Five Pieces you would be happy to never hear again

[Petrushka]

Sorry Petrushka I resurrected it for one non negative purpose. How one performance of recording might change one’s mind for the better.

It remains the case that there is music one either does not get , dislikes or has been over exposed to . I am not sure why this is deplorable or why pious responses are required ?

There is indeed music one does not get etc. I'm no different to anyone else in that respect but I honestly fail to see why it is of any interest to others. Furthermore, there are some on this thread who appear to take a delight in parading their ignorance and prejudices almost as if those who love the music which they 'loathe' are the ones in the wrong. I find language such as that to describe one's feelings towards the very subject this entire Forum is based on to be frankly baffling if not downright odd. The difference in language between 'don't get' or 'overexposed' and 'loathing' is very telling.

Not blaming you for resurrecting the thread for the reason stated but just a pity others feel the need to pile on with gleeful rubbishing of great music. Sad.

[Bella Kemp]

I have to say I find this thread fascinating, if a little melancholy at times. Why do we 'get' some works and yet others leave us cold (or lukewarm)? From a young age it has intrigued me to think that whilst I may be moved to tears by a piece of music, the person next to me feels nothing and yet I desperately want that person to be as affected as I am and sometimes can be genuinely hurt when they show not the slightest interest. Perhaps that is why I became a teacher.

[cloughie]

There is indeed music one does not get etc. I'm no different to anyone else in that respect but I honestly fail to see why it is of any interest to others. Furthermore, there are some on this thread who appear to take a delight in parading their ignorance and prejudices almost as if those who love the music which they 'loathe' are the ones in the wrong. I find language such as that to describe one's feelings towards the very subject this entire Forum is based on to be frankly baffling if not downright odd. The difference in language between 'don't get' or 'overexposed' and 'loathing' is very telling.

Not blaming you for resurrecting the thread for the reason stated but just a pity others feel the need to pile on with gleeful rubbishing of great music. Sad.

So if you can’t say anything good about .... , then don’t say anything at all. BUT there are more than 50 shades of negativity/positivity in most things and airing them is not a sin! But then I don’t get concerned if anyone/no-one agrees with my views.

[Serial_Apologist]

I have to say I find this thread fascinating, if a little melancholy at times. Why do we 'get' some works and yet others leave us cold (or lukewarm)? From a young age it has intrigued me to think that whilst I may be moved to tears by a piece of music, the person next to me feels nothing and yet I desperately want that person to be as affected as I am and sometimes can be genuinely hurt when they show not the slightest interest. Perhaps that is why I became a teacher.

It probably boils down to temperament - and yet temperament need not necessarily be a barrier to feeling kinship with people who don't share our own taste peculiarities. Vinteuil does not share my love for what I call music that swoons - ultra-romantic music by the likes of Szymanowsky, Bax or Suk in which very strong emotions drive form and expand idiom - nor my passion for the "English pastoralists", preferring (I rather think) music from the Baroque and Classical eras in which (to me) everything is finally too neatly tied up together, like in a formal garden. And yet we seem to get on pretty well if our occasional exchanges on matters other than music here are to go by. In reality, in my case I have to admit that my appreciating music in this way is probably a kind of surrogate activity for my own aversion to taking personal risks - my poor adaptability for the everyday practical and even ethical complexities of the world of today, which I can vicariously indulge by way of how others, according to my twisted viewpoint, have articulated their irreconcileable difficulties in these areas.

My problems in forming close relationships probably stem in large part from the above ill-fitting combination. I did, once, have a long relationship with a woman who shared all my musical and other tastes, which ended when family circumstances on both sides forced us apart geographically, unfortunately.

[Bella Kemp]

Wonderfully-said Serial_Apologist. I quite like an overgrown garden myself, but am not averse to a little formality: my own backyard might be described as mostly Janacek, with a couple of Baroque corners.
On another point, I don't quite understand those who grumble about this thread - or, for that matter, any thread they dislike. If you don't care for the topic then don't click on it. It seems to me that looking at something you know will displease is a bit like going to a restaurant, deliberately ordering something you don't like on the menu and then complaining to the management that it's yukky. But never mind: it all adds spice.

[cloughie]

Wonderfully-said Serial_Apologist. I quite like an overgrown garden myself, but am not averse to a little formality: my own backyard might be described as mostly Janacek, with a couple of Baroque corners.
On another point, I don't quite understand those who grumble about this thread - or, for that matter, any thread they dislike. If you don't care for the topic then don't click on it. It seems to me that looking at something you know will displease is a bit like going to a restaurant, deliberately ordering something you don't like on the menu and then complaining to the management that it's yukky. But never mind: it all adds spice.

[silvestrione]

Wonderfully-said Serial_Apologist. I quite like an overgrown garden myself, but am not averse to a little formality: my own backyard might be described as mostly Janacek, with a couple of Baroque corners.
On another point, I don't quite understand those who grumble about this thread - or, for that matter, any thread they dislike. If you don't care for the topic then don't click on it. It seems to me that looking at something you know will displease is a bit like going to a restaurant, deliberately ordering something you don't like on the menu and then complaining to the management that it's yukky. But never mind: it all adds spice.

Quite. I only came to this thread when I found to my dismay really that, after attending a Rattle concert, and then listening to a relay of the Violin Concerto, I finally concluded that I just did not 'get' Berg, and got it off my chest here!

[Parry1912]

Ignoring all the arguments for or against this thread, I have decided to give my list. I have avoided the “anything by such-and-such” approach (although I could easily have done that!) and am including works by composers whose music I usually enjoy. In no particular order:

1. Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 ‘Kaddish’
2. Bloch: America, an Epic Rhapsody
3. Hanson: A Song of Democracy
4. L. Mozart: Toy Symphony
5. Berio: Sinfonia

[Quarky]

On another point, I don't quite understand those who grumble about this thread - or, for that matter, any thread they dislike. If you don't care for the topic then don't click on it. It seems to me that looking at something you know will displease is a bit like going to a restaurant, deliberately ordering something you don't like on the menu and then complaining to the management that it's yukky. But never mind: it all adds spice.

Can't agree with that. The forumites that dislike this thread have put their point clearly and accurately , IMV. I often read unpromising threads, e.g. Golijov, in the hope that some musical wisdom may emerge, in which case it did from Bryn and Ardcarp.

It's very easy to complain about a piece of music, but much more difficult to praise an item, giving some cogent reasons for liking it.

5 pieces? More like 5000 for me. But I'm not complaining!

[Barbirollians]

Wonderfully-said Serial_Apologist. I quite like an overgrown garden myself, but am not averse to a little formality: my own backyard might be described as mostly Janacek, with a couple of Baroque corners.
On another point, I don't quite understand those who grumble about this thread - or, for that matter, any thread they dislike. If you don't care for the topic then don't click on it. It seems to me that looking at something you know will displease is a bit like going to a restaurant, deliberately ordering something you don't like on the menu and then complaining to the management that it's yukky. But never mind: it all adds spice.

Who would have thought Alan Bennett could have led to such grumpiness