In my first real foray into classical music as a buyer rather than a casual listener, as I said below, I bought Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, the 1812 Overture and Marche Slave as conducted by Eugene Ormandy. Well, I more or less knew what I was getting there, particularly as I'd just seen Great Performances with Michael Tilton Thomas explaining how Symphony No. 4 was put together, and the 1812 has long been a favorite.
The other CD I bought was a copy of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, as performed by Roberto Michelucci. This was a surprise. As it turns out, I've probably heard Concerto Number 1 ("Spring"), or at least its theme, a few hundred times. This amused me no end, and I wonder how much other music I'd recognize not by name but by note. (Yes, yes, I know about Rossini and the "William Tell Overture"). I'll bet there's a fair bit.
Update: The 1812 Overture as heard through my perfectly-working pair of Pioneer 88 (80-watt) speakers manufactured c. 1973 might knock houses down. Wow.
Posted by Linkmeister at July 18, 2004 03:20 PMYou made great choices. Enjoy!
Posted by: cassie-b at July 18, 2004 04:10 PMIf you've ever watched older cartoons, you're familiar with more classical music than you think. This, in fact, was my rationale to the kids as to why learning about classical music is important: you can understand the subtext of the whole thing better when you're familiar with the soundtrack!
Posted by: Sue at July 18, 2004 04:43 PMTry a compilation of Saint-Saens' Greatest Hits. Among the pieces you'll recognize is the theme from the movie "Babe". Come to think of it, the soundtrack from Disney's "Fantasia" is a good way to pick up a wide range of music at once.
So *that* explains the booming noises I was hearing last night ;) ...
Posted by: Sue at July 19, 2004 08:40 AMNow, now. I only played it once through those speakers, and that was at 1645. ;)
I surely watched a lot of Saturday morning cartoons back when they were funny rather than product-placement tools, so I'd imagine I've heard a ton of classical music that way.
Wagner next, anyone? ;)
Posted by: Linkmeister at July 19, 2004 12:30 PMThere are also tv commercials featuring classical music..
McDonald's used to have one featuring a Franz. Lizst piece...
That's the "we start out with an English muffin/then add cheese and egg and something'/really good: Canadian bacon/yes that's how we go 'bout makin'/breakfast! McDonald's breakfast/made from the very best ingredients we do it all for you" set to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, right? Same tune used in two similar Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry episodes.
(apologies to anyone who now has that song stuck in their head all day)
Posted by: Sue at July 20, 2004 03:31 AMYes, Sue!!
That is the one...I was watching an old Dirk Bogarde movie in which he played Lizst. This piece was featured!!!!
Classical music is really fun! I'm only a beginning collector, but what I have is material I really like. Carmina Buruna is cool, at least parts of it. You'll recognize it from the first Conan movie. :) :)
Posted by: ruminator at July 21, 2004 03:55 AM