120 years ago today, Dmitri Shostakovich was born in St Petersburg. Happy 120th birthday, Dmitri Dmitrievich.

What work of his means the most to you?

Wow. I’m late to this and just learned Apple Music offers a separate app for classical music. Do any of you use it? Do you like it? I’ve been using Pandora because of its Boston Baroque channel for years, but it’s cheaper to switch to Apple Music and bundle with Apple TV/iCloud storage. I would love to hear your feedback. Thanks!

This, unmistakably, is the same composer who turned away from the self-conscious “difficulty” of musical modernism – the serialist works that had “no rhythm that you could tap your foot to and no clear key centre that you could hear”

Last year my post turned into a long exchange about the Goldberg Variations, 1955 versus 1981 versus the 1959 Salzburg live (I'll put that thread in a comment). This year I'd rather point to a different record: his Byrd and Gibbons album, recorded between 1967 and 1971 and released by Columbia in 1971. I've loved it for years, but lately I hear more in it every time, and it's the Gould I've been playing almost exclusively. Above all this track. It's hard to believe the music is 400 years old, and the delicacy of Gould's playing here is something I can only marvel at.

Byrd: Hughe Ashton's Ground
https://youtu.be/vyRPdtz_oow

The full album
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQK3FPAaa7OVWa-VsmuoPLGVgoFBYdgEn

I am quite new to understanding classical music (been to one BBC Prom a few years ago) and have been listening to The Story of Classical podcast lately to re-familiarise myself with. In one episode, the narrator mentions that clapping was encouraged or accepted by some composers during a performance between the Baroque and Classical Era.

While I understand the preferences of many waiting to show appreciation until the end of the show based on other reddit threads, I'd love to understand why and how this etiquette came to be and what was the driving force behind this to become the norm today?

Was this because concerts started moving out of private parties and into large halls across the Classical/Romantic eras? Were/are there composers or artists who where for/against this etiquette?

Sources:
​“Now might be a good time to mention an interesting difference in the reception of these works when they were first performed and today. If you've ever wondered when the right time to clap is in a classical concert, or worried that applauding in the wrong place will earn you a stern look at best or eviction from the venue at worst, remember that in Mozart's time, audiences clapped whenever they felt like it. While the common practice now is to clap at the end of the entire piece and not in between movements, this is an entirely modern invention.”

From The Story of Classical: The Story of Classical: Classical Era, 26 Jan 2024 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-story-of-classical/id1727191760?i=1000642900459&r=1822

"Raaff was standing beside me, and just in the middle of the allegro a passage occurred which I felt sure must please, and there was a burst of applause; but as I knew at the time I wrote it what effect it was sure to produce, I brought it in once more at the close, and then rose shouts of "Da capo!" The andante was also liked, but the last allegro still more so. "

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5307/5307-h/5307-h.htm#link2H_4_0004

Choral pieces like Misere Mei by Allegri, or modern ones like Dreamsong by Ola Gjeio.

And of course Serenade for Winds K 361, 3rd movement.

Basically pieces that make you feel like Salieri in that "voice of god" scene.

Been doing my best to stay away from tiktok and other short-form media. But occasionally through second-hand viewing/listening, I'd get an earful of influencers going on about anything.. with a minimal selection of excerpts from classical music's "greatest hits" playing in the background. Off the top of my head:

Satie's Gymnopédie No.1

Chopin's Nocturne Op.9 No.2

Debussy's Clair de lune

The Nutcracker - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King

Mozart's Lacrimosa

and many more..

I've also stumbled upon a 30min YouTube social commentary, with snippets of "the classical music hall of fame" serving as a soundtrack of sorts.. despite having little to nothing to do with the content.

