In the recent threads about blind spots and favorites I notice many posters have an affection for composers I've either never heard of or simply know by name. Such composers as as Bax, Ligeti, Godowski, Sweelinck and others are some posters' favorites. They are certainly not famous to the general public and yet many posters here have somehow discovered them (and others). Might I ask how? My shelves are filled strictly with the basic giants of classical music. MIFrost

Might I ask how? My shelves are filled strictly with the basic giants of classical music. MIFrost Good question. I start from the assumption that the music I want to listen to is music that speaks to me about something. I go explore. I read reviews, I listen to music on the radio, I am fortunate to have a good friend who knows a great deal about music....really. But most of all I listen. I am not concerned whether it is or is not great music, the question is does it speak to me. I have found I enjoy music of Scandinavian composers, Rautavaara, Atterberg, Rangstrom, and Raitio come to mind. With the possible exception of the first I have no idea if any of them write great music but they speak to me. I would make two suggestions; go explore and go listen...listen...listen. That is what it is all about, or should be...in spite of what some of the experts in here say.

classical music. MIFrost Composers who write for the clarinet give themselves one chance of my detecting them! That's certainly responsibly for my first acquaintance with Nielsen, Bax, Poulenc, Spohr, for a start.  A lot of the rest is word of mouth, the enthusiasm of friends; also, though it may be terribly infra dig to admit it, magazine cover disks have sent me searching for more from composers who provided enticing snippets - Rameau, Mondonville, Hummel are examples. Jeremy

In the recent threads about blind spots and favorites I notice many posters have an affection for composers I've either never heard of or simply know by name. Such composers as as Bax, Ligeti, Godowski, Sweelinck and others are some posters' favorites. They are certainly not famous to the general public and yet many posters here have somehow discovered them (and others). Might I ask how? My shelves are filled strictly with the basic giants of classical music. Well, I'd say Ligeti was pretty famous to the general public, at least as far as a contemporary composer can go. As for how we discover these people, well, it happens in so many ways. For example, I discovered people like Sorabji and Nono simply from reading de_script_ions of the music, or people's reactions to and thoughts on it, and thinking that it sounded intriguing enough to give it a go. Kancheli I discovered because he happened to be coupled with some Schnittke... and in turn, Schnittke I discovered because I was asked to play in a piece (in an orchestra) of his, so I went out and bought a recording - and the moment I listened to it I knew I'd discovered something which was to become extremely important to me (as indeed it has). My first encounter with Szymanowski happened the same way. It was random listening in my earliest days of discovering classical music (going through a pile of old LPs I'd acquired) that got me onto Rachmaninov, for instance, who is now my favourite composer of all. I found Varese (another god) in a similar way many years later, listening indiscrimately to anything in my school's CD cupboard that looked interesting one weekend. Some recordings I've bought entirely on a whim, either because it seemed a good idea at the time, perhaps because I had some voucher to spend or there was some special offer or something going on, and I thought, what the hell... I had my first experiences of Maxwell Davies, Gorecki, Kilar, Schoenberg (yes!) this way (Naxos are often rather helpful in this regard!) And Penderecki, who might be no.2 on my worship list, is strangest of all - in a practise music aural paper we were doing at school some time, there was an excerpt from the St Luke Passion, and I thought, I just *have* to get hold of this. And the rest, as they say, is history. Some things are bought as gifts: in my case this accounts for Xenakis and Takemitsu, among others. Arguably I've spent too much time exploring the dark alleys and back streets instead of paying attention to the giants as you refer to them. But the more you get to know, the more you realise there is so much out there that is yet to be explored, and never enough time or money to do it. But the point is, these things can come from anywhere, and more often than not it takes you completely by surprise.

MIFrost < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it wrote in message | In the recent threads about blind spots and favorites I notice many posters | have an affection for composers I've either never heard of or simply know by | name. Such composers as as Bax, Ligeti, Godowski, Sweelinck and others are | some posters' favorites. They are certainly not famous to the general | public and yet many posters here have somehow discovered them (and others). My shelves are filled strictly with the basic giants of | classical music. Paper giants ? | Might I ask how? Simply the need to get away from what the basic books (mostly outdated) in classical music say are the *Great* composers. Anyone with more than an ounce of noddle, should be well aware that there was great music before Bach, and that the 20th century has possibly been the century of the greatest diversity, experiment, and chock full of composers who have more interesting things to say, intellectually, texturally, harmonically, and what is more, because it is music of our time. Nothing against people having 50 sets of Brahm's symphonies (I have one), but in my imagination, I cannot see how these people get much pleasure from music at all. But that is their problem. All that is required is the need to explore, and be a bit adventurous. The Scandinavians are a great place to start imo, and especially Sibelius, Nielsen, and switching countries, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Also RVW. Knowledge of what these composers are capable of, just leads one automatically to the next discovery. But each to their own. As for me, I am presently in a choral phase, and can't get enough of Bach's cantatas. When one goes forward, there becomes available the added thrill of discovery of going back as well. For instance, I knew Stravinsky before I knew Haydn. I think I appreciate Haydn all the more for knowing Stravinsky first. Just my 5c worth. Regards,   # http://www.users.bigpond.com/hallraylily/index.html    See You Tamara (Ozzy Osbourne) Ray, Taree, NSW

In the recent threads about blind spots and favorites I notice many posters have an affection for composers I've either never heard of or simply know by name. Such composers as as Bax, Ligeti, Godowski, Sweelinck and others are some posters' favorites. They are certainly not famous to the general public and yet many posters here have somehow discovered them (and others). Might I ask how? My shelves are filled strictly with the basic giants of classical music. Mostly by reading reviews in Fanfare and ARG, and from recommendations here. Browsing the BRO catalog is a good way to pick up music of some more obscure composers cheaply.   Naxos is also a good source, particularly now that they are releasing many Delos recordings of American composers, and they are very good for British and Classical era composers. There's also an unknown composers page: http://www.kith.org/jimmosk/TOC.html Dave Cook