What's the most insufferable piece ever?

[wotgoplunk]

Easy enough...be it something overplayed, or something so dissonant it sounds like noise to the uninformed...*cough*

(Note: I happen to enjoy most modern music... )

[retrouvailles]

I already know this thread will annoy me, Alistair, and a few others.

[pianochick93]

To me, anything played on a harpischord. I can't stand them!

[communist]

something by George Crumb but i cant remember its name

[mad_max2024]

The Noddy theme song. 

I get the urge to punch someone every time I hear the blasted thing. 
It must be the most annoying musical composition in existence...

[rc]

The first time I heard George Thoroughgoods "I drink alone".

"yeah with nobody else, when I drink alone I prefer to be by myself"

It reminds me of a lyric from a metal band that I still like to hear, Mr Bungle:  "Re-dun-dant, re-dun-dant, re-dun-dant, re-DUN-dant, RE-dun-dant"  (on and on).

...Another time, I tuned into an internet radio station and heard a violin alternating between two notes.  Back and forth.  After about a minute of playing just these two notes I had to change the music.

[healdie]

at college there is only me and one other guy who plays piano but most other people can play primary triads in root position and i start to think "my god if i hear one more more primary triad i might just kill you" 

you can only hear C,F,G and A minor played so many times before you get annoyed

I know i will get alot of stick for this but alot of pieces by Chopin really annoy me they sound so artifitial like a musical equivilent of a Hugh Grant romantic comedy

P.S I also think people who don't like modern music are uninformed i think the rite of spring by Stravinsky is a remarkable acheivment for one man but it does scare people away

[retrouvailles]

P.S I also think people who don't like modern music are uninformed i think the rite of spring by Stravinsky is a remarkable acheivment for one man but it does scare people away

That isn't modern music. The piece is going to be 100 years old soon!

[healdie]

but it does fall into the Modern period of music thats like saying Bach isn't classical music its barouque music peridocally speaking it is modern

[retrouvailles]

Define modern. Then say why Rite of Spring is considered modern, whereas Scriabin, who was alive when it was written, is not considered modern, but romantic.

[thalbergmad]

P.S I also think people who don't like modern music are uninformed i think the rite of spring by Stravinsky is a remarkable acheivment for one man but it does scare people away

I guess that all of us have a different idea of what we consider "modern", but that would not be included in my description. When i refer to modern, i am usually talking about the last 30 years or at least composers that are still alive.

People who don't like modern music are not necessarily uninformed. I feel that is intellectual snobbery which we have seen on other threads. You do not have to be informed or uninformed for something to please or offend your ears. All you need is an opinion that we all have, which can niether be defended or attacked.

Anyway as for insufferable, i would actually nominate the Grieg Concerto.

Thal

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Anyway as for insufferable, i would actually nominate the Grieg Concerto.

Thal

Haha, I know what you mean. Off the top of my head, I'll nominate Liszt Liebestraume no.3 (Ie the famous one).

HAHAHA.

[tompilk]

fur elise?
"heart and soul"?
I reckon...

[tanman]

Easy enough...be it something overplayed, or something so dissonant it sounds like noise to the uninformed...*cough*

(Note: I happen to enjoy most modern music... )

someone is going insult xenakis, finissy, and sorabji. just wait...


*waits for that one person to get massively flamed mention one of those names...


and...
definitly fur elise... if I hear it one more time, someone is going to get massively hurt... 
also there are a few crappy contemporary songs that get stuck in my head and annoy the hell out of me.

[Etude]

People who don't like modern music are not necessarily uninformed. I feel that is intellectual snobbery which we have seen on other threads. You do not have to be informed or uninformed for something to please or offend your ears. All you need is an opinion that we all have, which can neither be defended or attacked.

I'm sure there are many who just don't like it, but I also think it's often a matter of context: that much modern music goes against the expectations of the less acquainted listener, who from their own experience of music, have formed their own preconceptions of what it should sound like, which the music fails to meet. 

someone is going insult xenakis, finissy, and sorabji. just wait...

