V.com weekend vote: What is your favorite musical time period?
You could say we string players often live in the past, playing all the greatest hits from a time period that spans hundreds of years. And yet, some of us live in the more recent past than others!
Do you live for those times when you can play or hear a big, Romantic symphony, or would you rather play in a Baroque ensemble? Do you enjoy the challenge of a modern work, or do you prefer the clean lines of a classical concerto? Or maybe you are a Renaissance man or woman! Which period of music do you most enjoy these days?
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Replies
All of the above. :-)
My musical preferences are much too eclectic even to take part in the survey. Good music is enjoyable whenever it was written. You'll find recordings from every period among my CD collection and likewise scores and sheet music in my music library.
I guess it mostly depends on just how I'm feeling at the moment.
How are you feeling at the moment? :) I recognize that this can change daily for people!
Okay, if it's how I'm feeling at the moment, then I had to say Baroque because my new music just arrived -- I got the Bach Gamba Sonatas to try on the viola with a pianist friend. But if you asked me yesterday I would have said Modern because the previous evening I heard a wonderful performance of the Bartok No. 1 Violin Sonata by Itamar Zorman and Kwan Yi (more on that in my blog).
As Laurie suggests, my musique du jour changes from day to day, but staying mostly within the baroque/classical/romantic triangle. However, modern music does creep in when I'm required to play it in the course of my orchestral duties.
One genre of music, not listed, that I play regularly is folk music, mostly English and Irish. It could be argued though that it is music firmly rooted in the baroque and classical eras.
I voted "Romantic," which has a plurality of 42% at this hour. As a player, I connect easily with the passion and temperament of the later 1800s and early 1900s -- Bruch, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. Yet the geeky side of me responds well to earlier material -- Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart.
As a listener, I definitely don't have a favorite period. I go with whatever music best meets the need of the hour.
The Russians. ALL of them . . .
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February 26, 2016 at 08:54 AM · This was so hard to decide I really couldn't choose. So many great composers/works from all those periods. It's as difficult as choosing a favourite composer. Felix Mendelssohn said something along the lines of not being able to choose between Bach, Palestrina, Beethoven and Mozart I think it was. For me it's Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart.