Music

Growing up in the sixties I grew up with the pop music,, underground music,  but also with music at home.
My mother played some piano, mainly religious, but also St Nicolas and Christmas songs and we had a record of Tchaikovsky. (Violinconcert)

Apart from the pop music (Stones fan, could sing all the text without understanding their meaning when I was 13-14 to the annoyance of everybody around me.) soon interested in underground music.
Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Neil Young and Incredible String Band were the main ones and I still love them.
But another interests was folk especially Pentangle and via my friend Fairport Conventien, but never bought a record of the last group. From all the above I still have the records (replaced by CD'S )
Later an interest in the Beatles (White Album and Abey Road) long after they had finnished.
Later in my late twenties an interest in the Kinks as I started to understand the lyrics.

Looking back I think that especially Incredible String Band and the Pentangle was an echo of what I later (when we moved to France) discovered in the Troubadour Music. Also Irish Music (Derek Bell) played a role in my early forty's

Still much later rediscovered Bob Dylan and collected all his early work, although Blonde on Blonde I still had from the past and started to understand more of his poetry (with the help from my wife!)

Classical Music;

As I said we had Tchaikovsky and got really engrossed in Tschaikovsky when I was 18 years old.
Loved his 2nd  and 5th symphony, 1st piano concert and the ballets (Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty) and the Ouverture 1812 and Slavonic March.
But around that time also Bach (Brandeburger) Grieg (Peer Gynt) Smetena (Moldau). The last two is not to my taste anymore, but around that time I liked it.

I was put off Mozart by "eine kleine nacht music" but later I discovered Mozart by hearing Requiem and then discovered his flute and harp concert, later his bassoon, clarinet and horn concerts.
Then the Magic Flute and Cosi Fan Tutte.

Then in relation to interest in Russian culture discovered Mussorgsky and Shostakovich.
I love absolutely every note of Mussorgsky; Piano works and Operas and his amazing songs.
What I loved most was his capability to express the various emotions through music, so that one can enter into the most various personalities. And so Russian!

Then Shostakovitch; Most of his symphonies are absolutely amazing and are always based on historical realities. Then his piano preludes and fugues and then some of his song cycles.
And then the instrumentation of Moussorgsky's work is fabulous; Song and Dances of Death and Khovanschina. Then at the same times discovered Rostropovich and his wife Galina, (her biography is amazing) Then discovered Boris Christoff and Chaliapin who sang a lot of work from Mussorgsky.

Recently discovered Bach, his piano works (Goldberg Variation, Well Tempered Clavier etc) and his violin sonatas etc.

Also become more interested in who is playing and their personal interpretation.

My recent interest(15 years ago) has been the Troubadours, especially the interpretations of Gerard Zuchetto. And this led me too Alla Francesca and similar interests.
And my latest(6 years ago) is now Jordi Savall, which has opened my mind to sacred and world music, but mainly from the middle ages. 

Since then I explored especially music performed with period instruments, which led me to Gillles Binchois Ensemble, Il Seminorio (G.Lesne) William Christie, Herve Niquet, la Fenice, Christine Pluhar, Ricercar Ensemble, Huelgas Ensemble,  il Giardino Armonico, Venice Baroque Orchestra (Marcon) Cappella Neapolitana (Florio), Europa Galante, La Colombina & Capilla Penaflorida, Tallis Scholars, Hilliard Ensemble ,The Sixteen, Polyphony & Holst Singers (Steven Layton),  Sequentia,  Latvian Radio Choir, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir &Ars Nova Copenhagen (Paul Hillier) to name but a few!!