I've been pondering this for a while, an amazing number of people seem to play 'classical' repertoire but not actually have a general interest in it. Obviously many people here do; there are, however, also a large number of people, here and elsewhere, who don't seem to have an interest in their instrument's repertoire beyond their own playing. This occurs even more so with other repertoire of the same genre for different instruments. This is reflected in people reaching grade 6 and still finding the question of whether a piece is Baroque or Romantic difficult to answer in the aural test. I wouldn't think it would be a challenge to an (even slightly) experienced listener of the genres of music played for the exams....

From this arises the situation that pianists get to diploma level and don't know how many piano sonatas Beethoven wrote, and could only recognise two or three of these works from hearing them, despite them being core repertoire. Further a lot of people seem to play 'classical' repertoire on an instrument but do not listen to it at all, stating popular music as their favoured choice. Another phenomenon is that children (and many adults too!) seem to pick the 'jazzy' pieces from the grade lists (or even to play for pleasure) but rarely listen to this style of music either. Even people who prefer to listen to the modern popular classics style, often approachable to pianists of grade 5/6 standard (I won't name specific composers), still strive to play harder works advancing their techniques beyond this, playing pieces they do not like as much.

So my questions are: how familiar are you with your instrument's repertoire and the wider repertoire of the genre you usually play? Is the repertoire you play generally the sort of repertoire you like to listen to? If not, why do you play it? Do you think there is a general lack of interest in listening to 'classical' music even amongst those who play it? I notice concert audiences are often quite 'mature' (to use a polite term!), whereas many of the people I know who play are considerably more youthful.

I find this a very interesting post. There is a similiar parallel with creative writing especially poetry - so many write it but so few read it. Consequently many aspiring poets often have no idea of the traditions of poetry, the genre they are working in nor what is happening in the contemporary poetry world and then wonder why their work is not good enough for publication. If you don't love a subject enough to explore further than what has been handed to you then you will never acquire a deep understanding of that subject - be it music or writing.

Having said that I still find your observations on the ignorance of classical music amongst practising musicians alarming. How can it be possible not know the difference between Baroque and Romantic - that's just staggering - it's not just a matter of technique but a whole different attitude to music and to life itself! That huge transition from a society with its sacred world view where everyone had their place under God to the secularism of Romaticism which placed the self or the lyric 'I' at the centre of the universe. Surely not to know this is not to understand the music?

But what's to be done about it I don't know except that music teachers everywhere should be encouraging their students to not only to play music but to study it and the greater part of that study should be to listen extensively to our great composers. No great hardship I would have thought!

The answer to the first question for me, is that I honestly don't have that much of a wide repertoire, and am not all too familiar with all the music of the classical world. I recall I am always astounded by certain people's extensive knowledge of every single piece, their number and their alternative name, and even extensive knowledge of pieces that I would deem as quite abstract to me, or lesser known. But it could probably be due to my slight naivety about all the different music available and admit I am probably quite ignorant in terms of knowledge about all the music out there. Of course, my plan all along was to begin developing my repertoire after Grade 8... providing I have passed the exam, I have reached this stage. Some might ask why I didn't do this before hand - I guess it's just pressure to do everything as fast as you can before you get to the stage in your life where there is less time free available, at which point you can then enjoy your achievements. It's a busy world nowadays I guess. But, now I can begin looking into more pieces of music, which is what I've always wanted to do - to play pieces not just because they are good for the exam and the standard, but because I like them and specifically chose them out of all the pieces available.

Second question, assuming that classical is mainly the music I play (on the piano), is it the sort of music I listen to? The honest answer is no, not because I dislike it, simply because I just don't generally listen to music as often as most people, discounting my own playing (hehe, maybe its because I lost faith in popular music of today, but that's another story). I like thinking of musical ideas and messing about on Cakewalk (composition software) and things like that. Furthermore, there is the financial aspect of buying a variety of CDs and more impotantly, the confidence in knowing what you are buying - if you are not in the habit of doing so, and your parents didn't encourage it, then it is less likely to happen - I actually don't own any personal CDs, which is probably unusual for one of my age. But, given a CD, I will be perfectly happy to sit and listen to it for hours in the background.

So why do I play classical music then? I enjoy the creativity of playing the piano itself, and music for the piano is mainly classical in genre. I actually quite enjoy Latin music, but it is not exactly most appropriate for solo piano. Piano classical pieces, however, are designed for solo piano. And in this way, they serve their purpose. But, don't get me wrong, there are quite a lot of classical pieces that I do like. In fact, I almost like all of it except for music from the Classical Era itself. This is probably because Baroque music has no written interpretation, so you can interpret the pieces as you see fit. And Romantic to 20th Century pieces are written to be more expressive - I don't know why, but the Classical Era seems to be to me so much more restrictive in terms of dynamics and rhythm...

