Classical Snob Defense

[@daviddavenport9350]

As one violist quipped to me...."I dreamed that I was playing a Bruckner Symphony, and I woke up, and I was!"

[@zdl1965]

Piano snob: Have you heard Sorabji's Sequentia Cyclica? You: Yesss... Marc-Andre Hamelin told me he did not care for it either.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Great!

[@marknewkirk4322]

All through school in rural West Virginia, I was the victim of reverse snobbery. Because I wasn't interested in Kiss, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, or Lynyrd Skynyrd, I was a pariah. So I'm always VERY pleased when I meet someone who shares my musical interests, even if only marginally.

[@nileshart922]

same here. they should all be forced to warch George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children like Alex deLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Let them learn about a WV composer that way...

[@mfa192654]

I never ceased to amazed with how much I enjoy and AGREE with Maestro Hurwitz!

[@lenoakes2450]

You've excelled yourself again. Great stuff.

[@bencobley4234]

"Wagner used to read the libretti for his operas to his friends; I am glad I was not there". ~ Ralph Vaughan Williams

[@andreysimeonov8356]

Who da f***k is Ralph Vaughan Williams?! Is he performed as frequently as Wagner is?

[@R0bstar-YT]

@@andreysimeonov8356 Ah yes, ad populum, what greater indicator of worth.

[@daviddavenport9350]

@@andreysimeonov8356 Actually if you count all of RVWs hymns and anthems played around the world on any given Sunday of the year....yes...he is played as frequently if not moreso!

[@daigreatcoat44]

@@andreysimeonov8356 Linden Lea alone must make him fairly high up in the popularity contest.

[@michaelm5926]

It is so great fun to hear/see your videos and thoughts about many "classical" issues. Even it is mostly about recordings, but your general topics are of great value, too. So, KEEP THEM COMING and of course: Keep On Listening!

[@robertcurry7664]

Fabulous theme for a video. Once again, you’re introducing me to a few new works, which I’ll enjoy looking up…the immensely gratifying sensation of cutting classical music snobbery dead in its tracks (so long it’s done without any antagonistic tone, or equal levels of snobbery), is always satisfying…being somewhat extensively tattooed, with a shaved head and beard, I’ve become used to folk making assumptions when they meet me…on one occasion I was invited to a dinner party by a friend, where I knew nobody but him…we arrived at the host’s home, to around 20 or so people, split into a few separate groups…I was lead to a group of 5 or 6 gentlemen who, it was immediately obvious, we’re in the middle of a passionate “who’s best” opera debate…they didn’t hide their disappointment of being introduced to me by my friend, and so intruding on their conversation…”oh, we should change the conversation…so, what do you do?”…me: “please don’t stop on my account. I’m sorry to interrupt “….if only I had a photo of his gleeful look (elated to be given the opportunity of being superior and make me feel tiny and uneducated)…”ah, so we were talking of great Salomes….where do you stand?”…(now there are 5 or 6 glib, self satisfied faces staring at me)….I allow for a pause, to soak in the moment, smile and say “ well of course Birgit is legendary with Solti, Hildegard Berhrens wasn’t too shabby for Karajan and Caballe was a wonderful surprise…”….took a few seconds to enjoy their faces drop, before excusing myself with realizing that I hadn’t got a drink yet….yeah, I was mentally patting myself on the back for that one!

[@jgesselberty]

Would love to have taken one of your college courses. Sadly, in today's sound-bite world, just being a fan of Classical Music makes one a snob. I rarely discuss it, but pulling into a supermarket parking lot with some of it playing on the stereo, does get looks.

[@williamwhittle216]

You are so right. These days, the wealthy and elite dismiss Western Civilization as racist.

[@bbailey7818]

Play it loud.😃

[@ericleiter6179]

Blast it!

[@howardmcclellan2022]

I do pretty much the same thing! People do look...

[@timbakerbartholomew]

An absolute sardonic triumph. Thank you.

