My 19 year old nephew loves electronic music, the more complicated and atmospheric the better with big dynamic swings.
The first time I played him the very limited number of classical stuff I have he immediately got it and could see how there were the same things he liked being used in both genres to create drama etc.
He’s now sending me classical recommendations as well as synth-wave ones. So I guess this just confirms listen with your own ears and you’ll find your own way as an approach that’s as good as any other.
It really is a large tree with many branches. Solo violin or chamber music can be very accessible but many of the great orchestrations are masterclasses in emotional expression. Like any art sometimes (Not always) a little reading can help bring out some context and depth that adds to enjoyment
Thanks for that Mick. I think I’ll stick with what I have at the moment though, to get a bit of a feel for what I like, before plundering your collection any further.
There’s so much content that is easy to be overwhelmed, and just skim the surface. I would suggest choosing a small number of pieces, 3 is a good call, and just get to know those. Read the notes, look them up on Wikipedia etc, and give it time.
Is that still what they make folks do for O-level (soz, GCSE now …) ?
Handel: smallish part of Messiah (half a dozen movements maybe ?)
Haydn: Quartet Op 76 no 2 1st movement (I liked the 2nd movement more)
Elgar: Serenade for Strings (I liked his Introduction and Allegro for Strings more)
in my case.
EDIT: Maybe we also had to do part of Mozart: Marriage of Figaro ? I can’t remember much about it, but the school organised a trip down to Covent Garden to see it and I can’t imagine they’d have done that if there wasn’t some reason.
That’s a good example of why you should read around the music. Allegri’s Miserere was only sung at the Sistine Chapel, and copies of the music were not allowed. Then Mozart was taken to hear it as a boy, got home and wrote the whole thing out from memory. Fortunately the Pope summoned him for a pat on the back, rather then excommunication.
Yeah, I think that and the fact that at the time at least it had the highest note sung was what at least prompted me to try and listen to it. And the fact that it was only sung by men pre Mozart’s involvement, which required the use of castrati for the highest bits. Quite a lot compacted into a single piece of music really.
There’s at least one recording floating round of the last castrati. It’s on a wax cylinder, so misses out on a goodly chunk of what gives them their characteristic sound sadly, but we’re talking that sort of time frame for them still being used for choral work.
A few years ago I was in the same position as you and as @Rob998 said, I found the world of classical music intimidating, so much so I kept putting off listening to it as I just didn’t know where to start, and lacked even the basic knowledge (e.g. no idea what the difference between a sonata, concerto, symphony was, etc.).
I stumbled across this book which frankly is amazing and became my bible. It has pretty much everything you need to step in to the world. It explains all the terms/jargon clearly, gives you an interesting intro to each of the major composers and their key works, and suggests ‘best’ versions to listen to. I would actually get this edition specifically not the later ones, as they simplified it and left out the recommendations I think. I’d definitely give it a go - you can just dip in and out as you wish and it’s an easy, informative read.
