What are you listening to RIGHT NOW?

Sergeï · Post by **Sergeï** » Thu May 08, 2008 2:37 pm

I've seen this subject posted on countless forums, but I was surprised no to see it here. So here it is: what are you listening to right now (or, if you're not listening to anything at the precise moment, what was the last thing you listened to?), and what do you like (dislike?) about it?

Allow me to start.

Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano concerto N°2, Bella Davidovitch. In my opinion, Saint-Saëns is waaaay to underrated - at least in France. Beautiful stuff. I just love that little romantic-but-not-mooshy touch.

Your turn!

Cillian64 · Post by **Cillian64** » Thu May 08, 2008 7:08 pm

That would be Rammstein.

Oh dear, I think I just got kicked out of every classical organisation music I belong to, simultaneously.

ras1 · Post by **ras1** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:28 pm

Brahms's 3rd Piano Quartet in C Minor, op.60. My favorite piece ever. And virtually never played. I think I've had the score out of the library for 8 months now. Also, this one was added to IMSLP just before it closed. If I have time when it comes back, maybe I'll add parts.

Oh, the track just changed. Sept Chansons, by Poulenc. Also amazing.

emeraldimp · Post by **emeraldimp** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:45 pm

I think the last thing was Autumn from Glazunov's Seasons... they play that a lot here, it seems...

Cillian64 wrote:That would be Rammstein.

Oh dear, I think I just got kicked out of every classical organisation music I belong to, simultaneously.

I've actually heard that a lot of metal fans are also classical fans... dunno whether it works the other way, though...

Post by **Yagan Kiely** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:47 am

I've actually heard that a lot of metal fans are also classical fans... dunno whether it works the other way, though...

A lot of the [less...exuberant...] metal pieces carry a few attributes of classical music. A lot use baroque as a starting point.

Oh, some strauss opera.

Crystalviolin · Post by **Crystalviolin** » Fri May 09, 2008 12:59 am

Nigel Kennedy playing Concerto in F minor, Op. 8 (L'inverno/Winter) First Movement by Antonio Vivaldi. It's a very strong piece with great sticatto (sorry, can't spell well) introduction that sounds like, what do you know? A blizzard! Just beautiful!

aldona · Post by **aldona** » Fri May 09, 2008 5:10 am

The last CD I listened to? (On my way to work this morning...)

"Schubert: Psalms and Partsongs" with members of the London Sinfonia and various vocal artists.

My favourites:
Der Gondelfahrer (D.809)
"Ständchen" ("Zögernd leise") (D.920)
Nachtgesang im Walde (D.913)
Psalm 23 (D.706)

Yes, I do listen to composers other than Schubert

...at the moment I'm also familiarising myself with the Piano Trio by Clara Schumann. (Op.17)

aldona

Post by **Yagan Kiely** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:19 am

Yes, I do listen to composers other than Schubert Confused ...at the moment I'm also familiarising myself with the Piano Trio by Clara Schumann. (Op.17)

haha. And Schumann, is extremely different in style.

j/k

aldona · Post by **aldona** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:37 am

ha ha ha...

My colleague at the medical clinic (the one who plays the violin in our little piano trio and sings baritone when nobody is watching) has a term for that kind of Romantic music...he calls it "pornographic". As in - a shameless display of naked emotion.

I call it "19th century emo."

Clara Schumann's music is actually not very well known, and different in many ways from that of her husband.

I also never met a piece I didn't like by Telemann, Boccherini, J.C. Bach, Vanhal (flute quartets!), Hummel, or the Stamitz family. Music from the 18th century and first half of the 19th century really hits the spot for me.

And here's a thought: if the following 2 statements are true -

1. What a baby hears in his/her mother's womb and in infancy influences future intelligence.
2. Mozart was a genius.

- then shouldn't we all be exposing our pregnant women and babies to the music of Leopold Mozart? after all, that's what W.A. Mozart grew up with...

enough random ramblings...time to do some work

aldona

Post by **Yagan Kiely** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:38 am

Hm, what is your definition of genius?

Sergeï · Post by **Sergeï** » Fri May 09, 2008 9:20 am

aldona wrote: 1. What a baby hears in his/her mother's womb and in infancy influences future intelligence.
2. Mozart was a genius.

- then shouldn't we all be exposing our pregnant women and babies to the music of Leopold Mozart? after all, that's what W.A. Mozart grew up with...

That made me smile

Right now, I'm listening to some Lieds by Schubert - D. Fischer-Dieskau / Gerald Moore, obviously.
Great when in periods of higher-than-average stress, a very soothing and pleasant music.

horndude77 · Post by **horndude77** » Sat May 10, 2008 4:32 am

aldona wrote:ha ha ha...
And here's a thought: if the following 2 statements are true -

1. What a baby hears in his/her mother's womb and in infancy influences future intelligence.
2. Mozart was a genius.

- then shouldn't we all be exposing our pregnant women and babies to the music of Leopold Mozart? after all, that's what W.A. Mozart grew up with...

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect.