[@goldengate64]

I learned early on in my classical music journey that a snobs favorite performance of a work was likely to be something out of print from a defunct or obscure label. The scarcity factor in action. In the early days of the internet I often came across Brucknerians who raved about performances from Takashi Asahina saying that they were in a higher stratosphere than anything else that was readily available.

[@jacobbump1282]

Such a great talk! I actually like Gerontius….musically it is gorgeous and while the words are by no means, great….I still love listening to it….and would like to sing it sometime.

[@musicfirst5020]

Dave, you remind me so much of a dear friend who was a brilliant historian of science (sadly now deceased), same droll sense of humor. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, but taught in WA State, a small college town. The knowledge and synthesis that would come out of him, effortlessly and unpretentiously, over dinner was remarkable. God, I miss him

[@keithcooper6715]

THANK YOU - Dave - Always a pleasure to hear you Expound - & you got me at just the right moment - Lifts my spirits

[@HojotohoWhereverIGo]

Just ordered a recording of Palestrina. Thanks for the recommendation! 😊 Wagner-obsessed here, and I can ramble for hours if I’m not stopped, and I’m sure I come across as a know-it-all to some, but I hope never a snob. I hope to meet another of your listeners as I ramble about Parsifal one day, and I will be happy to pivot to Palestrina. I’ll keep listening, and keep learning - your videos have been a priceless resource.

[@jdiwkall]

I have learned to appreciate Lutoslawski and Ligeti and i still can't really sit through most of Wagner's operas except for tannhauser

[@samuelheddle]

I remember there used to be a "Bluffer's Guide" to classical, and other music. My favorite tip is that when you're championing an obscure or modernist composer, never say something like "Michael Haydn is the greatest composer of all time", because that makes you look like a nut or a deluded fan. Instead say something like "Nono is one of the five greatest composers of all time" - you come off as much more knowledgeable that way. Not only do you like a "difficult" composer, but you know precisely who the five greatest composers are!

[@Tlll123]

For even more snob. ‘Nono is one of the five greatest composers from northern Adriatic area, but with regard to innovation in texture, he’s arguably the best of the bunch’

[@samuelstephens6163]

Michael Haydn's pretty great though! As is Leopold Mozart and Eduard Franck. Not as great, but pretty fun-great.

[@neilcameronable]

Please please do a CSD for opera snobs.I alighted on this vid by chance,dont know how i missed it first time round.Fantastic!!

[@robertdandre94101]

as mutch as possible ,i prefer to d,ont talk with other people of my family or friend about my passion of classical music,because large people very d,ont interresting about this subject,and sometime people look at me like an E.T......i prefer enjoy for my self only this passion,this beautiful passion.....sometime people told me....,,oh yesterday night,we are see and opera,or a ballet....this is very good....!,and i ask...''who conduct orchestra....?,...''oh i d'ont know'',,,,,but music very good....!....we seat just on the front....!...(oh my god....!)

[@AlexMadorsky]

It is also wise to inform Brucknerites of the neighing variety that you are searching for the long-lost critical edition of Bruckner’s Concerto for Pflügerhorn and Wagner Tuba Orchestra.

[@brossjackson]

There's a horrifying overlap between the Parsifal, Furtwangler and Bruckner crowd, sitting contentedly in their little spot in the Venn diagram, absolutely convinced that the more slowly something is played, the more profound it will be. That's probably basically the Celibidache snobs. There could be a full follow-up video of opera singer snobs, who tend to be particularly crazy. There are also the folks who are convinced that the more fun/sensual/hummable something is, the less value it has as music. This does include the Carter String Quartet folks, but also the folks who distrust Mahler because he's splashy and emotional, and those who only really enjoy Bach if it has been stripped of all the zippy dance rhythms.

[@whistlerfred6579]

Most of my friends and family have some to no interest in classical music, so I seldom have to deal with conversations like this. Something, I suppose, to be thankful about... I'm something of a fan of Carter's String Quartets, but I find them (and Carter's post-quartet music in general) to be more fascinating than lovable. I wouldn't necessary want to inflict them on innocent bystanders, however. And I tried - I really tried - to appreciate Sorabji music and failed quite miserably. But I think I'll take a pass on decaying swans and all-day Dies Irae sludge-fests. Thanks for another fun video!

