Any classical/erudite music enjoyers?

[Sete]

I really love erudite music, but I don't know many brothers who like it. Not even people from the world. I only know one sister in my congregation who likes it, and she's in her 90s. Nothing wrong with her age, but I think only older people like classical music. Not to lie, I met a sister my age at this year's convention, but I couldn't talk to her much because the brothers would think I was flirting with her, and a brother, but the conversation doesn't flow with him. So, I would know some brothers and sisters, of any age, who like really old music. Mainly to exchange some pieces that we like, and chat a little.

 

Some musics I like:

 

The gateway that made me enter this world.

https://youtu.be/hOcryGEw1NY

 

The cat's fugue!

https://youtu.be/ebmMBvuxRkg

 

This one scares me, the Romanian people were certainly built differently

https://youtu.be/unm48hM4pgw

 

This intro always hit me:

https://youtu.be/2y09pD1r-Qs

 

Some bass

https://youtu.be/yrwN5QgZ81w

 

This one isn't "Erudite", but is from the late 1800', so, if it's in piano, can we consider it? 
https://youtu.be/efMvWsxSmzU

 

 

[Tronora]

I love classical music.

 

This is one of my favourites:

 

[Dolce vita]

@Sete@Tronora Thank you for this series of selected pieces, Pedro and Tronora. I love them all (except for La fugue du Chat).In my turn I offer you here a musician that I love very much, Rachmaninoff, who manages to create powerful mental images in me: in old Russia, summer: endless wheat fields, winter: night under the snow, in Saint Petersburg, etc, etc... Written as a rebirth after a very long depression from which he almost never recovered. We feel the need to live, to move, to fly if this were made possible. This makes me think of the happiness of patiently waiting for Jehovah's paradise. You may be right, Pedro, classical music is perhaps more appreciated by people of a certain age in the Organization, I am one of them (even if Sister Tronora is young, isn't she ?). In the world, it is more possible to access this musical environment because schools are made for it. But they require an investment that few of us are capable of producing. So we miss out. Well, I guess, I'm not very sure of what I'm saying

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

I’m joining this thread to listen to the lovely music on offer. Not sure if I can offer much. But thank you Pedro for starting it, and for the contributions added by others already. 
 

This feels so pure to me. The Lark Ascending. 

[Dolce vita]

ohhhhh @fille au chapeau !!! Absolutely Beautiful. Sounds like a bit chinese or japenese, doesn'it ?

[Tronora]

1 hour ago, Dolce vita said:

I am one of them (even if Sister Tronora is young, isn't she ?). In the world, it is more possible to access this musical environment because schools are made for it. But they require an investment that few of us are capable of producing. So we miss out. Well, I guess, I'm not very sure of what I'm saying

 

 

I am 55 years young  

 

I am not sure what you mean about the accessibility? Spotify is full of classical music (and, I see, youtube too). But fewer may be appreciating of it if not introduced to it properly? Classical music is A LOT, and there is PLENTY I don't like. Classical is not;  you either like everything or none of it. Unfortunately, some that has heard only a few pieces they don't like, conclude classical music is not for them.

 

I have now found Khatia Buniatishvili (Rachmaninov's 2.) on Spotify. Thank you for the tip [missing a thank you-smiley]

 

  at @hatcheckgirl Glad to see classical music-lovers!

 

 

[Dolce vita]

@TronoraIt’s funny, while reading you, I thought you were younger, just an impression. 55 is still young even if we are classified as seniors. Within a few years, we are from the same generation. Glad to meet you, sister Tronora.  

 

What I wanted to say about access to classical music is that it is technically demanding music, there is culture behind it that popular music does not have, for example. Classical music is 'erudite' music. We are no longer engaged by music when we have a minimum of information about it: what is a soloist, what is an orchestra, how is it organized, etc., etc.? Some musician and singer brothers and sisters approach this culture with knowledge, but the majority of us do not. I do not ! I think we appreciate Chopin, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Mussorgsky even more if we know their lives, at least what we know about them, and the technical prowess of their works. It's just an opinion that only applies to me. It is a world that I will explore with passion in the New World if Jehovah is willing.

