# Essential Classical Composers to listen to...



## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

I was wondering if anyone could help with guiding me on a journey of listening to what you deem as essential Classical music that everyone should have in their vocabulary? I know this is probably an endless thing but I'm just after some guidance to get me on my way to knowing what is regarded as essential classical music. I'm not ashamed to show my ignorance of this musical world as I'm trying to better myself and as I keep improving with music theory and attempting to learn Tonal Harmony (so I can hopefully one day be great at writing music for an Orchestra) I really want to start studying Classical music but it's knowing where to start that's feeling overwhelming to me. Obviously I'm not completely alien to Classical music and love pieces such as the Moonlight Sonata or Ride of the Valkyries (two examples that just pop to my head), but every time, for example, I go to buy some Mozart from iTunes, I just don't know what I should start with (probably buy all of it is the ideal solution if I could afford to) and there isn't some kind of Complete Collection on there.

So far I notice people always talk about Mahler, Ravel, Shostakovich, and obviously Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. I remember listening to Chopin when I was very little (my mum loved Chopin) and yeah, there are just so many composers and so much music that I was wondering if people could share what their most influential pieces are and what you would recommend for me to listen to. 

Serves me right for spending the majority of my life listening to Rock and Electronic music but now I need to catch up! 

A lot of people seem to complain that all people ever talk about on VI-C are Sample Libraries so perhaps this is a great opportunity to talk about music and some guidance would be splendiferous! Sorry for such a naive post but we all start somewhere! 

Jono


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Oct 31, 2017)

Just a spontaneous throw-in: Ravel, La Mere L'oye. It's genius.
Tchaikowsky, that was film music before there was cinema.
Saint-Saëns. Danse Macabre, Carnival of the Animals.
Holst, Planets, that's where all this Star Wars doodle came from.
Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kije.


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## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Just a spontaneous throw-in: Ravel, La Mere L'oye. It's genius.
> Tchaikowsky, that was film music before there was cinema.
> Saint-Saëns. Danse Macabre, Carnival of the Animals.
> Holst, Planets, that's where all this Star Wars doodle came from.
> Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kije.



Thanks! Amazing, I shall check them all out. Although I do know The Planets Suite. Again, something my mum played to me when I was much younger. Holst is a genius.


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## Jaap (Oct 31, 2017)

Jimmy has a nice start 

Here some additions for you.

John Adams: Harmonielehre and Short ride in a fast machine





A favorite piece of mine from Vaughan Williams 



A lesser known symphony from Shostakovich, but a great one (and conducted by Gergiev)



Gorecki - Symphony no.3 - a snippet was recently used in the a Medal of Honor game trailer


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## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

Thank you so much.


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## Iskra (Oct 31, 2017)

If you want to comprehend classical music I think you should listen to the usual suspects (don't know exactly what you're listened to or not, so bare with me) - I mean, just grab a couple of 'classical greatest hits' album from Spotify and check what speaks to you the most from the start (those albums will have a mix of Bach, Haydn & Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, etc). This is for general purpose, from there you can dig deeper on what you've find pleasant.
For orchestration chops, I would recommend listening a lot to late romantics/ early contemporary, as the modern orchestra was defined in that era (baroque or classical orchestras were pretty different in size and instrumentation than modern orchestras). Anything by Richard Strauss, Ravel, Debussy, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev and Stravinsky will give you good insight on modern musical vocabulary plus an amazing amount of orchestration discoveries.
And, as a side note, I'm a huge fan of chamber music, as many times the musical vocabulary of the composers are more sincere and 'naked' in those settings (from Beethoven strings quartet all the way to Debussy's sonata for violin and piano, you have around 100 years of chamber music creation  )
It's a hell of a lot, I know. Just start and enjoy! I wish I was still able to discover some of the greatest composers and live again the feeling I had back then...


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## muk (Oct 31, 2017)

Bach Well Tempered Clavier. Haydn string quartets (at least op. 33). Mozart last three symphonies, Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, clarinet concerto, viennese piano concertos (at least d minor K 466). Beethoven all symphonies (yes, all), piano sonatas (at least one of each period), string quartets (at least opp. 18 no 1, one of the Rasumovsky quartets, and one of his last quartets, for example op. 130), piano concerto no. 5. Schubert string quartets (Rosamunde, Death and the Maiden), symphonies (c major 'the great', unfinished symphony), his last piano sonata b flat major D 960, his string quintet. That's just the bare basics off the top of my head.
And if you want to make sense of it not just by hearing, read Charles Rosen's excellent book 'The classical style':


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## Iskra (Oct 31, 2017)

muk said:


> Charles Rosen's excellent book 'The classical style'.


+100. Wonderful book!


