Classical Court

From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here.

Return to Classical Court

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

How did you come by your love of classical music?

136.37.101.134
Posted on October 31, 2020 at 07:23:02
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 I grew up listening to my Dad's vintage hi-fi blasting the German war horses (through his immense DIY speakers/Mc tube amp), but a greater influence, most probably, was hearing my Mom's piano playing of Chopin, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Haydn, etc. I vividly recall her complaining of Schumann that he was unplayable because of his lack of definable rhythm. When I was 13, she applied the "cement:" she took me to a music appreciation course at the U of Minnesota: the instructor was charismatic--- and I've never looked back.

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on October 31, 2020 at 09:23:21
Palustris
Audiophile

Posts: 2408
Location: Cape Cod
Joined: September 12, 2008
 I grew up in the 1950s so music education was part of the elementary school curriculum. The school had a small music classroom. I remember there were small busts of Bach, Beethoven and other composers on the shelves. We listened to recordings of classical music, sang choral music, and learned the recorder.

 

I can get into that a bit later, but, for now, I want to tell you about my imprint version. . . , posted on October 31, 2020 at 13:54:32
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 . . . of one of Schubert's most famous chamber music works:



I expect to be told soon how this is wrong on so many levels and how this early musical experience must have warped me for life! ;-)

 

Same imprint. (NT), posted on October 31, 2020 at 14:39:02
Kal Rubinson
Reviewer

Posts: 12436
Location: New York
Joined: June 5, 2002

 

And it was mono only IIRC! ;-), posted on October 31, 2020 at 15:32:21
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 And I loved that Jules Maidoff cover art on many of the Artia and Parliament LP's from that era!

 

The 15th Schubert Quartet should have been titled, "The More Interesting Maiden." , posted on October 31, 2020 at 18:09:05
jdaniel@jps.net
 I recently downloaded the Doric's Death and the Maiden. On Lp, I listened to the Juilliard's quite a bit.

Best I can say: It's "nice," and tunes are "catchy."

The 15th is so much more interesting, IMHO.

 

Nobody in my house knew about classical music, posted on October 31, 2020 at 19:23:58
pbarach
Audiophile

Posts: 3307
Location: Ohio
Joined: June 22, 2008
 However, my uncle ran a small pop radio station on the west coast, and he loved classical music. He would send us test pressings anmd also new releases that he got from A&R men, but nobody in the house listened to them except me. It was an eclectic and odd collection (e.g., Gary Graffman's first recording of Prokofiev and Schubert, George London singing Songs and Dances of Death). My grandmother managed a charity thrift shop, and she would let me bring home classical records, mostly 78s, which nobody actually would have bought. So I got Koussevitsky's Brahms 4, Toscanini/BBC in Beethoven 4, Flagstad, de Pachmann, Kilenyi's Chopin Etudes, Busch's Eroica on a scratchy Remington LP, and anything else that looked interesting.

All of that got me started, and I also enjoyed attending Cleveland Orchestra children's concerts, an annual event attended by everyone in our public school.

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on October 31, 2020 at 19:38:29
flyingdutchman
Audiophile

Posts: 623
Location: Honolulu
Joined: January 25, 2003
 All on my own. No one in my house listened to classical.

 

IMHO, the 15th is one WEIRD piece! - And, yes, it's my favorite [nt] ;-), posted on November 1, 2020 at 01:55:41
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

My music journey..., posted on November 1, 2020 at 05:44:20
krisjan
Reviewer

Posts: 929
Joined: May 6, 2001
 I grew up a rock n roller. Learned to play guitar when the Beatles hit the scene and became the lead singer in our neighborhood garage band because no one else would sing. Played in rock bands as a teenager - David Bowie and Alice Cooper were influences and I loved the progressive rock music of the 70's like Yes, Genesis and King Crimson (still enjoy that stuff today). As I matured, I joined a wedding band (mainly as lead singer) and did that gig for years. We were very successful - when it came time to say goodbye to that gig I told my band mates that I'd play out our existing contracts which ran 2 years out.