[@james.t.herman]

It's only fair to point out that pop music fans are just as likely to be snobs as classical and jazz fans.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Depends on if you mean "pop" as in "music that's actually popular" or "pop" as in "everything that's not classical, jazz, or world music." If you mean the latter then encompasses a lot, including the snobs. If you mean the former then I'd say not many IME. The fans of the most popular music just idolize their stars and have little attention, care, or awareness of music outside of that. Now, there are certainly non-popular genres of pop music--like metal and indie rock--that absolutely have their snobs.

[@jacobmuskal7755]

👍👌 dave you out did yourself with thus time.

[@danpastore1885]

Another excellent post David! Thank you! I used to be in a group on FB that concerned “Historical Conductors.” I should have known better but I was curious. I met my Waterloo with a Furtwängler snob. He posted that WF had a “warm and fuzzy” personality ( exactly what he posted) and because of this, he had a predilection for helping people and this manifested itself with WF saving Jews and saving the Berlin Philharmonic. He pointed out this warm and fuzzy personality was in contrast to Toscanini and Otto Klemperer. Interesting, eh? Never mind Klemperer was Jewish ( did he save himself??) who had his Beethoven performances criticized for being “too Jewish” when compared to Herr Furtwängler. And Toscanini? I think his record on Fascism in his native Italy and his voracious stance against the Nazis doesn’t need me to recount here. I did ask the author of the post where was WF conducting in 1936? Berlin? Toscanini in 1936 went to Palestine to conduct Hubermann’s orchestra of Jewish exiles. Some of those exiles undoubtedly from Germany and the Berlin Philharmonic. I asked the gentleman how many Jewish musicians remained in the Berlin Philharmonic when Herr Furtwängler saved it? Well, in my post I neglected to spell “Furtwängler” with the ulmaut and that did it. The gent remarked “I wasn’t worthy of a response” due to my incorrect spelling and he blocked me. A snob and a coward. And yes, I left that group.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yuck!

[@danpastore1885]

@@DavesClassicalGuide And talk about a cultist! Such an absurd post to start with.

[@taylorflowers4598]

I will use these tricks daily! I have no doubt that I will become more revered in the ignorant community that I regrettably belong to.

[@hesamforozan8964]

Thanks! You do make me aware that I may be making a fool of myself on Wagner!

[@joncheskin]

Your video is completely hilarious. I listened to the first two minutes of the eight hour Dies Irae, I am completely perplexed. The Michael Gielen quartet was horrifying, could not make it past the first two minutes. On the bright side, there are KZbins of the Gerhard Pfluger Brucker 5 and also a Dvorak 8, and they sound pretty good!

[@michaelnisbett4307]

Your talk today reminded me of the people I had to deal with when I was running the classical department at Rose Records in Chicago. During that time I did encounter the Furtwangler people, no Brucknerites then, there wasn't enough available then (late '60s to mid '70s) but I know the type you're talking about in generic terms. You overlooked, however, what at that time, and I think the cult continues, was the biggest cult of them all - The Callas Cult. Admittedly some of her earlier stuff was good but her later recordings, when her vibrato of earlier years was now a pronounced wobble, a vocal version of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, was abysmal. These people, however, would not admit such a flaw in their goddess and they would always talk about the 'intensity' of her characterization as if that compensated for the lack of pitch discipline. You might find it rewarding to do a short piece on the Callas cult because, even though I've been out of the record business for nearly half a century, I'm sure it survives.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It does.

[@hendriphile]

I fondly remember the times spent downtown at Rose Records after hearing something on WFMT and then having to go get it! I wonder what happened to those framed posters of classical celebs that were up on the wall.

[@ER1CwC]

The Callas Cult exists on KZbin. They also claim that she had the biggest voice ever and that she was the most versatile singer, capable of singing all the female fachs. Communicating with them can be very frustrating, so I just try not to. And Callas is my favourite.