[Dolce vita]

 

[Friend of Peace]

Breathtaking every time I hear it, Volodos interpretation is monstrously sublime:

 

https://spotify.link/UpQnz2SN7Cb

Edited September 15, 2023 by Friend of Peace

[Michał]

I like it too. I’m 38. The only problem I have I can’t put works with their names. Or faces with their names. 

[DancesWithWife]

Yes, and so does this 80-year-old elephant. 

 

 

[Qapla]

1 hour ago, Dolce vita said:

Classical music is 'erudite' music

 

You have used this expression more than once.

 

What makes Classical music "erudite"?

er·u·dite
/ˈer(y)əˌdīt/
adjective
having or showing great knowledge or learning.

 

It was the popular music of its day. It has been described as "music written by a composer rather than passed on by oral tradition." Well, the same holds true of many modern pieces, including showtunes, rock and even metal music. Many of the top hits of today are written and composed not the product of oral tradition. I'm sure Billy Gibbons would say he composed "Shar Dressed Man" - yet we don't call it Classical. I know Paul Simon has a video about him composing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters".

 

I like Classical music. Beethoven's Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor for solo piano is extremely nice to listen to, as well as being nearly as famous as his 5th Symphony. But then, I also like Boogie Woogie and Ragtime. Brendon Kavanagh has a PhD and has been playing piano since he was a young boy but primarily plays Boogie Woogie as does Vanessa Sabrina Gnaegi (Ladyva).

 

Leonardo Pellegrino is an accomplished baritone saxophonist who has played with some really big named orchestras - but, if you ever saw Leo P performs, I'm not sure erudite would be the first word to enter your mind - yet he is classically trained.

 

Do you remember the songs we used to sing to that were recorded on piano for the Congregation to play at the KH. Are they considered Classical music? They were all composed and, the piano recordings we sang to were played by a brother who was trained as a Classical Pianist. His parents were Jazz musicians and he later had a small Jazz Group.

 

 

[hatcheckgirl]

5 hours ago, Dolce vita said:

ohhhhh @fille au chapeau !!! Absolutely Beautiful. Sounds like a bit chinese or japenese, doesn'it ?

Fille Au chapeau c'est moi! 😂💞. Love it!

 

For me, Lark Ascending makes my heart soar, it’s sublime. I love all the suggestions so far because classical music is so varied and it’s fun to explore (if we had the time). And I think it really helps if you’ve been exposed to classical music when young, and formally if possible. We used to have lessons in kindergarten where we would listen to classical pieces and learn about the instruments in an orchestra, trying to identify various sounds. Elementary, but I think it started my love for hearing more. Also, my father, being Italian, naturally instilled in us singing. He was a tenor and we heard opera at home. Though my family couldn’t afford to give me formal musical training, I look forward to learning it all in the new world.

[Sete]

6 hours ago, Dolce vita said:

@Sete@TronoraThank you for this series of selected pieces, Pedro and Tronora. I love them all (except for La fugue du Chat).In my turn I offer you here a musician that I love very much, Rachmaninoff, who manages to create powerful mental images in me: in old Russia, summer: endless wheat fields, winter: night under the snow, in Saint Petersburg, etc, etc... Written as a rebirth after a very long depression from which he almost never recovered. We feel the need to live, to move, to fly if this were made possible. This makes me think of the happiness of patiently waiting for Jehovah's paradise. You may be right, Pedro, classical music is perhaps more appreciated by people of a certain age in the Organization, I am one of them (even if Sister Tronora is young, isn't she ?). In the world, it is more possible to access this musical environment because schools are made for it. But they require an investment that few of us are capable of producing. So we miss out. Well, I guess, I'm not very sure of what I'm saying

 

 

It's sad to know that you don't like Cat's fugue, at least I put it in a piano version, on the harpsichord it would probably be worse, hahaha! And I love Rachmaninoff's pieces, I like how he wrote chords that just sound like melodies. I don't have as good an imagination of scenarios as you Fa, in fact I'm very pessimistic, so when I imagine something it always ends badly, but I'm working on it, maybe one day I'll have a good creative thought like you. It's sad that people my age don't know how good classical music can be, but we need to research to find it, for example, I don't particularly like pieces by Beethoven and Mozart (some isolated pieces I like), but if I thought “If the 2 most famous names are boring, imagine the rest!” I would never find so many good songs.

