OP
OP
I went to see Handel’s Messiah today with my mom and sister, and it was honestly one of the highlights of my life.
What are you doing today?
- Thread starter connorlindeman
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If you liked Handel’s Messiah check out some of his other works. He was a master composer. Try his Water Music. He also composed numerous operas that delighted Londoners for a quarter century. I love his music.
I've now gone to two orchestral concerts in my sweet short life, and I'm won over. It is a spectacle, in spite of what people might expect. You see how this ancient music is a work of intense coordination between a lot of moving pieces. It helps that I love baroque era music, but this old guy who loves his four piece punk bands also can get lost in watching and listening to how Vivaldi or Bach is performed.
Living in a small city, I won't get that many shows. The local orchestra favours late 19th and early 20th century composers, and they don't do it for me. In Halifax, the larger centre, the director seems to want to make everything cheerful and plays it all at a pace that's technically impressive but misses the dignity of the music, imho. Great music is like great comedy - timing matters. But they do 2 baroque concerts a year, and I'm going to make a point of going to them, even with 4 hours' driving each way. There's a good fish store there too.
I started listening to baroque music in my late twenties, but always looked at the classical 'scene' as intimidatingly snobby and upper class. Around here, it's actually a bit geriatric. Halifax has a few universities, and the crowd has a lot of retired profs, but I just blend in and people watch. In general, white hair makes a person invisible anyway.
We had a fish club meeting yesterday evening. 24 people - not bad with all the Christmas shopping going on. It was fun, and I got to help with a 13 day old baby who is being fostered by a member. The little guy slept through the presentation, which was rude of him.
What am I doing today? Hopefully finishing my shopping up. I like giving gifts, and we keep it simple around the holidays. I like the lights around Christmas, but not the consumerism or religion of it. It gets people together and breaks up a long winter - I think we need another, cheaper and less consumerist version in February. Maybe a celebration of fishtanks with special lighting. I'll hold such a thing in my fishroom and hope it catches on.
Living in a small city, I won't get that many shows. The local orchestra favours late 19th and early 20th century composers, and they don't do it for me. In Halifax, the larger centre, the director seems to want to make everything cheerful and plays it all at a pace that's technically impressive but misses the dignity of the music, imho. Great music is like great comedy - timing matters. But they do 2 baroque concerts a year, and I'm going to make a point of going to them, even with 4 hours' driving each way. There's a good fish store there too.
I started listening to baroque music in my late twenties, but always looked at the classical 'scene' as intimidatingly snobby and upper class. Around here, it's actually a bit geriatric. Halifax has a few universities, and the crowd has a lot of retired profs, but I just blend in and people watch. In general, white hair makes a person invisible anyway.
We had a fish club meeting yesterday evening. 24 people - not bad with all the Christmas shopping going on. It was fun, and I got to help with a 13 day old baby who is being fostered by a member. The little guy slept through the presentation, which was rude of him.
What am I doing today? Hopefully finishing my shopping up. I like giving gifts, and we keep it simple around the holidays. I like the lights around Christmas, but not the consumerism or religion of it. It gets people together and breaks up a long winter - I think we need another, cheaper and less consumerist version in February. Maybe a celebration of fishtanks with special lighting. I'll hold such a thing in my fishroom and hope it catches on.
If you felt an emotional impact from the Messiah, try J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew’s Passion and Mass in B minor. These are master works that tower above most religious music. Even as an atheist I am moved.
As a city, Baltimore does not have a lot to offer except for outstanding music. We have a very vibrant jazz and Indie scene. We have a world class Orchestra and we are home to the Peabody conservatory, one of the oldest in the nation. Because of the large faculty at the Peabody, there are many orchestral and vocal ensemble groups. One of my favorites is Bach in Baltimore. They offer about eight concerts every year showcasing the Baroque repertoire. On January 1, I will hear them perform works by Albinoni, Corelli and Handel. Less I fail to mention, we also have a regional opera company. I know how much you all love opera.
non-sense they have an absolutely fantastic aquarium. One of the nicest one. It is even better than the music.
OP
OP
Thank you for the suggestions. Definitely want to explore more.
I only use Latin for fish, and really don't understand it as a language. But there is a wealth of recently recorded Christian religious music leading up to the era of Bach. I have a hard time getting my head around opera. I admire the skill, but... Still, as you go along, check out the vocal music of post medieval to baroque composers.
There's a tendency for us to listen to the extravaganza type stuff, like The Messiah or Bach's Passions. They are magnificent. But there's a wealth of ancient music worth working through, by smaller names. Again, we have an atheist suggesting leads for Christian music to a Christian, but hey, that's the kind of world we live in.
There's a tendency for us to listen to the extravaganza type stuff, like The Messiah or Bach's Passions. They are magnificent. But there's a wealth of ancient music worth working through, by smaller names. Again, we have an atheist suggesting leads for Christian music to a Christian, but hey, that's the kind of world we live in.
I stand corrected. In fact, I was there last week. It is a wonderful display.
Or the Verdi Requiem! One of the most epic and dramatic pieces of music ever. Will be attending a concert of same in January at Carnegie Hall featuring the Cleveland Symphony.
Indeed. Verdi wrote his Requiem primarily in response to the death of the Italian poet and novelist Alessandro Manzoni. He deeply admired Manzoni, regarding him as a moral and cultural hero of the Italian Risorgimento. When Manzoni died, Verdi felt a personal and national loss and decided to honor him with a full Requiem Mass.
I took two years of Latin in school, while I struggled understanding it and didn’t enjoy the classes, it has helped me be able to piece together understanding of many words of the other love languages (French, Italian, Spanish) to be able to understand them to an extent even without ever having learned the languages
I vividly remember as a 17-year-old cracking the definitions of unknown words on my SATS thanks to four years of high school Latin. I even remember one instance specifically--obsequious-- 'ob' in Latin = because, 'sequor' in Latin = 'to follow'. I then checked 'fawning' as the best of the four words offered as definitions.
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We had to learn stacks and stacks of Latin and Greek roots in my AP English class in high school. I still use those skills today--it's fun being able to figure out words you don't know. 
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