Quote:
Originally Posted by _Ω_
Classical music is one genre that I wish I knew more about. From a very simple laymans perspective there seems to be about 10 composers who wrote about 100 songs which have been covered by about 1000000 people. I know I am completely wrong about this, but just putting something out there if anyone wants to give me a bit of guidance.
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No, I think you’re right about that! Since so many composers are dead, and many of them died before we had recording technology, we can only enjoy their music if we listen to a recording made in roughly the last half-century. And many people have taken a shot at recording music in the last half-century.
The trick is finding a recording you like. And the secret to doing that, if you’re just starting, is to buy either the
Gramophone Classical Music Guide or the
Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music (unfortunately the last excellent edition of the latter was the 2010 edition: after that they massively cut its comprehensiveness). Or you could buy both of those books, since they’re quite different.
If you do want to get a feel for classical music the brief notes about different recordings in those books will give you a crash course in thinking about classical music. And by experimenting with a few of the recordings and comparing notes, you’ll quickly find your own taste.
Or you could just buy the Academy of Ancient Music’s recording (with Christopher Hogwood et al.) of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. It’s a
period-instrument recording of one of the most accessible pieces of classic music around, and – as far as I’m concerned – it’s the best recording of them all. A great introduction to classical (or more precisely, baroque!) music.