Most boring piece ever written?

[Soubasse]

... EXCEPT the use of the harpsichord as continuo which I found rather silly (considering the solo parts were played on a 100 foot Steinway).

That is silly I heard Hewitt when I was in Calgary (Canada) for the Organ Competition - she played some of the French Suites really very nicely. I thought she brought a new light to these works with her interpretations. I would also admit to being mildly curious hearing elements of her interpretations at the harpsichord

jhn, In C is a notorious (for want of a better adjective) minimalist piece by Terry Riley and probably wouldn't go down well at a mass (well, not a traditional one anyway). A score is actually freely available for perusal here. I have played (harpsichord funnily enough) in a performance of this piece. There were about 20 of us and we managed to stretch it to almost a 1/2 hour and, only one person walked out (leaving 2 remaining ... no, not really).

all those white notes - too much vanilla!

[Dorsetmike]

At the opposite of boring, and considering Bach keyboard works, have any of those in this discussion heard a CD "Pro Cembalo Pleno"? Bach played on pedal harpsichord by Douglas Amrine; fascinating to compare the tracks against the same works played on the organ. (Priory PRCD 523)

Passacaglia and fugue in C minor (BWV582), "Dorian" Tocatta and fugue (BWV 538) also BWVs 542, 733, 541, & 552.

[Fretless]

The Gorecki Sym. 3 was the first thing I thought of when I read the thread title. I do like other works by him, and I am a big fan of Glass and Part as well.

I can't really think of any other works I would consider boring, but there are quite a few I haven't found a connection to yet. For example a few of the Shostakovich piano prelude & fugues--my mind begins to wander and I lose the thread of the piece.

[Contratrombone64]

"my mind begins to wander and I lose the thread ..." a delicious way of saying "my brain shutsdown and my eyes glaze over" eh? ;-)

[Art Rock]

I consider Gorecki's 3d an absolute master piece. Tastes differ.

Beethoven's 9th, movement 4, would be my choice. With Fuer Elise as a runner-up. And I do like Beethoven.

[Contratrombone64]

"there's no accounting for taste" is the old proverb, and it's veracity is unquestioned.

[acc]

John Cage's As Slow As Possible. I really tried to “get the hang of it”, but I gave up after the first three months of the performance.

[Fretless]

"my mind begins to wander and I lose the thread ..." a delicious way of saying "my brain shutsdown and my eyes glaze over" eh? ;-)

Heh, that it is.

I take it as a challenge when that happens, and usually go back when my ears are fresh.

[the maestro]

In fact, I find many of Bach's music as dull!

[Contratrombone64]

Bach dull? mmmm interesting, and thank goodness that's never been my experience of the grand master's music.

[acc]

Alas, I did have experiences of Bach sounding dull. And it took me quite some time to figure out that particular way of playing was dull, rather than the music itself.

[tphillips09]

lulz at John Cage!

I would also like to add 4:33 in there. Can't say that I have a taste for it.

My music theory teacher, though told our class about the best performance of 4:33 he ever attended. Some drunk girls were walking back through the music building the night of the performance and since everyone was completely silent they had NO idea that the concert was going on-- they were laughing and yelling the entire time about how awesome their night was and all the lewd things they did and the entire audience could hear all of their conversation but they didn't say a word!

[jhnbrbr]

That's a great story, and I can't help thinking Cage would have approved one hundred percent, and regarded the girls as being part of the performance (however unwittingly!)

[hauptwerkIII]

I'm afraid Bruckner Symphonies does little for me neither Vaughan-Williams symphonies, even though he is a master of orchestration.

[hauptwerkIII]

A piece I remember from my chorister days is an un-accompanied short mass by Caccini. It has to be one of the most dullest written choral piece ever written.

The choir would drift into a lethargy performing it.

Another piece I used to hate is 'Let me know thine end' by Maurice Greene. It always used to sound ever so depressing when our choir used to sing it and the words don't help!

I heard this piece again a couple of weeks ago and it struck me how actually beautiful it was. It is said Greene was the 'English Handel'...