How to Learn to Love Classical Music
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- I think most people can appreciate that there is something supreme and rewarding in classical music but at the same time, it feels like it’s out of reach for most of us and it’s not uncommon to hear people say things like, it doesn’t do anything for me. For most of us, we just don’t get it, even if we can appreciate the impressive skill required to compose and perform it.
When people say that it doesn’t do anything for them, I think they mean that it doesn’t make them feel a certain way like more popular forms of music do. And this is one of the first big challenges with classical music, it isn’t designed to manipulate our emotional triggers as immediate as pop music does.
And that’s the first thing to realize, if you can first appreciate that there’s some good in classical music that you want to learn to appreciate, then it’s going to take some effort on your part. It’s like being conditioned by a steady diet of junk food. If you want to learn eat healthy, you have to simply choose to expose yourself to better and more healthy food at the expense of what you’re used to until your palate can learn to appreciate it.
I should point out, too, that I’m no aficionado of classical music. I’m still in the throws of learning to love it myself, but as I’ve been doing so, I think I’ve picked up some insights to help other people learn to love it as well.
GK Chesterton described romance as a kind of balance between the unfamiliar and the familiar. We want to be exposed to something unfamiliar so that we can get a sense of adventure but with enough familiarity so that it still resonates with our sensibilities and feels safe.
And music and branding accomplish this by introducing us to something new but with just enough of a dose of the familiar so that it doesn’t feel too alien. Again, this is done through associations. It’s associated with something we already know and like.
And think about the way that pop music is marketed to us in the age of visual media. Now it’s a given that unless you’re good looking, you’ll have a tough time making it as a musical act because the music alone doesn’t merit our attention. It doesn’t meet a standard of quality that would capture our interest unless, in addition to it, there’s some mesmerizingly beautiful person in a music video performing it for us.
Because popular music today is an industrial product. It’s designed to maximize our consumption without having to put much effort into the production. So, they crank out mediocre songs and enhance them with sex appeal and apparent cultural significance to compensate for what’s lacking. And they can do this because almost anyone with a reasonable amount of talent can perform music at this caliber, so they hold out for people who can both perform the music and who are also extremely good looking.
But this isn’t so easy to do with classical music, because the artform demands so much of its artists, that you can’t find just anybody to do it.
Pop music also benefits from the way it’s aggressively marketed to us as a form of social inclusion. Imagine how much more you’d be incentivized to listen to classical music if it meant you’d be more likely to gain social acceptance the way listening to Billie Eilish or Shawn Mendes does in 2019.
And if you doubt this idea that associations accessorize music and art in such a way that stimulates our ability to learn to like it when we might not have otherwise, let me draw from an example that will fit a lot of this together because I’m willing to bet that a lot of you already do like classical music but only when you can associate it with something else to make it easier for you and that’s in the form of movie soundtracks.
If you’re a big Star Wars fan, I bet you love hearing the rousing music written by John Williams and likewise if you’re a big Harry Potter fan. When you hear something like that opening theme, it can insight feelings of nostalgia and adventure. In these instances, there’s a context that taught our emotions to appreciate the music because of a story and characters that it’s associated with.
And this was and is my gateway to appreciating classical music. I started by listening to scores by John Williams and James Horner because they meant something to me and because they meant something to me, that emotional kick that pop music conditioned me to depend on was available.
This is why it’s so important to create your own associations that will augment the music for you. Make it a part of the soundtrack of your life. If 90’s grunge was the background of your coming of age moments, like it was for me, then make classical music the background for the moments that are significant in your life now.
If you have a special occasion coming up, plan on going to the symphony so that the music featured there will forever be associated with that occasion and the memories associated with it.
This was excellent, Brian. Don’t stop what you’re doing.
H
Thanks 😊
“Music is for the glory of God and refreshing of the soul.”-Johann Sebastian Bach
“Beauty will save the world” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD ALL OF THE CARTOONS HAD CLASSICAL MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND. Also the tv show called, ""The Lone Ranger" had the William Tell overture in the opening credits.
"An intellectual is a person who can listen to the complete William Tell overture and not once think about the Lone Ranger."
- Old Bob Monkhouse joke.
Another old Bob Monkhouse joke: "They all laughed when I told them I was going to become a comedian.......
- well their not laughing now!"
@@hughneek12 Good one.
Yeah people don't understand classical music, we have to learn to like it !
cops came round and searched my house; was playing classical music so they quickly figured out they were in the wrong house.
Comment Freely hey you could have been Hannibal Lector!😂
Well said Brian. Classical also allows one to create their own story to the music. Too many pop music and lyrical songs covet the worst of our human and often sinful nature.