During my time in the wedding band, our bass player suggested I give a listen to Dvorak's 9th Symphony since I'd been showing interest in the classical genre and had acquired a few LP's (Beethoven syms). I was hooked from that point forward and began an intensive LP buying spree of various classical composers including a box set of the Bartok String Quartets by the Julliard Qt which were weird, perplexing and wonderful. By the late 80's I'd pretty much shifted my listening from pop/rock and spent most of my time in classical. I've also spent lots of time as a worship leader in contemporary worship churches from the early 90's until recently when I backed away to let the young 'uns have their time.

I learned classical music by listening and through biographies and books about classical music and the composers as well as acquiring scores. It's been a wonderful (and ongoing) discovery process. I'm blessed to be a reviewer for Fanfare Magazine (and prior to that a reviewer at High Res Audio). But, in my semi-retirement, I've returned to my roots and have put together a one-man Beatles show where I have 90+ Beatles songs from throughout their career in my live repertoire. Gigs have been few and far between during the covid thing but hope to be back actively performing before too long. The link is to my JPGR Tribute YouTube channel.

 

RE: Ditto. The homogenous white milk society of the Suburban '50's., posted on November 1, 2020 at 06:56:32
B. Scarpia
 At age 8 or 9 the question wasn't whether or not you would take music lessons but which instrument. At 10, every kid either played in the school band or sang in the choir.

In Junior High there were uniforms and regional Solo Contests. Many kids dropped off from playing music for sports or lack of talent/interest but many remained. High School orchestras and choirs went on spring break tours. I just missed out (2 years previous) on our orchestra going to Russia but did get to see Ontario one year and the Western New York Wine Country the next.

Classical music was the main influence in my home but Show Tunes were also important. My mother organized and for many years conducted a choral group of the mothers of my elementary school classmates which sang mainly Rodgers and Hammerstein and stayed together well into my college years. My older sister studied piano at the Cleveland Institute and me, Trombone. My parents and their group of friends all had season subscriptions to Severance Hall and the annual Summer visit of The Met.

At age 8 I could name the Principals of the Cleveland Orchestra as easily as the starting nine of the Indians and learned to carry my horn across the handle bars of my Schwinn.

A charmed life.

 

Nothin' wrong with white milk. Or chocolate. Or egg nog. It's all good. nt, posted on November 1, 2020 at 10:06:10
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 d

 

My answer to, "Name all the Beatles":, posted on November 1, 2020 at 14:57:41
John Marks
Manufacturer

Posts: 7807
Location: Peoples' Democratic Republic of R.I.
Joined: April 23, 2000
 Stu Sutcliffe

Pete Best

Richard Starkey

George Harrison

Paul McCartney

John Lennon

NB, George Martin was NOT a Beatle.

 

We had a Bechstein grand at home...., posted on November 1, 2020 at 15:28:47
andy evans
Audiophile

Posts: 4382
Joined: October 20, 2000
 My father was a great music lover and self-taught pianist. He was good enough to struggle through a lot of Bach, which was his usual fare.

I had piano lessons but never learned to sight read properly. I'd persuade my teacher to play my pieces herself to show me what they sounded like, then played them back by ear. My father discovered after a year of lessons that although I could play my pieces well enough, I couldn't actually read them off the page.

He was horrified. Had he been a bit more insightful he would have realised that this was a first step to improvising and playing jazz, which was my career for many years.

My father was a doctor. My brother must have seen him as a doctor and followed in his footsteps. I always though of him as a pianist since that was what seemed to give him the greatest pleasure.

 

Very interesting - I'm the opposite, posted on November 1, 2020 at 15:37:55
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 I dare to say that I'm known (locally) for my sight-reading - but I can't improvise to save my life. Whereas our two kids are mostly improvisers and "play by ear" types (on electric guitars). I remember one time when they were in high school, I bought the complete Doors sheet music volume, so we would "jam" - me reading the music and the two of them improvising guitar parts around it. ;-)

 

Ah, but you missed..., posted on November 1, 2020 at 17:06:26
krisjan
Reviewer

Posts: 929
Joined: May 6, 2001
 Jimmie Nicol who was a Beatle for 2 weeks when Ringo was in the hospital.

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 1, 2020 at 19:51:12
Pat D
Audiophile

Posts: 12506
Location: Fredericton NB
Joined: June 20, 2000
 Preschool, I remember my twin brother and I used to play Bolero over and over on a portable 78 player.

My mother played piano pretty well and practiced everyday when I was young. She liked Franck's Symphony in d (Monteux). My older brother and twin brother learned to sight read music and play instruments. I never was a technical musician, but I ended up being a pretty good baritone--still am.