I love this concert! At 6:14 it gives me goosebumps, what a beautiful part! I would love to dedicate myself to the piano just to play beautiful moments like this. Another beautiful part is the coda to Chopin's Ballad No. 1.

 

5 hours ago, hatcheckgirl said:

I’m joining this thread to listen to the lovely music on offer. Not sure if I can offer much. But thank you Pedro for starting it, and for the contributions added by others already. 
 

This feels so pure to me. The Lark Ascending. 

This piece is great, sounds like  "Japanese/Chinese", reminds me of Holst's Japanese Suite https://youtu.be/M1KlVLYNajM 

 

 

4 hours ago, Dolce vita said:

 

Rimsky is certainly a talented artist, I watched Scheherazade in live, but orchestrated for wind and metal instruments. https://youtu.be/zY4w4_W30aQ <- This one is the best interpretation I heard

 

[Sete]

4 hours ago, Friend of Peace said:

Breathtaking every time I hear it, Volodos interpretation is monstrously sublime:

 

https://spotify.link/UpQnz2SN7Cb

Ahh, the Rach three. Who knows, knows.

[Sete]

3 hours ago, DancesWithWife said:

Yes, and so does this 80-year-old elephant. 

 

 

80s Elephants can have a good taste too!

 

2 hours ago, Qapla said:

 

You have used this expression more than once.

 

What makes Classical music "erudite"?

er·u·dite
/ˈer(y)əˌdīt/
adjective
having or showing great knowledge or learning.

 

It was the popular music of its day. It has been described as "music written by a composer rather than passed on by oral tradition." Well, the same holds true of many modern pieces, including showtunes, rock and even metal music. Many of the top hits of today are written and composed not the product of oral tradition. I'm sure Billy Gibbons would say he composed "Shar Dressed Man" - yet we don't call it Classical. I know Paul Simon has a video about him composing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters".

 

I like Classical music. Beethoven's Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor for solo piano is extremely nice to listen to, as well as being nearly as famous as his 5th Symphony. But then, I also like Boogie Woogie and Ragtime. Brendon Kavanagh has a PhD and has been playing piano since he was a young boy but primarily plays Boogie Woogie as does Vanessa Sabrina Gnaegi (Ladyva).

 

Leonardo Pellegrino is an accomplished baritone saxophonist who has played with some really big named orchestras - but, if you ever saw Leo P performs, I'm not sure erudite would be the first word to enter your mind - yet he is classically trained.

 

Do you remember the songs we used to sing to that were recorded on piano for the Congregation to play at the KH. Are they considered Classical music? They were all composed and, the piano recordings we sang to were played by a brother who was trained as a Classical Pianist. His parents were Jazz musicians and he later had a small Jazz Group.

 

 

We need to know why we call it erudite. Erudite music is sometimes called classical music, but the correct term could be concert music. We usually call this Erudite, because “Classical” is a time period in music, so it's incorrect to call it classical. For example, Chopin isn't a classical composer, he's a romantic composer. For that reason alone, for me, I don't mind it too much, and I even prefer to say classic, so that everyone can understand what I'm saying. About what it's and what it's not, it's very relative and it's up to each one to try to define, since the periods of music continue to occur, what we still define as classical music would be concert music, and what would be concert music , is normally associated with instruments, and "classical" instruments. A good example would be Lilium[https://youtu.be/RFnazAsMOQI], from Elfen Lied (definitely not a Christian anime, don't watch it my brothers). It's a beautiful song that could perhaps fit into "erudite", the original version is voice + orchestra, and the lyrics follow a melodic form, but in the end, it's an anime opening.

Terms and terms, defining them is difficult.