But, I digress: last question - do I think there is a general lack of interest in listening to classical music? Yes, in terms of listening, for many reasons, such as lack of knowledge, etc. However, the main reason is probably, in the past, musicians were more in the habit of going out and buying classical CDs and listening to them and enjoying them rather than focusing solely on the practical aspect of playing music. They are more used to going out to operas, musicals, concerts etc, as that was what they were brought up with and to - that was one of the main sources of entertainment to a certain extent. Nowadays, people are not so used to the idea, and will stick to the routine they were brought up with. It could also be because the influx of parents that encourage their children to play musical instruments because they didn't learn it in their own time and they feel that they should actively enforce the children into playing an instrument so they won't regret not playing one in later life. Because of the parents not being particularly musical themselves, the musician child may not have any musical conventions to stick to, and will therefore happily grow to play classical music without actually having gone out to listen to it. Well, these are just a few of my opinions, anyway... Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though.

p.s. I do actually look in to lots of other music, sheet music being one of my favourites as it is the most easily available and won't get parental disapproval in the terms of 'collecting more junk' and 'spending a fortune'. Obviously, non-musical parents don't tend to understand. However, I can very clearly tell the difference between Romantic and Baroque pieces, so that should be a relief!

~Wobby~

I have always listened to a lot of classical music. When I was a student, I was quite fanatical & always listened to many pieces by a composer if I was learning one - for instance all of Chopin's etudes & some of his other pieces if I was learning one etude. The same with history - if we were analysing a symphony, I'd listen to several by the same composer. I also listened to radio 3 a lot & went to many concerts. I was rather unusual, though - few of my fellow students had the same attitude.

Nowadays, I listen to as much as I can, although with a very busy teaching schedule, it's not so easy. I do listen a lot to pieces I'm learning & try to collect several interpretations, so I'm not too influenced by one. When I'm learning a concerto (which is much of the time), I listen a lot to help me memorise the orchestral parts. I still go to concerts when I can, which I really love.


I think I have a pretty good knowledge of the piano repertoire & of classical music in general. I am sometimes surprised when teachers don't know some of the most widely-played repertoire & I wonder how interested they really are. On the other hand, you sometimes meet people who are complete amateurs & have a very extensive knowledge of the repertoire, because they love it so much.

Unfortunately, I don't find that my students listen to much classical music, despite insisting that they love it. I try to encourage concert-going, but it's always hard to get them to go.

A lot of this has to do with the abominable marketing of classical music. It is simply not directed at a younger audience, with the result that I've met people in their teens who want to hear this stuff but literally don't know where to find it. Even when they do, there isn't much effort made to encourage them to go to concerts. "Popular" music (in its many, many forms) and musicals are far better attended by younger audiences because the promoters work hard at getting them there.

Something similar has been going on with films for a long time. Big movies nowadays tend to be aimed at the 16-24 age group, as if it's impossible to get large numbers of older people into the cinema.

My instrument's repertoire has a yawning gap in it, thankfully suitably placed to miss the music which puzzles me most and holds least interest for me - heavy romantic. I still listen to some, until it irritates me too much, but don't have to play it. There is also a lot of 20th century music for recorder, and this is rather varied - I'll confess I avoid trying to learn the stuff I don't like, but have had to play some avant-garde music to try to "balance" exam programmes. The problems I've encountered there have mainly been to do with needing to learn banks of new fingerings, sometimes for notes in an octave best left to the imagination rather than played, as far as the recorder goes...I've had to listen to some too, but often find that whilst it is manageble for the odd quarter of an hour, I couldn't sit down and plough through three or four CDs of it in a single session, as I could with Baroque or Classical eras.
Most of all, I get to play the music I love best, and that suits me fine .

This is an interesting discussion - and relevant to jazz as well as classical. There are quite a few posts on the fora around "I want to play jazz - how do I start?". My instinctive answer to this is "What style of jazz do you want to play? Why do you want to play? What jazz do you like to listen to?". Very often the person asking doesn't know much about jazz apart from the fact it seems kind of cool. Personally, I listen to a lot of jazz - recorded and live, jazz greats and up and coming musicians, sax based and not, and the listening definitely informs my playing.

But - and a big but, this wasn't always the way. My desire to play sax was probably more driven by sax solos in 80's pop/rock than anything else. I kind of fell into jazz gradually, first started playing a bit because that's what you do with sax, then thought I'd better listen to some so bought "Kind of Blue", then a few other CDs some of which I enjoyed and some I didn't really get but I didn't push my listening for quite some time. Everything took off when I was based in London, got some good teachers who introduced me to different styles and ways of playing, realised the wealth of fantastic live music on my doorstep and developed a serious CD buying/listening habit. Knowing what I know now the advice I'd give myself 10 years ago is "Do more listening", but I'm not sure I'd have taken that advice.

I very occasionally play classical music, or more often styles of jazz that aren't so much my thing. The reasons for this are either that I'm in a group situation where it's what other people want to play and/or working on that type of music will help to address technical points about my playing which will help when I play the stuff I do like.

I think when you start playing an instrument there's that great "wow, I can do this" feeling and there's the desire to push at other things and find out just what else you can do. I think the desire to listen to what other people can do is something that comes along a bit later - certainly when you start playing instruments as a child. I suspect for those starting as adults it may be the other way around, with the listening driving the desire to play.

