One More Comment on Comparing Recordings

One more general comment on comparing recordings of symphonies:

If you go too long listening to only one recording of a favorite symphony, too often that recording becomes the default standard by which you judge all other recordings. It was arbitrary that it happened to be the first version you bought, and yet after several listens your mind starts to make that performance into the definitive performance. As a result, other equally well-performed versions sound less appealing only because they are different.

Try to avoid this. You want your ear to stay flexible and non-judgmental, so don't wait too long before branching out and getting alternate versions of your classical music favorites. You don't need twelve versions of each work--two or three at most will do. Every version you hear, as long as it's above a certain baseline level of performance quality, will teach you something new about your favorite symphony.

We'll be back shortly with our comparison of Brahms Symphony #1.

Comments

How to Start Your Own Classical Music Collection

I'm often asked by people who are new to classical music for a list of CDs or key symphonies that I think are the best choices to start off a new classical music collection. What are ideal symphonies or works that can help you get started getting to know classical music? Today I'm going to attempt to answer this question, and I'll provide you with a brief list of works that can form the foundation of a great collection of important classical music. Keep in mind that whenever one reviews any type of list like this, invariably one can complain that a given work was left off the list ("where's Chopin? or Mahler?"), or even that some work was left on the list ("ugh, Beethoven's 5th again?"). This list is in no way meant to be exhaustive. It is merely a starting point for the novice listener. If you purchase recordings of these works and listen to each and every one of them, you'll have a great head start on your journey towards getting to know c...

About This Blog

This blog is the result of a New Year's resolution. I have a good-sized collection of classical music at home that has been collecting dust for years, and I wanted to make 2008 the year that I actually made an effort to listen to it. All of it. I have a reasonably thorough musical education, having played trumpet throughout elementary, middle and high school. I was also principal trumpet in my university wind ensemble for two years before I gave up playing. I also have some basic grounding in music theory and composition, although it's gone quite stale through years of disuse. However, there is much that I don't know about classical music, and one of the purposes of this blog is to force me, in a public forum no less, to learn and share thoughts about the discs in my collection as I listen to them. I'll also link to music selections on Amazon.com that are applicable to the composer or composition I'm featuring. Occasionally I'll write posts that hopefully will ...

How to "Learn" a Piece of Classical Music

Classical music isn't meant to be listened to once and then forgotten. It is complex and many-layered music that is meant to be learned. But what does it even mean to "learn" a work of classical music? If you were in a music appreciation class, you might be subjected to a "needle drop" test, where the teacher plays a brief section of a symphony for the class. If you can name the symphony and the composer (and likely some other trivia like the year it was written or the year the composer was born or died), congratulations! You've "learned" that piece. A professional musician would say he "learned" a classical music work once he can play--and play well, hopefully--all of the relevant parts in that symphony assigned to his instrument. But for those of us who are not in class or working as pro musicians, those of us with busy lives and a limited amount of time to dedicate to classical music, I'll submit a more entry-level definition of w...

101 Classical Music CDs

Search This Blog