It took me ages for the great sdp to write this out, so at least read it. I sneer down my nose at yoo peasants from my lofty high-horse.
Lesson One: classical music breaks down into 5 main periods, these are:
1. Renaissance (mmmhhh, oooohhhh, ahhhhhhh)
2. Baroque (Vivaldi, Handel)
3. Classical (Mozart, Bach, Beethoven)
4. Romantic (Shubert, Schumann, Dvorak)
5. Modern (Gorecki, Gerswhin, Barber)
(The capitals are important here - Romantic doesnt mean romantic, and Classical doesnt mean classical).
These periods cover five distinct sets of style; this is to say each one has its own set of characteristics but it’s a lot to go into so I won’t unless anyone cares. The easiest way to identify which period something is from is to read the CD cover. You could put those medieval guys in as #0 I guess but really who care about those old farts?
Let us turn up our noses and bitch about what’s important when talking about Music first:
1. Story/Idea/tone: Is the music saying anything?
2. Timbre: Timbre is your Daddy, imo. That means it’s about the most important thing ever, imo.
3. Structure: classical music mostly follows set structures, as does most music today.
4. Dynamics, melody. And harmony.
Common Questions:
1. Is it good?
Of course it’s good. It’s fking excellent. A four hundred year old song has gotta be pretty good to still get air time, huh?
2. Do I like it?
This is subjective, and it’s not important, although you shouldn’t waste time listening to stuff you hate.
3. Can I see why other people like it?
This leads onto –
4. Why is it good?
Something to think about
Add/ask more if you care but deffo check out:
Dvorak’s Cello Concerto,
Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade� and “Erlkonig�,
Gorecki’s 3rd
Tchaikovsky
Mozart/Beethoven have been done to death so they are optional, except for the Moonlight Sonata.
But if you do
one thing in your whole life take a few minutes to listen to those two Schubert songs (Leid). Read the lyrics and follow them along, it’s absolute Genius.
.
