Search Results for 'classical music'
Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music
In Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music, you’ll delve into the inner workings of Western tonal music through 18 enjoyable and revealing lessons taught by Professor Sean Atkinson of Texas Christian University. Professor Atkinson, an eminent music theorist and teacher, makes music theory refreshingly clear and accessible, demystifying the skill of reading music as well as the principles of musical analysis. Using a highly interactive approach, he orients the lessons to an understanding of how music creates its remarkable effects, both formally and expressively, and how this understanding benefits us as listeners and instrumentalists.
Music as a Mirror
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This opening lecture introduces themes, concepts, and terminology that will be used throughout the series. The nature of concert music as a living, breathing entity and not a fossil of the past is introduced. Important definitions and distinctions are discussed, including: concert music, classical music, popular music, and Western music. The concept of music as a mirror is introduced. Lastly, usin...
Seventh Chords and Sonata Form
From: How to Play Piano
Continue your study of the Classical period with a look at one of the most important forms in piano music: the sonata-allegro. See why the seventh chords are so important for classical music, and then survey the life and music of Haydn. Practice Mozart’s Sonata in C and Haydn’s Dance in D Major.
The “New” Classicism
From: Great Music of the 20th Century
The 1920s saw both an explosion of new compositional languages and a conservative backlash against modernism. Follow the fortunes of Stravinsky, as he created a new ballet score for Diaghilev, incorporating themes from the Baroque composer Pergolesi. In Pulcinella, see how Stravinsky’s ingenious treatment of the score created a neo-Classic musical hybrid of astonishing modernist sensibility.
Messiah: From Entertainment to Ritual
From: The Great Works of Sacred Music
Learn about the sources and meanings of the Messiah's text, and witness the remarkable realization of the text in Handel's music. Explore Handel's brilliant compositional ingenuity in the oratorio, and follow the story of how the Messiah rose to become one of the centerpieces of the Western canon of classical music....
Understanding Music Lead Sheets
From: Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music
In jazz and popular music, a lead sheet uses only a melodic line and chord symbols to indicate how to play the song. Listen to a jazz pianist improvise from lead sheets in three popular songs and investigate how chords are written on lead sheets as opposed to classical music scores. Hear the performer talk about the process of playing from lead sheets in spontaneous improvisation.
Counterpoint: Composing with Two Voices
From: Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music
Grasp the fundamentals of counterpoint, the basis of most western classical music, where two melodic lines are written to be played at the same time. First study the rules of counterpoint, using four types of melodic “motion,” where the two musical lines must relate to each other in very specific ways. Then compose a two-part counterpoint melody, to see how a piece of tonal music is built.
Classical-era Form-Theme and Variations
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture initiates a discussion of Classical instrumental musical form that will continue through Lecture 25. We examine the theme and variations form, an adaptation of Baroque variations to the expressive and musical needs of the Classical era. The Classical theme and variations form uses a tune as its theme rather than a bass line or harmonic progression. Wolfgang Mozart's Variations on &quo...
Classical-era Form-Rondo Form
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture continues the examination of Classical instrumental musical form with a discussion of rondo form. We discuss the antecedents of rondo form-the French rondeau and the Baroque ritornello (or refrain) form. In a Classical rondo form movement, the rondo theme is the central musical element, not the departures from that theme. Movements by Beethoven and Haydn are demonstrated as examples....
Inheriting America’s Musical Traditions
From: America's Musical Heritage
Use classic children’s music—everything from jump rope rhymes to lullabies—as a fascinating window into America’s musical traditions and how they open up a plethora of musical doors and memories. Also, get an introduction to some of the many incredible treasures contained in the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series.
Classical-era Form-Minuet and Trio: Baroque Antecedents
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture continues the examination of Classical instrumental musical form with an investigation of Baroque minuet and trio form, the antecedent of Classical minuet and trio form. The importance of courtly dance in 17th-century France is discussed, as is the development of stylized dances. This lecture lists the most important and popular dance types to come out of 17th-century France, among wh...
