RE: (western) classical music discussion
March 22, 2016 at 9:10 am
(This post was last modified: March 22, 2016 at 9:19 am by I_am_not_mafia.)
(November 2, 2015 at 7:34 pm)JesusHChrist Wrote: You're missing out Min. There are many masters and master works in the 20th century.
Just gotta stretch those ears!
Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Bartok, Copland, Scriabin for starters. Prokofiev's 2nd and 3rd piano concertos are awesome, especially if you are pianist. The 3rd is quite romantic even. I can't imagine a musical world without what 20th century composers have brought to the table. Of course, much of it is angry and dissonant. I like it as it befits my bitter atheist soul and atheist rage! The symphonies and string quarters of Shostakovitch! The piano works of Ives, Benjamin Lees! All of the Bartok piano concerti, the solo piano music, the string quartets, the orchestral works. So much...
I like my pre-1900 music as much as any one, but there are many gems after that date as well.
This is a fun piece from Rachmaninoff. Aggressive, but not dissonant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFMNhx2-VDE
Most of the classical I listen to is from the 20th century. I find stuff beforehand is either too simplistic, or created by rich people who don't particularly have much to say musically. I'm desperately in need of new composers to listen to. I'll have to check out Bartok, Copland and Scriabin.
I'm completely stuck on the Russian composers who certainly did have a need to express themselves, but I also like a lot of composers from the British isles, such as Vaughan Williams, Bax etc
I look for either complexity with the orchestration to create interesting soundscapes, or the melody. But like CGI special effects, they should be used as a means to express something rather than an attraction in itself. I don't like discordance for the sake of discordance.
You can really see with contemporary pop and rock music for example, that novelty is of utmost importance and I think it's because of how it relates to the brain, the way it functions in relation to imagination and processing. This is why music for young kids can seem more simplistic and boring the older you get. Because you've heard it all before.
Over the centuries classical music has become increasingly complex and sophisticated. I think that a lot of the classical music of the future is being created for film and TV now at the moment because this is how people consume music now rather than go off to watch an orchestra. Consequently this is where all the funding is. John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Bear McCreary, Murray Gold etc.
Take this for example.