Ah well...  c'mon, let's get it over with.

[thalbergmad]

I'm sure there are many who just don't like it, but I also think it's often a matter of context: that much modern music goes against the expectations of the less acquainted listener, who from their own experience of music, have formed their own preconceptions of what it should sound like, which the music fails to meet. 

That would be true if people are daft enough to form opinions about certain composers without experiencing their works. Again, "less acquainted" need not always be the case and reeks of a certain snobbism.

The danger here is driving yourself insane continually listening to composers you don't like, in order to satisy those that claim one is uninformed.

Thal

[thalbergmad]

someone is going insult xenakis, finissy, and sorabji. just wait...

Not worth the effort.

People are still listening to Bach 250 years after he died and will still probably be listening to him in another 250 years. I predict the "composers" you have mentioned are just fads and will sink into complete insignificance in 20 years or so. It is just a trend to be interested in complexity and difficulty and that is what probably attracts half of the people that actually claim to like this. In 250 years time, i guess they will still be mentioned in the 3000th "wot is that hardest song evver written" thread on pianostreets.

Like a 70's glam rock band, most will look back and think "did i really like that. Oh my God how stupid was I".

Thal

[richard black]

Hard to choose between several popular favourite by A Lloyd Webber - Think of Me is probably the one that winds me up most.

[retrouvailles]

Not worth the effort.

People are still listening to Bach 250 years after he died and will still probably be listening to him in another 250 years. I predict the "composers" you have mentioned are just fads and will sink into complete insignificance in 20 years or so. It is just a trend to be interested in complexity and difficulty and that is what probably attracts half of the people that actually claim to like this. In 250 years time, i guess they will still be mentioned in the 3000th "wot is that hardest song evver written" thread on pianostreets.

Like a 70's glam rock band, most will look back and think "did i really like that. Oh my God how stupid was I".

Thal

I agree with you somewhat in what you said. A lot of composers today, like composers of the past, will be forgotten. You must remember, though. You are just like a lot of people in the past that hated a good deal of what was being written in their lifetime. Sure, there are people that are appreciated during their lifetime a great deal (even today) that keep their fame, but many have been hated during their lifetime, and there are a great deal today that suffer from that. A big problem is that people are afraid of change. Most people are brought up on late romanticism and are perfectly content with what they have. But when something new comes around, they aren't very accepting to it, because it uses different methods of expressing emotion. I would agree that a lot of people today will pass into eventual oblivion, but there are also a great deal of composers today that will never be forgotten. The (relatively) recently deceased composer Messiaen is one I can see that will never be forgotten. Xenakis might also keep his fame. I don't see it happening with Finnissy or Sorabji as much.

[franzliszt2]

I agree with you somewhat in what you said. A lot of composers today, like composers of the past, will be forgotten. You must remember, though. You are just like a lot of people in the past that hated a good deal of what was being written in their lifetime. Sure, there are people that are appreciated during their lifetime a great deal (even today) that keep their fame, but many have been hated during their lifetime, and there are a great deal today that suffer from that. A big problem is that people are afraid of change. Most people are brought up on late romanticism and are perfectly content with what they have. But when something new comes around, they aren't very accepting to it, because it uses different methods of expressing emotion. I would agree that a lot of people today will pass into eventual oblivion, but there are also a great deal of composers today that will never be forgotten. The (relatively) recently deceased composer Messiaen is one I can see that will never be forgotten. Xenakis might also keep his fame. I don't see it happening with Finnissy or Sorabji as much.

