What to do for the New Year? I was thinking about listening to a piece of music I’ve never heard every day. Yes, 365 new pieces of music this year.

I’ve probably heard about 60 of Schubert’s 300 songs so I could make it until August just exploring Schubert. If I add Schumann’s, Beethoven’s, Brahms’, Wolf's, and Strauss’ songs I could do German lieder for the entire year and then some.

I’ve heard about one piece by Telemann so I could make it until 2020 just listening to his 3,000 or so compositions.

I’ve not heard all of Verdi’s operas. If I were to listen to one act of Verdi opera per day, I think I could make it to February without running out of new material.

I’ve only heard a handful of Haydn’s 68 string quartets and maybe 20 of his 106 symphonies. How about Haydn straight through to the end of May?

I think I could make to the end of July listening to Bach cantatas I’ve never heard.

Why am I doing this?

I think my listening habits have become chronic addictions.

Do I need to listen to Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony for the 500th time? Me thinks not since I’ve never listened to any of his first six symphonies.

I don’t think I’ve given Tchaikovsky's first three symphonies the time of day but his final three symphonies are probably about to issue me a restraining order.

I've not heard any of Brahms' cello sonatas. How great is this with Barenboim and Du Pre? Happy New Year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcVSqJsCSYs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOLc1VGacq8