My father played some classical and jazz records but was pretty tone deaf. He had some Caruso and Gigli records that I remember. My mother specially liked Richard Crooks.

We listened to the Saturday afternoon Metropolitan Opera broadcasts--remember Milton Cross?

So we were well established classical music lovers early on.


-----
"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 1, 2020 at 23:16:53
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
 I was about three years old...... Playing with an old Blaupunkt table radio...... I'd tune to a station, I hear singing..... I tune to another station, I hear talking..... About the fourth or fifth station, I heard some non-vocal music playing quickly and softly...... So I turned the volume up to better hear the soft music...... And then unexpectedly, a loud "BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!!!".... Scared my mom out of her sleep..... Told me to turn the radio down.......

And all the rest is history.

 

RE: We had a Bechstein grand at home...., posted on November 1, 2020 at 23:25:42
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
 There was an old beat-up baby grand piano in my house...... But as a young child I saw it more as a "woodworking project" or "construction project" than a musical instrument........

I removed the rods to the three pedals, and then later didn't know what I did with them. I also tore off the metal "serration" from a box of plastic wrap, and used it as a "saw" on the thing.....

 

RE: favorite -- +1, but the D&tM & the Op 29 are none too shabby. (nt), posted on November 2, 2020 at 00:01:12
goldenthal
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Location: Ontario
Joined: March 28, 2003
 n

 

Absolutely correct! [nt], posted on November 2, 2020 at 01:34:02
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 2, 2020 at 08:22:02
steve.ott@kctcs.edu
Audiophile

Posts: 795
Joined: January 16, 2009
 My mother bought my sister and me an LP with several short excerpts from masterpieces; I forget what the LP was.

 

I got very ill for an entire year, posted on November 2, 2020 at 08:28:44
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 15168
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 Boy, did I love Classical music during then.

Still, when I want peace of mind, I drift to classical music.

 

Yes, but don't you find the last two movements..... , posted on November 2, 2020 at 08:29:17
steve.ott@kctcs.edu
Audiophile

Posts: 795
Joined: January 16, 2009
 are nowhere near as interesting as the first two? Like they belong in another quartet.
Not so with no. 14.

Recordings of 15 that I love: Italiano, Alban Berg, Prazak, Tokyo (1990s RCA),

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 2, 2020 at 09:11:22
oldvinyl
Audiophile

Posts: 967
Location: Bay Area
Joined: June 6, 2000
 As others have mentioned, we learned to play recorder in grade school and had to pick an instrument to learn in third grade. My parents also sent us to piano lessons starting in third grade. While I learned to read music and play, the local piano teachers did not have much advanced skill and did not teach classical music.

In high school I joined the stage band and took jazz piano lessons. When I wanted to know how to improve my technique, the jazz teachers recommended that I study classical piano.

While I studied engineering in college, I also took piano lessons. That's when I learned about the various composers and styles. I also joined the jazz club and we had access to buying records through the club at a steep discount. I stocked up on Beethoven and Chopin recordings along with Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett.

Had I understood the situation better, I would have majored in engineering and minored in music. That way, I could say that I minored in a major that studied majors and minors.

Enjoy the music.

 

Prazak! +1, posted on November 2, 2020 at 11:55:55
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 And, not to answer for jdaniel, but I think the last couple of movements of the quartet are exactly what's needed at the point at which they occur. That main subject of the finale, with its peculiar use of the major and minor modes in the same theme is a real ear-worm for me and always sustains my interest. YMMV and all that.



I also liked the recording by the Panocha Quartet on CD, although I no longer have the physical disc.

 

Wow - I remember something similar when I was recovering from a bad flu, posted on November 2, 2020 at 11:59:39
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 I almost drifted into Medieval music then! Whew!

 

All it took was hearing an RCA LP of... , posted on November 2, 2020 at 12:35:18
Jim Treanor
Audiophile

Posts: 2167
Location: Pacific Northwest
Joined: June 1, 2003
 Pierre Monteux conducting Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird" on my ceramic-cartridged Webcor portable while in my late teens in 1957. Soon thereafter I found KDFC/KIBE (San Francisco Bay Area) on my radio dial, and I was hooked.