Nice insight Brian! The same goes for reading books instead of watching movies. Our imagination creates views and perspectives instead of them being given to us or forced upon us. In Christ, Andrew
Weird. Classical music makes me very emotional. You just have to wait longer for the climax.
yes... I always cry if I see any concert/opera live
Yes!!
Yes. It requires more patience. (But the payoff is much bigger)
It’s much deeper emotion
Loving Palestrina lately. Also, I have to listen to pop music all day...silence is my new friend.
A friend at work asked me what my favorite song is at the moment - they had no idea that I’m a 31 year old fuddy duddy and we’re slightly confounded when I said the Pope Marcellus Mass 😅
Sicut Cervus and Sitivit Anima mea by Palestrina are absolutely beautiful.
And for a better experience one must know what does the lyrics mean, and who said those words in the past.
I'm still newish to Palestrina - beautiful. I discovered his work by association with de Victoria. Tomas Luis de Victoria's Requiem. Sublime. I know that's a wholly overused adjective, but.
@@gerardmaroney3918 It's alright - the overuse isn't the fault of the adjective.
I too would love to see it - and many other words - used appropriately so that their proper and intended impact would be felt.
Same that's why I love jazz a lot because of silence and it challenges a listener to think deep and freely.
I love classical, but I have to confess I also enjoy Big Band and Latin Jazz. Antonio Vivaldi is one of my favorites, and counter reformation composer Thomas Luis de Victoria is my absolute favorite.
My dad played operas on stormy nights lound enough for all the neighborhood to hear. He sat us kids on the porch ( all 8 of us) and explained the story as it unfolded. We also learned that sound is a flute..a piccolo. Listen to how sad the cello is playing with the cold wind...best memories ever.
We followed the same path to our appreciation of classical.
I was hooked with John Williams score for Star Wars (1977). When I was older, I began collecting all of the scores of my favorite movies. That led me to appreciate other 20th century classical composers like Holst, Arnold, Britten, Copland, et al. That led me back to appreciate compers of the late Romantic Era; Mahler being my favorite. That led me further back into the classical period with Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. Then further back to the Baroque Era with Bach, Telemann, and Vivaldi. And all the way back to Gregorian Chant.
But it all started with the scores from movies like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, The Last Starfighter, and Braveheart. Movie scores are still my favorite, but my appreciation for classical has grown so that I have about a millennium of music to choose from. Before my appreciation of classical music, I was lucky to have two decades of music that appealed to me.
I was introduced to classical music by my 7th Grade teacher ad have loved it ever since. That's a total of 37 years so far.
Pop music tells you exactly what to feel. Classical music lets you figure that out for yourself. Thanks for this video! I have a degree in Music Education and love seeing people enjoy classical music.
Overall, I agree, but Tchaikovsky 1812 overture has a lot of feeling in it!
I'm 78yrs old. I grew up in a family that appreciated both classical, jazz, coral, opera and popular music of the day. It was all music. Music to our ears. We could sing along to the latest pop song, Rock with Bill Hayley and Elvis, then listen to my mother play Chopin on the piano. At school we were exposed to both. I have a fairly wide appreciation of music. I am saddened that most people don't.
My father wanted us to love classical music, so that is all we were allowed to listen to at home. In fact, I remember in middle school spending my money on buying a tape (back then it was an 8-track tape) of Barry Manilow songs and my father tossed it out of the car window when he saw me pull it out of my Target bag. He was strict and I was a little upset at the time. But I look back and am glad he was so strict. I love classical music because of him.
no offense but your dad sounds like a dick: I'm a big jazz fan and I'm guessing that your dad would give that a no no as well. strict parents with specific music tastes tend to have a belief that any music that falls outside their tastes is demonic. and in some cases I get it: (gangster rap, death metal) but in other cases it is completely ridiculous
I really appreciate how you're returning objectivity to music. So many people today think that music is good because it makes them feel a certain way, which I agree to an extent. Classical music is unarguably more sophisticated, more beautiful, more full. We all do enjoy fun and upbeat music, but the greatest hits are often written with that classical mindset (Stairway to Heaven & Bohemian Rhapsody to name a couple).
jazz is more sophisticated: classical music: must be perfectly in key, only basic triads, basic harmony. jazz: 7th chords are the building block of the song, there are a lot more complex functional progressions (tritone substitution for example) chords substitutions and extensions are to be used as you please, and not only that but when soloing you got freedom: just want to stick to the key of the song (C major)? got ya! arpeggio the chord progression (Dm7, G7, Cmaj7) with passing notes? good to go! play a lick in the original key (C major) transpose it up a semitone (Db major) and then up a fourth (Gb major) before finally resolving the lick back to C major? that's called side slipping and you can do that too, might sound a little weird but as long as you know how to resolve it: good to go!
