Too much to even think about. Solo piano is good. Check out the Goldberg Variations. Solo guitar. Peder Riis classical guitar. Bach on the Lute by Linn Records. Any Mozart string quartet. All too good to relegate to background music. If you're just going to read, might as well put on one of the classical FM or whatever radio you have and let it play.
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all 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos, Beethoven and Mozart Piano Sonatas, anything Debussy.....particularly "Images". Haydn string quartets, Segovia guitar recordings. John Tavner (The Protecting Veil and others). that’s just a small sampling of non vocal recs. if you stream Tidal or Quboz i’d recommend just spending time deep diving into composers and artists and just trying things, building play lists. and as you expand your knowledge and comfort zone you will be more comfortable reading to a wider variety and intensity of classical music. for instance i have a few complete Beethoven and Mahler symphony recordings on my hard drive and will sometimes just allow it it play through and it's a great reading companion. lot's of big music but it's familiar and comfortable for me at this point for reading. i read a lot to classical music and can relate to your question. of course, even mellow classical can be compelling and draw you in. |
Try searching for "tafelmusik" in your music streamer catalog or online. I like Mike's suggestions for listening above, but for me 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos and Beethoven and Mahler symphony recordings would never remain "in the background." Specific names in addition: Gibbons, Byrd, Telemann, Corelli, some Scarlatti, Lully, Purcell, Geminiani https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Baroque_composers |
Chayro’s pointed you in some good directions. In addition to the Goldberg Variations, Bach’s other solo piano music and transcriptions for piano of his other pieces are excellent, e.g., the Well-Tempered Clavier; Partitas for Keyboard; the Art of the Fugue; Musical Offering. I enjoy listening to Angela Hewitt’s playing and Alfred Brendel’s also. There’s so many good recordings, it’s hard to point out just one or two. As Chayro also recommended, Bach on guitar is wonderful. Scarlatti’s music on piano fits your needs, and Brahm’s Intermezzi should be added to any list. Many artists have recorded these. I enjoy Hewitt and Andras Schiff on Scarlatti, and Arcady Volodos for Brahm’s Intermezzi and other solo piano music. I highly recommend that you try Vikingur Olafsson’s recording of Bach’s music transcribed for piano and his recording of music by Couperin and Rameau. They are outstanding recordings and wonderfully played. Of course, Couperin and Rameau may lead you to Debussy’s piano music. One more pat on the back for Chayro for his suggestion of Mozart’s piano sonatas (I have Uchida’s recordings) and piano concertos. I want to include Schubert’s late piano sonatas. There are many fine recordings to choose from. Aw, heck, if this isn’t already overlong: Haydn’s String Quartets. Lots of good recordings are out there. Hope this helps. Good luck exploring. Jim |
@jayctoy Mike what are your 10 Ten classical vynil you like to listen on a daily basis?my classical vinyl choices are in a wide rotation; rarely played more than once a month. i am likely to sample different performances of the same composition, and pressings of the same performance, occasionally in the same session, when i’m on a particular theme. but that is not a frequent occurrence. tonight when i’m home i will try to list 10 current classical vinyl fav’s i have played recently. |
@hilde45 I like Mike's suggestions for listening above, but for me 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos and Beethoven and Mahler symphony recordings would never remain "in the background." i think the point where that music can be complimentary to reading is variable, and relative to individual sensitivities and even a system's ability to play them realistically at moderate volume levels. i own and play those so much that their bombast just hits me subconsciously and does not distract my reading. my room is large and so large scale music breathes and does not get hard or intrusive. it stays natural. obviously i don't play them at Warp 9 when i'm reading. i've been deep into a book where i get from Beethoven's 1st to 5th before i know it. |
@mikelavigne i think the point where that music can be complimentary to reading is variable, and relative to individual sensitivities and even a system's ability to play them realistically at moderate volume levels. Agreed! For me, there is something in those pieces that refuses to recede into the background. My defenses against Beethoven are much weaker than yours. When Beethoven masses his troops outside my gates, I'm obliged to lower the drawbridge. Telemann, however, can stand out there all night. |
@hilde45, 'I like Mike's suggestions for listening above, but for me 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos and Beethoven and Mahler symphony recordings would never remain "in the background." ' @chayro, 'If you're just going to read, might as well put on one of the classical FM or whatever radio you have and let it play.' This is the dilemma. We need suggestions that sound pleasant enough to drown out any ambient sounds yet also do not irritate or draw too much attention to themselves. FM radio doesn't always do that, and then there's the presenters and ever insistence upon the "news". I certainly wouldn't recommend the Goldberg Variations as background music. Not even the lovely Zenph re-performance of Glenn Gould's 1955 attempt. As @mikelavigne pointed out, familiarity could be of a help here, especially to predominantly classical music fans. It's been long known since the days of Pavlov that repetition does eventually tend to make the brain switch off somewhat. It's just a question of finding that perfect balance. Maybe some fans of ambient music could suggest something? |
tj5844, Good suggestion. I might give that a try depending on the material. Sometimes certain albums go well with certain genres. For example if I'm reading superhero comics eg Frank Miller, 60s/70s Marvel etc then something like Simon and Garfunkel's Tales of New York provides great accompaniment. Normally words are usually a huge distraction. Wasn't Mozart once touted as an aid to study? |
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I have a Tidal account and i use a Bluesound node2. This is an exciting day, my Parasound HINT6 arrives today, it took awhile to get here because i wanted the Silver one. Im using a pair of 30yr old MartinLogan Sequel II’s…very exciting:0) I also aquired a Denon dp59L also ! Thank you all for your suggestions, im a night owl so this will give me something to go through. My music buddy Lola the very vocal family cat past away last week, so staying up late with no company has been tough. One funny cat story, she was not a Rush fan, she would politely leave the room Lol |
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