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Who listens to classical music? And what are your favorite pieces?


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The video of Nigel Kennedy (oops, sorry, 'Kennedy') reminds me of standing in a long 'Control/Hand Baggage' queue at Gatwick about 20 years ago.

There was a shorter, presumably 'Priority' queue. two rows away.

 

Nigel Kennedy approached the Control man with one piece of hand baggage and his violin case.

I kid you not - the man looked Nigel up and down, clearly regarded the assorted pins and piercings in his face with distaste and suspicion, (or was it his Aston Villa scarf he objected to?) pointed to the violin case and said (Yes, you've guessed it!): "What have you got in there?"

 

I've never been a great Kennedy fan, but Nigel much endeared himself to me that day. He looked at the guy, gave him a great grin, his shoulders shaking, and said: "It's me fiddle, mate."

The guy told him to open the case. "Me fiddle," Nigel repeated laughing. "It's me livin', mate."

 

Just then a very anxious young lady airport official rushed up and saved the Control man from further embarrassment and shame.

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I'm listening to the classical music station on radio at the moment. I was trying to find a channel that played something I could listen too, but all were playing that ghastly noise that young people like, so classical music was the only refuge. It's good to know that amidst the audio garbage there is something that is real music.

I guess when my generation passes they'll stop for lack of an audience though.

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  • 1 year later...
41 minutes ago, murphybridget said:

This is literally a piano itself.

Only took 2 years to give me that piece of information, thanks. 555

An accordion is the squeeze box part, which can have a piano keyboard, hence Piano Accordion, or just buttons when it is, you guessed it, a Button Accordion. Cheers.

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I enjoy many but for me it’s Vivaldi’s four seasons . Recently listened to it while driving my car through a snowy country setting back in farangland and it was amazing  ! Until I reached NYC and it’s traffic and drivers , then I have to switch over to punk rock or death metal to fit in with the other drivers 😜

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On 2/12/2024 at 2:34 PM, KannikaP said:

Only took 2 years to give me that piece of information, thanks. 555

An accordion is the squeeze box part, which can have a piano keyboard, hence Piano Accordion, or just buttons when it is, you guessed it, a Button Accordion. Cheers.

Thanks for clarifying the distinction between Piano and Button Accordions. It's important to understand the different types of accordions and their unique features. Keep the music flowing!

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On 1/29/2022 at 6:19 PM, Real Name Hidden said:

I really miss the free concert in the park by the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra.  Another victim of covid, they would start off every show with the William Tell Overture.

 

Otherwise, I enjoy Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Bizet, and Strauss.  I think this is my favorite composition.

 

 

Ah, the William Tell Overture!

Did you know that if you can listen to this without thinking of The Lone Ranger you can count yourself an intellectual.

 

For me Opera, particularly Italian, Verdi and Puccini. All time favourites the Grand March from Aida ( to open my funeral!) and the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves!

https://youtu.be/pLxBgAQBhQ8?si=k0UL-ImLrv75u_6_

Edited by herfiehandbag
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6 hours ago, still kicking said:

Are the Beatles classical?

Yesterday, Elenor Rigby, She's Laving Home, For No-one, all have string quartet backing.

Paul McCartney  songs of course

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One of my favorite pieces is Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures of an Exhibition. Written in 1874 for piano, however the 1922 adaption for orchestra by Maurice Revel remains the most popular.

The piece is inspired by the paintings of Viktor Hartmann who was also an architect and designer and friend of Mussorgsky. In fact Hartmann gave Mussorgsky a couple of paintings which were to become the early inspiration for his piano suite in 10 movements.

When Hartmann died in 1873 at the age of 39, the music and art critic Vladimir Stasov organised an exhibition of 400 of his works, to which Mussorgsky lent his 2 paintings.

Wandering through the exhibition at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg Mussorgsky was taken by the sheer variety of the images and wrote the 10 part piece in 3 weeks. Regrettably most of Hartmann's pictures have now been lost.

Despite scoring the piece in 1874, it wasn't until five years after his death in 1881 that his friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov published the works, admittedly with a number of errors and omissions. 

It was a further 50 years before the works were 'officially published' as intended by Mussorgsky. 

Sir Henry Wood wrote an adaption in 1915 which was recorded onto 78, however he banned the playing of it after hearing Revel's version a number of years later.

To date the biggest selling version is the 1979 version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Enjoy: -

Original version.

https://youtu.be/rH_Rsl7fjok?feature=shared

 

Ravel's 1922 Orchestration.

 

And if you fancy a bit of Prog Rock, then :

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Beethoven is #1 for me.  All of him, but especially Symphonies #3, 5, 7, and #9.  And all the piano concertos and much much more.

My all time favourite is the Piano Concerto #4.

 

 

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