Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

On Classical Music

by

I can remember being in the back of my parents car when I was younger and my dad putting on classical music.  Seems like I remember some eye rolling and a “Daaaad!”  Classical music was not cool.  Even with my six years of piano lessons, I did not appreciate listening to it.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate non-Top 40 music more.  I think the road to classical music started with Kenny G back in high school.  I really can’t recall how that started but I do remember one of my dates pre-Scott, no less being a Kenny G concert.  Not classical I realize but you know, no one was singing.

Then there was Enya in my early twenties (looking back, I think I can blame that one on The Titanic).  Still not classical but intoxicating all the same.  Then I moved to Folk/Celtic with Loreena McKennitt a few years back on a recommendation from a coworker.  And then Twilight came along in the last few months and I fell head over heels in love with Clair de Lune, something I had heard a lot of times but it really made me want to melt every single time I heard it.

So…I went looking for some classical stuff in my iTunes library and found lots of songs from a friend’s music collection he had let me copy.  And now…I’m listening to Beethoven.  And while I’ve heard his stuff so many times, all the sudden, I think it’s sexy.  Which I’m very sure is a sure sign I’m getting old.  In any case, it turns out he wrote this as a love song.  Who knew?  Maybe everybody besides me. So if you’re into Classical stuff, what should I try out?

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  1. I had to learn to play Clair de Lune when I was a kid taking piano lessons. I’ve always had a fondness for that song as well. I enjoyed how it was used in the movie “The Right Stuff” during the scene when the astronauts are watching a fan dancer perform while Chuck Yeager gets to work breaking the sound barrier.

    Jaynee’s last blog post..Crime Around Town

  2. As for classical music recommendations, Mozart’s Requiem is devastatingly beautiful. I also like a lot of Faure’s arias.

    If you want a fun way to get into more operatic classical music – I highly recommend any of Paul Schwartz’s CDs. Aria 1 and Aria 2 are great, as is State of Grace. He sets arias to a more contemporary sound.

    Also, the CD called “Voices of Light” by Richard Einhorn, which was used to revamp an old silent movie about Joan of Arc’s trial, is AMAZING (I have a copy of that version of the movie because the music is so great).

    Jaynee’s last blog post..Crime Around Town

  3. I have loved Loreena McKennitt for years! I have all of her stuff. And I love Clair de Lune, for the same reasons. I had no idea Beethoven wrote that as a love song. Very cool!

    One of my all time favorites is Bach’s Air on the G String. I walked down the aisle to it at my wedding.

    JourneytoFamily’s last blog post..Another Way To Give

  4. How could I forget Chopin? He has some fantastic piano music (which I’m partial to, naturally). Also, Satie’s Gymnopedies is great. You’d probably recognized Gymnopedie No. 1, which has been used in commercials and movies for a long time.

    Jaynee’s last blog post..Crime Around Town

  5. Jaynee, thanks for all the recommendations. Will definitely check them out. I also prefer the piano as well. Maybe because of my piano background.

  6. It’s funny… my Dad was born in Chicago, raised on a farm in Michigan and then ran away from home to join the Navy. But he developed a love of country music somewhere along the line! He ALWAYS played “country” on our stereo back when I was a kid. I used to cringe. Now I love all country, and I think of my Dad with such love… I know he’s smiling at me from heaven!

    Classical? I LOVE classical. My favorite composer is George Frideric Handel… of course, The Messiah… but also Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. I always feel happy and peaceful when listening to Handel.

  7. One of my earliest memories is sitting on the stairs while my dad played The Moonlight Sonata on the piano. My sister now has his piano and both of my nieces learned to play on on it with a bust of Beethoven looking down at them.

    For me…I could listen to Pachabel’s Canon in D all day (it is what I walked down the aisle to) and below is a link to Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. It was used in the Somewhere in Time soundtrack many years ago. I remember playing the CD in my room and my mom started to worry that I was depressed because the music is so hauntingly sad. It is still one of my favourites (the movie too…I highly recommend it).