The "Where have I been, that I haven't heard this before?" moment

[Heavy_Metal]

At some point in our lives, I'm sure many of us have heard a piece of music for the first time that blew us away. What was yours?

I'll start the thread with Camille Saint-Saens' third symphony. Here's Jarvi conducting the Orchestre de Paris:



Happy New Year, everyone!

[tubanews]

Proly Shostakovich 5

[bort2.0]

The first time I heard "Huapango" on the radio, I was in my car, and had to pull over and listen till it was over.

[Dan Tuba]

Mahler 5 for me. It was actually the first time I had ever heard anything by Mahler. I was completely blown away... literally, with the CSO under maestro Barenboim.

[tubanews]

The first time I heard "Huapango" on the radio, I was in my car, and had to pull over and listen till it was over.

Garcia lorca anyone?

[tubanews]

I had returned from living abroad and on the way in I heard "smells like teen spirit" on the radio.

[bloke]

EDIT:
PRIOR to that which I posted below earlier,
probably a scratched-up recording of Mehta/LA/Zarathustra, that I found in the trash behind an audiophile store as a very young teenager.
===========
Mahler 7...though there are superior compositions (composed by Mahler and others) that I have heard since, but I’ve heard those better compositions with more aural experience and aural sophistication.

[Three Valves]

I few years back I heard this.

I thought I had heard everything....

https://youtu.be/nmV2aQT3kss

Babe of Bethlehem, Bath Abby Girls Choir.

[Mark E. Chachich]

For me it was Bruckner 5.

I purchased a CD of the NDR Philharmonic under the direction of Gunter Wand some time ago. I also like the way Bruckner introduced themes and brings them back later in the piece as well as using the entire dynamic range of the orchestra in his compositions. I also like the fugue in the final movement. Bruckner is one of my favorite composers and I have felt a connection to his music when I first heard it in college. I honestly do not know how I missed this one. I also like Gunter Wand's conducting, everything that I have read about him indicated that he wanted the composer's wishes followed instead of putting his "stamp" on a piece.

Below is a link to NDR under Gunter Wand. It is a live performance and the orchestra "goes for it". I hope that you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJqC0-o ... E&index=20

Happy New Year!
Mark

[C J]

When I played in a army band I was stationed in a city with a super record store. The clerk knew exactly my taste in music.
One day I came in the store and she suggested the cd of the Concertgebouworkest with Zavod from Mosolov.
It blew me away.



7 years ago I had the good fortune to play it with the orchestra. What a piece.

[bloke]

probably more appropriate to this thread, as I was introduced to it much more recently:

Tchaikovsky: Suite #3 - more technically difficult for the orchestra than any of his other long orchestral pieces (which are labeled "symphonies", as this piece well could also be), and ending with an amazing finale...a (whaaa...!?!?) polacca

[GC]

It happened to me twice. First with "The Rite of Spring" as a teenager just really learning about the classics, and second with hearing the Mahler 5th in my '60's, which turned me into a fanatic for listening to Mahler symphonies over and over in as many versions as I can practically hear. I knew of Mahler but had sort of skipped around his works over the years.

[scottw]

While driving in 2015, I heard a transcription of this piece by the Marine Band and I just sat in the car instead of coming into the house: I didn't want to miss a note!
Richard Strauss, Festmusik der Stadt Wien, composed at the end of WW2 and dedicated to the city that gave him sanctuary in those troubled late-war years. Somehow, I had never heard it before and certainly never played it: it calls for 6 trumpets in C, 8 horns, 6 trombones, 2 tubas, and 2 timpani. Powerful!

[Heavy_Metal]

Great stuff- keep them coming and please post links!

[humBell]

Does this count?



I had checked out from the library a Music from Car Talk CD for a road trip, and this the one song that didn't have an overt reference or connection to cars.

Needless to say put this on repeat for 15-20 times as the miles rolled under me.

[Snake Charmer]

"Le boeuf sur le toit" by Darius Milhaud. I heard it played by the University Orchestra Frankfurt when my brother studied viola there. It sparked my love for french music...
Cesar Franck's d minor symphony was a blast as well, bought it very cheap on vinyl at a clearing sale back in the 1980s

[UncleBeer]

I know I've posted this before, but Einojuhani Rautavaara. He's my current composer 'crush'. In about 40 years of professional orchestral playing, his is the only music that made me have that "how did I miss this?!" moment. And almost all of his music elicits the same response from me.

Here's the last movement of his 7th symphony, "Angel of Light".

[Dan Tuba]

Here's another "moment"for me. At the time, I had never heard this piece before. Not only was I amazed at the music itself, but also the absolutely awesome brass playing. This "moment" also introduced me to the entire Fritz Reiner CSO collection. Excerpt from "Symphonia Domestica"

https://youtu.be/dGaQBlt5jfU

[scottw]

Wow, I had forgotten that one! R Strauss was not one to do it in half measures! Thanks for reminding me of it.

[Mary Ann]

Nathan Milstein playing the Beethoven violin concerto. Sat in the car until it was done. In high school.