Listening Fatigue

Have to admit I never have the same issue over the long term, though definitely sometimes it is good to take a sabbatical... and I also suspect this is one of the curses of recordings. If we didn't have recordings then how many times in a life would you hear some of even the 'core' repertoire?

And there is a distinct difference between love and infatuation...

Ditto. I think I could whistle the 10th through first bar to last. Mahler, too, fails to turn my crank the way he used to. For me, I suspect for most of us, the by-product of this ennui is a quest for undiscovered delights in musical backwaters. More often than not this results in confirmation that so-and-so is not unjustly neglected which makes the rewards, when they do come, that much greater. 

One of my first loves, Sibelius, delights me every time I return to him even though I played the grooves off most of my vinyl copies of the symphonies.

Thanks for the post, this is what I needed to read about. I have some rock music and some jazz in my library though my collection is at least 96 percent classical, from contemporary to gregorian chant. Usually during the afternoon if I'm goofing around or working on my bicycle, etc... then I'll play some Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong ... and then my mind has just taken a vacation. I love classical or legitimate music significantly more than any other music form but to listen to it all of the time would be a major overload on the synaptic nerves.

As far as growing tired of a classical composer, this happened as I was cross referencing various recordings of the Chopin Catalogue raisonne'. It got to where if I had to hear the mazurkas or nocturnes again, that I would go completely nuts. I believe that when I first started comparing the nocturnes however, that I told myself that I could never tire of listening to any of Chopin's works.

I find that it's still a good investment to own a tuner and a radio or two. The air waves can deliver some great unexpected performances. My favorites are the live broadcasts, especially those which will never be repeated. 

I know what Jane means though I don't so much feel fatigue so much as have periods when I don't feel the need to listened to music that is very familiar, like Beethoven symphonies, less so the sonatas.  There are times when I do feel (quite ridiculously wrongly I'm sure) that I have all I need of the music in my head. It usually passes however, and often corresponds to a time when I'm into exploring music new to me, a process that can lead to temporary over-valuing the newly-discovered music. Also I guess it is different for performers. From what little I've done, I know that one despairs of ever fully understanding the music in question.

If there is a problem with recordings it is, as others have said, the ease of over-listening. There's something wrong with the idea of hearing Beethoven's 9th every day, or even every week isn't there.  As Naupilus says, some masterpieces need to be left alone for a while. I've been 'off' Mahler for a while, but I expect he'll return to me refreshed in due course, perhaps through some revelatory new performance.

And here I agree with Ganymede, the best way to refresh one's ears and mind is through attending live performances, however modest.

As Vic has reported elsewhere, listening fatigue can also sometimes be relieved by the aquisition of a new pie ce of hi-fi, though that's a different story!

Chris

With a post like Parla's last one who needs a separate thread on the sad state of affairs? Clearly a case of "show, don't tell".

I agree with you both regarding Sibelius in that I find his music often has the effect of a palette cleanser when my listenng has become a little heavy. I do not mean to imply it lacks substance, rather it blows away the cobwebs.

I took a break from Mahler for almost two years and on return found his music far more interestigb than ever. But in small doses... he is an event composer for me, which is how I suspect he wrote his music. As I said, recordings are not necessarily the best thing that happened to classical music.

Tagalie - backwaters are for me increasingly essential listening because they offer a particular type of enjoyment. You once wrote about Maria de Rudenza so when it came on sale recently I got hold of a copy and have really been enjoying the experience. I would jump at the chance to see it live, but I suspect my chances are very slim.