Classical experts, do you recognize this at all?

Parent Cafe
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<p>The article about Joshua Bell on here motivated me to look for some of my childhood favorites, believe it or not, and I need help classifying what I found after an extensive web-search. links below.</p>

<p>I literaly know nothing about classical. I can only say that these songs remotely resemble what I often picture when thinking of westren classical music (pretty lame, I know)</p>

<p>The lyrics are actually fine poetry put to music (an eastern equivelant to opera?) It’s not in English though. And yes, I said FINE.</p>

<p>Sooo, I decided to try something new & original (the real thing, tough a subjective statement). I don’t know where to look to find simillar …uhh… “stuff” I also don’t want to spend a fortune of time or money downloading or buying music I won’t enjoy even if others may think it’s the greatest in the history of man.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.6rbx.com/song4/Leb/majda/majda-6oq_alyasmeen.ram[/url]”>http://www.6rbx.com/song4/Leb/majda/majda-6oq_alyasmeen.ram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://6rbtop.com/listen.php?song_id=4127&type=au&q=hi[/url]”>http://6rbtop.com/listen.php?song_id=4127&type=au&q=hi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://6rbtop.com/listen.php?song_id=4117&type=au&q=hi[/url]”>http://6rbtop.com/listen.php?song_id=4117&type=au&q=hi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>in the last two links, hit the play button when the page opens.</p>

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<p>so i may conclude that nobody is up to the task?</p>

<p>wow</p>

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<p>I’ll take up your task as soon as I can get to a computer with speakers. ;)</p>

<p>Edit: the files don’t seem to work. :(</p>

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<p>I’ll tell you what this reminds me of–Mantovani movie tracks from the 60s-70s. The kind of stuff that shows up on Muzak all the time. Sorry. (I’m sure the poetry is very fine.)</p>

<p>And no, it bears little resemblance to Western classical music, except for including many of the same instruments. But that does not change the music.</p>

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<p>We had a local radio station that played a show called “Audiosyncrasies.” Now that was good world music. Various countries, sometimes various styles fused together–Afro-Celtic, Arabic-Brazilian…</p>

<p>I’m afraid the overused violins in the links you provided made me seasick. But it’s the kind of Hollywood sound that may be popular among some people. Just not me.</p>

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<p>I agree with mommusic that this is not classical music as the term is understood. It may be film music. The second link opens to a site that has what looks to me like Arabic. Is that correct?</p>

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<p>I thougth this thread was going to be about Greek & Latin.</p>

<p>And yes, that’s not classical music. ‘sound like Mantovanni’ is a good description.</p>

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<p>It’s not Western classical, but there are some classical “elements”. It sounds Middle eastern, and there is some really interesting music that has come out of that part of the world.</p>

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<p>Of course it’s Middle Eastern. The sites are in Arabic. But the music is so heavily Western-flavored (probably film music is the correct guess) and over-produced…we could argue about how “authentic” it is but it is surely on the pop side.</p>

<p>I thought the OP was going to ask what pieces Joshua Bell was playing!</p>

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<p>When I clicked the link, it just popped up as an audio file…no site to read at all!</p>

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<p>The bottom two links came up with a couple of titles on the RealPlayer in what I presumed to be Arabic.</p>

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<p>Yes, these are in Arabic</p>

<p>virtuoso, the files should be fine. I recommend you try 'em again and let’s know what you think please.</p>

<p>TH21, sorry the title was misleading.</p>

<p>TH21, marite, mommusic, allmusic, I’ll read about Mantovanni at wikipedia when I have some more time but why should sounding ‘like mantovanni’ be something to follow with a “sorry”? What’s meant by “overproduced”?</p>

<p>I already read the artilce about Joshua Bell and it mentioned what he played, so I went to his site and downloaded some of those 30 sec clips but non of that made sense to me at all. I felt like a blind man in a rare Orchids’ garden (or maybe the clips were just too shorts)</p>

<p>Here is a reading material:</p>

<p>The singer, [Majida El Roumi](<a href=“Majida El Roumi - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magida_El_Roumi&lt;/a&gt;) is Lebanese. I know who wrote these songs and few others ([Nizar Qabbani](<a href=“Nizar Qabbani - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizar_Qabbani&lt;/a&gt;)) but I can’t find anything aboutthe composer(s) the closest I got was the [Rahbani brothers](<a href=“Assi Rahbani - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assi_Rahbani&lt;/a&gt;) who worked with the diva Fairouz (but that’s another story) and all I could find was a stub on wikipedia. The Arabic web resources do not say anything about the “marriage” of eastern&western music in the works of the Rahbanis or these three songs of Majida. I said marriage because this is definitely not the average mid-eastern music (instruments?) I mistily recall reading that the eastern notes are not like the typical Do Re Mi…etc rather, the eastern notes fall somewhere inbetween.</p>

<p>There are pieces in th songs where nothing but Piano is used and even the violin isn’t employed in a “pure” mideastern way. But I don’t know where exactly do the composers borrow this from; what/who in the west are they infleunced by?</p>

<p>allmusic, besides the type of instruments used, what elements are classical?</p>

<p>mommusic, 1) you said “it bears little resemblance to Western classical music” but then you commented “the music is so heavily Western-flavored” what made you say this? 2)Also, it is being “authentic” or not in relation to what; what would be more authentic? and 3) why do you think it’s on the pop side?</p>

<p>I guess I’ll have to spend more time this weekend or next week doing more research on this. answers to one or more of the many questions I asked is appreciated</p>