I suppose my musical tastes are quite eclectic. Whilst I am a classical pianist, I don't listen to an awful lot of classical piano music for pleasure - (must admit I love Rachmaninov though). However, I absolutely adore listening to violin music - particularly Isaac Stern playing any of the great violin concertos.

If I listen to music that I love - be it Mozart - Mahler - Brahms etc, I find I have to sit and listen, and can't get on with what I'm meant to be doing - I'm unable for it to be background music, which is why I guess I don't listen to as much as I should.

Otherwise, as background music I listen to Jerome Kern/Gershwin/Cole Porter/Hoagy Carmichael etc etc. Particularly like the series that Michael Feinstein has done on this type of music. To be honest, it's what I enjoy playing most on the piano as well!

I've spent time studying repertoire and at college was a compulsive listener to all styles of music. When I teach pieces I pass on a lot of background info about the composer and where they stand in the canon for that particular instrument. If its a song all the character details and poetry is explained as well as giving the dates of the composers and their part in music history.

But then at college I was primarily a musicologist that's not surprising. With the jazzier pieces for piano, if I know the composer my pupils get the background, otherwise they get background on the style of the piece, whether its a dance form, or rag and are told the identifying features. I do this even with younger pupils because I believe that having that knowledge helps you to love the piece and own the performance.

Jo

Because I have never been a professional musician, but neverthless of Diploma standard, I have played and listened to a huge repertoire of music, of all types (except opera).
As far as piano goes, if its virtuoso stuff which I cant play , then I listen to it. Its cost a fortune in CD's though.
I play all sorts from Scarlatti right through to modern composers., and I reckon if someone were to play just a few bars of a Beethoven or Mozart sonata, I would be able to say which sonata it was, its opus (or Kochel) number, key, and which movement.
Ok maybe thats being a bit pompous, but anyone seriouly studying an instrument should take an interest in the repertoire available. For some instruments, here may not have been a huge amount written, but for pianists and organists, theres a lot to learn !

There certainly is a lot for keyboard players of all desciptions to learn. However if you have studied music history at degree level, you should be able to put the music in context just by relating it to the period of music, the composer's strengths and througha basic analysis the style and character of the piece.

As a teacher, having this background knowledge helps me to help my pupils. This is the case for short character pieces to more substantial works. Knowledge of genres hold true for many instruments and are not instrument specific. The sonata for example is a form used for many instruments. Knowing the construction of the sonata will help with interpretation. Knowledge of the composer extends to all their works. With Mozart for example knowing the pieces that he composed at the same time as that particular piano sonata can breathe life into it. Knowing that the Oboe Concerto K314 is the same as the flute concerto in D (Mozart transposed it for flute) can make for an interesting viva, set of programme notes or performance commentary.

Getting your pupils to know who were the principal composers for your instrument and some seminal works to listen to is a good start.

Reasonably so - though there's so much music out there I'm constantly coming across "core rep" that I have never even heard of


"What I usually play" is a very wide band of music anything I can lay my hands on really. So I couldn't claim to necessarily that familiar with every genre I play in. However I do tend to go out of my way to listen to new stuff especially if I am playing something I haven't played before - ie my forays into jazz have prompted me to buy jazz CDs/tracks off itunes in various styles and by various instruments, and to, where I have been able, beg steal or borrow recordings and DVDs off friends to familiarise myself and just to get an idea what is out there. It's automatic to, where I can, become familiar with whatever I am playing, both aurally and in terms of finding more similar music/music by the same composer... it wouldn't occur to me not to.


Again, wide tastes so while there is overlap, there are also many things I listen to that I don't play, and a fair amount that I play but don't listen to! Sometimes I will listen to music in order to improve my playing, rather than because I particularly like a piece, also sometimes I will play a piece in order to come to understand it even though it's not "my kind of music" - always in the hope that something will "click" and I will have opened myself up to a type of music that I didn't previously like or understand. Doesn't always happen but I think it's good to expose oneself to new types of music, again both for listening and playing, and see what sticks!!


I think this must be at least partly to do with the exam syllabus being (understandably!) classically based. Many will feel constrained (especially youngsters) to do exams, to prove their standard - and the more respected and well known boards have heavily classical lists. So I guess it's natural that many, especially children who don't have the maturity to say "Actually, I don't like this sort of music" or "I don't want to take exams" will end up playing a lot of classical music regardless of whether it's particularly to their taste or not. Some may grow to like it, some may like it already, and some may always hate it, but it would be hard to get through the grade system without playing some of it at least.

I suspect I'm reasonably unusual, but I have liked classical music for as long as I can remember. As a youngster I did ballet and loved watching it, so I guess I grew up listening to the ballet greats like Tchaikovsky et al. Certainly I enjoyed playing and listening to classical music before I had any idea of what that actually meant, and before I had started learning piano: definitely by the time I started to play the flute, I had been a regular listener to classical music.

Though actually, I listen to relatively little music. Classical (and by that I mean all of it, not the era!) music especially, I like to LISTEN to, not use as background noise. So I don't tend to have it on as background music, and am more likely to listen to pop, rock, etc in that scenario.