[@jaykauffman4775]

Holy cow. That was one of the funniest things I have ever heard

[@IgnatzKolisch]

"We have to deal with the Bruckner people." I've only met one in my life, and found I was easily capable of outrunning him.

[@Nilmand]

Can you even be considered a classical music fan if you haven't listened to Satie's complete works (including Vexations)?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes.

[@leestamm3187]

Your reference to the Pflüger Bruckner 5 made me curious. I found it on KZbin (wherein resides an incredibly vast array of recordings) and gave it a listen. I'd say your recollection was accurate. Nothing great, but not bad at all.

[@mrhenu]

Sententious is a good word that I just learned from this video. My answer to most of these is "I'm not into all this pompous and sententious music, I'll be over there listening to Haydn sonatas"

[@TdF_101]

As a young student of composition I was in awe of Wagner and his operas. In Italy they are admired but studied in moderation and in general kept at a distance (for safety & precaution). How annoying must I have been and sounded constantly babbling about him, playing his music. Of course not sharing his insane and contradiction political view, but I was drenched in his philosophical meandering about art, drama ... Once you grow up you see things in a more detached way, your tastes expand and you learn that music can also be other things ... have more rhythm, humor... be something else! other than mystical/mythical music dramas for the end of the world. Gorgeous, masterful music, but take what you need from it and move on.

[@dalepalarz3921]

I am one of those people who find Carter's string quartets altogether pleasurable and have found them so for many years. They just sound good to me. I guess this indicates that I'm an oddball?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Probably, but I wouldn't worry about it.

[@rickzhang2288]

I was laughing so hard at the Sorabji entry lolllll. I remember some hyper snob shaming me for never having heard of sorabji's stuff when still fairly new to music. Dude showed me some variations he rambled on to be good with time stamps which got me so shamed that I actually spent days listening to sorabjis full sized works like oc and archimagicum and sequentia cyclica trynna figure out just what the hell those were and I still don't know lollllll.

[@espresso9826]

Lol, I am sorry you had to deal with a snob. You definitely shouldn't feel bad for not understanding it. Can't believe you actually tried listening to 12 hours of Sorabji. That is definitely not a good first experience. I actually really enjoy Sorabji but he is definitely not for everyone. If you want to give him a second chance maybe try listening to Quasi Debussy or Le Jardin Parfume performed by Yonty Solomon. They are a lot more approachable and digestible. If you still don't like him, well then that's your opinion and the best apart about the internet is that you can just not listen to him lol.

[@DavidJohnson-of3vh]

KZbin has a recording of that Pfluger/Bruckner. It has a conductor pic that I suppose is to be taken as being Gerhard himself.

[@georgelmoneo]

I lost it with the decomposing dead swan... 🙂

[@james.t.herman]

This is a fun game. "Obviously the Ars Subtilior composers in Avignon could more accurately express states of emotional complexity than those of the early Baroque."

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Obviously.

[@bjornjagerlund3793]

I am a snob. I love Mosolv’s 5th. I really do. David thinks it’s junk, so you can compare me with a food snob that loves junk food. No food snod can get away with loving junk food, but you can get away with being a music snob loving Mosolovs 5th. Just pretend you know something other’s don’t. Of course, most people haven’t heard Mosolov’s 5th, so they can’t criticize you. It’s fun being a snob. You should try it.

[@leestamm3187]

I've heard Mosolov 5. It may not be the greatest ever composed, but I made it to the end, which is more than I can say about a lot of symphonies.

[@bjornjagerlund3793]

@@leestamm3187 I you like Mussorgsky, you probably will like this symphony.

[@camillesaint-saens3166]

I would like to know your suggestion for Vincent D"Indy's symphonies. Oh, great classical guru in the sky, do you have any suggested recordings...Search your memory-bank or your that extensive library...........................

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Actually, I don't much care for them.

[@camillesaint-saens3166]

@@DavesClassicalGuide They're nice works, maybe you should give them another listen; you might be surprized, I was.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@camillesaint-saens3166 I didn't say they weren't nice. I think they are. I just haven't been inspired to give them much time when there's so much else (including works by D'Indy) that I like better.