I was born and raised Protestant. My late father was very fond of classical music and Catholic chants. He would listen to CDs while working in his study. I guess that’s how I fell in love with Classical music.
I love classical music. I grew up in Cleveland with the Cleveland orchestra. It is wonderful. I also love rock, rap, blues, Jaz, country, folk and so on. Why? Because I went to crapp city schools under court ordered busing. I had a few great teachers who still hung on to classical education who encouraged us to claim what our school board and teacher unions tried to deny us, our history, our traditions, our cultural. I read by choice classic literature. Listened to and learned about different types of music. I learned about visual art history and movements and in the process learned to appreciate history and more importantly how to educate myself efficiently and quickly. Why because I knew they denied me a real education on purpose because they looked down on us. Just poor kids who would never be able to learn. Now they think that about kids across the country and instead dumb down curriculum to keep people from independent thought. Take control of your life taking control of the education that deciders deny you. by learning about history, literature, arts and culture. And especially NOT just the parts that affirm your current world view. Without challenging yourself you will always be weak and easily manipulated. I challenged myself and now find myself firmly anchored understanding what we are and how we got here and why it’s important not to be compelled by the fads of a manipulation of current pop culture. They are not you. They are using you as a product to market to corporations who take your money.
Love classical music/opera and studied it in college/grad school... but now I know I mainly love early sacred music: gregorian chant and polyphony.... Palestrina, Byrd, Tallis, Viadana, Victoria, Allegri...
I’ve never really thought about using my love for movie score music as a gateway into deeper appreciation for classical music! Fascinating concept. I’m lucky that my husband also appreciates the complexity and power of classical music, and sometimes we clean the whole house on Saturday mornings to the rousing sounds of one of those TH-cam compilations Brian mentioned. They’re great!
Also, a few years ago, my husband and I saw John Williams conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was one of the greatest nights of my life. I’ll always treasure being able to see The Maestro conduct pieces of some of his greatest cinematic triumphs 🥰
Another tip for learning to appreciate classical music is to see it performed live as it was meant to be heard. Even if it's through youtube video versions of the performances, seeing the musicians' connection with the music, their skill with their respective instruments, and how the whole orchestra comes together can really bring a piece of music vibrantly to life!!
I absolutely love classical ballet and music. My favorite composer is probably Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I used to think classical music was boring but I ended up growing out of that perspective. One thing that gets me really excited about classical music is the ballets associated with them. When I listen to the Nutcracker, it me to work hard in ballet.
Same as I grow older and listen to more jazz I realized that I appreciate classical music more than i use to listen to hip hop few years ago.
speaking as a working classical musician, I want to commend you for the points you raise in this video, and while I mostly agree with what you have to say, I would offer a few words of balance. It can be easy to fall into a tribal mentality (in virtually any area), and the pretensiousness that can pervade the world of classical music, how it views itself as higher or "purer" and looks down on other forms is probably its least appealing quality. While yes, it may be true that much popular music relies on its sensuality and is overly simple and repetitive, counter examples abound. The music of Radiohead and Sufjan Stevens, for instance, can hardly said to be simplistic, and in both instances, is often richly layered, complex, and beautiful. Thom Yorke could hardly be said to be marketing his music career on his sex appeal. On the other hand, the early career of Franz Liszt relied almost entirely on his status as a sex symbol among his throngs of adoring female fans, while later on he turned to mystical contemplation in the Christian tradition, producing much deeper and mature works. Not to mention that sometimes, in classical music as well as other forms, simplicity IS the point.
Finally, and perhaps related to this last point, I'd ike to suppement your rather hodgepodge list of recommended composers with some others who are contemporary and also well worth listening to, e.g. Nico Muhly, Arvo Pärt, John Taverner, Steve Reich, Ligeti, Cage, and others.
Cheers!
Philip Glass!
& Moondog...
I've always thought of rock/pop music etc as making the passions soar. Whereas, classical/baroque and classical opera makes your soul soar...
I began loving classical music at age 14. The first song that I listened to was Rachmaninoff piano concerto no 2. I absolutely love that song and still is one of my favorites. Movement 1 is my favorite. Also the song that would make me cry is moonlight sonata movement 1. Classical music just talks to the human soul. It's one of the best music to ever exist.
I listened to so much Beethoven in my formative years, it affected my personality.
The breakthrough in classical music comes when a person starts to pay attention to the individual voices simultaneously instead of just the overall feel, and then also when one begins to see the architecture in well-placed motifs. Once your say to yourself, "Ha! it makes sense for [Bach, Mozart, Beethoven] to put that there", you're off to the races.
what i like about classical music is the different eras and evolution from the simplicity of gregorian chants using only human voices to the string instruments and modern piano of full concerts. i love classical music to root my other music and it makes me explore music more then just rock does or country.
