Yanni

[JRoberts]

Does anybody else here like Yanni? If you have heard of him and like him, let's talk! If not, then you are missing out on an incredible musician. Anyway, I'd really like to talk to a few people interested in yanni-and I just have to ask-who has listened to Santorini and what are your thoughts on it?

[kesg]

I don't like his music, but he is a very good performer.

[JRoberts]

Is there something specific about his music that you do not like?

For example, the leader of the OCC in my town says that Yanni's music is too "flat" for him (something him and I have argued over...I still fail to understand it ).

[kesg]

Is there something specific about his music that you do not like?

For example, the leader of the OCC in my town says that Yanni's music is too "flat" for him (something him and I have argued over...I still fail to understand it  ).

"Flat" is a good word to describe it. "Superficial" is another. Do yourself a favor. Go get yourself a good recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, or his last piano Sonata (No. 32) (actually you should get the entire set), or Dvorak's cello concerto, or Tschaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto (or his violin concerto), or Shubert's Unfinished Symphony, or Braham's Third Piano Quartet in C minor. Then you will understand.

[JRoberts]

Once again, this is where I do not. I have a recording of about half of what you said, and I do not understand. Is it because of his electronica? And if so, how does this take away from your enjoyment of it?

[Betsy]

Does anybody else here like Yanni? 

I like SOME of his music, especially his more dynamic and dramatic early compositions and I have even choreographed some dance numbers to his "Walkabout" and "The End of Summer." (See http://www.speicher.com/choreo.htm.) His more recent music is pleasant and good background music, but not as exciting.

My very favorite contemporary composer is David Arkenstone for his wonderful melodies, drama, and his ingenious, complex, seamless integration of traditional and electronic instruments. If you like Yanni, give a listen to Arkenstone. The album "Chronicles" is a compilation of some of his best work and is a good place to start.

[bnittoli]

I don't care for his New-agey eclectic stuff, with a couple exceptions, but I very much enjoy his piano based "classical" pieces. I have his "live at acropolis" disc and program in just those and find them very moving and uplifting. If i'm in crappy mood, the tracks below can usually shake me out of it.

#3 (until the last moment), #6 (one man's dream), #8 (nostaligia), and #10 (reflections of passion).

A couple others #1,5,7 are OK, but i wouldn't cue those up specifically.

[JRoberts]

Ahh yes-Acropolis is my favorite album of his-but like Betsy, his new music seems to be lacking to me. I have a friend who went to a Yanni 'concert' for his new CD Ethnicity, where during one of the songs, a man dressed in Aborigine garb and dirt on his face played a didgeridoo for 15 minutes, supposedly highlighting the 'grandeur' of Aborigine 'culture'.

Live at the Acropolis, and a few other songs however, save my image of Yanni.

[kesg]

Once again, this is where I do not.  I have a recording of about half of what you said, and I do not understand.  Is it because of his electronica? And if so, how does this take away from your enjoyment of it?

The difference between Yanni and the compositions I mentioned is one of intellectual and emotional depth and intensity of the music at all levels. Listening to any of these compositions, or the last movement of, say, Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata (No. 29) or his late string quartets is going to be much more intellectually and emotionally demanding -- but also much more rewarding -- than listening to easy music. I'm not saying that Yanni's music is always in the category of easy listening (although often it is), but as a whole it is much closer to the easy music category than the Hammerklavier category.

There are technical explanations for why this is so, but understanding what they are requires a certain level of knowledge of music theory that most people don't have (but should -- it is easily taught) -- which is why good Objectivists and other rational people often feel that there are objective differences between good and great music, but are unable to explain what they are.

Again, I have made this recommendation several times already, but I know of no better place to begin that Aaron Copeland's book What to Listen for in Music, which should be available at your local bookstore or on Amazon.

[JRoberts]

I've been a musician for more than 7 years now . We can talk about technical things.

But I understand where you are coming from. I'll have to ponder over this however. I don't see the connection of-because it is intellectual, it is good music.

[kesg]

I've been a musician for more than 7 years now .  We can talk about technical things.

But I understand where you are coming from.  I'll have to ponder over this however.  I don't see the connection of-because it is intellectual, it is good music.

Actually, Ayn Rand touched on this issue in her essay Art and Cognition. Copeland does it in much more detail in his book, which I found to be fully consistent with my own experience (I very nearly became a professional musician myself, which is one of the reasons why I am so interested in this topic).