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Madness is contagious!

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Carol Haynes:
I have been studying Beethoven recently as part of my uni course.

Listening to one of his late works (Grosse Fugue Op 133) is enough to drive anyone insane - he plainly was when he wrote it.

If you are feeling unstressed and want to be stressed give it a listen (not helped by the fact the attached file is a midi version - but it adds to the effect) ...

(It plays in Windows Media Player or any other MIDI aware sofwtare you might have onboard!)

rjbull:
I have been studying Beethoven recently as part of my uni course.

Listening to one of his late works (Grosse Fugue Op 133) is enough to drive anyone insane - he plainly was when he wrote it.
-Carol Haynes (May 08, 2006, 07:32 AM)
--- End quote ---

Beethoven would have been deaf by then (I think), so he would have been under great stress.  Music of all things is subjective and personal; maybe you just aren't susceptible to classical music?

Ravel composed his famous Bolero near the end of his working life.  He apparently died of Alzheimer's disease, or something similar, and there's some thought that Bolero is as repetitive as it is because he was already affected.

What university course are you doing?

Carol Haynes:
No I love classical music (and Beethoven is a strong contender for my favourite composer) but the Grosse Fugue was written right at the end of his life when his music became more and more abstract. Some performers consider is virtually unplayable and if you listen long enough you begin to see why! Beethoven went deaf early in life so almost all his greatest works were written when he was unable to hear much at all. It beggars belief that great works like the last 5 symphonies were written entirely in his head!

I am doing a degree in Humanities with Music (for fun really - and it is mostly music). At the moment I am studying a third year course on compositional methods which makes it quite a wide ranging arts course too. You can see the course outline here.

rjbull:
his music became more and more abstract. Some performers consider is virtually unplayable
-Carol Haynes (May 08, 2006, 08:40 AM)
--- End quote ---

I take it they don't like Stockhausen, Boulez or Xenakis, either  ;)

I am doing a degree in Humanities with Music (for fun really

--- End quote ---

Looks interesting, but well above my level.  Musical notation is just tadpoles on telephone wires to me   :-[

"For fun" sounds euphemistic, hard to do an OU degree on top of a job and everday life.  Oh, well, you might meet someone agreeably rich at the summer school  :D

Carol Haynes:
I take it they don't like Stockhausen, Boulez or Xenakis, either
--- End quote ---

LOL - actually it isn't a question of like or dislike just the complexity of what is expected. Stokhausen is actually probably one of the easier options as it is all programmed into synths and recorded on to tapes in advance.

If you want to try something horrendously difficult to play (and to listen to) try some Berio or Ferneyhough ;-)

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