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19 Mar 18 - 01:39 AM (#3911795) Subject: Identify Symphony Themes From: Joe Offer I've enjoyed symphonies most of my life, and I like to think that this is a pretty high-class sophisticated aspect of my life. The trouble is, I hear music and recognize it, but I can rarely identify the piece I'm hearing. I think I could be very cultured, if only I could put a name to the pieces of classical music I hear. I've hear the suggestion that one can put words to a theme and then recognize it, and that helps me know that Bill Caddick's "John O' Dreams" is Tchaikovsky's something-or-other. And I remember that "Lover's Concerto" is something-or-another by Bach, and that "Going Home" is Dvorak's 10th (New World). But that's about as far as I can go. Well, I can recognize Beethoven's 5th and 9th. There's an arrangement called A Whole Lot of Symphony Themes that covers a dozen of them, so that's helpful. But what other aids are there to help me identify symphony themes and sound halfway cultured? I'm tired of feeling like a dolt, and I need help... -Joe- |
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19 Mar 18 - 01:42 AM (#3911796) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Joe Offer There's a Website called http://www.themefinder.org/, but I think it's beyond me.... |
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19 Mar 18 - 04:47 AM (#3911808) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity Hello Joe!!..... If you follow this it WILL assist you greatly! Composers, classical or more modern, conceive or perceive their place of 'inspirations' in different ways, then relay that into their music! True story......but trying to 'remember' all the different tunes, by name and composer can be a needless exercise....if the music doesn't hit, or resonate with a part of you. Therefore, consider this, (as I've posted before numerous times in the past), Beethoven describe it this way,(being as he was musically 'breaking new ground')..when asked 'where he got his inspiration'.."The vibrations on the air are the breath of God speaking to man's soul. Music is the language of God. We musicians are as close to God as man can be. We hear his voice, we read his lips, we give birth to the children of God, who sing his praise. That's what musicians are.".......Now considering who he was/is, it would be logical for him to know what he was saying...right?...follow me.....That energy comes through different composers differently, and the reason they have lasted through time, is because they resonate with the 'souls' of mankind, regardless of passing trends, or even forms of governments. Now, if listening closely, you can pick up on the different 'styles' of how the different composers utilize their gift......you might be listening to a piece, and there is this one part that 'hits' you...so you ask, Who was that???'...you look it up...maybe listen to more of his stuff, and find a certain thread......another composer hits a different flash...and soon you are able to distinguish the different works and composers, just by ear.....THAT in mind...there are more modern composers, who have 'followers' just as the 'classical' ones, but you'd swear you were listening to a classical piece......for instance, here are some....listen closely...and btw, ALL of them are from film scores...yet sound classical..enough to ask, 'Who did that?', 'What was the name of that?' This one, you'd swear was a classical piece...it's not! another: 'Romeo & Juliet' Abel Korzeniowski 'Thousand Times Good Night' Another from the same composer as above: Abel Korzeniowski, ' Come, Gentle Night' from the film ' W.E.' Another, same composer, and look what they did with it...a more 'modern ballet'! Abel Korzeniowski, ' Come, Gentle Night' from the film ' W.E.' What I'm trying to illustrate is that these, (in my opinion) are masterfully beautiful pieces, that would spur one's curiosity, to wonder 'who?' and 'what was that?'...so one can remember how to get to hear it again.....and you just learned and memorized it.... ...the same about 'classical'.....and the closer you look and analyze the one that make you wonder why you liked it, the more intimate your knowledge of both composer and piece...where he's coming from...where he wants to take you, if you follow his lead.... before long you would be learning this stuff faster than you even thought.....true story! That takes 'being in touch' with yourself enough to ALLOW the music IN, to resonate....(and BTW), music, as I've posted again, many times before, is a HIGHER calling than politics!!! Little things amuse little minds...and the energy that people put into defending or promoting any of the current political hypocritical dogmas, is limiting one's capacity to perceive the fullness of the reality of where music comes from....in other words, politics closes people off, and makes them STUPID!!.....when the music, (such as classical), has lasted long enough to be classical....and has outlive every political form of government that is was ever composed under!!!! Here, you may have heard this before...but this one takes you out to sea, and you end up in another, different shore.....No sound you are hearing, is from a conventional orchestral sound...all created God Bless.... GfS |
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19 Mar 18 - 04:48 AM (#3911809) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Acorn4 It can get absolutely awful as in "This is the symphony that Schu...Schu...Schubert never finished. |
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19 Mar 18 - 05:06 AM (#3911813) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity CORRECTION:..... Another, same composer, and look what they did with it...a more 'modern ballet'! I posted the wrong piece...watch it through entirety GfS P.S. I hope you found all these pieces enjoyable Here's another Abel Korzeniowski bonus track!!..enjoy! |
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19 Mar 18 - 05:08 AM (#3911814) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: BobL GfS, who says these examples aren't classical music? Depends on what you mean by "classical" I suppose: one definition is music from a particular era (as opposed to "Baroque" or "Romantic"), another is music composed and performed for artistic reasons, another is serious music that follows long-established principles. The film scores seem (to my ears at least) to fall well within the "art music" category. |
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19 Mar 18 - 05:40 AM (#3911821) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity My point exactly!! Only time will tell, how it is technically 'considered'!! GfS |