[@camillesaint-saens3166]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Okay...

[@mikesimpson3207]

As a big fan of difficult and abstruse chamber music, I'll have to look up Michael Gielen later

[@TA-dx8qn]

But for the TV show Sprung, the bit on Sorabji is the funniest thing I've watched this year.

[@Sulsfort]

Michael Gielen's string quartet I still don't know, but try and get acquainted with music by Lachenmann. Your reproduction of the Gielen seems to match to Lachenmann, too. So thanks for the recommendation!

[@Sulsfort]

Just listening to it. Long passages sound like early atonal or even pre-atonal stuff by the Schoenberg school like "Verklärte Nacht".

[@Sulsfort]

Actually I find the Gielen quite luscious. Even approachable, if you already like the Schoenberg school. Lachenmann is more challenging. But personally Lachenmann has humour. He played bar jazz, when he studied with Nono. Have already some Carter here - string quartets 1 & 5 with the Pacifica Quartet on Naxos.

[@carteri6296]

@@Sulsfort I tried to Listen to Georg Friedrich Haas, and I have an open mind.

[@edwinbaumgartner5045]

Fantastic advices! - In fact, I know a guy, who preaches "Palestrina" beeing the better "Parsifal". I said, well, I know the better "Palestrina" - do you know "Mathis der Maler"? (And it IS the better "Palestrina"!) - If anybody becomes fiery eyes, when one mentions Draesekes "Christus", one can go further: And what do you think about "Jonas" by Tobias? - The Furtwänglerians I use to shock with Knappertsbusch: Same repertoire, same slobbyness, same slow tempi, but better sound quality; and besides: "I can not imagine that Furty did a better ,Nutcracker' than Kna..." - The Sorabji is a very good choice. But what about that: "Do you know the 'Opus Clavicembalisticum' played by none other than John Ogdon? Or do you prefer Charles Douglas Madge?" (I buyed this thing, because I was interested in Ogdon - oh dear, what a blue whale of a work...) - I have no experience with Carterians, but some with Boulezians. I said: "Well, Boulez is totally okay for the easier listening. But the true heart of the Avantgarde is Barraqué, isn't it?" And to Stockhausians (there are really some) I say: "Nice music, of course, but what do think about my favourite composer Karel Goeyvaerts?" - The Brucknerians I like to stupefy not with a certain conductor, but with another composer. When Rott was not yet so much en vogue, I used him. But now, I replaced him. "Bruckner, well, yes, of course, really nice, after all. But since you like Bruckner, you are ripe for a true revelation: The symphonic works through Martin Scherber. Yes, through and not by, because his symphonies are not composed by him, but, as he said, channeled from the universe."

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Scherber is a very good pick!

[@ppfuchs]

My impression was that the Germans love the Dream of Gerontius more that the British do, and even more snobby about it.

[@marknewkirk4322]

I know Elliott Carter is difficult, and I wouldn't dismiss anyone for not being a fan. I expect the same courteousness in return. Because I like Carter, please don't call me: 1. a phoney. 2. deaf. 3. stupid 4. all of the above 5. a Frankfurt School Marxist. Gielen was self-admittely #5. That's his business. But he conducted both Carter and Mahler brilliantly. He should have stuck to conducting.

[@jimcarlile7238]

How about obtuse? Actually, doesn't Dave H. like some Carter? I seem to remember a good review there a while back.

[@marknewkirk4322]

@@jimcarlile7238 I didn't accuse Dave of anything. In my life as a musician, I have been called names because I like music that certain other people don't. And yes, Dave has said on more than one occasion that Carter is a good composer. See, for example, the review of the box of Charles Rosen CDs.

[@charlespowell9117]

I can't sleep for thinking of the quartet on the decomposing body of a dead swan! Hilarious. Dave how about doing something on the opera/lieder nuts?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's too easy.

