Am I the only one that listens to classical?

[Flabbergasped?]

DJing is tough when a chick says she listens to Coldplay/50 cent/whatever kids listen to these days, and I answer that I like Mozart.

So, does anyone else listen extensively to classical, and how do you deal with the social stigma attached to it? My friends are pretty understanding, and I listen to rap, R&B, etc, when I'm around them, but I've been blasting Bach in the parking lot in the past few weeks. =)

 

[backbreaker]

I took an early interest to the Violin when I was in Elementry school, and grew so attached to it, I played it until my senior year of HS. I even played in the Arkansas Youth Sympthony. I was pretty damn good. I can still play, but becuase I don't practice on a regualar basis, I'm no where near the level I was.

With that said, I love classical music. Believe it or not, I don't listen to rap anymore.

you know how you like things, just becuase everyone else around you really likes it, but deep down you really don't? Kinda like sports... you might not like sports, or a particular sport, but you will cheer or whatnot becuase you don't want to be the oddball?

I pretty much stopped listening to rap about 8 months ago for good. IMHO, you are what you do, listen to, hang around.. plus music is supposed to be relaxing/mood setting.. there isn't much of either about rap.

I listen to R&B, but only when I want to get in the mood.. it's great car music as well.

I love classical music however.. I think I am the only person under 40 that actually buys classical CD's.. becuase you'd be hardpressed to download it, becuase no one our age listens to it.

My fav music however is old Jazz and Big Band music. I can sit on my patio (when I had a house, it got broken into so I am in a hotel now, but when I move again here soon) and listen to Big Band music all night long. Every girl.. well woman I talk to is shocked that I like that, but they have to get accustomed to it, or else they are out.

One girl came in my car one day, I am sure it was like a first date or something on the like and turned it from my Jazz CD I had playing, that I had just bought and wanted to listen to, to the local rap radio station (and she was white nevertheless. not that it matters..) She told me "nobody listens to that crap".. needless to say I haven't spoken to her sense, and this was like 8 months ago

 

[Silquee Smoove]

I started listening to Samuel Barber's - "Adagio for Strings" a while back, I have since downloaded parts of his "Sonata Op 26" and have taken a deeper appreciation of his music, he's not on the same level as Mozart or Bach but as far as 20th century composers go, his work still has a lasting legacy to this day.

If anyone else knows of any other good, relatively unknown composers and would like to list some that would add to this thread.

P.S. - Yes, "Adagio for Strings" is the theme to the war movie "Platoon" and I find it insulting that that piece was included in its soundtrack. -Ugh.-

 

[backbreaker]

funny enough, I love pretty much everything by John Williams, even though he is just a film composer. Pretty much any memorable song on a movie, he is the originator behind it.

schindler's list might be the best soundtrack ever made. Hands down the best movie soundtrack.

He's also behind Jarassic Park, Star Wars, ET, Harry Potter, Superman, Jaws, and some other movies, but like I said Schindler's list is unreal.

Also, he has a CD where he plays the gutiar... I don't think it's really HIM playing the guitar, but all of his classic songs are on the guitar. That's a great CD as well. He even plays the godfather on the guitar

 

[backbreaker]

As far as Classic Classical Music, I like Boch and Mozart more than others.. perferrably Mozart.

 

[OfficeSpace]

Classical music was the only music allowed in my house by my parents.. but I prefer rock and rap... thank God for headphones!

 

[Silquee Smoove]

funny enough, I love pretty much everything by John Williams, even though he is just a film composer. Pretty much any memorable song on a movie, he is the originator behind it.

schindler's list might be the best soundtrack ever made. Hands down the best movie soundtrack.

Yup, I've got some of his work too.

I saw an interview he did with 60 Minutes last year right before Episode III came out where he said after watching Schindler's List that he was so moved by it that he felt that he personally, wasn't good enough to compose the soundtrack and wanted to pass on it. Unfortunately for him the director couldn't find another contemporary composer and Williams agreed to do so anyway.

And yes, Williams is talented.

 

[MetalFortress]

DJing is tough when a chick says she listens to Coldplay/50 cent/whatever kids listen to these days, and I answer that I like Mozart.

It's only tough if you make it tough. Quirks like that make it EASIER because it creates something interesting about you. Do you come off as being proud to like classical, or whimpering about it?

 

[Chillisauce]

Mayb try diversifying your taste in music abit too? Not many people i know only like one style. Personally i'm a big fan of classical (mainly mozart, alot of operah and spanish guitar) but i also like EDM, some heavy metal, and abit of rock.

If its hindering your PU efforts you could try not asking about their taste in music too, solves the problem without you having to lie.

 

[spider_007]

My fav music however is old Jazz

I will never admit to it

 

[cant think of a user name]

Classical music is really good, and despite the fact that most people you meet do not appreciate its value, it is nothing that should get in the way of your relationship with the person.

I really don't get the whole 'stigma' associated with whatever music people listen to; there are gems in every genre, people should just accept that instead of judging others based on their playlist.

