Buk's favorite composers

S.W.G.

S.W.G.

Hey all,

In reading Bukowski, we all notice a certain fondness for classical composers. He mentions throughout various poems and stories Mahler, Chopin, Mozart and Shostakovich.

Does anyone know what composers Buk held especially close to his heart?

Thanks.
 
poptop

poptop

The Classical Buk

Buk's love of the classics...

There's an atmospheric scene in Factotum where
Bukowski turns on a Brahms symphony - one of my
favorites from the movie... Brahms being perfect for asking
a women with nice legs to hike up her skirt just a little bit
more... ;)
 
hoochmonkey9

hoochmonkey9

Art should be its own hammer.
Moderator
Founding member
there's a great search function on this site.
look at the top left hand corner of this page, click works database, type the title you're looking for in the search box and viola!

but it's in Love Is A Dog From Hell. ;)

seriously, the database search is very cool and handy.
 
poptop

poptop

Lesser known classical favorites left off the
Bukowski list: ;)

A Fifth of Beethoven by Amy Winehouse
Bolero! with Nine Inch Nails
Frankie Avalon sings Hugo Wolf and Borodin
Arias for A**holes by Pavarotti
Billy Joel: The Piano Man Meets Frederick Chopin
Tchaikovsky for Hangovers
Nessun Dorma by Janis Joplin
Brahms German Requiem with the 101 Strings
Raindrop Prelude by Philip Glass
Joshua Tree with the Berlin Philharmonic
Another Fifth of Beethoven by Amy Winehouse
Placido Domingo Sings Bob Dylan
Still Another Fifth of...
Still...
 
vodka

vodka

Miss Take
A Fifth of Beethoven by Amy Winehouse
Click to expand...
wasn't 'A Fifth of Beethoven' one of the songs on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack?

i wonder what 'An Eighth of Beethoven' would sound like.
 
poptop

poptop

You're right about the soundtrack, but I was unaware of that.

An Eighth of Beethoven, like an eighth of gin, might be way over the top. ;)
 
Bill Sikes

Bill Sikes

He had special fondness for Bruckner. He compared himself to him as the unappreciated never exactly hitting that 'home run.'
However although he liked Brahms, on the occasion he would accuse him of plagiarizing from Beethoven.

Bruckner's Fourth is wonderful Symphony, check it out.
 
roni

roni

Robert Sandarg did several analyses on this subject.
he literally counted every mentioning of any classical composer in Buks work.
of course he also looked for the context, since Buk also mentioned composers he disliked (e.g. Vivaldi).
very interesting pieces. maybe i'll scan his first article on this and post here.
 
Gerard K H Love

Gerard K H Love

Appreciate your friends
You are great. I woke up with this horrible head cold and found that. Thank you. I took a quick look and read 10 attachments non stop. I will read the last 17 when I regain my senses.

It's 4:45 a.m.;)
 
Gerard K H Love

Gerard K H Love

Appreciate your friends
The article vodka has posted is very similar to the Robert Sandarg article roni posted in another thread. It does point out a certain fondness for Shostakovich a Soviet Modern Composer, but I think he liked Wagner quite a bit too.
Mozart.
 
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