Jim

 

And the Quintet. Speaking of, any rec's for "best" modern recordings of either?, posted on November 2, 2020 at 12:46:44
jdaniel@jps.net
 My last 15th Quartet was Vienna Konzerhaus on Westminster in shockingly realistic mono sound, and last Quintet recording I owned was Collegium Aureum on DHM.

 

Then you're old enough to remember KKHI and KSFR too?, posted on November 2, 2020 at 13:40:46
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 I only wish that KSFR had survived - they were so off the wall for a classical station! They would do stuff like have a promo for a program where they announced they would be playing the complete symphonies of Hans Werner Henze consecutively - and then they went ahead and did it at the advertised time! And the promo ended with the disclaimer, "this program was made at the request of Hans Werner Henze's mother!". ;-)

 

RE: And the Quintet. Speaking of, any rec's for "best" modern recordings of either?, posted on November 2, 2020 at 17:12:40
goldenthal
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Location: Ontario
Joined: March 28, 2003
 Jdaniel, I am assuming you mean the C+ quintet, in which case, though I've found no "perfect" performance of this extraordinary work, I prefer the Berg + Schiff. Certain pieces, y'know, one has an idea in one's mind of how the composer intended them even if one has never heard that completely realized. But the Berg with Schiff are pretty damn good, closer than others so far, for me.

Jeremy

 

I could barely get KDFC on my little Kmart stereo in the Central Valley, posted on November 2, 2020 at 17:31:47
jdaniel@jps.net
 I think I first heard Liszt's Les Preludes and Glazunov's 5th Symphony on that station, late at night.

EDIT: in the 70s, it could have been one of the other stations, but it was broadcast from SF, that I remember.

 

Actually I meant the mind-boggling C Major String Quintet. I can't get into the "Trout," pleasant as it is. nt, posted on November 2, 2020 at 17:35:44
jdaniel@jps.net
 ,

 

I think KDFC had the stronger signal, so that's probably what it was [nt], posted on November 2, 2020 at 18:15:35
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

But he was referring to the C-major Quintet!, posted on November 2, 2020 at 18:18:25
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 Maybe you thought he was referring to Andras Schiff instead of Heinrich Schiff? ;-)

 

Oh man, how many Schiffs can there be??? My bad. nt, posted on November 2, 2020 at 18:24:20
jdaniel@jps.net
 .

 

RE: I could barely get KDFC on my little Kmart stereo in the Central Valley, posted on November 2, 2020 at 18:59:46
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 If KDFC is FM, it is basically 'line of sight' with some modifications for a GOOD antenna. Transmitter antenna and receiver antenna height play a BIG role in this.

If AM? a Clear Channel station (usually 3 letter call sign) you can get 'em cross country in the wee hours.....Other rules of AM can apply, like daylight ONLY broadcast or power reduction at night...that sort of stuff.

Too much is never enough

 

RE: Wow - I remember something similar when I was recovering from a bad flu, posted on November 2, 2020 at 20:35:45
Logan
Audiophile

Posts: 442
Location: Auckland
Joined: September 18, 2004
 My illness was a recurrent "grumbling appendix" at the age of 14. I was prone in bed in agony listening to my little transistor radio when the announcer proclaimed they were going to play Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. I was just too listless to roll over and turn this rubbish off (I came from a family with barbaric musical tastes) so I left it to roll over me.

And I loved and understood it, even though I didn't know then what a concerto was. It was played by an English pianist with just one name - Solomon - and I've worn out 2 LPs of his recording so far. I still listen to it.

So in the next 7 years I listened to every classical piece of music I could find on the radio and the few I could afford on record. By then I was in the big city as a student and was attending live concerts. I girl I fancied persuaded me to accompany her to a concert by a French singer called Gerard Souzay, who was going to sing some songs about children dying, by someone called Mahler. I'd never heard singing of that quality before, either. And I can't say that I've heard much better since then. And that started me on the second step on my Road to Damascus.

At the end of that year my appendix grumbled too much and I was hospitalized for its removal. To cheer me up my friends presented me with a recording of Mahler's DLvdE (Fischer Dieskau/Dickie/Kletzski). I was lost forever.

On the operatic side, Mario Lanza movies showed me that not all tenors were elderly, fat, bald and bawling monsrtosities. Such a pity that this marvellous voice was never properly trained. A dreadful Sophia LOren movie wherein she mimed Aida to Renata Tebaldi's singing removed any preconceptions about the soprano voice.