However I find that most people are fairly accepting of musical tastes... most people listen to a lot of different genres anyway, I mean, it'll be impossible to stereotype someone as a "pot-smoking techno hippie prep gangsta rocker teenybopping bandnerd" based on their playlist. No they are just normal people.

There is a point to all of this - if people have a problem with your musical taste.... then you have to ask yourself: are those the types of people you really want to hang out with? Now I'm not saying to ditch everyone who doesn't agree with you, but like in backbreaker's example where the woman was being utterly inconsiderate and obnoxious... well you know what you gotta do.

 

[Visceral]

Nope. I've always listened to Classical music; I've never liked anything else. When I was a little kid, I didn't like music with words in it, and Classical music was the only thing like that on the radio. I listened to it for most of my life simply because it was familiar, but over the years I've developed an understanding and appreciation of it.

I prefer the music of the Baroque Era - Bach, Vivaldi, etc. The way it's written and performed make it much more interesting to me than most of what came before and after.

People have always found my taste in music unusual, but I've been lucky to have avoided anyone who hated me because I didn't listen to whatever they listened to, or thought that I was a snob or gay. Why do people always assume that everything you say and do is some kind of statement?

 

[blackbirdbeatle]

I have hundreds of classical records but hen again I was raised with parents that adored the stuff. I had to take royal conservatory for the Piano. Now it's worth it because nothing brings together a room more than when you sit down and play something from Rachmaninoff.

 

[insomniac]

DJing is tough when a chick says she listens to Coldplay/50 cent/whatever kids listen to these days, and I answer that I like Mozart.

So, does anyone else listen extensively to classical, and how do you deal with the social stigma attached to it? My friends are pretty understanding, and I listen to rap, R&B, etc, when I'm around them, but I've been blasting Bach in the parking lot in the past few weeks. =)

I'm into it, most people aren't...it's my own personal thing. I've tried to expose others, but it takes some patience to get into it, and you need to find a genre you like.

I wasn't into it until I found a certain niche that really appealed to me, that being late 19th/early 20th century Romantic. I had been seeing a girl who was a music major and we saw a performance of Das Lied von der Erde by Mahler. Immediately after that I bought everything by Mahler and expanded out to similar composers like R. Strauss, Brahms, Wagner, and so on.

If you like John Williams then check out Richard Strauss. There are a few parts of the Superman soundtrack that were either copied or closely resemble parts of Death and Transiguration and Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001 theme song).

 

[Nocturnal]

John Williams is an incredible composer, although some of his material sounds overly similar to me (took me a while listening to the superman theme to realize it wasn't star wars).

My favorites are the violin concertos of Mendelssohn and Max Bruch. Vivaldi's four seasons, Bach's cello suites, and Segovia are also great.

As for a social stigma you speak of, I haven't encountered much trouble with it. If someone does it like it, what is the problem? No one's forcing you to deal with those people.

 

[wavejams007]

I listen to calssical. I love music of almost all types. classical, instramental help me to concentrate.

 

[Taviii]

Anyone know some links where I can download classical music?

 

[SELF-MASTERY]

Guys I listen to mostly symphonic band music and brassy contemporary-classic music-----no bach, but I will play some Wagner

and I am unashamed to say that I LOVE concert band (middle school level) composer James swearingin.

Aaron Copland is the greatest american composer---- fanfare for the common man

Binaural Beats- Brain Wave Controlling

 

[S1NN3R]

Anyone know some links where I can download classical music?

The only thing I could suggest is LimeWire or Ares (Ares being free is the one to go for). And to anyone who would whine about me "stealing" music, I'm only DLing to make backup copies of CDs I've already purchased, there's my disclaimer.


Anyhoo, classical is great. I have some "in the Hall of the Mountain King" going on right now, with Carmina Burana; O Fortuna queued up right behind it. I listen to all sorts of music, but there are times when I need to unwind or whatever. Fiddy sure doesn't help with that, let me tell you. Classical speaks to you more, it has more of the soul of every person who went into it's making, the composer, the conductor, the players, everyone. Many of those pieces took months and in some cases years, just to be written. Find a modern day artist who spends more than a few days writing a song. G'head. Try.

You can compare classical style music to modern stuff like you would a painting to a picture. Nothing wrong with pictures, but even if you don't like the painting, it's still just infinitely more impressive than the pic, if just for the work that went into it.

Then there are times that I need a classical house remix.

 

[gmillar]

I managed to find some Beethoven and Mozart on Bittorrent. There's also alot of classical stuff on Limewire (which is free, I don't know why someone said it wasn't). My personal favourite, however, is Carlos Santana. His stuff is, for the most part, instrumental. I know you're all thinking of the guy who played guitar for Michelle Branch and that dumbass from Nickelback, but his old stuff is pure world music, awesome beats, with phenomenal electric guitar. Samba Pa Ti is one of my favourite songs ever.