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Stop Talking About Baroque Music!! !! !

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mjs82
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26 Nov 2005, 4:01 am

I am getting sick of these constant debates over which is better, classical/romantic or baroque. Handel and Bach are just hacks who couldn't bust a rhyme even if they had a certified electrified rhyme bustified motion machine. Ornamentation is the most egotistical invention of self-centred composers there has ever been. Even in those days they admitted it was just throw away garbage, like elevator music or Britney Spears.

Face it Baroque Music fans: it's garbage.

CLASSICAL 4 EVA!



vetivert
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26 Nov 2005, 4:05 am

true. but mozart is my pet hate - the st matthew passion is sublime (and let's not even mention the brandenbergs), and the third movement of beethoven's fifth is wonderful.



mjs82
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26 Nov 2005, 4:48 am

i must admit i'm on a modernistic kick at the moment, been listening to a fair amount of Mahler and Shostakovich.

But

BAROQUE STILL SUX



DrizzleMan
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26 Nov 2005, 6:44 am

Mmm, Shostakovich is good stuff. But I like Bach too :? I kind of think of him as the jazzman of his day...



vetivert
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26 Nov 2005, 8:03 am

you want contemporary, go for steve reich, graham fitkin, arvo part.

three of my favourites.



LardNar
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26 Nov 2005, 10:19 am

I've heard of arvo part and steve reich, but who is graham fitkin?



Bec
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26 Nov 2005, 5:52 pm

But I like both classical/romantic and baroque!



vetivert
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26 Nov 2005, 6:04 pm

LardNar wrote:
I've heard of arvo part and steve reich, but who is graham fitkin?


he did some work with a group called Piano Circus (i've seen them live, an nearly died of ecstasy!).

you can find out about him here

the CD "log, line, loud" is sublime.



Who_Am_I
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27 Nov 2005, 2:32 am

mjs82 wrote:
I am getting sick of these constant debates over which is better, classical/romantic or baroque. Handel and Bach are just hacks who couldn't bust a rhyme even if they had a certified electrified rhyme bustified motion machine. Ornamentation is the most egotistical invention of self-centred composers there has ever been. Even in those days they admitted it was just throw away garbage, like elevator music or Britney Spears.

Face it Baroque Music fans: it's garbage.

CLASSICAL 4 EVA!

I was always under the impression that ornamentation was added by the performer, not composer, in Baroque performance practice. And who admitted that it was throwaway garbage? It was there to add interest to a melody and bring out a performers unique performance style. Not to mention the fact that the practice persisted into the Classical period...


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Asparval
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27 Nov 2005, 4:56 am

Don't mention Handel & Bach as though they are on the same level.

No one ~ but no one has ever equalled Bach for pure invention, artistry and musicallity.

And it is not about ornamentation ~ you miss the point. Many of Bach's fugues are built entirely out of a tiny musical cell (sometimes less than a bar long) which serves to generate a wealth of ideas.

Where there was ornamentation, in the best Baroque music it doesn't just 'sit on top' of a piece but forms part of a coherent whole. Much like the tiny details in the ceilings of Baroque churches which are often so tucked away they cannot be seen but still add to the overall granduer of the building.

Beethoven acknowledge Bach as the master. Elgar lovingly orchestrated one of Bach's pieces stating that he himself lack thye inventiveness of the great composer. Likewise Webern acknowleges Bach as a great composer and also orchestrated many of his pieces.

If you are one of these people who consider Baroque music to be all flowery with no substance I strongly advise you to look deeper into Bach.



AbominableSnoCone
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27 Nov 2005, 11:22 pm

My advice to all classical composers: If it ain't baroque, don't fix it!

*runs*


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