anton Dvorak–Symphony 9 “From a New World” OK, one “me too”: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherazade. Ideally with Leo Stokowski conducting. The Phase 4 stereo recording he did around 1964, to be specific. And big big speakers hooked to a good amp…oh man… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/44 "2000-12-12T16:03:02Z")
Well, to each his own, I suppose. I like Tchaikovsky. But then, I can’t stand Handel, especially Water Music. Or Baroque, except for maybe Canon in D or Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire. BTW, didn’t Prokofiev study under RK? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/45 "2000-12-12T16:11:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, to each his own, I suppose. I like Tchaikovsky. But then, I can’t stand Handel, especially Water Music. Or Baroque, except for maybe Canon in D or Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire. > > BTW, didn’t Prokofiev study under RK? Can’t stand Handel? Don’t like _Baroque_? Aieeee! \ And to make a long story short, Prokifiev did study with Rimsky-Korsakov. He was the “bad boy” of Russian composition students, and ultimately parodied and rejected much of what he learned from his superiors. Definitely part of his charm. MR ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/46 "2000-12-12T16:18:12Z")
Probably because my father always listens to Water Music. The Messiah is OKAY, but it just doesn’t do it for me. I like the romance and the 20th century composers better. I don’t know where Strauss fits in though… It’s funny-when I was little, I hated having to listen to Peter and the Wolf in music class. Now I like it, but not as much as Romeo and Juliet. (Prokofiev’s R&J, though) ---
**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:** [December 12, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/47 "2000-12-12T18:08:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maeglin \* > \*\*Can’t stand Handel? Don’t like _Baroque_? > > Aieeee! \\*\* Yeah, really. Try the Chandos Anthems. And the Concerti Grossi. If you’re only judging him on the Water Music and the Messiah, it’s like judging Beethoven on the basis of his Fifth Symphony. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/48 "2000-12-12T18:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*…I don’t know where Strauss fits in though… > \*\* Which Strauss? Johann of the waltzes? (late 18002, IIRC) (Blue Danube, Roses of the South, Artist’s Life, Voices of Spring, et al. or Richard of the concert works and operas (early 20th C, IIRC)- (Thus Spake Zarathustra, Der Rosenkavalier [mmmmmmmmmmmmm!], Don Quixote, et al) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/49 "2000-12-12T19:06:44Z")
> [@](#): > > And the Concerti Grossi. Oh, that reminds me: Ernest Bloch–Concerti Grossi ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2000, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006/50 "2000-12-12T20:07:22Z")
Of the waltzes, defintely. Johann the Younger. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-lovers-help/44006.md?page=2)