Symphony Hall

So after class last night I drove home while listening to Symphony Hall on WQXR, otherwise known as "the Classical station". Due to the current state of our music, I've pretty much boycotted La Mega and Latino Mix. I mean, why listen to it for an hour to hear 10 crappy songs and 1 so-so song. I apologize to all who are into the current scene, pero para los gustos se hicieron los colores. I just can't get into what's playing now. My favorite Spanish genre is merengue and they maybe play 1 merengue every two hours. Now, who can blame them when there's almost nothing decent being recorded nowadays. I heard a new song by Elvis Crespo the other day and it was just so crappy. It's funny how not too long ago he sort of "rescued" the scene, but now he's just perpetuating the monotony that has come to plague it. The arrangements have become very stale and unoriginal. I heard one so-so song the other day called something like "Matame". That one at least had some groove going. I really fear for this new generation of music listeners. They are missing out on so much richness by confining their ears to monotonous beats, synthesized sounds, and horrible singing. Where will this minimalist/mediocrity trend end?

Anyway, I digress. So for most of this year I've been listening almost exclusively to Classical again which is awesome. I feel like I've come back home. It's really such awesome stuff. I can listen to it all day and it doesn't get boring. Such a variety of forms, tone colors, and harmonies. It's a lot of fun to listen to how all the different instruments contribute.

They started the program last night with a Baroque-y sounding piece which was ok. Baroque is not my favorite but this one was fine. I then walked into Floridita (the one near 177th - the real deal) to pick myself up an especial. It's the best deal on Earth. For $4.25 I get a mound of rice, beans, a baked chicken thigh/drumstick, and some maduros. It really does the trick. By the time I got back to my illegally parked car - there's a convenient pompa right in front of the restaurant now - a new piece was playing. Started off sounding kind of Classical in terms of the woodwind melodies, but the form wasn't quite that rigid. The harmonies were also a bit too dissonant for pure Classical. Also it seemed a bit heavy on the lower registers (not in a bad way). The piece lasted my entire drive home (about 35 minutes) and by that time I had decided it was probably something by Brahms. So right when I get off my exit the piece ends and the announcer comes on to say that I had been listening to Brahm's Third Symphony. Hurrah! I mean it's something silly, but I was really happy about it.

I meant to start off this entry by saying that most of the things I learned in college, I managed to forget by now. But for some reason this didn't happen to a lot of the things I learned in my music classes. I remember most of my music theory and my ear is actually better now than it was when I started ear training. Even the history courses, which were my least favorite of the bunch, come back to me a bit. I think I was so excited to finally be learning all that stuff that I must have internalized it really well. Prof. Sisman would be so proud! So would Mr. Kluge. I knew my education would be good for something haha.

Anyway, the Brahms' Third Symphony is a great piece. I especially love the third movement (poco allegretto). The melody is really beautiful and he develops it so well.