“Make classical music the soundtrack of your life.” 🥰🥰 Love it!
I do love classical music, all my life!
In the past year or two, I’ve started to get into classical music, especially Christian choral music, and it’s been magical. I never thought I’d enjoy listening to church music written in the 16th century, but today I was in bliss writing poetry while listening to Spem in Alium. This video is helpful for me to continue along this path of classical music (as I’ve barely scratched the surface).
Also, GK Chesterton is awesome.
I love Classical music. I learned to appreciate it at an early age
I really like the idea of manually causing our brains to associate classical pieces with life events. Music is like smells in that way!
I’m 25 years old and I LOOVE classical. I’m always sending my favorite pieces to my friends
Here in Houston/Galveston area, we had classic music radio.now the city noise.broken heart music(a)gives no relax to whom once enjoy real masterpieces. We miss it!
I don't understand the technicality of music esp. Classical Music but I love listening to it as well as to Indian classical music, Balinese gamelan, bossa nova, Tibetan throat singing, french house, country music, American folk, Latin musical styles, nu jazz, triphop, ambient and Gregorian chant.
Are you from Rate Your Music?
Working on my second master’s in piano. I also count great movie soundtracks as my own introduction to classical music, and from my now more cultured perspective, its modern living descendants. Another winner of a video!
Here's a little tip I learned. If you want to success in making other people learn to love classical music, start with Vivaldi.
Not with Bach or others. They are extraordinary, yes. But Vivaldi is extraordinary also, but is easy to love, easy to follow, easy to provoke admiration because of its simple yet deep beauty.
Seriously, nobody can resist to La Follia by Vivaldi, or L'Estro Armonico. Or The Four Seasons!
I started my journey with Stravinsky, thanks to an older brother and only heard Vivaldi later. But you might be right. It does seem to be though that lots of people never go beyond baroque.
@ludlow 889 Carmen is an amazing work. Its been on the boards continuously since its 1875 premiere all over the world where Western music is played. I'm glad your friend enjoyed Carmen and was moved by it. I hope you get to see many operas together, also symphony concerts. Carmen's composer Georges Bizet wrote one symphony - when he was 17 - called Symphony No 1 in C which is a wonderful work. The choreographer George Balanchine created a ballet to this music "Symphony in C" which IMHO is just great. It's in the repertory of the New York City Ballet, other companies do it also. Always enjoy, always have a good time, and be moved.
Any relation to the Vanzetti of Sacco and..?
@ludlow 889 But alas Bizet did. His earlier opera Les Pecheurs de perles is now being performed again with some frequency - I've seen three different productions.
Massenet may be a kind of French equivalent to Verdi. When I first started going to the opera (in the USA) the only Massenet work in the repertory was Manon. Werther, Thais, and others were not done. The works of Ambroise Thomas, almost Verdi's contemporary, had fallen from the repertory. Werther is now a staple, I've seen it several times, and cannot understand its neglect.
The same is also true of Thais, but it has to be performed carefully. Cendrillon is delightful, charming, and should be a regular Christmas season offering, to share the stage with The Nutcracker and Hansel and Gretel. Also Le Cid and Don Quichotte are fine works, the former has outstanding ballet music of the calibre of Faust and La Gioconda. Thomas's Mignon and Hamlet ought to be done more often.
As for a French Verdi, Verdi was born a subject of Napoleon. Verdi was fond of France and wrote three French operas: Jerusalem (a French version of Lombardi), Les Vepres siciliennes, and Don Carlos - the last two usually performed in their Italian translations. Go to the opera, preferably not alone, and enjoy yourselves.
@ludlow 889 Cosi fan tutte was my first live opera, with only a piano in my high school auditorium in spring 1961 by the Metropolitan Opera Studio. At least two other of my classmates who attended this performance are still opera lovers and devotees. I've since seen many other productions of different varieties. That's a poignant term liquefaction you use for The Marriage of Figaro. I first saw it at the Met in 1967 and thought it was very long. I've since seen it quite a few times more. If I learned that my next Nozze di Figaro would be my last, I would be profoundly unhappy. This is true for a number of works, but there are some for which I say "enough."
From the sublime to the ridiculous, tomorrow night I'm going to see Barry Manilow at the Hollywood Bowl. I've never seen him before - this will probably be my one BM shot.
Back in the early 60’s on, 1 of our 3 TV stations, once a week was a 30 minute program on classical music. I wasn’t even a teenager but fell in love with it. What’s not to love about beautiful music. I had just started to learn to play the clarinet. My greatest moment was playing in the all city (Omaha) band and orchestra in 1969 playing Beethoven’s 5th. I’m thinking about picking up the clarinet again after 50 years so I can play again with others this beautiful music.
