Posted on 08/27/2023 11:44:40 AM PDT by karpov
In the summer of 1968, a friend and I went to see the blockbuster movie of the year—2001: A Space Odyssey. We settled into our seats and the theater went dark. The film began. And then we heard the most astounding music. It grabbed me like no movie music ever had.
There was more magnificent music in 2001, some of which I recognized, such as “The Blue Danube,” but it was the opening that stuck in my mind. What was that music and where did it come from?
Many others were wondering the same thing.
A year or two later, I found out that 2001 opened with the beginning of a tone poem by Richard Strauss entitled Also Sprach Zarathustra. I learned the name of the work because I had taken to listening to Milwaukee’s radio station WFMR, which broadcasts nothing but classical music. Through that station, I’d discovered a tremendous world of sound, ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach through 20th-century greats like Dmitri Shostakovich. After hearing that 2001 music one evening, I had to buy a recording of that magnificent work by Strauss.
As a youngster, I had heard a variety of music on radio and records—pop songs, Broadway show tunes, jazz. It was okay listening, but nothing to make me want to hear it again and again. Nothing that made me tune out everything else so I could savor the music.
A few years before my movie encounter with Strauss, I made a discovery that changed my life. One day my mother asked me to put on some nice music before dinner, so I went to the big stereo cabinet and found an LP that looked unusual. The cover read: “Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff—London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux.”
(Excerpt) Read more at firstthings.com ...
I like that movie with Ravel - Bolero, with the sound off. :)
I also learned that if you ever hear someone playing “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms”, on a piano.....run for it!
Same here. I was out driving around Houston on a Saturday morning. I tuned my FM dial all the way to the left. It picked up the TV channel audio, so I am listening to Bugs Bunny cartoons without the visuals. That was when I figured out that those cartoons were sneaking in classical music for the kiddos.
That was part of the model of those. Music for the parents, and to claim it’s got “culture”, cartoon for the kids. And of course all the music was in the public domain, never underestimate the lure of free music. Because of that multiple generations got their introduction to classical from Bugs and the gang.
Baroque is for everyone.
The rest is an acquired taste.
Playing classical music on the piano is fun and challenging; it’s how I was trained. I admit I don’t particularly enjoy listening to it, though.
The old hymns from the 19th, and early 20th, centuries, and old-time gospel is what I prefer.
The place to start with Wagner is with the overtures. Once they grow on you (and they will), you can then start exploring the rest. I would suggest Das Rheingold (first of the Ring cycle). It took years for me to truly appreciate all the full operas.
I used to play that number. Had the parts for the bass and drums, too. Then one day I woke up and didn't like flute music that much anymore. Or my flautist girlfriend.
Bolling wrote some interesting suites for guitar as well as violin and another piece for two pianos. Another for piano and orchestra...
It sort of falls under the category of "Jazzical". Chick Corea's Piano Concerto, Brubeck's "Brandenburg Gate", Bowfire's "Father Fugue", Templeton's "Bach Goes to Town", Ellington's "River Suite". Gershwin...
I shall endeavor to try again. I tried Rossini’s Barbershop today.
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