Most boring piece ever written?

[Montefalco]

David
Not that I don't like Glass, just that I don't percive him as being musically inspired on the same level as Bach was. I think his music is more about experimentation (as with a lot of 20th century music) than about levels of musical inspiration. (I could be wrong, of course).
Personally, I like the music of all four composers I have discussed in this thread (Bach, Beethoven, Gorecki and Glass)

Montefalco
(A music-lover of south NSW)

 

[Contratrombone64]

"south NSW" hmmmm now that's a large chunk of the east coast!

 

[Montefalco]

I don't particularly want to give too much more detail. I've been reading recently about the girl who was killed by a facebook stalker, whose age wasn't too different to mine, and while I don't doubt any of the members of the forum, there are many other people who view the forum whose intentions may not be as innocent.

Montefalco
(A student of the Riverina)

 

[Contratrombone64]

riverina - well, I basically know the town you're from now, but it's a guess and I might be wrong, and I won't write it here.

 

[Montefalco]

Thanks for that

Mind you, there must be almost as many students in the Riverina as there are people named David in Sydney's south. :grin::crazy:

 

[tomato]

Somehow, the art of melody writing in Italian opera seems to have died with Puccini.
The Ricordi publishing company pushed Rossini, then Verdi, then Puccini, but they couldn't find another adequate composer to push.

I could go to sleep on any of these operas:

Giordano: Andrea Chenier
Montemezzi: Love of Three Kings
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini

 

[Corno Dolce]

Boring/Tiring as a category:

*Rinaldo* by GFHandel - I'm fast asleep after 11 minutes........

 

[Montefalco]

John Cage's 4'33" with any of the above being played in a room nearby, with just enough distance and insulation between you and them to muffle the sound to a point where they sound even less stimulating than when heard normally.

 

[dll927]

Methodist Girl -- So Methodists are singing in Latin these days? Maybe they took up where the Catholics left off.

Have you ever done the "Sanctus" from Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass? I've seen both Mormon Tabernacle and the choir at Crystal Cathedral do it in Latin. Reason? The words just fit the music better, given that they were originally written that way. The English version says "Heaven and earth show forth Thy glory", which is not a translation of "Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua".

Music just doesn't seem to like being translated into other languages. Instrumental music is universal.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

 

[Contratrombone64]

So Methodists are singing in Latin these days?

I didn't think methodists ever had a litergy in Latin, I'm surprised!

 

[hauptwerkIII]

Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass can send me off to sleep if performed too slowly and ponderously.

 

[wouldrichest]

Well now, my South Australian friend, for someone who boldly stepped out criticising this thread of being 'personal' and stating that you never particiapate ... you certainly not only HAD your cake and ate it but you bloody well baked it, too.

^^ Molto :lol::lol: 's @ CT64! I would have to disagree with much of Matt's list, but it (ie this subject) really is so subjective, arguing about it would be pointless. To take just the Bach Prelude #1, if it's played how I like to hear it played, it seems to me to take on a hypnotic quality, which is quite different from boring. However, Gounod must have agreed with Matt, or he wouldn't have felt the need to add a melody to it. I must admit there's one of the Goldberg Variations (somewhere in the middle) which I find extremely tedious, and I always breathe a sigh of relief when it's over. All the others I love.

 

[Montefalco]

Some things aren't boring on the first listen, but after a while just wear me out if I listen to them too much - Dvorak's 9th Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, Liszt's 1st Piano Concerto, anything that gets overused by TV ads and other pop culture phenonmena...

 

[Contratrombone64]

Hey Montefalco - I never tire of the New World, ever since (in my youth) I was in an orchestra where the late Sir Charles Mackerras conducted it ... sublime. And, for what it's worth, I only like Czech recordings of Dvorak's music.

 

[Montefalco]

Hi David - I can imagine the New World would be pretty amazing live. I'm sure listening to a Czech recording would freshen it up a bit.

 

[JONESEY]

I've just stumbled across this thread (been away from the forum for a while) and logged onto YT to listen to this piece.
I lasted 1m 39s before my eyes glazed and I nearly fell asleep ... boring piece, but brilliant cure for insomnia??

 

[Lusaka_Guitarist]

I had never heard it so I searched for the said Symphony ("Sorrowful Songs") on youtube. Ouch I couldn't finish it. Music is to be enjoyed not endured.

Lovemore Nanjaya.

 

[Montefalco]

'Eonta', a chamber work by Xenakis, would have to be one of the most boring pieces I've ever heard.

 

[Contratrombone64]

I had never heard it so I searched for the said Symphony ("Sorrowful Songs") on youtube. Ouch I couldn't finish it. Music is to be enjoyed not endured.

Lovemore Nanjaya.

wise words, my friend and spot on.

 

[Soubasse]

Music is to be enjoyed not endured.

A fair and reasonable point and one with which I essentially, on the whole, agree, however, it's still a subjective opinion. When one states "Music is to be enjoyed" it's being put across as a rule or an undisputed fact, rather than "Music should be enjoyed" or "Music is best enjoyed."

For those to whom music is an essential means of catharsis for example, it would sometimes have to be endured and not necessarily enjoyed, but that's not to say that the "endurance" itself is necessarily negative - the most important thing being that the catharsis itself does takes place. It's a bit like watching a difficult but thought-provoking film, after which you might say "It was a good film - I didn't enjoy it but it was good." (Hope that makes some sort of sense!)

For me, I would perhaps paraphrase Lusaka's quote and say that "Music is best experienced, not forced."

An experience itself, whether positive ("I enjoyed that") or neutral ("meh, whatever") or negative ("damn that was crap") is still something from which you can eventually derive some sort of learning. Of course, if someone doesn't like something, there's no point in forcing it (I guess they'll come round eventually )