New to classical music..

Faust

I'm new to classical music.. Is there any compositions or books you would recommend to get me into the know??

davros

I suggest listening to Carl Corcoran from 7am to 10am, weekday mornings on Lyric FM (http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/). He plays the "greatest hits" of classical music which should be enough for you to find a few pieces you like.

Then look for these pieces on CD. No need to buy the latest recordings at top price - I favour old recordings by great orchestras and conductors (labels to look for include Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, Sony, EMI). Better than a new digital recording with a so-so orchestra, IMHO.

Éomer of Rohan

Don't go near EMI if you ask me - seriously dodgy recordings. I prefer Naxos myself.

As for programs, if you have a digital radio or tv or an exceptionally good normal radio tune in to 101.9FM - Classic FM from mainland Britain - the shows between 2 and 4 (Nick Bailey, Relaxing Classics at 2), 7 and 9 (Relaxing Classics at 7 with John Brunning) or 9 and 11 (The Evening Concert with Nick Bailey) are in my opinion the best. 6 to 8 on Saturdays is Classic FM at the Movies which can be exceptional or pretty damn awful depending on the selection for that week.

catho_monster

i prefer the deutshe grammaphone ( spelling is totally wrong) recordings rather than the naxos. naxos is good coz its cheap, but if you compare recordings by both, i think the extra few quid really is worth it.

with regards to what to listen to,
the first piece i listened to was Brahm's double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, and on the same cd was his tragic overture. oh my god, its the kind of music that surrounds you when your depressed and succeeds in making you feel worse, but in the good sense - if you know what i mean. it kinda helped that it featured anna-sophie mutter on violin, the berlin philharmonic and was conducted by herbert von karajan (always a good name to look out for when buying classical cds).
not exactly light-weight stuff, but phenominal all the same.

davros

Originally posted by catho_monster
i prefer the deutshe grammaphone ( spelling is totally wrong) recordings rather than the naxos. naxos is good coz its cheap, but if you compare recordings by both, i think the extra few quid really is worth it.

I agree. Naxos issues new recordings that are cheap because they are made by second string East European orchestras. That's why I suggest going for recordings which are cheap because they are old and were recorded in analogue. If it was the Berlin Phil or similar, they will still sound fantastic.

That said, Naxos is issuing a lot of very unusual stuff too and it might be the only label that offers a work at all or at a decent price (Messiaen's Turangalila, for example).

Walls

One tatic I used when first learning about Classical was to record songs from Lyric and the like on audio cassette, making sure to record the details the announcer would give at the end of each piece. In that way, I would be edumatcated at the end of each piece as to the key, cord, orchestra, composer and the like. Helped for me.

catho_monster

something else i thought of..

just go to concerts (the lunchtime ones in the NCH aren't that expensive).......

regardless of if you know the pieces or the composers... being dumped in the deep end really forces you to form opinions on the music, learn what you like and dont and helps you get your head around it, especially if you can drag along a mate who knows nothing too, but is equally open-minded and opinionated,just so you can have someone to discuss/bitch/moan/get all excited over it all with.

thats kind of the beauty of this stuff, so many people regard it as high brow blah, blah, blah... but generally the music was written to appeal and entertain the masses (ie,composers didnt write for fellow composers or perfomers who knew the intricacies of techniques used)

the experiences that you get from a preformance are the intented ones of the composer and are totally apart from the ones you would get listening to a cd or something, as the former only requires you to open your ears and heart to what the composer is trying to say, but cds... i dunno, its just not the same


i dunno, its just a thought...

sextusempiricus

Try Fred Plotkin's 'Classical Music Unbuttoned' , Aurum Press. Its a readable paperback costing £12.99 and promises to give 'a complete guide to learning and loving classical music.' I think it largely achieves this promise. It has a useful discography although when getting CDs perhaps the most recent Penguin Guide is a must.