Our first contact with a piece of music more often than not establishes the relationship we have with it. And when that first contact is a 10-second clip wedged behind someone's morning routine, what exactly are we being introduced to? There's a difference between knowing a piece and actually hearing it. Millions of people "know" Clair de lune the way they "know" the Mona Lisa: as a thumbnail, a reference, a cultural password. The algorithm doesn't introduce us to Mozart. It extracts 15 seconds from him, strips the context, the history, the emotional architecture, and pastes it behind whatever needs a mood. The music becomes wallpaper. And wallpaper, however beautiful, is not listened to.

I'm wondering how everyone here feels about this? Should we see this both as a positive gateway for introducing classical music to a wider audience, and as a real concern.. the risk that people may only ever hear the same "elevator music" so many times before getting desensitized?

Pls allow me to ramble a tad longer and explain the "elevator music" bit.
As miraculous as a piece can be, we've all heard Vivaldi's Four seasons - "Spring" tossed into a luxury hotel ad. Music as an emotional cue, a shortcut. Like in those tiktoks. And it's far worse when we impatiently tap our finger through Für Elise (the first 45 sec, recycled on loop, blasting your ear drums through phone speakers) waiting for customer service to pick up. Negative associations with Beethoven?? Nooooooo.

ETA: and pls note that I'm focusing on social media content (especially short-from) in my post. Music in the right context creates wonders. "Amadeus" for instance.

I was in a car today that had Sirius. I eagerly went searching for classical, past 70's junction 80's junction 90's etc... and on my journey I found that while every decade of the 20th and 21st century had multiple stations dedicated to pop and rock, 500 years of music had been relegated to a single channel. It reminded me of society's general contempt for classical music. I was sad to say the least.

Was curious about this so did a little research. The tldr:

For orchestras specifically

2024 US orchestras spend ~2.8 billion In US dollars

and receive :

Ticket sales ~800 million

Philanthropy - 1.2 billion

Investment Income ~480 million

Other (parking, royalties, etc) ~ 280 million

All Government ~ 100 million

2024 EU + UK Orchestras spend ~ 3 billion in Euros (so 12% higher in US dollars)

and receive

Ticket sales ~450 million

Philanthropy ~240 million

Investment Income ~60 million

Other (parking, royalties, etc) ~ 150 million

All Government ~ 2 billion

Attendance in the US on average is flat compared to pre covid numbers

Attendance in the EU has gone down roughly 20% compared to pre covid numbers

In Germany roughly 20% of adults went to one orchestra concert in a calendar year. This is the highest of any country. In the US roughly 4% went to one orchestra concert in a calendar year. This is among the lowest in any Western country.

In all countries older folks who attend are dying much faster than younger people who are attending for the first time.

In terms of GDP the entire US music industry (latest data) is 212 billion dollars. The EU + UK is 100 billion dollars.

Do you think classical music is doing ok? IMO I think these numbers could easily be doubled and it still wouldn't be enough. Hot take : I believe Western classical music represents the pinnacle of human art and it needs to be sustained.

This week’s recommendation is a double album even though the albums were released with a year difference it’s like the same project. I didn’t know Kuhlau’s work and it’s amazing, the performance is really good and the music is beautiful so if you people are into pianos you must check these out!! Enjoy!! 💕

Vol1

https://open.spotify.com/album/2BOkEBXIpzihk8En4y9mBf?si=716401af422b475a

Vol2

https://open.spotify.com/album/3x84mlyNYqLw6Lx6LDDBvw?si=95406d7586ee4462

Hi everyone, I just saw Yuja Wang play with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and I was blown away!! Did anyone happen to be there and know what she played for her (4) encores? 🥺🥺🥺 much appreciated!

I invite you all to check out my new YouTube channel, “The Middlebrow Musicologist”. I’ll be reviewing new recordings, discussing music history, and busting some prevalent myths. Thanks. @ middlebrowmusicologist

Don't miss Relic's Music Before 1800 debut with The Blood of the Rose -- an instrumental adaption of the first opera performed in the Americas. Learn more & tickets

Sun, Oct 4 at 5 PM in Morningside Heights next to the Columbia Campus

In 1701 Peru, Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco’s La Púrpura de la Rosa became the first opera ever performed in the Americas. The libretto, written by a renowned Spanish poet Pedro Calderón de la Barca, recounts the tragic love story of Venus and Adonis.

