Monday Inspiration # 19: Music Porn

I apologize in advance for lengthy and wordy post.

So I have been mulling over this idea for a while and I keep coming back to it. I was afraid it would be lame or dumb, or no one else would be interested, but I have decided to throw caution into the wind and go ahead with it.

As you all either know, have guess, or have no clue, I am a musician. I was trained as a Classical Soprano for eleven years. This means that I sing Opera, Classical, and Art Songs that are in the "classical" genre. I love Classical music, but never even for a moment considered it for a honest to goodness career. However I spent alot of my "musical career" involved in the classical world, and while I have a deep passion for the actual music, I am not a fan of the attitude that goes with it. There is a stuck up, snobbery that seems to follow the term Classical and I just don't like it. I mostly don't like the fact that everyone who is in classical music follows this same stereotype. It is my personal opinion that the great composers that all those people snob about, would be angered by this were they here today. Music, is music. Classical is not better than Rock, just different, and I think any well rounded musician should and would be able to appreciate all the fine points of all the genre's. Due to this view point I was always an outsider to the classical world of music. I was the girl who fell into opera. I started taking voice lessons at age eleven with the intentions of becoming a pop star. No joke. A Pop Star. So when my voice coach played Charlotte Church for me at my third lesson and told me that he thought I could do what she did, I laughed at him and scoffed, which my mother, who was there, later told me was rude, even if he was wrong. My parents promptly bought her CD and within a week I'd learned all 17 tracks and could sing them nearly as well as she could. However this provided me with a very large problem to my pre-teen brain: I was horribly made fun of. I loved the way singing made me feel, but I hated that all my friends listened to the Spice Girls and I was made fun of for listening to Puccini. Oh how the tables have turned. But then I hated it. One friend of mine at the time told me no one cared about my stupid old people music, because it was uncool, lame, and make me look like a dork. These are the most horrible things that could be said to a pubescent girl. But I continued on with it mostly because my parents were paying for lessons.

At age 12 my best friends mother told my mother that it was obvious that I loved Opera and classical music. When I overheard this I was furious because I had done everything in my power to make people see how much I hated it, even though I owned every Charlotte Church album available (and still do), and even googled young Opera stars on a regular basis to find other like-voiced youths (with not much luck). I was so mad that my own best friends mother was trying to make my mom think I liked my music. And that's what hit me. It was My Music. I was the only person I knew who could do what I could. I realized I did love it. I loved it more than almost anything else. I loved the composers, and music theory, and being a "dork." it made me stand apart from the rest. I was a twelve year old who could recognize Verdi. That was pretty special.

My musical career story is much longer than this, and maybe someday I'll write for you the whole story, but the point is that I really love classical music with a deep passion. It's a huge part of who I am. Since having left the classical world (reasons being a part of the long story I will someday tell you), I've found I go to my classical music for more and more inspiration. The complexity of the music makes me want to make my own music better. I like the patterns that aren't very obvious, and the intricacies of the melody and harmony lines. I love knowing why all these things sound good, why they work, and why they are in fact classics. I'm a total music geek, and love learning about the structure of music. There are some pieces that make my heart flutter! And to me they are always inspiring. So this week I thought I do something a little different and post five of my favourite classical pieces. Two are from my favourite composer. The first is very long, but I promise you wait until the end. The last 20-30 seconds are breath-taking! I'm so sorry if this is a disappointing Inspiration, but it is something I am very passionate about. And if you did like it them I am so glad! I have alot more where this came from.

The pieces I have chosen are thus:
La Mer by Debussy
Claire De Lune By Debussy
O Mio Babbino Caro! From Gianni Schicci By Puccini (you should hear me do this piece, It's my signature)
Visi d'Arte From Tosca (my all time favourite Opera!)By Puccini
Rhapsody In Blue By Gershwin (proof form genre crossovers. Gershwin was considered a near abomination for combining such "high art" with such "low art", and thus he is a huge hero of mine. He wrote classical, jazz, and popular music and each are works of art.)



So push play and relax.

So sorry this was so long. I know I'm usually a talker, but get me talking about music, and I can go all day and night! Who are some of your favourite composers? Is there a piece you can listen to over and over again?