I agree (for a change  ) I think Xenakis will keep his fame amongst the elite of musical people. Although I am not sure how...we studied Xenakis in 1st year at the conservatoire, and about 3 of us liked his music out of about 70 people. I have never met a Xenakis fanatic...I have met many Messian fanatics etc....we were advised to listen to Messian whilst smoking weed :-D

[mikey6]

I'm learning the Grieg atm - it's fun!  It's a solid piece, well written and since it's put down in virtually every competition, people must take it seriously enough!
As for hackneyed, I'd say moonlight sonata; for insufferable, Saint Saens 2 last movt annoys me, couldn't sit through Vingt Regards.  But I do like most Saint Saens, and minimal Messiaen.

[healdie]

I guess that all of us have a different idea of what we consider "modern", but that would not be included in my description. When i refer to modern, i am usually talking about the last 30 years or at least composers that are still alive.

I was taught modern as a period within itself so the progression (roughly went) Barauque, classical, romantic modern, 21st century

it is a bizzare term i know because all music is modern when it was written but i would consider the period we are in now as the  post modernist era

also when i said uninformed i meant that i think half of of enjoying very dissonant music is understanding when i first started i would here very dissonant music and hear a cocophony but now i have studied it i hear something completly different

[pies]

Islamey

[communist]

Chopin's fourth ballade, if i hear someone end with it one more time i will stop listening to the piano.

[tanman]

Chopin's fourth ballade, if i hear someone end with it one more time i will stop listening to the piano.

 
 

[retrouvailles]

I was taught modern as a period within itself so the progression (roughly went) Barauque, classical, romantic modern, 21st century

it is a bizzare term i know because all music is modern when it was written but i would consider the period we are in now as the  post modernist era

also when i said uninformed i meant that i think half of of enjoying very dissonant music is understanding when i first started i would here very dissonant music and hear a cocophony but now i have studied it i hear something completly different

Why would you consider now to be a "post-modernist era"? It certainly doesn't apply to all music being written today. I think it would be very unwise to try and pigeonhole any of the last 50 years of music, given that there are so many paths that composers have taken. The last 10 years of music are varied enough, let alone the last 50 years.

And btw, please use punctuation, correct grammar, etc. Reading your posts is becoming quite an insufferable affair...

[healdie]

Why would you consider now to be a "post-modernist era"? It certainly doesn't apply to all music being written today. I think it would be very unwise to try and pigeonhole any of the last 50 years of music, given that there are so many paths that composers have taken. The last 10 years of music are varied enough, let alone the last 50 years.

And btw, please use punctuation, correct grammar, etc. Reading your posts is becoming quite an insufferable affair...

because many famous living composers fall into the post modernist category, such as Reich, Adams, Glass etc, and music seems to be bieng influenced by all periods and styles and creating a very ecclectic sound (drums roll) Ta daa post modernism

The modernist movement Stravinsky, picasso are all in the past so we are post modern

also i am sorry for my apparent lack of punctuation i shall remember to turn my dyslexia off next time i log in

[pianisten1989]

Well.. Modern is the worst term ever...
Uhm.. The 2nd mov of Elvira Madigan, Mozart concerto no 21. The swe tv spam it all day long. Also the first Bach prelude from wtc I. It will seriously kill me.

[arensky]

Music Box Dancer 

[nanabush]

Omg whoever said George Crumb, shame! 

I'm gonna add another vote for Fur Elise; I don't mind playing it for people, but dear god where I teach, nearly every teacher on their free time... it's like that's the only piece they know how to play!

[communist]

Omg whoever said George Crumb, shame! 

I'm gonna add another vote for Fur Elise; I don't mind playing it for people, but dear god where I teach, nearly every teacher on their free time... it's like that's the only piece they know how to play!

George Crumb is just awful, his cello sonata is the only work by him i like

[retrouvailles]

What? Are you crazy? His music is some of the best today. His cello sonata is under par compared to the rest of his works. It's not a mature work. If you want great Crumb, check out the Makrokosmos volumes.

[furtwaengler]

Give his string quartet, "Black Angels," a try.

[retrouvailles]

Give his string quartet, "Black Angels," a try.

