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Lark Ascending

I am not too interested in football but it's hard to avoid at the moment as it dominates the British media. It is good, though, to see everyone enjoying themselves at the big screen events and all the English flags flying from cars and windows. I'm pleased England won their match today, even though ...

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Plenty of gaps in mine as I have nothing by composers whose names begin with A, I, J, L, O, Q, U, W, X, Y and Z.

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Haydnseek wrote:Exploring second hand bookshops is one of my favorite pastimes. Ever been to Hay-on-Wye in Wales, a village with something like 40 bookshops? I hope to get there one day.

I didn't know this. It sounds like just the place for a bookworm like me

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One of my favourite things to do, when visiting London, is to browse the shelves of the second hand bookshops situated on Charing Cross Road. I would hate to think that such places would eventually be rendered obsolete by so-called progress.

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The problem with modern popular music is that it's inflicted on all of us whether we want to listen to it or not. You only have to walk into any high street shop for your eardrums to be assaulted by the latest noise. It makes a pleasant change on the rare occasions the shops in my town change the CD...

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It was after last year's British General Election so yes, it was indeed his devoted east London constituents (not so devoted after his "decadent" antics in the Big Brother house though

)

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Unfortunately it is often the case that such people are surrounded by a crowd of toadies and sycophants that hang on their every word. I recall his election as an MP when he was carried through the streets of his constituency on the shoulders of his, ahem, adoring followers.

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I voted for the 6th.

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Mark, It is a 9 CD box set released on EMI Classics. Disc 1 - Toward the Unknown Region, Dona nobis pacem, Fantasia on the Old 104th Psalm Tune, Magnificat Disc 2 - various VW orchestral works (Partia, Concerto Grosso, Tallis Fantasia, Romance & The Lark Ascending) Disc 3 - Five Tudor Portraits, Ben...

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jbuck919 and RebLem, thank you for answering my question. In Britain the nearest equivalent is the two minutes silence observed at 11am on November 11th in memory of the First World War dead.

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No-one in Britain takes this "gentleman" at all seriously since his infamous appearance on Celebrity Big Brother (he pretended to be a cat licking cream from actress Rula Lenska's hands).

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Pardon my ignorance, but could someone explain what Memorial Day is supposed to commemorate as it's not a British holiday. I'm guessing it's to do with remembering the victims of World Wars 1 & 2 - please correct me if I'm in error.

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Vaughan Williams - Choral & Vocal Collection, a 9 CD box set (also includes works by Bax, Butterworth, Elgar, Finzi, Gurney, Ireland and Warlock)

English Wind Music: Holst - Suites 1 & 2 for Military Band & Hammersmith and Vaughan Williams - English Folk Song Suite & Toccata Marziale

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A Naxos compilation of works by Percy Grainger entitled The Power of Love

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I've been a forum member for just over six months and have posted infrequently, although I have posted more of late. I feel as though I cannot comment on many of the threads as my knowledge of music is limited to purely listening - I get the impression that a lot of the musicians on this site like t...

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Thank you. I took it from the Vaughan Williams section in Harold C. Sconberg's The Lives of the Great Composers. He and Ravel must have been like chalk and cheese together - what the elegant little Frenchman made of a big bluff Englishman who, as someone anonymously stated, "dressed as though stalki...

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I haven't read it either, it doesn't appeal to me, although seeing as the film has incurred the wrath of the religious ban everything brigade it may be worth a look.

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Heffer comes across as the worst type of classical music snob who will praise a piece of music to the skies should it be played on his beloved Radio 3, but will rubbish the same should it be played on that nasty, populist Classic FM :). How he must long for the days when classical music was the prer...

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You need to be conscious of the short-comings of such user-written content. Just last month there was a mild kerfuffle about politicians writing and editing their entries on Wiki, puffing themselves up, and their enemies coming by and messing with the content. I love it for the links, and often the...

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Wal-Mart own Asda, another big British supermarket chain. My mother used to work for them, and didn't enjoy it at all. Anyway when trundling around Tesco and adding to their ever increasing profits today, I actually bought some different foodstuffs for a change, rice and a sauce which I'll cook with...

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I only discovered the Wikipedia last week when I was trawling the net for information on Shostakovich. It's now in my list of favourite sites, an excellent source of reference.