I’ve grown up listening to classical music thanks to my parents. It’s language I would say I’m familiar enough with to enjoy, yet I still find myself being stretched within the genre. Just the other day I was listening to a violin concerto (op. 33 allegro cavalleresco by Carl Nielsen to be specific) and it wasn’t comfortable until I gave it about 5 minutes, and then it was amazing.
My favorite classical composers wrote liturgical music, or at least utilized liturgical music: Mozart, Bach, but most of all, Tchaikovsky. I am Catholic, but I LOVE Orthodox liturgical music!
Being a Baby Boomer, I grew up listening to classical music on the Loony Toons cartoons and there were some great TV shows that showcased many classical artists as well as stuff like Bshp Sheen’s weekly show. Basically, before TV got stupid. Today’s pop music basically sucks. It helps to keep kids in musical kindergarten as we witness on a daily basis where mediocrity is celebrated- American Idol, The Voice, etc, ad nauseum.
If I could give you more than one like for this video, I would hit the button a thousand times. Thank-you Brian, dear Christian brother, for sharing your God-given wisdom and insight. You are a rare exception among the generation of rap-music, de-construction, younger folks. Keep up the good work.
My favorite composers are the highly underrated Jan Dismas Zelenka, a contemporary of Bach, Henry Purcell an English composer of the 1600s, Claudio Monteverdi, and Johann Joseph Fux an Austrian composer who lived in the 1600s and 1700s. Musical taste in the classical field can vary, but a lot of it is enjoyable (especially, for me, the Baroque period). For those who may find interest and want to explore Classical music happy hunting!!!
Zelenka is my second favourite composer after Bach. Highly relevant for this channel is the fact that Zelenka composed religious music for a private Catholic church in Dresden, including several settings of the Latin mass. One of my favourite compositions by him is his setting of Latin text from the book of Lamentations, "The Lamentations of Jeremiah The Prophet", ZWV 53 (1722).
Growing up, my mother played classical music on the radio and on records all day long. It was always beautiful and moving to me. Rock music and Pop music sometimes have appeal, but never at the same level. Classical music has always reached a deeper place in me than popular music ever could. The only classical music I had to learn to like was opera. Hearing it did nothing for me until I saw an opera live (at the Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna and later at the Civic Opera House in Chicago). Then I loved it!
If there's anyone who is wandering what pieces of classical music to start on here's a list that I'd consider to be good for beginners:
1.) Danzon no. 2 by Arturo Marquez
2.) Marche Slave by Tchaikovsky
3.) Wedding Day at Troldhaugen by Grieg
And if you want to listen to longer pieces, here's a list for pieces that have multiple movements and exceed about 10 minutes:
1.) Dvorak symphony 9 (From the New World)
2.) Beethoven Symphony 7
3.) Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger
4:50 - my new favourite screenshot
I can't stop laughing.
That is so ridiculous. 😄
Soundtracks are a great segue into classical music. John Williams work is well known because of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Another I would highly recommend is Howard Shore who composed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hans Zimmer who did Gladiator and Ramin Djawadi 's who composed for Game of Thrones. For starters, try listening to the opening themes of the Fellowship of the Ring, Gladiator and Game of Thrones.
All you have to do is watch opera singers on "the voice" and "Americas got talent". They universally get the best applauses and standing ovation a from ALL AGE GROUPS. Yes, I was amazed at the effect it had. It's a bit like jazz where the artists are so good that improvisation is nothing but usual
Exposure is essential. Even as a big classical music fan, when I first heard the Berlioz Requiem Mass, it didn’t really do anything for me. After force feeding myself that work a couple of times it started clicking. Now I can’t live without it! (Sir Colin Davis version for the win).
I've found that learning about the composers themselves and what motivated their compositions has helped to enhance my appreciation for the music they created, one of the reasons that I've grown so fond of Borodin, Respighi, Debussy and (lately and late-ly) Bach. With Bach, the content weighs in even more, especially for his cantatas and masses and songs.
Im 18 and have been listening to classical music for a year now and i love it !👌
My favorite modern day conductor is Alondra de la Parra. She performs many Mexican classical compositions.
Hi, Brian..., Excellent video and very informative and "Thank you" for sharing the video ! ! * Brian..., please ( more ) videos on how to like and enjoy Classical Music... "Semper Fi" Mike in Montana :)
I've always found popular music too brash and classical music far more comfortable.
Same pop music is like junk food sound good but gets old real quick.
I’m a person who daydreams a lot and other genres only let me daydream about what their lyric is about, but with classical I have the chance to create my own stories and characters to the music. It was easy to fall in love with classical music for me.
I know you’ll get a ton of suggestions, but I also think the superstar composers of the past are great introductions to “classical” like Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. My favourite contemporary composer is Arvo Pärt.