[Sete]

4 hours ago, Michał said:

I like it too. I’m 38. The only problem I have I can’t put works with their names. Or faces with their names. 

Not gonna lie, this names is hard, for pop is like: "oh i like lover from taylor" but for classical is like "oh i like the prelude no. 2 of bach well tempered clavier, book 1, and in harpsichord in A 432hz"

[Dolce vita]

There is a lot of sensitivity in what I read on this thread and it is very beautiful.

@Qapla You are right, of course. What you say is very true. In fact, what I am trying to translate here is what my ear, which lacks musical training, understands about the work being played in its entirety. I am certain that when I listen to Clair de Lune, for example, I taste certain sensations which would be heightened if I knew the path they take to come to me and thus reach my heart. I'm not saying that some music is major and other music minor according to an intellectual classification of this world, not at all. The most important thing, it seems to me, is to consider the effect that all this music has on us. There are certain original songs produced by the Organization which, musically, fuel my hopes or my tears much more surely than a piece by Rachmaninov that I particularly like.
@Sète Brother Sete: you write your feelings beautifully. You are sad, you say, because you are naturally more pessimistic than the average... and if that simply meant that your sensitivity to beauty no longer supported the ugliness of this world, its violence, its dissoluteness, its unbearable air that we all breathe, despite ourselves? You aspire to the beauty of the new world like a thirsty person, and this is a constant among all the brothers and sisters that I read on this forum. I discover battles, personal struggles to make the love of Jehovah shine in the heart and that too, it is magnificent music that I hear and it would be sublime if we put it into notes. Thank you to each of you for this breath.

[Sete]

 

7 hours ago, Dolce vita said:

Brother Sete: you write your feelings beautifully. You are sad, you say, because you are naturally more pessimistic than the average... and if that simply meant that your sensitivity to beauty no longer supported the ugliness of this world, its violence, its dissoluteness, its unbearable air that we all breathe, despite ourselves? You aspire to the beauty of the new world like a thirsty person, and this is a constant among all the brothers and sisters that I read on this forum. I discover battles, personal struggles to make the love of Jehovah shine in the heart and that too, it is magnificent music that I hear and it would be sublime if we put it into notes. Thank you to each of you for this breath.

You said my sister, and I started thinking. I normally wouldn't see it that way, but doesn't it make sense? Naturally, when I listen to music and start to think, there are two possibilities, when I imagine myself in this world, somehow everything always ends badly, however, if I think about the New World, I can think in a beautiful way. When I imagine this world, it always ends badly, possibly because of experiences I've had in the past. But when I think about the new world, it's so calm! Sometimes I imagine myself in my house, a big wooden house, with my children and my wife (three things I don't have, just to put it in context). Or preaching to the resurrected, studying things that I left aside to focus first on the kingdom of this world, but there I will have plenty of time. Thank you for making me reflect on this, but I don't think any of us are optimistic in this world, nor should we. Anyway, I will try to be a little more optimistic, even though this world is bad, Jehovah is on our side.
Speaking of music, I heard these, maybe you like some:

https://youtu.be/6BX4j-8o0OU

https://youtu.be/MUcYhKFdQNs

https://youtu.be/JcXOhUH6nxs

https://youtu.be/2W92UIOZc7c

https://youtu.be/fPp3Qh-GRqs

https://youtu.be/SPYQJ_-Sljc

I was going to include some of Bizet, but I imagine that you, Fa, are French, so you must know him very well, hehe.

[Dolce vita]

@Sète 

Thank you Pedro for sharing all these wonders.  Music is definitely a wonderful gift from Jehovah and there is no doubt that all of his intelligent creation, angels included, appreciate it. After all, we know that there are at least celestial songs and even' harps and trumpets' in heaven (Revelation 8:7...;  Rev 15:3...). I don't know, dear Brother, what nature you are exactly, optimistic or its opposite, I don't know you. But in what you wrote you evoked a natural pessimism, that's wht I read from you, and above all, your way of talking about music and your musical references, the pieces chosen, seem to speak of a sensitive and painful soul.