[@bbailey7818]

The Furtwangler cultists I've known are usually very high not only on Kabasta but also Herrmann Abendroth. The funny thing is both he and Furtwangler have preserved recordings of Bayreuth's wartime Meistersingers and Abendroth's is very much the better of the two. Abendroth's biography is very similar to Pfluger's, flourishing under both the Nazis and East German communists. (Haggin's Law: You can't keep a bad man down.)

[@indranilpoddar7195]

Brilliant talk David…sent me scurrying to bring down by Palestrina LP set for a look through…question: How do you deal with a Simon Rattle fan?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Talk up Roger Norrington.

[@smurashige]

"The decomposing corpse of a dead swan." Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha 😹🙈

[@smurashige]

@@angloart8410 oh, yes, of course. I was more responding to the way Dave said it. That’s what prompted the laughter.

[@madrigal1956]

Excellent! 🤣

[@thomasdavis8117]

I'm going to stick to garlic for my classical snob defense.

[@michaelsimpson6958]

My “But what about” response. In a music forum many years ago there was a medical doctor cum Beethoven expert who would hold forth on whatever work he was discussing at the moment while using only the opus number, never the common title. E.g., when discussing the piano sonatas he would talk about Beethoven’s opus 53 rather than Piano Sonata n°21 “Waldstein”. Out of exasperation I asked him “How about Op. 72? What is your favorite recording?” He had NO idea what I was referring to. But of course everyone know’s it’s “Fidelio”, is how I would have preferred to respond. By the way, a hyperventilating forum member elsewhere said that Helmut Lachenmann is the greatest composer since Beethoven.

[@zionfortuna]

Is there any particular reason for the appearance of so many people like this in the music world? It's not only in classical (although some classical music snobs are particularly snobbish), they are everywhere: in pop music, rock, samba, jazz... What does one gain from being an insufferable snob?

[@morrigambist]

Since you didn't mention "opera nuts" I assume you are holding your fire for another video.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It's another world...

[@francoisjoubert6867]

“Don’t you also believe that Andrea Bocelli is the spiritual heir to Franco Corelli and Mario del Monaco? His Decca Calaf is just amazing. Pity he never did Siegmund though”. Apoplexy.

[@revivalharpsichord5078]

The group that seems more glaringly absent is the Baroque purists who seem more interested in hardware than music. I know you've taken plenty of swipes at them in other videos, but you should (and maybe have) devote a talk about how obnoxious they can be. In the late 1970s I met harpsichordist Davitt Moroney while we were both living in the San Francisco Bay Area--a hotbed of authentic instrument snobs--and he described the keyboardists who would inevitably attend any harpsichord recital as being "like a pack of dogs sniffing each other," an image I never forgot.

[@chrismcwilliams2778]

Wonderfully entertaining as always but musical snobbery aside..I have wanted to ask you about the orchestral music of Frank Zappa. The limited performances of this work are a unique study in this phenomenon?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I don't understand your point.

[@chrismcwilliams2778]

@@DavesClassicalGuide My point was basically a reference to Frank experiencing the elitism and snobbery from his dealings with the LSO and didn't care for their performances of his work though he seemed to have a much better time with Boulez and ensemble moderne...but really I just wanted to know if you had any thoughts on these performances and if you consider Zappa to be purely an outsider when it comes to contemporary classical music

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@chrismcwilliams2778 I think he was a brilliant musician, and a great perfectionist. His story about working with the LSO is both sad and hilarious.

[@Warp75]

I encountered the Furtwangler cult very early on…demented bunch & that is being kind

[@erichodge567]

I'm glad you mentioned "The Dream of Gerontius". After years of seeing the name pop up as perhaps Elgar's greatest work, I decided to give the piece a spin. Well...it was one of those compositions where you wait breathlessly for the "good part" to come, but man, does it ever not come. The most painfully boring bit of music I've ever endured.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

It is an acquired taste.