I would also advise against listening to a lot of pop and rock while “getting into” classical as a way of retraining your aural palate.
That was an excellent point. I have to add that our music taste is related to our music exposure when we were children. But still, I found the beauty of "classical music" associating it to the hunting riffs of metal music
I consider myself extremely lucky to have been exposed to so much classical music as a child. I danced ballet from age 7 through age 20...I’m now 40 and find such solace in listening to it. God’s beauty through instruments.
Beautifully made, thought-provoking video. Thanks man!
A great gateway to classical music is listening to your favorite songs in a version without lyrics
Allegri's Miserere is as spine chilling as a piece of music can get.
I loved it before I came back to the Church and I love it still maybe even more. 😊 I'm lucky to live in nearby town where in Toronto they have a radio show for classical music
I listen to a lot of Orchestral music, manly throw ost's from movies, and games. current favorite has to be NieR Orchestral - The Tower
I would add Xenoblade Chronicles' OST.
BRAVEHEART!!! The music from this movie by the dearly departed remarkable James Horner opened up a whole musical world for me!
Let us not forget the example of Pop Legend Paul McCartney who in his more mature years also became a Classical composer - and why? - because it offered a larger and richer musical landscape for personal expression
As always, Brian, it's a pleasure to 'tune in' to your latest...what an episode! I'll be watching this one with my daughter later. She generally loves your videos and this one on quality if music is something our family is discussing right now. God bless you and your family.
Vivaldi's La Stravaganza was my gateway, and the movement of his Four Seasons you have playing in this video is my favorite movement in the entirety thereof.
Im of the strong opinion that classical music helps teach you to appreciate the deeper and fuller beauty in art, and I honestly credit my love of classical music with helping me notice and appreciate the beauty in the Catholic tradition. It didn't convert me on its own, but it certainly helped.
Great analysis on this topic, I def agree with all the points made. This is why great programs are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for someone to have a better experience at a classical concert. Understanding the context of the time period and any imagery that can assist the listener helps them to participate in diving into the listening experience.
Having grown up with my parents listening to both 80s rock and classical music (Disney's Fantasia was a staple in our house), I've never been against classical music, but it wasn't until I took a music appreciation class in college that I really started loving it, particularly high renaissance polyphony and the baroque era. And from that, I also started getting into Broadway show tunes and movie soundtracks. I also happen to have a disdain for most modern music.
Needless to say, my friends think my musical tastes are odd.
So I appreciate anyone who is learning more about art and music, and that you're expanding your palate to include "classical" music is great. But despite the "I'm no aficionado" comment at the beginning, there are a lot of assumptions in this video about "classical" music. Just off the bat, you say that "classical" music isn't "designed" to trigger an immediate emotional response. First, this something that many "classical" music lovers, performers, and composers would probably object to, and second, it assumes that all composers within the "classical" style were "designing" music specific to the concert hall experience that you know today (and which has only existed since ~ the Romantic era and excludes folks like Mozart and Bach and Monteverdi). I give you props for what I thought was great advice for anyone interested in growing to like "classical" music, "enjoying movie scores," but then you cite Samuel Barber (d. 1981) and Rachmaninoff (d.1943) as "contemporary" composers. They've been dead for decades and that's not contemporary. This suggests to me that you believe "classical" music only exists in the writings of dead composers and in the background of movies. Between these two points is a lot, but a major point was your dismissal of popular music. Some of your other videos on here object to contemporary art because of its origins, yet the idea you're espousing about popular music parallels the arguments of Adorno, a Marxist. How is it ok to make sweeping generalizations about anyone in "contemporary art" - and what does "contemporary art" even mean to you? - because of its origins, but then to be content with holding to a Marxist-socialist theories related to popular music? I would also take issue with many assumptions about music found in your liturgical music videos, but the likeliness of anything even coming of this comment is small, so I'ma leave it here. :) I would suggest a "gateway" for you might be learning more about historically informed musical practices through early music groups, because they will give you see the context that the affect of music was decidedly different before the Romantic era and that much of the music that you consider "classical" wasn't meant to be ruminated over in a concert hall like you seem to think it was.
"The Smurfs" helped get me into classical music in a big way, as it used a lot of it as background music.
Its like the difference between reading or watching a Netflix series, the former requires effort/mental engagement while the latter probably only requires an emotional response. You can listen to classical music as background but its better if you just sop and listen.
Now I was exposed to classical music at home growing up as my parents had it on but I was also exposed to contemporary music. I would suggest that Vivaldi is actually a good one to start with as surprisingly there are a lot of modern rhythms and motifs in his music - The Four Seasons is of course the go-to piece of his.
Very well said, Brian, as always! Indeed, classical music has more depth, meaning and soul... More power to you, Brian!