But it all started with Beethoven and the Emperor.

 

Fantastic!, posted on November 3, 2020 at 00:55:14
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 I attended a Gerard Souzay recital with two high-school friends - all three of us loved it. (And as I've mentioned before, Souzay had Dalton Baldwin play three Debussy Preludes as a solo interlude - I appreciated the accompanist getting some unexpected solo time!) I got Souzay's Philips recordings of Schubert's Schone Mullerin and Winterreise, Schumann's Dichterliebe, Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, and later (when he was a bit too old) the complete Faure songs with Elly Ameling on EMI/Pathe (five LP's IIRC).

As for the Emperor Concerto, I did not get it when I first heard it, if you can believe that! It wasn't until years later, when I guess I heard some better performances, that I grew to like the work.

And finally, as for Sophia Loren, I have to confess: I had the hots for her when I was in high school!

 

RE: Fantastic!, posted on November 3, 2020 at 04:03:26
pbarach
Audiophile

Posts: 3307
Location: Ohio
Joined: June 22, 2008
 I didn't connect with the Emperor Concerto until just a few years ago, when I played the Perahia/Haitink version on a system that really activated my listening room and seemed to bring the full weight of the orchestra to the walls, even at a relatively normal volume.

 

But you did find solace, posted on November 3, 2020 at 05:52:32
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 in medieval social customs and attitudes. Ha...

 

Milton Cross: oh, yeah! nt, posted on November 3, 2020 at 05:54:43
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 d

 

Only two, but one is short... nt, posted on November 3, 2020 at 05:57:44
tinear
Audiophile

Posts: 65782
Location: Kansas City, KS
Joined: April 9, 2006
 d

 

Yes - that's a good recording, posted on November 3, 2020 at 09:48:12
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 Ms. CfL had it for awhile. I'm sometimes a bit ambivalent about Perahia, but that Beethoven set with Haitink was excellent.

 

. . . and even Medieval music too (for a while!) ;-), posted on November 3, 2020 at 09:51:34
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26483
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 And, actually, I STILL find solace in Medieval music - from time to time! ;-)

 

I though "C+" Quartet meant "slightly above average." : ) nt, posted on November 3, 2020 at 11:04:15
jdaniel@jps.net
 .

 

RE: I though "C+" Quartet meant "slightly above average." -- Oh, No . . ., posted on November 3, 2020 at 14:38:49
goldenthal
Audiophile

Posts: 1001
Location: Ontario
Joined: March 28, 2003
 I'd give it an A+ (though it would still be in C+). I could have said "the C quintet", but then you'd have thought it even worse.

Jeremy

 

Saturday night Boston Pops concerts on WQXR, posted on November 7, 2020 at 19:08:14
michael22
Audiophile

Posts: 917
Joined: October 1, 2001
 Loved the Leroy Anderson ...

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 13, 2020 at 18:27:35
Flatwound
Audiophile

Posts: 58
Location: Georgia
Joined: January 27, 2011
 Being a young middle schooler, I was exposed to music my older siblings brought h9me: Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, some jazz, some soul, and later, Meet the Beatles.
After joining the Columbia Record Club, I received the new album by Walter Carlos titled Switched On Bach.
Loved the album, and soon found a Vox Box of Brandenburg Concertos.
Thus began a lifetime of enjoying and discovering new classical and opera recordings.

 

RE: How did you come by your love of classical music? , posted on November 13, 2020 at 19:59:34
sser2
Audiophile

Posts: 2571
Location: Pittsburgh USA
Joined: July 30, 2003
 It was 1956, and I was 4 years old. Dad was electric engineer and sound reproduction buff. He had excellent tube radio and electric 78 rpm turntable with magnetic pickup. To start the turntable, it was necessary to first rotate the platter by hand, after which electric motor would take over. It was some kind of synchronous direct drive design.

Dad had few records, of which my favorite was Italian Cappriccio with Moscow Radio Symphony conducted by Melik-Pashayev. It was on three giant (l.p. size) shellacs. I could listen to this set for hours non-stop, but never had enough because dad was in charge of handling the disks and changing the needles. I still clearly remember all the disc change pauses on that record.

 

Osmosis and grief. , posted on November 15, 2020 at 06:09:08
sbrook
Audiophile

Posts: 232
Location: Florida
Joined: November 3, 2004
 Growing up the house was always filled with music (reproduced, not live). My mother lived for show tunes and tin pan ally and gave a five year old an abiding appreciation for "Three Penny Opera". Although not the opera buff that my father was I had probably heard "La Traviata" more times by my 8th birthday than most adults will in a lifetime.

My older sister was my gateway from children's records into the great blues based popular music of the 60's (Sgt Pepper was the first album to which I knew all the lyrics, at the age of six), and she was the source of my first Hendrix exposure (a stolen copy of "Band Of Gypsies).

My Father, he was the source, of so many things. Intellectual rigor and curiosity. Ethical behavior and a moral compass. Appreciation of a life of the mind. He couldn't throw a ball or repair anything, but he gave me things so much more valuable. Books, history, museums, wit, satire, farce, compassion. His musical life was firmly rooted in the western tradition. Monday through Friday I, my mother, my sister, dominated the programming, the weekends were his. WQXR was the medium, and my father would conduct. First with a ball point pen, later with a baton. I do believe that with proper training he could have conducted live musicians. Later in life, in a second marriage, with a free upright piano gifted for the cost of transport and tuning, he would play the Beethoven he had learned as a child. Haltingly but still deeply rooted within him.

One of the joyful rituals of my childhood was the annual trek to Lincoln Center for "The Nutcracker". The visual excitement of the ballet and the repeated reinforcement of the experience made deep and lifelong impressions on my soul but it was the music and mysterious players in the pit that was the most captivating. I believe it is the exposure to live music, of any type, that cements the desire and the need, for music in all forms, as essential to living.

As life progressed there were many more trips to the ballet (he had season tickets for decades), occasional operas at the Met (his passion, but never really my own), and later, season seats for the NY Philharmonic, specifically for me and him. But for as much as I appreciated it I was still, at best, a dilettante in my own active listening at home.

When he died, suddenly, at the age of 64, I was in a strange place musically. For years I had been struggling to find interests in anything new. My resonance with popular music to provide an emotional release valve for adolescent angst and pain was behind me, as I had finally been able to grow and heal beyond that point as a person, and by and large I did not have the emotional connection I used to have to what I listened to. Something strange and life saving happened the week before he died. I was in NYC, visiting him and stumbled on "Kind Of Blue'" in his wife's cd's. I had always had an appreciation for jazz but it was an intellectual pursuit, a dilettante's approach, not a deep emotional connection. KOB flipped a switch in my brain. I must have listened to it a dozen times over three days. It turned on new neural pathways and triggered a ferocious hunger. He died the following week.

Miles Davis saved my life. Along with Coltrane, Duke, Oscar Peterson, Monk, Mingus, Bird, Ella, Herbie, a host of others. Ray Brown. God bless Ray Brown. As the year that followed was an ever descending spiral of grief, that music was the only real tether on my sanity. But increasingly I found I couldn't listen to classical. The associations, that should have been joyful held nothing but pain. I seriously feared I would lose it forever.

I was still going to concerts, even though I felt disconnected and distraught by the experience. Then, another switch was thrown. It was midway through Dutoit and the Montreal playing "La Mer". I became, overwhelmed by emotion, by connection. Connection to the musicians, connection to Debussy, connection to the life of the music, alive because it was being played, in front of me, in real time, by people who dedicated their lives to keeping it alive. Connection to my father, to myself, joy, which is always tempered by grief, because how else can you appreciate joy without the contrast of grief?

The following year I started my climb back, both with music and counseling. Every shrink I have ever seen has offered me anti-depressants but I have never availed myself. I always found it best to feel everything, no matter how painful, and the music, be it angst channeling prog rock in high school or the greatest music of the jazz eras or the greatest music of the world, is better than anything from big pharma.

It's an eternal frustration about my dad. He gave me so much but it took the trauma of his death for me to become someone I think he would find much more interesting to talk to. He would probably be amused at my obsessions. He might have a couple of different recordings of the same symphony or opera but he would never understand how or why I might have double digits of the same piece or cycle. Fortunately my older sister shares the passion and validates that there is nothing wrong with an entire shelf dedicated to the Bach Cello Suites.

 

Page processed in 0.049 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]