[@wesmarshall8137]

Did Gerhard Pflueger actually exist? So often on the Urania label, they invented the names of both performers and orchestras and published them as their own recordings when in reality, they were just stolen from some radio performance somewhere else in the world. We would occasionally play recordings from the Urania label on the radio station I worked at (WRR), and often, there was no way to find the performances or performers as ever having existed. Plus, inevitably, the recordings were terrible, the vinyl was like rice crispies, and someone had rolled off the top end so that no one could identify its providence. We would get records by groups like the New York Symphonic Doctors Foundation, or the Berlin Philharmonia and the joke at the station was it had to be another Urania recording.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Hey, I played in the New York Doctor's Orchestra--and yes, Pflüger was real.

[@alanmishael5013]

Just hilarious.

[@davidmayhew8083]

There's nothing worse than a jazz snob...

[@jamorains]

I read Sorabji's letters to Warlock last year and i must say that i found the man rather difficult to take. So much so, in fact, that i still haven't bothered to listen to any of his music. ha.

[@jameslee2943]

There's also French organ snobs (allegedly). There is no defense. Just run and keep on running. Run like Forrest, and hope they can't keep up...

[@geertdecoster5301]

Thank you Dave. Palestrina + Draeseke + Kabasta + ... 🙂noted in my little black book underneath Montaigne (and the real meaning of his homo sum humani nil alienum puto craved in the wooden beams above his bed) and a few more 'stop-them-in-their-tracks'. By the way, I've been told that the motif of a rising perfect fourth and stepwise return is used in the Missa Papae Marcelli, so it's similar in profile to the opening of L' Homme Armé.

[@alann2282]

For me, I wouldn't class Montaigne with these people. He was at pains to point out that he was expressing HIS opinions and not universal truths and also, modestly, that he did not know a great deal. Moreover, he started a literary form of interest and value....'the essay'.

[@cartologist]

If you want a French stick with which to beat, Rousseau never fails.

[@geertdecoster5301]

@@cartologist Clearly you don't know that it's never about someone's identity but his/her utter 'snobiness'. Stupidity by default. Rosseau is mentioned in my little black book only for the total idiocy of L' éducation d'Emile.

[@geertdecoster5301]

@@alann2282 You're wrong. It's not about Montaigne as such but shutting up snobs. Some nowadays quote Latin verse without actually knowing the play that it's originally from. Montaigne knew the play and the true message.

[@olinwilliams]

I was given the Gielen quartet and never understood any of it

[@gregorystanton6150]

But how do we respond to the Celibidache cult?

[@patrickhackett7881]

Cobra, or that really slow Boehm recording of Beethoven 9.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes, Cobra sort of puts them in their place.

[@RichardGreen422]

I sometimes wish you would do fewer videos. I do, after all, have a family and job.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

So do I.

[@EvanKaplanPianist]

@@DavesClassicalGuide i certainly do not.

[@BrainiacFingers]

I can't get passed the fact that you bought Bruckner's 5th when you were eight. I bought the Mary Poppins soundtrack when I was eight and it wasn't even the original cast version. Instead of Dick Van Dyke, It was sung by a British entertainer called Dickie Henderson. There is definitely a joke in there somewhere but it's a family channel so I won't go there.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I was just a curious kid.

[@BillDeef]

I wish you would do a video about the tendentious interpretations of certain composers’ works according to some single outside influence, often political, or religious, sometimes sexual orientation.

[@robertjones447]

Online, I have found the Mahler snobs to be the most insufferable. The lockstep fawning (and castigating) of these clowns rivals all your best examples.

[@NancyW726]

Hilarious!

[@jaykauffman4775]

Pfluger conducted a complete Fidelio in the early days of LP on a label called Oceanic with Margarete Baumer who was a very good soprano in the 20s and 30s but by 1950 was a wobble ridden mess

[@melodymaker135]

Parsifal persiflage 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ahartify]

Dave, you say the classical world has its snobs, but they are nothing compared to the pop music world snobs.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Why compare? Horrible is horrible.

[@jackhinkley6162]

These cultists are not limited to music. As Anna Russell says "they resonate where their brains ought to be."

[@ER1CwC]

Do parts of the Early Music/period practice community qualify as a cult? I see the value of period practice, but too often it becomes an excuse for poor technique, smallness, and dogmatic literalism.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

That's a cult!