We challenged this guy to listen to the entire history of classical music, non-stop, for 24 hours

A new release documents the entire 1,200 year history of classical music, over 24 CDs. What if you listened to it all in one go?

The history of classical music, in 24 CDs

There's an epic new box set just out on Deutsche Grammophon. 24 CDs that span classical music history from c800 to the present day. Those CDs are packed full of the finest recordings from the yellow label's peerless catalog, with artists like Leonard Bernstein, Martha Argerich, Claudio Abbado and Wilhelm Kempff. (more about the set here)

We thought what if you were to listen to it all in one epic session?

Meet our Social Media Editor, Kyle Macdonald (with Beethoven). Notice his smile. It may fade.

We thought we'd challenge Kyle to listen to the set - the history of classical music - in one epic sitting. That's right, 1,200 years of music, in one 24 hour session.  And just to add to the challenge, we're adding a few complete operas and an epic mass in there. Because who doesn't want to hear Wagner's Parsifal complete, without a break, when you've been listening to music for 15 hours? (Answer: no-one.)

Kyle, here's your schedule:

Friday 13 November:

7am: Disc I Music of The Middle Ages (Pérotin, de Machaut)

8am: Music of the Renaissance (Anonymus, Dufay, Desprez, Dowland, Byrd)

9-10am: Bach B minor Mass

11am: The Classical Symphony (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven)

12pm: The Classical Concerto (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven)

1pm: The Romantic Symphony (Schubert, Brahms)

2pm: Cycles and Songs (Schumann, Beethoven, Schubert)

3pm: The Virtuoso I (Chopin, Brahms, Liszt)

4pm: The Romantic Cello (Dvorák, Elgar)

5pm: The Virtuoso III (Schumann, Rachmaninov)

6pm: Big Voice, Big Orchestra (Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, R. Strauss)

7-9pm: Verdi: La Traviata

9pm Get Your Program (Sibelius, Smetana, Holst)

10pm-2am Wagner: Parsifal

2am: New Currents (Prokofiev, Bartók, Shostakovich)

3am: A World Re-Arranged (Barber, Britten, Ives, Stravinsky)

4am: Lasting Impressions (Ravel, Debussy)

5am: 12 Points of View (Berg, Webern, Schoenberg)

6am: Minimalism (Rihm, Adams, Glass)

How did he get on?

7am - Easy, Early Music beginnings

 

Slightly underwhelming beginning...

A video posted by Kyle Macdonald (@khrmacdonald) onNov 12, 2015 at 11:15pm PST

Two equally important box sets... #Classical24 pic.twitter.com/SGhEmgFKkj

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

9am - Then it was on to two hours of Bach. We were a bit concerned that this was too much of a pleasure for him. 

Now in my #Classical24 challenge, the complete B minor Mass. And I've got my score. #MassiveNerd pic.twitter.com/WYMQfl3TBl

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

11am - And the journey continued into the classical era. And our victim was having to draw on the caffeine to maintain concentration.

Now it's Mozart and coffee. #Classical24 going wonderfully well. @DGclassics @LennyBernstein pic.twitter.com/ky7T8dVCPm

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

4pm - Ah, Lieder. Surely that will dent his enthusiasm? (Legendary tenor Fritz Wunderlich is pretty awesome though)

9 hours in & the arrival of Lieder gives a perfect opportunity to use this lovely one. #Classical24 @Boosey_London pic.twitter.com/Q7g5a6BSYW

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

5pm - 10 hours in, and are the cracks are beginning to show?

Loved the Lieder, now to hour 10: virtuoso piano. Feeling quite shattered now - but 14 hours to go. :'( #Classical24 pic.twitter.com/7cbHP62Y5H

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

Yep - it looks like he might be done for. Too much good music.

14 hours to go. I want the music to stop... (no offence, Dvorak) ...I’m not going to make it.

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

Rach 2 is proving to be quite a struggle. :-6 #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

7pm - It was all getting to be a bit too much...

Time to call in a secret weapon: SNACKS AND BEER. #Classical24 pic.twitter.com/FDsCIh266J

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

Damn you, Snacks and Beer, and your magical powers...

8pm - Kyle was on to 6 hours of opera

12 hour selfie. Halfway there. La Traviata coming up now, complete. #Classical24 pic.twitter.com/HF19xadqaH

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

The brass is loud, and I’m not in the mood. Sorry, Wagner… #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

12am - and Wagner's epic masterpiece was proving a challenge

 

Four hours of Wagner begins. #Classical24

A video posted by Kyle Macdonald (@khrmacdonald) onNov 13, 2015 at 2:09pm PST

Struggling with Parsifal. Confused at what’s going on. There’s a king, and a spear? Lots of bass-baritones …not really into it. #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 13, 2015

But after 4 hours of bass-baritones and trombones (and well into the morning) the epiphany came...

Actually, got to say, this is sounding rather fantastic. :-0 #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 14, 2015

AGGGGGHHHHH. What. An. Ending. Just divine. #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 14, 2015

3am - Twenty hours of classical music, tea, coffee, beer, wine, cheese and pretzels. Kyle, you're a mess.

At the end of the Wagner, things are getting messy. #Classical24 pic.twitter.com/llLq0yjU5G

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 14, 2015

4am - and despair starts to set in

Dawn from Britten’s Four Sea Interludes. All I can think is, I WILL NEVER SEE DAWN AGAIN. IT WILL NEVER COME. #Classical24

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 14, 2015

5am - and just what everyone craves after 22 hours of continuous listening - the atonality of Berg, Webern and Schoenberg

 

After 22 hours you feel like Serialism. #Classical24

A video posted by Kyle Macdonald (@khrmacdonald) onNov 13, 2015 at 9:07pm PST

6am - 23 hours in, and he's beginning to fade. STAY STRONG KYLE. Just the CD of minimalism to go...

23 hours selfie. #Classical24 #JohnAdams pic.twitter.com/EHgtof89YU

— Kyle Macdonald (@KHRMacdonald) November 14, 2015

7am - 24 hours of music. Sun rising. And by the looks of it, if we asked him to listen to another concerto, he might die.

 

24 hours done. #Classical24

A video posted by Kyle Macdonald (@khrmacdonald) onNov 13, 2015 at 11:00pm PST

 He's never been the same since. In a good way. Fancy taking the challenge yourself. Grab the set here, and press play.