I do love it, don't be assuming. And now I also love baroque more, it's a gateway drug
I'm 72 and have been a lover and follower of classical music on my own since about the age of 13. I've been attending concerts, operas, recitals since I was 15. One thing that helped was that I had friends in high school, college, and beyond who were also interested in classical music, male and female. Make going to the opera or a symphony concert a social occasion with friends and lovers. Classical music is very emotional and arousing, but concert hall behavior is different from a rock event. All the composers you mentioned may be good, but they are old. Stravinsky although in the same age category is still cutting edge, e.g. The Rite of Spring from 1913 is still amazing, also Dmitri Shostakovich who died in his sixties in 1975. Other suggestions would be the French composers Francis Poulenc and Olivier Messaien who were both believing Catholics and wrote great music inspired by their religion. Likewise the English composer Benjamin Britten who was friends with Dmitri Shostakovich, a non-believer living in the Soviet Union - but I saw a cross on his gravestone in Moscow. There's also light, funny, and even sexy classical music: think of Offenbach and Gilbert and Sullivan. Classical music can be fun. I've found it to be enjoyable to the max. Happy listening.
I listen to classical music everyday. I discovered it's beauty at age 15. Classical music was natural for me and awakened my soul conversation with God and life. Please play beautiful music for your children. Music is the language of the angels. Select sound that opens the heavens 🤍
Hi Brian. I love your channel. I watch often but this is my first comment. Not only do I love classical music, but I spent most of my life studying it, and learning how to compose: hence the motto of my own TH-cam Channel, Orthodox Christian Music Project, 'Proclaiming Eternal Truth through Sacred Music'. The Patristic Fathers believed that The Holy Trinity sang the universe into existence. (This ancient theme is even captured in literature in Tolkien's Silmarillion, among others.) As you know, high art forms of music communicate intense beauty and elevated themes beyond the consumable pop. In my case, I am a composer of religious and sacred music and must struggle to raise the money to pay musicians fair compensation for singing and performing my works.
I cringe when I read that video pop children's idol, has hundreds of millions of views (and associated revenue) PER VIDEO for a music product that I (and the thousands of other formally trained composers) doodled and dismissed because of its obvious triviality.
I am convinced that people actually LOVE the beautifully rich harmonies and melodies of ‘classical music’ (note: ‘classical’ is a particular time period) because they react so positively to performances of the famous music that comes around during holiday season like Handel’s Messiah, et. al.
While musical taste is subjective, and individuals prefer one style or period to another, the commonality between periods is that compositions engage the listeners emotionally, psychologically, and often spiritually. I suggest that pop music engages the lower emotions connected to entertainment but cannot bring much more. What also is overlooked is that live performance music has become rarer due to numerous factors including production costs, venue costs, changes in musician cost and availability, AND the rise of music delivery through such technology as the ipod. People don’t have to go to hear music anymore, its immediately available, and those who have control over the supply of music, have learned what sells most, and that is incessantly reproduced to the exclusion of all others forms. The result is that ultimately people are deprived of good music in favor of cheap music… and hence the dilemma of why enough people don’t like ‘classical’ music. I’m sure there’s a thousand other factors as well, and by no means is my reply exhaustive, but experience highlights these concerns for me.
For once I liked and enjoyed one of your videos. Too harsh? I’ll try again.
I am genuinely happy you are exploring the treasures of classical music and that you are trying to help others to do likewise. I am happy and I am touched.
As I try to go deeper into this music, patience is the virtue I try to cultivate, a willingness to be bored, even. Moment by moment I learn to listen, until suddenly I hear. Then comes the huge emotional payoff.
Classical music is incredible and I’m trying to get more into it myself. I have found Russian Classical Music to be my favorite
I've never been a classical music aficionado as such but I have always liked classical music playing in the background when I needed an audio relaxation calmer. It's the prozac of music.
I would suggest that classical music can be much more rewarding if listened to attentively. You don't necessarily need to know much about the different styles, but listening to the flow of the music you can pick up on a much wider emotional range than just calm. There's worlds of musical expression waiting to be discovered. If sitting down just listening is a little too inactive, something relatively uninvolved like a long drive or a walk outdoors can be a good way to give the music a more focused listening.
Thanks for putting this into words!
I listened exclusively to classical music as a child and young adult but due to a remote work experience I was exposed to contemporary Rock and Country. I appreciated it at the time but it left no lasting impression or impact on my tastes. I found that the more I go back in time from the 19th century to the Middle Ages the more I enjoy the variety of music while going forward I enjoy it less and most of today's music is barbarously simple.
BRILLIANT IN SO MANY WAYS!!!!!!!