Classical-era Form-Sonata Form, Part 3
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture completes the survey of the Classical instrumental musical forms with a continuation of sonata-allegro form. Two additional sonata-allegro form movements are analyzed and discussed: the first movement of Haydn's Symphony No. 88 in G Major, and the overture to Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Regarding the overture, we examine the long, tragic introduction that precedes the brilliant and c...
Symphony No. 1-Beethoven as Classicist-Tradition and Innovation, I
From: Symphonies of Beethoven
Lectures 5 and 6 examine the "new path" that Beethoven began with his first symphony. We see his innovations in the context of contemporary events. Symphony no. 1, Beethoven's great Classical symphony, is analyzed along with the musical style and the major musical forms of the Classical era....
Symphony No. 1-Beethoven as Classicist-Tradition and Innovation, II
From: Symphonies of Beethoven
Lectures 5 and 6 examine the "new path" that Beethoven began with his first symphony. We see his innovations in the context of contemporary events. Symphony no. 1, Beethoven's great Classical symphony, is analyzed along with the musical style and the major musical forms of the Classical era....
The Hunt, Part 2
From: Chamber Music of Mozart
Our in-depth analysis of Mozart's "Hunt" Quartet will reveal the workings of sonata form, the most important musical structural innovation of the Classical era. This work also provides an opportunity to observe the compositional details that set Mozart's music apart....
Mozart's Requiem: Praise and Memory
From: The Great Works of Sacred Music
Learn the mysterious and romantic story behind this extraordinary masterwork. Study the musical traits of the Classical Era and the genre of the requiem mass, as ingeniously embodied in Mozart's music. Then investigate Mozart's musical "rhetoric," the technical means through which he portrays the drama of life, grief, and the hope for consolation....
The Enlightenment and an Introduction to the Classical Era
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture introduces the Age of Enlightenment and its impact on musical style. The dramatic difference between the music of the late Baroque and Classical eras is brought into high relief-differences that are a function of societal change during the 17th century. This lecture discusses Enlightenment-inspired and Classical trends such as cosmopolitanism and the rise of musical amateurism.
Quantum Cloning
From: Quantum Mechanics
You explore quantum information and quantum computing-Dr. Schumacher's specialty, for which he pioneered the concept "qubit," the unit of quantum information. You learn that unlike classical information, such as a book or musical recording, quantum information can't be perfectly copied.
Classical-era Opera-The Rise of Opera Buffa
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
Lecture 28 explores the development of Classical opera buffa: the ideal operatic genre for the Classical era's more realistic plots, more "natural" music, and more common characters, over the Baroque era's formulaic nature in opera seria and the domination of these operas by singers and virtuosic singing. We will consider Jean-Jacques Rousseau's objections to Baroque opera seria and his ...
Introduction to the Renaissance
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture examines the impact of the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture on Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Important Renaissance trends-from Humanism to Classicism-are defined and discussed. The ancient Greek ideal of music as a humanistic art powerfully influenced the music of the Renaissance, an influence that is examined both theoretically and musically (through the works ...
The Symphony-Music for Every Person
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture explores the Classical symphony as both an orchestral genre and a social phenomena-it had become by the early 19th century the musical property of the rising middle class. The Baroque antecedents of symphony are described and discussed; a Baroque, Italian-style overture by Handel is compared directly to an early Classical symphony by Johann Stamitz. We then examine the tremendous infl...
The Vagabond Years
From: Great Masters: Brahms—His Life and Music
From 1857 to 1862, Brahms took various appointments and traveled but refused to take on a long-term professional position. The 1859 premiere in Leipzig of the Piano Concerto in D Minor was disastrous. The years conducting choirs in Hamburg were the key to Brahms's musical maturity. By 1860, Brahms had developed his mature musical voice—Romantic melody and harmony objectively constrained by Classical formal structures.