 

You talk about your future plans as a young person, in the New World: home, family, development of a spirituality that is difficult to amplify in this system... the only reference that comes to mind while reading you is Psalm 145:16. Jehovah will give you the expectations of your heart, Pedro. When we get older as I'm getting, we have experienced this promise a thousand times already on this side of the world, even though it is on the verge of making the Titanic. So in the wonderful new world that awaits us...

 

A specific gift that Jehovah risks offering you personally is the study of one of these musicians that you appreciate so much or of an anonymous person that history will not have remembered, and who nevertheless possesses artistic genius, in a field or another. Why wouldn't that be possible, why not daydream ? We will no longer be in the old world where privileges were reserved for a category of 'wealthy' people. We will be with Jehovah and his Son, the two Wonders throughout the universe, overflowing with justice and love.

 

All our dreams are held in the nature of Jehovah. So let's dream to support the end of this system and let's offer to Jehovah the best that we have in ourselves, even if from our point of view, we don't posess that much to offer. Let him define what he likes about us and put it to music while we wait for the promised paradise.

[Dages]

I like Liszt

 

[Sete]

@Dolce Vita Music is certainly one of Jehovah's most wonderful gifts, it helps express feelings that only writing couldn't ever convey, I imagine how strong the Psalms must be. If the words alone are so wonderful, imagine how strong they must be along with their own melodies. Naturally, my sister, I would say that I'm pessimistic. I'm not proud of this, but the truth is that this even reflects the music I listen to, as you rightly mentioned. Little by little I try to detach myself from such melancholy, since my life is reasonably good, but it could be much worse. At least today, I can deal with all of this with Jehovah's help. 3 years ago, for example, I was skeptical. Even though I grew up in a home where my mother is a Jehovah's Witness, I never delved deeper. Through Jehovah’s kindness, I had a shepherding visit and a loving brother re-conducted my Bible study. I haven't been baptized yet, but possibly at the first assembly next year, I'll take a good dive.

 

I have no doubt that Jehovah's words will be fulfilled, even so I need to strengthen my faith more, because even when we preach and sometimes people say "This is too good to be true", I unfortunately whenever I think about Psalms 145 :16 I think like they. But this is all my idiocy, Jehovah made me 145:14, why wouldn't he do 16 too? He'll certainly help me, as Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "For everything there is an appointed time."

 

I wonder how pieces will be written in the new world. Today, wonderful pieces, like Mahler's Symphony No. 2, are written by people who only have a few years to live, a few years of study, compared to the new world. Just imagine, spending 1 million years writing a symphony? A nocturne? A prelude? It's funny, that today we have to daydream, while there, we will live the dream. One thing I would like to see is what Chopin's pieces will be like if he's resurrected, his pieces are extremely sad throughout his life, but if he's resurrected, he will not have his illnesses that bothered him his entire life. Will he write music as happy as Mozart's? I don't know, but I want to be there to see it.

 

As we wait for the promised paradise, we can only pursue giving our best to Jehovah. 1 Timothy 3:1 can apply to all of us, wishing an excellent work. In this world, we should focus on surviving and giving our best to Jehovah. We can do other things, but we can never lose focus on the Kingdom.

 

[Sete]

7 hours ago, Dages said:

I like Liszt

 

Brother David, maybe you like this one: https://youtu.be/_Xfnh4MnzEM. For a more instense piece, maybe this one: https://youtu.be/YSSP_LUijGc (wich is played by https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201311/eldar-nebolsin-pianist-explains-faith/).

 

ps. Under your comment there is always a "Thinking about Paradise is a nice hobby... " but the link doesn't work.

[Dages]

2 hours ago, Sete said:

Brother David, maybe you like this one: https://youtu.be/_Xfnh4MnzEM. For a more instense piece, maybe this one: https://youtu.be/YSSP_LUijGc (wich is played by https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201311/eldar-nebolsin-pianist-explains-faith/).

 

ps. Under your comment there is always a "Thinking about Paradise is a nice hobby... " but the link doesn't work.

I updated the link, that's basically a section of this forum. 

 

Thank you for the music.