Jee-Sun Huh started an interesting thread:

>Just wondering how you guys started enjoying classical music the way you
>do today.

I am still young, much younger than most of the fossiles on this list,
but still I don't remember for sure how my love with classical music began.
I come from a silent home; my parents had never the slightest interest in
music, and neither had I for long time.  Reading was my only passion in
life, a passion I had since before the age of 3 (I learned by then reading
on my own), but music came much later: At the age of 13 (?) I asked my
father if he could help me find two pieces: the opera Carmen and Elgars
five Pomp and Circumstances marsches.  My father, who always has encouraged
my interests and things I want to do in life, went to the music teacher of
the school where he worked and I got a tape copy with highlights from
Carmen on one side and 5 Pomp and Circumastances marsches on the other.
Where I had heard those pieces for first time not even the Gods will know.
So I was satisfied with this tape in 2-3 years, and the thought never
occured in my brain that there could be other kinds of music.  I didn't
know any at all.  The pop/rock music that streamed out of the radio, I
considered a disturbing noise which I never even reflected over.  So one
day at age 15 (?) I surfed the radio channels, and ended up in the middle
of a piece which I thought very exaggerating and my little soul was
glowing.  The piece was Sjostakovitjs "Leningrad"-Symphony.  I remember
the recording too; it was one of the two Rozhdestwensky and the Leningrad
Philarmonics, I think the late version, from the 70ies.  I was familiar
with the name of the piece as I had read in my historybooks about World War
II that a composer named Sjostakovitj had composed a symphony dedicated to
the city of Leningrad.  I looked him up in my lexicona, as I wanted to read
more.  My father tells after I had heard this on the radio I didn't talk
about anything else in 2-3 days.  I never aquired any recordings for long
time though, as the only played I owned was a little taperecorder with very
bad soundquality.  My father bought me (not on my initiative) a CD player,
and 5 CDs were attached to the CD player.  One of them was classical.  It
was concertos by Vivaldi.  I was impressed by the sound quality compared
with a rotten taperecorder, but I never liked the CD, and as I didn't by
it on own choice I never considered it my first CD. When I followed my
parents on a trip to Finland, to Helsinki, some months later (I am still
15-16) we visited Stockmanns and their great load of CDs, and I bought
my first CD for my own money.  It was Karajans recording of Beethovens
"Egmont" and "Die Schlacht bei Vitoria".  I choosed this recording as
Beethoven was one of the few composers I knew to the name (I had listened
a little to teh radio between) and the coverpainting had a historical
motif: The battle of Vitoria.  That the painting connected with my passion
history, was the impulse for my to buy it for 102 Finnish Mark.  Boy did I
love that CD. At christmas my mother bought me a 10 CD El Cheapo set with
the famous composers.  One CD dedicated to each composer.  Then 2 new 10 Cd
sets followed, and so I started collecting and broaden my knowledge and
taste, what I have continued to ever since.  At the same time (age 15-16)
I decided I wanted to play an instrument.  I wanted to play the piano of
the violin.  The piano I early realized was not one instrument, but 100,
and a skilled violinist can express all feelings with his instruments.  But
there were no teacher avaliable on those instruments were I lived, so I got
lessons on Trumpet, which I continued in three years.  Thats my only formal
musical education.  But thanks to CDs, Books and Daves List I have learned
much.  Still there is so much left....

I remeber Wagner, my today housegod, I didn't like at first.  I had
listened to opera highligts as one of the Cds in the 10CDs sets was
dedicated to him.  But I didn't connect with it.  But a time later I was
in a dark mood, and I felt very depressed and greiving.  I had borrowed
the whole Ring from the library, and in this mood this dark, pasionate
music made a tremendous impression on me.  At the same time I met a
woman who was a Wagner fan and very knowledgeable on the subject.  She
strengtened my passion for Wagners music (and not only that!  ;-) very
significantly, and have been my love ever since.  I never met her again
unfourtunately.  "manchmal treibt das Schicksal sachen..." as they sing
in Kalmans operetta...

Mats Norrman
[log in to unmask]