LOTR!! Howard Shore is an unbelievably talented composer. I love film scores, The Revenant is a great film score as well. Put on some good headphones and dive in - hauntingly beautiful. Also look into Post-Classical - Max Richter, Olafur Arnalds, Dustin O'Halloran. Great video Brian!
Hans Zimmer :)
Amen, brother.
Enjoy your classical music expose on how to cultivate an appreciation. Many people are afraid n feel ot is too "highbrow" for them when in fact the composers like beethoven,mozart,haydn etc though gifted many knew n related to the common man and what life is like as known to most people. I need not say beethoven was abused by a drunken father who beat him i think on his ears n many years later became deaf. Some were well off...some impovrished. Just like today. The music was designed to reflect many emotions n feelings n many major works were done to glorify the lord and his creation n attributes. I want to say without bragging the lord has blessed me with gift of singing as an amateur in many choral groups. I enjoy all styles or most styles of music but the classical writing and sounds in the composers production of many choral and instrunental,masses,requiems,laudate dominums,and praise works are many and are truly a treasure. I hope in your search to appreciate classical music and i compare it to a huge banquets with many types of foods n drinks where the wealthy n poor n middle class all can dig in and share n be enriched. I feel like sending you the very listenable beethovens mass in C and the most wonderful n catchy Haydns "creation" about story in genesis. Also many pieces of choral style are on utube abd also one can even find instrumental n voice part scores. I experienced my classical music walk as a teenager when coming to know Jesus and as follows the catholic church whivh despite its human flaws n sins of its members has the "fullness of faith" has the eucharist alot of classical art musuc n architecture that one can find a refuge from the craziness of the world from in ones own personal enjoyment n contemplation. So would like to send a couple of you tube videos. Beethoven mass starts out so peaceful n soft in the opening kyrie. Beautiful. Feel like one is on a nature walk by a beautiful stream or pond with caressing breezes n trees,then got its moments of joy,exultation n final triump. Then back to the dona nobis pacem etc. This music can be better than some medications as singing it produces endorphins n listening one feels so calm in this rush about stressful world happy you are sharing your music experiences with people so opportunities for growth may arise. Enjoy your journey
I have always Loved Composition Works, which are not all correctly called Classical. Bach composed Baroque Music for example, and is a personal Favourite. I never did like Modern Music.
Movies and games usually have really good music that either could be considered classical or heavily resembles it.
I already love classical music, or folk in a different style.
I notice you use beautiful pieces as your background: miserere mei, four seasons and it took me a while to find the Kyrie ( XI if anyone wonders )
Great video. Thank you for sharing.
I do love classical music. The planets from Holst are amazing!
*PS:* For those who don't know: never promote or watch Harry Potter: check out what exorcists have to say about it, it is demonic.
John Williams used Holst's Planets as inspiration for Star Wars music.
@@somebodyCHBiH
No doubt about it
Classical music opens the mind and soothing to the brain
Excellent video! Well said sir.
Don’t use your appreciation of classical music to raise yourself up. It is easy to attach oneself to famous artists from the past to become equal by association, name-dropping. It is far more difficult to become original. To be who God intends us all to be. Ourselves.
I think it's significant to also note that todays music and classical music are also similar in how we can appreciate rhythm and beat. I thought you were going to mention this actually when you said "I bet many of you already like classical music without knowing because of an association with something you already do like." Potentially referring to rhythm and beat. Granted there's a certain perspective and temperament you have to have to enjoy different kinds of music but when simplified, it is composed of rhythms and beats that one can learn to enjoy.
I've always loved the song "Rhapsody in Blue", and the reason is because it was featured in every United Airlines commercial for a solid 10yrs of my childhood.
Just as Brian said....it invokes the memories of a certain nostalgic time period for me.
I also think you have to learn how the music works too and put yourself in the mindset of the time period. There were many restrictions and common practices put into place when it came to writing music before the modern era not to mention physical limitations of instruments. Brass instruments couldn't be fully chromatic until the invention of valves in the mid 1800's. Classical music required more thought in how it was structured and the limitations of the instruments.
David Wiseman (or David Wise, can’t recall) is a modern composer I love! He composed the soundtrack for some of the Donkey Kong games.
Unlesss he doesn’t count as a modern composer but I feel like he does
I was actually listening to some Paganini when I saw this lol
I agree with your final suggestion. I think people often want to dive into classical music with older composers like Bach and Mozart, but I personally find that the composers of the Romantic Era and more contemporary ones (you listed some of my favorites), like Van Williams, Faure, Debussy, Holst, Chopin, Shubert, and others, are typically more emotionally expressive and more engaging to me than Renaissance or Baroque era. However I really don't like the Modern Era composers like Schoenberg. Those people just went off a cliff.
Same I like classical music from baroque classical to romantic era that's it tbh.