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19 Mar 18 - 08:51 AM (#3911850) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Nigel Paterson The convention I grew up with was 'Classical' with a capital C, refers to the historical time period, roughly 1750-1830, 'classical' with a small c is a catchall word for the vast amount of other orchestral music (sometimes called 'serious music'), art music, film scores etc, etc. that abound. Joe, if you enjoy listening to symphonies, don't fret too much about remembering from where a theme came. Make your own play list, keep listening, and be on the lookout for composers whose music you haven't heard...Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler et al have had it all their own way for too long! Musically, Nigel. |
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19 Mar 18 - 10:50 AM (#3911872) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,keberoxu The version I grew up with was: This is the symphony that Schubert wrote but never Fin- [choke] |
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19 Mar 18 - 11:25 AM (#3911873) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Jack Campin Try this: Barlow and Morgenstern I have the paper version, there are probably other electronic ones. |
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19 Mar 18 - 11:32 AM (#3911874) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: RTim I delivered a Paper at the Sea Music Symposium at Mystic, CT in 2016 on the folk songs Ralph Vaughan Williams used in his 1906/1914 Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1. He actually collected them in Kings Lynn, Norfolk and used the themes in the piece of music. In total he collected some 70 songs but only used 5 in the original Rhapsody, then amended this in 1914 to only use 4 of the folk songs. Do listen to the piece - it is wonderful and was the first piece of "Classical" music to use English Folk Song themes.... Tim Radford |
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19 Mar 18 - 12:57 PM (#3911891) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Nigel Paterson Joe, if you haven't met Korngold, I urge you so to do. This thumbnail might tempt you: "Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian-born composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in the history of Hollywood. He was a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write (for) Hollywood" (Siri Knowledge). |
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19 Mar 18 - 01:09 PM (#3911893) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Rigby Norfolk Rhapsody is indeed lovely, but was it really the first piece of classical music to use English folk themes? Both Haydn and Beethoven wrote settings of numerous British folk melodies, were there no English tunes among them? |
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19 Mar 18 - 01:41 PM (#3911898) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity ...In other words, you will easily remember what you embrace! GfS |
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19 Mar 18 - 02:37 PM (#3911902) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Tattie Bogle Think a lot of that's true. The music I can identify best is that with which I am most familiar, either by having played it in an orchestra (i.e. numerous rehearsals) or from my LP collection (repetition). That was more in my younger days, so some of it has slipped away from me now. Listening to the UK's "Classic FM" can be a challenge as they don't often play whole symphonies or concertos, but tend to pick out the favourite movements. And btw, Joe, Dvorak only wrote 9 symphonies, so "The New World" with the "Going Home" theme is from the 9th. He was another who drew on local folk tunes in his compositions.
-Joe- |
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19 Mar 18 - 02:38 PM (#3911903) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: RTim Rigby - Sorry- I should have said by an English Composer............. Tim Radford |
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19 Mar 18 - 04:41 PM (#3911917) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Jack Campin Beaten by William Shield, at least. |
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19 Mar 18 - 06:29 PM (#3911936) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Jack Campin ..and by Orlando Gibbons in "The Cries of Lindon". |
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20 Mar 18 - 09:47 PM (#3912165) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Steve Shaw Classical music is an amazing kaleidoscope of eras and styles and golden-chain influences (that last idea belongs to George Grove, not me!) and all you can do is to listen and enjoy whatever bits of it you like best. A little scholarship goes a long way but, as with any music, you can enjoy it on many levels. I wouldn't worry about trying to remember what's what. That comes sooner or later if you've been listening a lot. Buy yourself a box set of Beethoven symphonies (I recommend the cycle conducted by Riccardo Chailly) and play 'em to death in your car or while you're eating your cornflakes. Grab a few discs of Mozart symphonies too (the "best" ones are numbers 36, 38, 39, 40 and 41) and a few of his piano concertos (my favourites are all of them from no 17 onward, that's eleven in all, but for sheer joy just nos. 21 and 23 will set you on fire). Delve into some non-orchestral music too - try both sets of Schubert Impromptus for solo piano, D899 and D935, very approachable and lyrical. Then there's Bach's Mass in B minor, unsurpassable, his Brandenburg Concertos, violin concertos, Cello suites, any Bach really. My two very favourite concertos are Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and Dvorak's Cello Concerto. I think I'm coming across as a lyricism-lover...! |
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20 Mar 18 - 10:17 PM (#3912169) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: keberoxu There are some good jingles for Grieg's Peer Gynt, aren't there? |
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20 Mar 18 - 10:43 PM (#3912170) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Steve Shaw Ah, the list is endless. I'm very much a late Beethoven person myself... |
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21 Mar 18 - 05:46 AM (#3912190) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: GUEST,Grishka What's wrong with Themefinder? In my opinion, it is very easy to use. The easiest feature is "Gross Contour", but it seems to be buggy. "Refined Contour" works well; try entering "ssDussD". – "you will easily remember what you embrace!"Not always true. (You may vividly remember many persons you once fell in love with, but be unable to list all their full names, let alone addresses, birthdays etc.) Certainly we can better appreciate any work of art if we know more about the originator, particularly her or his other works. A good memory is not all it takes, but it helps a lot! |
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22 Mar 18 - 05:28 PM (#3912556) Subject: RE: Identify Symphony Themes From: Donuel Symphonic music is rich without number with new music emerging by the minute. Even if you are a musicologist or historian you will never know it all. It is in the discovery that the joie d'vivre springs. Live long and listen. |