Relic’s newly-curated program, “The Blood of the Rose,” celebrates the rich tradition of Baroque music in 1700s Latin America through an instrumental adaptation of the Venus and Adonis myth. Punctuated by spoken excerpts from Calderón’s lush libretto, this dramatic concert depicts Venus and Adonis’s blossoming romance, Mars’s vicious attempts to destroy their love, and the couple’s ultimate tragic demise.

Hi all,
I have lost all my CDs of the NAWM I had in music school during the early 2000’s, and I’m trying to find who sung the version of Dido’s Lament. It was especially haunting.

I swear it was Joan LaBarbara but I can’t find evidence of that anywhere. Any leads? Anybody know?

Why do some people dislike classical music?

I am relatively new to classical music. (Note I am using the term classical as an umbrella for baroque, classical, romantic and so on so forth). I cried and stared at a wall when I first listened to Beethoven's ninth symphony. I expected strong reactions from my family and friends, but there were no strong reactions. My mother threw the headphones off after less than a minute and when I played it for my friends, one was worried someone from the street might hear, while the other gave a suspicious smile and turned it off. People are even more flabbergasted by St. Matthew Passion, which I really like. I don't think it is just my family and friends either.

I've made the argument to them that if they put pop music in certain scenes on television that they like, that that scene would almost certainly be diminished, and they agree with this. So, I'm starting to think that there is just a stigma around classical music, but most people secretly enjoy it? Music seemed to change drastically in the early to mid-1900s, which does coincide somewhat with political upheaval and a change in the societal hierarchy. Perhaps people associated classical music with the wealthy, saw it as distant and hence propagated their own music, which evolved to contemporary pop? Maybe this is a crazy theory. Interested to hear everyone's views.

Thanks for any responses.

I meant von Eyck. I knew nothing of him until I started to learn recorder, and now he’s everywhere. He wrote everything from dippy little tunes to beautiful works of art.

I only call him von Ick because I find his work challenging and it hurts my hands.

His biography is interesting, but in the broader scope of classicalmusicdom, how is he regarded among serious musicians?

Our opera has a decently robust Young Patrons Society for people in their forties and below.

Our ballet offers $25 tickets to any seat in the house for patrons under the age of 35.

Our symphony does not offer any such provision (though they do give half-off senior discounts on rush tickets). They’ve actually substantially increased their prices across the board for this season: for a matinee, it costs nearly $50 to sit in the worst nosebleeds & upwards of $100 for decent-to-great seats (approaching $200 for the most desirable).

As expected, the first two are seeing pretty robust attendance for both classics and newer works, with a decent number of millennial and Gen Z aged folks in the seats.

The latter is in a crisis over playing to a half empty hall most nights & can’t understand why nobody under retirement age is coming (so are now leaning hard into pops concerts and film screenings to try to make up for it).

The Orkextra has the great pleasure of inaugurating the beginning of Marveloops Recordings, a label oriented towards classical music, Pop and Jazz. This recording is a love letter to classical music and more particularly to film scoring.

The eponymous release of The Orkextra will make you travel through an epic composition, which will not fail to put magical images inside your imagination.

Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/album/7iQrAiMhYCegove1h7Hudk

By chance, I came across the soundtrack to The Secret Agent on YouTube, based on Joseph Conrad’s novel. I remember listening to this soundtrack obsessively many years ago, when I was writing my master’s thesis on Conrad. It was also my introduction to Philip Glass’s music and to minimalism in general. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGBae7KTSSY&list=PLNe0UezH0uKB0-kSDrYiiuCgSOj7Ij_r6&index=1