Ace42X
06-15-2006, 11:31 PM
The other day I got my CD from Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005YUBA/qid=1150434111/sr=8-3/ref=pd_ka_3/203-4188228-0726366) , a recording of the Enigma Variations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_Variations) by Elgar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar) and the Planets suite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets_Suite) by Holst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Holst).
While I am not a big fan of Elgar, like my pops I find him to be really self-indulgent and lacking in "bite", I do really like the Planets. A lot of "classical" (a misnomer, but I'll use it for want of a broader term) can be very inaccessible for the uninitiated, but I find the premise of the planets requires no great understanding, as the context is all there. Mars is of course the most well known movement (having been used and copied repeatedly over the course of the last century), but even laymen will probably recognise Jupiter (even if not the name.) My favourite movement is probably Saturn, which was Holst's favourite too.
Another composer I find equally accessible is Handel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel), whose Water Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Music_%28Handel%29) is again a discrete body of music with its own simple narration.
Does anyone here have a guilty affection for orchestral music? A secret admirer of Pachelbel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel) (cannon in D?) or Mendelsson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelsson_Bartholdy) (Hebrides suite)?
Maybe Dvořák (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)'s New World is more to your taste?
And, can anyone here sing along to Wagner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner)? I'm looking at the German speakers here.
While I am not a big fan of Elgar, like my pops I find him to be really self-indulgent and lacking in "bite", I do really like the Planets. A lot of "classical" (a misnomer, but I'll use it for want of a broader term) can be very inaccessible for the uninitiated, but I find the premise of the planets requires no great understanding, as the context is all there. Mars is of course the most well known movement (having been used and copied repeatedly over the course of the last century), but even laymen will probably recognise Jupiter (even if not the name.) My favourite movement is probably Saturn, which was Holst's favourite too.
Another composer I find equally accessible is Handel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel), whose Water Music (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Music_%28Handel%29) is again a discrete body of music with its own simple narration.
Does anyone here have a guilty affection for orchestral music? A secret admirer of Pachelbel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachelbel) (cannon in D?) or Mendelsson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelsson_Bartholdy) (Hebrides suite)?
Maybe Dvořák (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)'s New World is more to your taste?
And, can anyone here sing along to Wagner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner)? I'm looking at the German speakers here.