I love that piece, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who hates his music. It might cause them to hate him more. I would try out his trio Vox Balaenae, which was very well received at a concert I attended once. I thought I was going to be the only one there enjoying it, but I heard people whistling one of the "whale themes" as I was exiting the concert! Now that is success.

[communist]

Give his string quartet, "Black Angels," a try.

the departure scared me 

and wasnt it a bit Crumby lol

[learner of liszt]

Any and all Finnissy.

[retrouvailles]

Any and all Finnissy.

Even Finnissy that isn't considered New Complexist? That is quite a rash statement, considering he has some rather 'cute' miniatures that sound nothing like the likes of English Country Tunes.

[communist]

anything contemporary. i cant stand contemporary!!!!!

people should just play the greats like Bach, Beethoven and Chopin and an occasional Schumann or Liszt.

[healdie]

anything contemporary. i cant stand contemporary!!!!!

people should just play the greats like Bach, Beethoven and Chopin and an occasional Schumann or Liszt.

How do you define contemporay? and also I don't think all contemporay is bad alot of film music is very good and in a more traditional vain but the Newer Symphonies of Penderecki have very strong influences of Bruckner in there, they at points are almost quasi romantic

[learner of liszt]

On the subject of Xenakis, Sorabji, etc.; I do not like their music (maybe a little Sorabji every now and then..), but I do respect it. For example, I would never, under any circumstances, listen to the music of Finissy. However, for a person to be able to imagine, write down, and play that music, is an incredible accomplishment. Just not one I'd listen to.

However, more on topic, Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata (mvt. 1, anyway) are annoying to me. Then there's any/everything by Richard Kastle, which makes me want to jump into a pile of large, hairy, venomous spiders.

[weissenberg2]

anything by Andre Mathieu

[retrouvailles]

anything by Andre Mathieu

Yeah, most of his stuff is just uninspired neo-romanticism, which is worse than a lot of esoteric New Complexist music to me. Mathieu is good for a good laugh or if you just want to get cheered up though, hah.

[weissenberg2]

Yeah, most of his stuff is just uninspired neo-romanticism, which is worse than a lot of esoteric New Complexist music to me. Mathieu is good for a good laugh or if you just want to get cheered up though, hah.

agreed, a lot of it is cheesier than the Warsaw Concerto.

[gerry]

Insufferable? Has to be those children of relatives who visit and pound out CHOPSTIX.

[communist]

What? Are you crazy? His music is some of the best today. His cello sonata is under par compared to the rest of his works. It's not a mature work. If you want great Crumb, check out the Makrokosmos volumes.

BTW, I have been listening to some George Crumb recently and I have been appreciating it.

the first piece I had heard by him must have left a bad impression.

[indutrial]

This thread is becoming a mighty insufferable 'piece.' People who feel the need to indulge in these kind of asinine whine-a-thons need to frigging grow up and realize that exploring one's inner bile is a pretty dumb way to spend one's short time on this earth.

Though it's likely that Xenakis and Finnissy will be heavily forgotten while Bach is eternally remembered needs to be put into a proper context. The nature of all things in the modern age, beyond music even, precludes the existence of great figures that achieve the same wide berth as somebody like Bach. The freedom and diversity of the arts (not to mention its marginalized territory in the face of consumer culture, etc..) has made it tough for anybody to stand out in the same sort of huge way.

[n00bhippy]

'droppin bombz on yo momz' written by me for Sine Lead through AMP and whoever else i can get to play along.

[communist]

This thread is becoming a mighty insufferable 'piece.' People who feel the need to indulge in these kind of asinine whine-a-thons need to frigging grow up and realize that exploring one's inner bile is a pretty dumb way to spend one's short time on this earth.

Was this comment directed at me? if so, I was not whining about anything.

[imbetter]

Mozart's Ein Klein Nacht Musik, I don't know there's just something about it that really grinds my nerves...

[indutrial]

Was this comment directed at me? if so, I was not whining about anything.

My comment wasn't directed at anybody in particular...just the thread.