Pieces of Music that don't really do it for you

What pieces of music do you know that you really do not like very much, even though you do like most other works by that composer?

I always wonder why I really cannot be bothered with Vaughan Williams London and Antarctic Symphonies, when I think the others are all genius.

Elgar's Cello Concerto leaves me cold, though I love his symphonies and the violin concerto.

Beethoven's Patoral sends me to sleep. Bruckner's 2nd really is unnecessary, no 1 and 3-9 are crucial.

Shostakovich 7 is just loud, pompous and bombastic, apart from the 1st movement - the rest of it just propaganda music. His 8th is better, but so unremittingly grim it gives me a headache. But 1,4,6,10 & 15 are amongst my favourite symphonies.

Sibelius 1.... no loss if its not in your collection, he grew up to write 6 proper original ones after that (though still not sure I understand no. 4)

Nielsen 6... what is that all about then?

 

Most things written after about 1900.

 

Totally agree with the Shostakovich - I find the 7th too long and boring - no wonder Bartock mocked it and yet it was Shostakovich who was one of the composers that made me want to listen to more classical music.

Not too keen on Stravinskys symphonies but love the ballets.

Steve Reich's Drumming - I just don't get it and decided it wasn't worth the (very) long time it would take to get used to it.

Mahler's 3rd - not sure why I don't like it but struggle to get to the end of it - may be the recording I've got of it (Tilson-Thomas on Avie)

 

Alan you have it so right...
Perhaps I could add:
Waltons Viola Concerto, a tedious dirge if ever there was one
Any symphony by Walton, there is no progression at all, no sense of structure, just one idea followed by another.
Most Elgar. I loathe Elgar, especially Gerontius and the Fiddle concerto, oh and the 1st and 2nd symphonies and that tedious cello concerto.
Nielson 6, what indeed is the point.
Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Webern with their serial nonsense, although I quite like Schoenbergs early stuff.
Beethoven 6 and controversially number 9. A great tune wasted by a lot of tedious faffing if you ask me.
Avo Part, waste of space, have listened to quite a bit, and none of it has encouraged me to play it again.
Peter Maxwell Davies. A bloody racket on the whole.
Couperin's harpsichord music. I bought a record once and boy is this stuff grim. Sir Tom had it right when he talked about 2 skeletons copulating on a tin roof....
Gregorian Chant, music indeed to fall asleep to....
Fur Elise, it's a demo on the keyboards at school and if I hear those few bars again I might just rip someones head off
Oh and anything sung by Aled Jones or Andreas Bocelli. Crap the pair of them.

Feel better for that, got it off my chest

Got to say I love Shostokovitch 7, it's one of my favourites, I think he takes sarcasm to new heights in this piece, he really does say what he thinks about the soviet in music.

 

7.75 out of 8.75 (88.57%) is not a bad hit rate if you ask me!

I rather like the Shos.7 - it revels in it's tastelessness.

I could cheat and nominate the complete works of Martinu (would the world be a worse place without them?) but, playing by the rules, how about the Chopin Piano concerti. Stick to the Piano only, Fred.

 

I'd broadly agree about Martinu.... expect his double concerto for piano and timpani or something like that which is quite good.

Tones - there must be at least one thing by Bach you don't like?

 

There's a concerto rhapsody for viola and orchestra that's ever so good as well..
Tones are you telling us you enjoy the Bach E major fiddle concerto. That goes on like a sewing machine

 

Was that played at the Proms last year? GrahamN tried to convince me it had some merit. Unsuccessfully. If that's his best shot, then I'm even more secure in my judgement! Unless we heard a particularly lifeless interpretation of course.

 

Anything by Brahms.

 

You would have to pay me to listen to Rinaldo.

 

Naturally there's OK Bach (not everything is stellar), but bad Bach I've yet to hear. Mind you, I haven't heard everything (but working on it).

 

Yes, I am. (I'm big on sewing machines, I guess).

 

Does anyone like Beethoven's "Wellington's Victory"? It's one piece by the great master that I seek always to avoid. I think it's the "For he's a jolly good fellow" (actually an old French marching song) that does it.

 

I have a good recording of it.... played by 2 blokes on a Casio VX tone keyboard and toy percussion, on a "Baby Beethoven" disc which is well loved by young Miss Beeb. I'm sure if you heard this interpretation you'd change your mind about it.

 

Most things written before about 1800

Michael.

 

(Sigh) Philistines and barbarians everywhere...

 

Fur Elise and 1st movement of Moonlight sonata are LvB's masterpieces but the rest of his music is worthless.

 

Worthless

What about his 3rd Symphony - surely something that caused riots and shock can't be all that bad

Also the string quartets are of a very high standard.

I have a Schoenberg disc by Rattle/CBSO which I have never been able to listen to all the way through - nice cover though.

 

A record? Not a very long time ago I bought the "Complete Works" 12 CD box (played by Christophe Rousset on HM). Admittedly it takes some getting used to. But I think I'm getting there...

Check out Rameau, too (Rousset and Christie make those skeletons sound quite agreeable!).

As for other composers, I do not seem to be able to understand Beethoven's music.


Regards,

L.

 

I'll get my club and bearskin tunic

Michael.