How do I appreciate classical music

It conjures up an image of a room full of old libs who like it not because it sounds good, but because it signals to each other their fine taste in all things.

Millennial34 wrote:

What scenes does this conjure up in your head and what emotions does it evoke?

Right now, it's making me picture a troll at a keyboard. I won't describe the accompanying emotion.

In case anyone's serious about this: Start easy. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" (Mozart) is approachable and enjoyable. "Music for the Royal Fireworks" and "Water Music" (both Haendel) are also good. Brahms has a nice set of Variations on a Theme by Haydn [allegedly]. Mozart has variations on "Ah, vous dirais-je, Maman" (aka "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star") that are fun.

Once your feet are wet you might want to try slightly more complex stuff. Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," say. Maybe Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." Or Beethoven's Third Symphony or his Violin Concerto or his First Piano Concerto. Plenty of good DWG (dead white guy) music out there.

I'd suggest you wait for a while before listening to Mahler. I pretty much started "classical music appreciation" with him, and that was a fairly tough pill to follow.

First off, don't listen to Mozart. Wolfgang is too advanced for you. It would be like giving bleu cheese to someone who's never had cheese before.

Start with something more easily digested. Like Chopin. He was the 2pac of the 1850s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHfQCfUTlXE

Patience. Let it develop and understand the beauty of expert at work making music solely under their own power. Like good sex.

do you play any musical instruments? you know electronic music was-- and in some cases still is-- part of "classical" music. have you ever watched on "old" science fiction or horror or cop or war movie? you know the score-- music not stupid pop / rock / rap songs (even if "good" songs) is almost certainly a form of classical music or jazz. you ever listen to Frank Zappa or Miles Davis?

as a younger person you might not immediately "enjoy" Mozart the most, in fact. it might be Terry Riley or John Cage prepared piano or a Lou Harrison gamelan-influenced piece...

There are all sort of violin works that saw your legs off.

As for the contention that classical music has anything to with "liberal" this, that anything, that statement couldn't be more ignorant, albeit typical of the Lets Run knucklehead set.

Also, in classical music as in any other music, PERFORMANCES matter, i.e. some people play prissy, other with guts; you should always go with the latter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaYvMwQd3cs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esD90diWZds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94g9_cpNtA8

Why not listen to some of the wilder early 20th century stuff, like

- Rudepoema by Heitor Villa Lobos

- Transfigured Night by Arnold Schoenberg (or any early Schoenberg)

- Piano Sonata by Alban Berg

- Any piano or orchestral pieces, the later ones are wilder by Alexander Scriabin - Try the 5th piano sonata first

- Anything by Charles Ives

Check back when you are done with those.

You need to start with 90s trance music which is basically very emotive classical music with a beat.

Start by listening to a modernized version played by the right person and then you can slowly transition to the real thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZgiNnGB8m4

Rap is relevant? How? Are you a black gangster on drugs?

I first got into classical music through movie soundtracks, particularly Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and basically anything by John Williams.

Perhaps that is a way for you to start to learn to appreciate it. As you transition from that into more "authentic" classical, I'd suggest Gustav Holst. In particular his suite "The Planets."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo

Here is my favorite movement, Jupiter .

Millennial34 wrote:

It sounds brilliantly composed but I just don't understand how anyone in the modern era finds the sounds relatable.

Modern people didn't invent the emotions we all feel. Dead white guys aren't inherently less relevant to your interior life than living gangster poseurs. If you listen to any good music--really listen, not just have it on as background sound or to keep you occupied while driving--you can feel the creator's attempt to portray some of that. Just yesterday my iTunes went from Wooden Shjips to Telemann to Slowdive to Thelonious Monk, and it felt like all of them had something to say about life. Why wouldn't you want to expose yourself to more opportunities to be moved by music?

I have a BM and MM in performance, played professionally in an orchestra for five years and I do not like Mozart. Classical music is a very big tent. We have almost 250 years worth of music since Mozart. There really is something for everyone and you do not have to like everything, even the greats like Mozart. And this is also what makes it difficult to get into classical music. There is so much of it and it takes a while to find what you like.

If you have some cash to throw at it, get a subscription series for you local symphony orchestra. Before each concert, buy a recording of whatever the orchestra is playing. Try to listen to it as much as you can before the concert. Go to pre-concert lectures. They are usually free and are a great way to pick up elderly women. Through a lot of trial and error, you will eventually find what you like. From there, follow your favorite composers into chamber music, opera and ballet. But even if you cannot afford to go to concerts, you can still listen to a lot of classical music and watch a lot of it performed on youtube videos.

Just play a classical playlist on Spotify. There are no rules for listening to music.