Doctor, I want to Learn to Select Classical CDs

. I am not a doctor, though I play one at work. But I have known and enjoyed Classical Music since the age of, oh, 0.5, so I will try to get you started in Classical Music Appreciation. Bear in mind that, if you choose to follow my path, you must renounce all others, and keep yourself solely to the programme set out here, under my guidance, otherwise you will have 7 years of bad luck, and may find yourself surrounded with co-workers who smoke heavily in the elevators. The sounds and delights of classical music vary widely. The first problem is to get you headed towards music that suits your ears. After that, you need to be given a few hints as to what the deal is, in classical music. I'm going to leave out the words Classical Music in what follows, simply out of laziness, but I hope it is understood that I'm not talking about music in general. Also, I'm going to recommend pieces, not particular CDs. To most ears, the same classical piece played by two performers will sound similar enough on first hearing. As you get more picky, you can acquire additional performances of the same piece (which will make the recording industry very happy), but start with the least expensive recordings. [Note: if you're serious about this, you can safely stay away from sampler CDs, which give you bits from a variety of CDs. Once you own the CDs from which the samples were taken, the sampler becomes a sort of white elephant.] Quieter music, or at least music featuring just a few instruments, is called Chamber Music. It's possible to get quite a variety of "colors" from just a few instruments, but obviously nothing like you can with a big orchestra. But some people just like the delicacy of chamber music. If you would like to try your luck here, try to find The Clarinet Quintet by Mozart, K 581. Any record store should have it. Heavier music, featuring chorus strings (e.g. many violins, for instance) is orchestral music. It's hard to tell beforehand what you might like, so I suggest the following: try concertos. A concerto is an orchestral piece written specifically for a featured soloist. So in a violin concerto, there is a violin soloist, and the whole orchestra, of course, which has additional violins! A veritable plethora of violins. Why do I suggest concertos? The most important reason is that concertos are all about contrasts, loud and soft, solo and orchestra, slow and fast. At this time, when you're still exploring the orchestral sounds that you can relate to, the concertos will provide you with variety, so that even if you don't enjoy the whole concerto, you will probably find parts of each that you can enjoy. Also, concertos are usually (but not always) written for pure pleasure, rather than for emotional expression alone. Of course, composers being what they are, they pack a fair amount of emotion into everything they write. But concertos must also pass the test of whether the soloist is satisfied with them, rather than just the conductor, so are almost invariably more fun to listen to than a symphony, for instance. Another point in their favor is that concertos are about 30% shorter on the average than symphonies, and clock in at around 45 minutes or less. [Important philosophical note: it would be a mistake to consider that in a concerto, the orchestra just plays as background. You might be justified in thinking so, but you would be wrong. It is an understandable mistake, and sometimes the soloists do understand it this way, but they wouldn't dream of actually saying so; it is a mistake. Don't mention my name if you want to say this kind of stuff where people can hear it.] Just walk into the classical music section, and look for any of the following. You might like some, but not others: J. S. Bach: The violin concertos BWV 1041, 1042, 1043, and the triple concerto 1044. 1042 is particularly lovely. (The BWV numbers are just catalog numbers for Bach pieces, similar to the K numbers for Mozart.) Mozart: The 5 violin concertos, usually available on 2 CDs. Mozart: Piano concertos no. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 or 25. These are some of the most wonderful music ever written. Number 23, K 488, is a particularly beloved concerto, which might spoil you for any other piece of music, sort of like the kiss of an angel! Mozart: Clarinet concerto, K 622. (These K numbers are just opus numbers, a sort of old-time ISBN for music.) Mozart also wrote a gorgeous concerto for Flute and Harp, for a father-and-daughter team. Since the daughter was more accomplished than the father, the harp part is more difficult than the flute part! Beethoven: 5 piano concertos, all wonderful, and one violin concerto. So any Beethoven concerto is a good risk, to begin your exploration. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor. This is an excellent choice for a starter CD. Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. He also wrote a wonderful piano concerto, so pick that up if you can't find the violin concerto. Brahms: Violin concerto, 2 piano concertos, and a double concerto for violin and 'cello. Brahms's music tends to be a little abstract, by which I mean that the concertos aren't primarily intended to show off the solo instrument, but rather to be expressive, like a symphony. Dvorak: Violin concerto, 'Cello concerto. Both of these are really gorgeous, but the 'Cello concerto is played much more frequently than the violin concerto, for what it's worth. [Added later: Do try the piano concertos of Schumann, Grieg and Chopin. They are all lovely and exciting. There are violin concertos by Bruch and Paganini, and also two by Wieniawski.] What is classical music all about? It has been about different things over the years, but in the classical period and afterwards (after around 1750), it has been about writing moderately substantial pieces that develop a musical idea. A piece of more than a minute or two long has to get your attention, and keep it. This is done using two tricks: (1) catchy tunes that are memorable, and which return every so often, (2) some variety, including altering earlier catchy tunes to have a slightly different character. So, though listeners are apprehensive about being able to follow a long-ish classical piece, the composer comes more than halfway to help you. The most popular composers are the ones who have come more than halfway most successfully, obviously. What are you listening for, here? Firstly, get a feel for the kind of music you like: what instruments, what performers, and most of all: which composers?! So, happy listening, and we'll talk about your adventures after you've done your shopping, and listened to the pieces. Archimedes