There is not much evidence supporting the first statement unfortunately. The mozart effect has only been shown to have a short lasting small influence for adults. It is interesting that the mozart sonata in the original studies beat out relaxation music and silence, but there's not much that can be inferred beyond this. I don't think there have been any long term intelligence studies yet about listening to mozart (leopold or wolfgang) as small children or in the womb. However it is good classical music PR if people think it makes them and their children smarter

. Maybe there's even some good placebo effect going on here too.

aldona · Post by **aldona** » Sat May 10, 2008 10:40 am

The Cognitive and Academic Benefits of Music to Children: Facts and fiction. Rudi Crncec, Sarah J Wilson, Margot Prior. Educational Psychology. Dorchester-on-Thames: Aug 2006. Vol. 26, Iss. 4; pg. 579

The Mozart effect: Tracking the evolution of a scientific legend.
Adrian Bangerter, Chip Heath. The British Journal of Social Psychology. Leicester: Dec 2004. Vol. 43 Part 4. pg. 605

I have no doubt that the "Mozart effect" has been hyped up out of all proportion, probably in an attempt by some music publisher(s) to flog their overpriced (no longer copyright) wares.

I don't believe that there is something about Mozart that will magically boost your IQ.

But conversely, I remain convinced that music (in general) has many beneficial effects on the human brain. The more I delve into the literature at the intersection of music, medicine and psychology, the more fascinating stuff I find.

Two recent events that made me stop and think:

Event 1. At work, we have a monthly "journal club" where we get together, everybody brings food and drink (no drug companies here, thank you very much) and share medical journal articles that we have recently read and that are relevant to our day-to-day work.

I am usually known as the joker who, after the serious business is over, will contribute something with a title like "The Microbiology of Ear Wax." On one occasion about a year ago, my violinist colleague and I decided to have a bit of a laugh and presented the following article:

The Influence of Mozart's Sonata K. 448 on Brain Activity During the Performance of Spatial Rotation and Numerical Tasks.
Norbert Jausovec, Katarina Habe. Brain Topography. New York: Jun 2005. Vol. 17, Iss. 4; p. 207

One of the findings in the paper was that listening to this particular Mozart sonata reduced the frequency and amplitude of epileptiform (epilepsy-like) brain waves.

Of course, we all thought it was a bit of a novelty and we all had a good laugh.

The very next day, a lady in her 40's came to see me. She had recently started having epilepsy-like seizures, and I was seeing her monthly to check her progress while she went through a full workup by her neurologist. I asked her what sort of month she was having, and she said she was really well - had not had any seizures at all that month. I asked her if she was doing anything differently, and she thought about it a bit and said...(and I swear, with both hands on a bible, that this is true)..."Actually, I have been listening to a lot more Mozart..."

Event 2. A few weeks ago, we had a few friends over for dinner, one of whom was a middle-aged child psychologist who was caring for her 18-month-old grandson while his parents sorted out their mental health and substance abuse issues. She had talked to me in the past about how she was worried that he did not seem to be developing properly, one of the concerns being that he had not yet made any real attempt to walk.

While most of the adults talked and ate, I tried to amuse the baby by sitting him on my knee at the piano and bashing out some simple tunes. I certainly didn't play any Mozart - probably nothing that was identifiable as "real" music. The little guy joined in the fun and beat on the keyboard with his little fists. After about half an hour of this, I placed him on a blanket with some toys in the general vicinity of Grandma, and he got up and....walked his first few steps.

(Much to Grandma's delight!)

So there you have it...just one humble GP's experiences with music. I'm sure there is still a lot for all of us to learn.

aldona

horndude77 · Post by **horndude77** » Sun May 11, 2008 3:59 am

These results make much more sense to me. It's nice to know there are some studies and personal experiences showing some benefits. Thanks for sharing. That's neat that they've found some linked physical phenomena too. I know music affects us even when we don't think about it (e.g. the supermarket or restaurants). I also agree that there's still a lot that isn't known about the affect of music on us. So we agree

.

I mostly disagree with the theory that playing classical music in utero or for young infants can effect intelligence later in life. It feels sort of like a get rich quick scheme or a fad diet: little work and lots of purported benefits. It might just have have some benefits, but I think they would be in the noise compared with other factors.

I don't have any real expertise in any of this. All I have are two small kids which are fun to watch grow.

aldona · Post by **aldona** » Sun May 11, 2008 5:27 am

I think we're on the same page...my original "rhetorical question" about Mozart, child intelligence etc, was intended as a half-joking dig at those who peddle "the Mozart effect" as a panacea to make every child into a prodigy. If it really was true, then the way to turn a child into a "baby Mozart" would be to expose him/her to what "baby Mozart" listened to in his formative years. But I don't see the works of L. Mozart breaking sales record, or even being publicised at all.

Additionally, if "the Mozart effect" was so wonderful, we would expect W.A. Mozart's son (Franz Xavier Wolfgang Mozart, 1791-1844) to be an even more incredible genius. I am not aware that this was the case, although I believe he did have some moderate success as a composer and music teacher.

Back to the topic...let's hear from some more people on what you are listening to right now.

My iPod has only just come back from the "iPod hospital" with a new hard drive, and I haven't reloaded my collection onto it yet, (plus, one housemate is asleep after working night shift and the other is studying), so the only thing I'm listening to now is the soft "whirr" of the washing machine.

Surely there's somebody out there who's listening to something interesting they can tell us about.

aldona