schlepporello wrote:1712 Overture by P.D.Q. Bach (1807-1742)?
That's a great piece, but to truly appreciate it, you need to be somewhat familiar with symphonic music....frankly, the whole piece loses something if you don't recognize the theme from the finale of Dvorak 9 at the end.
Since it came up....the Finale from Dvorak 9 (From the New World) would certainly hit the spot for a good introduction...and would probably sound more familiar to them than some other standards from the repertoire (if you thought John Williams' stuff sounded like Holst....)
Doc wrote:Mahler is awfully heavy for a first time listener, IMHO. It needs to be something light and familiar. You'd have to be old enough to associate William Tell Overture to the Lone Ranger.
The choice may depend on the age of the listener. If we're talking about small children, then children's songs would be the ticket. Older kids and adults might go for pops literature, movie/tv scores, familiar folk songs. Slam them immediately with heavy, complex literature, and you'll lose listeners, not gain listeners.
Doc
OTOH, a lot of people associate classical music with blandness, a lack of "beat" and blue hair In that case, the light route could possibly affirm their prejudice. Throwing some really exhilarating examples of classical music in their direction could convince them it's not all about powdered wigs and "good taste"
Doc wrote:Mahler is awfully heavy for a first time listener, IMHO. It needs to be something light and familiar. You'd have to be old enough to associate William Tell Overture to the Lone Ranger.
Wasn't a movement from Mahler 1 used as music central to the theme of a Star Trek Voyager episode?
corbasse wrote:OTOH, a lot of people associate classical music with blandness, a lack of "beat" and blue hair In that case, the light route could possibly affirm their prejudice. Throwing some really exhilarating examples of classical music in their direction could convince them it's not all about powdered wigs and "good taste"
How about drum corps?
(where's the "Blasphemer!" smiley?)
Really, though, the bastardization that Roger Bobo is quoted as hating ("classical music with a boogaloo beat") is exactly what could draw people to the symphonic music genre. Not too many other types of ensembles can take something like Philip Glass's The Canyon and make it into something that a semi-casual listener would really enjoy.
Heck, it worked on me, saving me from unknown years of being a synthesized music fan, and ultimately putting a tuba in my hands.
Chuck(G) wrote:There's always John Cage's 4'22"...
Couldn't stand it and left early?
Rick "too little too late" Denney
I vaguely remember a live Cage performance where he and an ensemble began playing--and went on and on. Many people left, having other things to do. Eventually, someone asked Cage if there was an endpoint to the performance. If I recall correctly, the answer was something to the effect of "When everyone leaves".
Chuck(G) wrote:I vaguely remember a live Cage performance where he and an ensemble began playing--and went on and on. Many people left, having other things to do. Eventually, someone asked Cage if there was an endpoint to the performance. If I recall correctly, the answer was something to the effect of "When everyone leaves".
You gotta hand it to the guy -- he didn't just question the idea of "music" but also pushed the qualifications of the term "performance". He also blurred the boundary between the performers on stage and the audience by making them a direct part of the experience.
More infamous than famous? Yeah, probably, but somebody was bound to do it.
In that case, the light route could possibly affirm their prejudice. Throwing some really exhilarating examples of classical music in their direction could convince them it's not all about powdered wigs and "good taste"