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<p>mel–I think we have a failure to communicate :frowning: and I am not sure I can properly explain how this music differs from Western <em>classical</em> music if you, as you say, don’t know anything about classical music.</p>

<p>An analogy–if I got all excited about some music I heard for the first time in a Indian restaurant and went to a friend who said “Well, that’s not really authentic Indian music–it’s pop music for the masses created to listen to in restaurants. It’s nice, but it’s not traditional Indian music.” Then I would have to listen to a lot of Indian music to be able to tell the difference (well maybe not a lot b/c I am a musician and I think my aural skills can transfer across cultures, given a chance.)</p>

<p>Similarly, what we have here sounds to ME like “pop” Middle Eastern music, even if it sounds to YOU like Western classical. The harmonic structure is simple, and it’s designed to hook the listener at first hearing and be…popular. And yes, the instruments all seem to be Western, which may be what is confusing you.</p>

<p>Could you find us some real Lebanese music to listen to? With oud and drums? That is what I would consider to be “authentic” and would enjoy hearing.</p>

<p>I like all kinds of music, btw–from blues to bluegrass, Celtic, klezmer–you name it. And Mantovani is ok as movie music, but I wouldn’t sit down to listen to a cd of it. I would get bored very quickly, tho he is actually a master of the genre. I wouldn’t put on a cd of most American “pop” singers, either, for the same reason. Not to be a snob, but my ears need stimulation.</p>

<p>As far as “who” in the West your composers are influenced by, it’s not who so much as what. Musical theater? American movie music? One can hear traditional Middle Eastern elements in it, but to me they have been greatly obscured by the Hollywood style over-arranging that went on. I’m curious–is this what people listen to over there? </p>

<p>If you want to educate your ears to Western classical music, you can get classical radio stations online, complete with a playlist so you can gradually become familiar with composers from various periods. </p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

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<p>mel, you’re not lame at all. While I agree with mommusic on the quality of the pieces you linked, I think it’s great that you want to explore this genre. For western classical, it’s best to start tuning in to a classical station & eventually you will start to develop your own preferences. </p>

<p>For the eastern genres, I think you need to find someone with an expertise in that area to guide you. If you go to the world music section at Barnes&Noble or a big music store, you can put on headphones & sample any cd. The sales clerks can sometimes be helpful. Keep searching & enjoy!</p>

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<p>Mommusic: I can’t listen to the links melbusefi posted, but “real” Lebanese music hasn’t been “oud and drums” since “real” French music was played on lutes. (“Lute”, by the way, is a Western contraction of “al-oud”.) I am somewhat familiar with some of the artists he mentions, and the type of Lebanese music they play is extremely popular in the Arabic world and beyond. And, yes, of course it is influenced by Western popular music, especially French chanson from the 30s-60s. Lebanon was/is a pretty sophisticated, crossroads-of-the-world kind of place.</p>

<p>Melbusefi: The most common entry points into Western classical music are Bach and Mozart. Bach really explored the Western harmonic vocabulary in an encyclopedic way, and he established most of the structural norms that define “classical” music, which later composers followed and played off against. He also has a kind of mathmatical rigor which is easy to appreciate and to admire, as well as a great deal of beauty. Mozart was effectively the apotheosis of the classical style, and really unparalleled as a composer of melody. Most of his work is very emotionally affecting, and extremely easy to love.</p>

<p>I would leave it to others to suggest the best one or two Bach and Mozart pieces to start with. I haven’t thought much about that. I love opera, though (I really like singing and lyrics, too), and Mozart’s great operas are wonderful: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote.</p>

<p>The kind of super-lush, string-based, highly melodic orchestrations that characterize Lebanese and Egyptian pop really derive from late 19th century popular romantic opera composers, like Puccini (La Boheme) and Offenbach (Les contes d’Hoffmann).</p>

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<p>JHS–I completely forgot there must be a French influence to Lebanese music! Of course.</p>

<p>Mel–in English, the Mozart operas mentioned are The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Magic Flute. I would suggest the latter as highly accessible but all Mozart is wonderful if you are a newbie to Western classical music.</p>

<p>In fact, if you like the stuff you linked to, you will probably like a lot of opera, esp. the Puccini and Offenbach mentioned. The words are usually in Italian, French, or German but that’s ok–even in English they would be hard to understand and it’s the glorious music that counts, anyway.</p>

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<p>Of course I know very little about Middle Eastern music, but I would hope there is some sort of “sophisticated” music-making going on that strikes a balance between traditional music (analagous to American bluegrass) and highly Westernized pop (analagous to American pop.) Probably the kind of music I referred to in an earlier post which I have heard on the radio but have NO idea the names of any composers or performers–creative fusion by musicians playing to please themselves and each other.</p>

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<p>Baroque music, such as Bach or Vivaldi, is very rigid in structure; some even find it quite boring to listen to or play (my pianist son is one). It is more formulaic, less emotional, somewhat mathematical in structure.</p>

<p>The classical period works, including those of Mozart and Beethoven, show more modulation, with an exposition of the themes, development, and recapitulation. The instrumentation is much more interesting.</p>

<p>I would start with listening to some Bach preludes and fugues, and then listen to some Beethoven sonatas. These provide a great point of contrast. You can find videos on YouTube of Horowitz and other great pianists playing these works.</p>

<p>Classical music transitions much more after these two periods, but if you start with baroque and move to classical, you can begin to appreciate the aesthetic differences.</p>

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<p>And the mathmom in me likes baroque best. I just love all those intertwining patterns. Wish I could play them better, I’ll never be good enough to play anything but the easiest Bach minuets.</p>

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<p>I love baroque music! H and I went through an early music phase as well.</p>