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So have I, around 30 years ago. I remember sitting on the beach with my parents but nothing of Wells itself. I'm surprised to learn the town is a Tesco free zone, much unlike the rest of Britain, it has to be said. I shop at Tescos every other day as it's five minutes walk from my workplace. I usual...

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Is this a late April 1st joke? It certainly won't get me within a mile of the opera house - very poor taste indeed.

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My favourite 5 are:

Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending
Ravel - Mother Goose Suite
Butterworth - The Banks of Green Willow
Shostakovich - Jazz Suite No.2
Chopin - Nocturnes, especially No 10 in A flat

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The march from Shostakovich's Jazz Suite No.2 amuses me, as does his Tahiti Trot.

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I have around 100 CDs which I consider pretty good as it's just under a year since I got into classical music. Some of them came free with classical musical publications, others as a result of trawling through bargain bins. They are rapidly taking over my cabinet.

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I have no problem whatsoever with compilation CDs. I find them extremely useful for providing examples of a composer's works that may prompt me to explore that particular composer in greater depth (or alternatively to give them a wide berth).

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Apart from excerpts on compilation CDs I have nothing by Bach, Haydn, Handel, no Mozart symphonies, only one Beethoven symphony (the 6th), no opera, early music, baroque and, surprisingly, no 12 tone

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I enjoyed the spoof ad. I have to admit to finding something morbidly fascinating in 12 tone music, even though it most definitely isn't my cup of tea (probably the fact that until my music tastes switched to classical I'd never heard anything so... different).

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I voted for Schubert as the Trout Quintet is a favourite of mine.

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I became interested in classical music last year after watching a BBC documentary which featured Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending and In The Fen Country which I considered the most beautiful music I had ever heard in my life, enough to prompt me into purchasing a box set of VW's symphonies & orc...

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Yesterday I had a loverly time shopping for CDs in London and bought the following: Grainger- The Power of Love (Naxos compilation) Gorecki - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs/Three Olden Style Pieces Nielsen - Symphonies No 2 & 3 Ravel - Complete Orchestral Works & Complete Works for Solo Piano I also fo...

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Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols is playing on Classic FM as I type - loverly.
Other carols I like are The Coventry Carol, Gaudete, Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel and a French carol which I think is called Mortal Flesh.

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Romantic, Chopin in particular

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As someone new to the world of classical music, I have found Naxos' "Best of" series extremely useful as a means of introduction to the work of several composers.

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It would make a pleasant change to hear VW or Chopin issuing forth from a passing car stereo as opposed to the rap (the c is silent, obviously) that assaults my ears on a daily basis.

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Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
Lalo: Symphonie Espagnole (both on the same CD)
Delius: Florida Suite, North Country Sketches, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, Air and Dance

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My first classical music purchase was by Vaughan Williams, an 8 CD box set of his nine symphonies and other orchestral works.

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I saw her featured on a BBC2 arts programme last week. The general opinion was that although she is viewed as "classical light", it's the crossover potential of the likes of Jenkins that keeps the classical music industry alive in Britain. She's not to my taste, although as I said in the thread abou...

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Living in Britain, I have to agree with Daniel that classical music is perceived as boring, pretentious music listened to by upper or middle class people - I have to confess that up until earlier this year I would have though the same. Thankfully I saw the error of my ways :lol: I do think that Clas...

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Thank you, MaestroDJS, for your informative appreciation. Grainger is a recent discovery for me, and now a firm favourite for his interpretations of English folk songs.

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The adverts are a nuisance that have to be tolerated unfortunately, it's a commercial radio station. I try not to let them detract from my enjoyment of the music though.

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Daniel, I listen to Classic FM every day, and am listening to it as I type this reply. Like you, I have found the station a great help in stimulating my interest in classical music.

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Thank you everyone for your words of welcome and your composer suggestions which I will certainly investigate further. Some of the composers mentioned I have in my ever expanding CD collection (Ravel, Faure, Elgar, Britten) and I recently saw a performance of Nielsen's Symphony No 3 given by my city...

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Hello, I am new to classical music. I enjoy listening to British composers such as Vaughan Williams, Holst, Delius, Butterworth and Finzi and I wondered if anyone could recommend other composers in a similar vein? Aside from the English "pastoral school", I like piano music (Chopin, Debussy, Satie)....

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