Esterhaza Continued
From: Great Masters: Haydn-His Life and Music
Life at Prince Nicholas's court at Esterhaza was exactly what Haydn wanted: predictable and calm. Ideas of the new Sturm und Drang cultural movement imbued his music with a greater emotional range. Haydn became famous and wealthy, and he developed a close friendship with Mozart. His music became the template by which we measure the Classical style, perfectly balancing head and h...
The Classical Period and Fortepianos
From: How to Play Piano
Learning to play the piano is about more than acquiring, perfecting, and practicing techniques. Understanding the time periods of music history help inform your understanding of practice. Here, start with the Classical period and learn how the piano developed as an instrument. Play Mozart’s theme from the Sonata in C.
Lesser Siblings and a Pastoral Interlude
From: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas
We study two underappreciated works: Sonata no. 13 in E flat, op. 27, no. 1 continues Beethoven's assault on the Classical sonata template, while Sonata no. 15 in D, op. 28 (Pastoral) is a revolutionary work that elevates musical pastoral cliches to a high art....
Schubert-Symphony No. 9
From: The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works
In the brief life of Franz Schubert, contemplate the composer's astonishing creative output, the interconnections between Schubert and Beethoven, and the effect on Schubert's music of his tragic ordeal with syphilis. Savor the musical treasures of the "grand" Ninth Symphony, including the melodically original introduction, the vivacious scherzo, and the majestic finale, fusing Classical lyricism w...
Motives, Bach and a Farewell to the 18th Century
From: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas
We focus almost entirely on the first movement of Piano Sonata no. 11 in B flat, op. 22, to understand Beethoven's developing compositional priorities and the influence of Bach on his music. Written in 1800, this work is in many ways Beethoven's farewell to the 18th-century Viennese Classical style....
Introduction to Romanticism
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture introduces the Romantic era. The difference between Classicism and Romanticism has to do with expressive content, as Romantic composers sought to express more and more in their music: to paint pictures, describe complex emotions, and tell stories in instrumental terms. This lecture also examines the legacy of Beethoven's vision of music as self-expression. Finally, we introduce and ex...
Formal Challenges and Solutions in Early Romantic Music
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture explores a paradox encountered by many early Romantic composers: the spontaneity and creative freedom of the composer being at odds with the preordained musical form. This lecture discusses the formal solutions embraced by composers who chose to abandon Classical form, and focuses on two miniatures: lieder or German language songs, and instrumental miniatures. Works by Franz Schubert ...
The Viennese Classical Style, Homophony, and the Cadence
From: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
This lecture seeks to further build listening skills and vocabulary regarding cadence, or musical punctuation. The four cadence types are defined, demonstrated, and discussed. We examine the geographical and social importance of the city of Vienna for the origin of the Classical style.
Celtic Music and Dance
From: The Celtic World
Celtic instruments come to life in this lecture. Take a music lesson and learn about the carnyx, a war trumpet; the bodhrán, a hand drum; and the crwth, a lyre played with a bow. Treat your ears to samples of these and beautiful Irish singing, then watch clips of delightful Celtic dances based on classic traditions.
Dvorak-Symphony No. 8
From: The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works
Another Czech icon, Dvorak melded the forms of Classicism with the expressive thrust and nationalist spirit of Romanticism. In the symphony's opening, study the tonal shifts between major and minor-a hallmark of Czech folk music-as well as the composer's evocative use of birdsong. Discover Dvorak's unique voice in the enigmatic expressive extremes of the funeral march, the singular b...
Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs
From: Learning to Play Guitar: Chords, Scales, and Solos
Hear classic road stories of some great guitar players, as they point to the collaborative roles of the guitar. Learn the B7, C7, and G7 chords ("dominant seventh" chords), and grasp their role in musical harmony. Play the scale of E major across all six strings; then use your legato technique, dominant sevenths, and E major scale in accompanying a singer.
