Help me cull my amazon basket

[cybot]

I was going to put this question where everyone could see it but I don't want to start WW3 :-)
Here it is: why the continuous vilification of poor old Yawn (sic) Williams? I have some of his music and on the whole, with the exception of his first symphony, I think he's just fine....At least I don't get bored, for example, when listening to say, Beethoven's Fifth, where it's easy to predict what's coming next and therefore loses it's mystery on repeated listening. Just enlighten me lads, have I got it completely wrong?

[Seán]

I was going to put this question where everyone could see it but I don't want to start WW3 :-)
Here it is: why the continuous vilification of poor old Yawn (sic) Williams? I have some of his music and on the whole, with the exception of his first symphony, I think he's just fine....At least I don't get bored, for example, when listening to say, Beethoven's Fifth, where it's easy to predict what's coming next and therefore loses it's mystery on repeated listening. Just enlighten me lads, have I got it completely wrong?

Start a war with me Dermot? Notatall. I am the one who refers to Mr Williams as Yawn, because his music does not inspire me, in fact it leaves me cold. If you would rather that I not write of him in a derogatory manner then I will of course refrain from doing so, and I do apologise if I have caused any offence. Those of us who post in here, and I have almost given up doing so, tend to have strong feelings about some composers, interpreters and critics and, at times, we may be very critical without intending to offend, that is NEVER my intention.
With regard to Beethoven's Fifth or any of his other works for that matter, they always entrap me, I am usually captivated by his music. I am very familair with several of his symphonies yet his music is so brilliant that it does lend itself to such a variety of interpretations that it always sounds fresh and new to me.

[cybot]

I was going to put this question where everyone could see it but I don't want to start WW3 :-)
Here it is: why the continuous vilification of poor old Yawn (sic) Williams? I have some of his music and on the whole, with the exception of his first symphony, I think he's just fine....At least I don't get bored, for example, when listening to say, Beethoven's Fifth, where it's easy to predict what's coming next and therefore loses it's mystery on repeated listening. Just enlighten me lads, have I got it completely wrong?

Start a war with me Dermot? Notatall. I am the one who refers to Mr Williams as Yawn, because his music does not inspire me, in fact it leaves me cold. If you would rather that I not write of him in a derogatory manner then I will of course refrain from doing so, and I do apologise if I have caused any offence. Those of us who post in here, and I have almost given up doing so, tend to have strong feelings about some composers, interpreters and critics and, at times, we may be very critical without intending to offend, that is NEVER my intention.
With regard to Beethoven's Fifth or any of his other works for that matter, they always entrap me, I am usually captivated by his music. I am very familair with several of his symphonies yet his music is so brilliant that it does lend itself to such a variety of interpretations that it always sounds fresh and new to me.

Don't be silly Seán! I respect your opinion and your utmost devotion to the music you love. You are most definitely not offending me, outspoken maybe, but not in an offensive way. I feel exactly the same way about my own 'crazy' music and get really mad when other people don't get it! We need people like you and others to enlighten us philistines here who are way,way behind in the experience stakes when it comes to music be it Classical, Jazz or whatever....So from me, please don't stop posting....... I know I've often felt like throwing in the towel but something always crops up to keep the fire burning or someone says something inspiring which gives me hope :-) Talking about inspiring, surely you don't think 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis' would leave you cold?

[Diapason]

I'm quite tickled by Sean's dislike of VW and I enjoy the Yawn Williams banter. Old Ralph does seem to polarise opinion, though. I remember a thread on a usenet group where that very Tallis Fantasia was up for discussion. Somebody wrote a thesis-length post explaining why VW didn't even deserve to lick Tallis's boots, and why it was a veritable disgrace that he presumed to borrow the theme for his composition.

So Sean, you have to keep posting at least until that level.

(Actually, if you want to remind yourself what a nice place this is by internet standards, have a look at rec.classical.music.recordings on the google archive. Painful at times.)

[Seán]

Thanks Dermot & Simon, this is a warm, gentle - very sleepy - place, I do like it here and I LOVE CMG too.

[fergus]

I think that one of the things that keeps this place civilized (apart from the fact that we are of course all perfect gentlemen with impeccable manners) is the fact that a lot of us have met and know each other personally....one of the big advantages of a smaller community I feel.

[DaveF]

On the subject of composers that leave one cold, Bruckner is the one that I simply cannot get a grip on. I have a Jochum boxset which comes highly regarded but even with a different interpretation I doubt it would change things for me. I wont give up just yet though and it has been said many timee tha the music that you struggle with at the start often becomes very rewarding in the end.

Beethoven's 5th often comes in for criticism which is understandable I suppose given that the opening bars are probably the most recognisable music ever. That said, I think the transistion between the final two movements is epic.
There are a few interesting youtube videos where Bernstein goes through this symphony and illustrates how the symphony would have sounded if Beethoven had included some pieces that he eventually left out. It gives a very interesting view on the whole world of composing.
Here is the first part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0wO7q6_qRk


Glad to see the posting picking up here again. I feared that the forum was becoming a little stagnant recently. We're a very very small hifi community here in Ireland and as good as CMG and other forums are, it's quite nice to have our little spot here in cyberspace. It's up to us though to keep the place alive.

Now Simon, you need more help on 'culling' you amazon basket? :-)

[Ciaran]

Hmm, Bruckner. Take a mysterious fragment, repeat it over and over until you've built it up to a thundering climax, then fall away suddenly to a mysterious fragment which you repeat over and over till you've built it up to a thundering climax, then fall away suddenly to a mysterious fragment which you repeat over and over till you've built it up to a thundering climax, then.. ad infinitum. No I don't (usually) get Bruckner either!

[cybot]

Ah now that's more like it :-) Thoroughly enjoyed everyone's thoughts (and fears) regarding the forum and it's warm, sleepy village of decent people who are here for the love of music and the equipment that magically makes it come to life in a way that unfortunately we tend to take for granted.

Interesting thoughts on Bruckner though. I too had a box set of his symphonies on vinyl and being, as you all know, a lover of 'difficult' music I could not get into his music at all! I tried and tried and tried and then gave up in frustration. Another box set by Böhm conducting the complete Mozart symphonies left me completely cold. Slow and ponderous to a fault, leaving the joyous sound of Mozart utterly devoid of er, joy.... and then I discovered The Academy Of Ancient Music under Hogwood doing Mozart and I was completely and utterly lost for words! Thus begun a love affair with the Florilegium label which introduced me to other staggeringly beautiful music from the likes of Lawes, Dowland etc etc

All I can say in finishing is I thank God every day that the invisible 'gift' that is music can have such a profound effect on my senses as to render my passage through the forest with a sense of mystery and wonder that, by turns, continues to surprise and startle me with it's otherworldliness. I know that may sound pretentious but to those who already know, it most definitely isn't.... of course, it is nothing but a miracle in my eyes and sometimes I have to laugh at how serious, precious and protective I can be with this thing called music....

BTW you are more than welcome Seán.....

Dave, you've raised some valid points about the forum which I tend to agree with and hopefully we all can move on from this....

[fergus]

Interestingly I do not see what the difficulty with Bruckner's music is....I really like it. That is just me, though!!