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## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

Such a goldmine of information already! Thank you!


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## JPComposer (Oct 31, 2017)

You could say that Mozart was, in a way, one of the great pioneer film score writers with his operas. The overture to The Marriage of Figaro is one of my favourite all time pieces, not just because it's good in itself, but because of the way it foreshadows and sums up all of the ups and downs and ins and outs of the (comic) opera. 




and for something a bit darker, one of the earliest examples of something 'sinister' perhaps


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## gregh (Oct 31, 2017)

Thomas Tallis  
 *Graduel d' Alienor de Bretagne*

* Silvestrov*

* Reich*


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## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Prokofiev



Ok love his music. I just put on a You Tube "best of" collection and suddenly thought "I know this" and 'Romeo And Juliet, Ballet, Op. 64: Montagues And Capulets' came on. Had no idea what it was called or who it was by! Thank you.


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## Iskra (Oct 31, 2017)

Check "Love of the three oranges" as well  And of course his piano concertos (top stuff!). 
Also worth checking Heitor Villalobos from the contemporary side of things (the Bachianas Brasileiras comes to mind).


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## Carles (Oct 31, 2017)

A comprehensive list would result so long...

Thinking about more "modern" inspiration and orchestration a few that came to mind

Great orchestration, great inspiration


I have no words to describe this, just magical


This is a quite unknown composer from New Zealand


Really descriptive


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## enyawg (Oct 31, 2017)

I find Richard Strauss generated an abundance of ideas... often with harmonic richness and yet the sense of delicate accompaniment. Check out his tone poems which is a sort of gateway to modern orchestration.

As a polar opposite I'm also a big fan of "The Mighty Five", a group of five Russian composers—César Cui, Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov—who in the 1860s banded together in an attempt to create a truly unique musical movement in Russia free of the stifling influence of Italian opera, German lieder, and other western European forms.


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## jononotbono (Oct 31, 2017)

Carles said:


> A comprehensive list would result so long...
> 
> Thinking about more "modern" inspiration and orchestration a few that came to mind
> 
> ...




Thank you for sharing these!



enyawg said:


> I find Richard Strauss generated an abundance of ideas... often with harmonic richness and yet the sense of delicate accompaniment. Check out his tone poems which is a sort of gateway to modern orchestration.
> 
> As a polar opposite I'm also a big fan of "The Mighty Five", a group of five Russian composers—César Cui, Aleksandr Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov—who in the 1860s banded together in an attempt to create a truly unique musical movement in Russia free of the stifling influence of Italian opera, German lieder, and other western European forms.



Interesting. Someone recently recommended a Tonal Harmony book and I think it was by Rimsky Korsakov. 

Edit - My bad. It was Kostka


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## enyawg (Oct 31, 2017)

Ok, cool, I think at least one of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's books is called 'Principles of Orchestration (Study & Practice)'


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## Erick - BVA (Oct 31, 2017)

So much to choose from, and so much good stuff. Here are just a handful of my favorites. So this is the most influential music for myself.
(sorry this is such a long list)


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## Erick - BVA (Oct 31, 2017)




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## Erick - BVA (Oct 31, 2017)

enyawg said:


> Ok, cool, I think at least one of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's books is called 'Principles of Orchestration (Study & Practice)'


Used to own that, but it had some missing pages so I gave it away. Very insightful from what I read --not unlike Berlioz' treatise on instrumentation. Both books kind of give insight into the best ways to use various instruments (like when to use or not use Clarinet as opposed to a Piccolo...or when best to use Trumpet, etc. etc.) I heard that he (Korsakov) believed that ingenuity and creativity trumped all else, including rote knowledge of orchestration. Interesting considering he was a pretty big music scholar. Interestingly, I think Berlioz fit the description of having ingenuity and creativity --kind of auto didactic and used his own eccentric ideas of orchestration (also heard he was obsessed with using the Piccolo).


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## Lassi Tani (Oct 31, 2017)

Richard Strauss' symphonic poems are a great source for studying modern orchestration.

@Sibelius19 Hi there another Sibelius fan .

Lately I've been listening to The Swan of Tuonela, haunting piece :


And this:


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## Erick - BVA (Oct 31, 2017)

sekkosiki said:


> @Sibelius19 Hi there another Sibelius fan .



Most definitely. Tapiola may just be my favorite piece of music of all time up to this point.


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## mac (Oct 31, 2017)

Try this short spotify playlist. Only 20 tracks but crams a lot in.


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## AlexandreSafi (Oct 31, 2017)

This is a humble PDF I made from an incredible set of compilations from the "Talkclassical" forum! It's really helped me, and I think it will serve you well... 
https://vi-control.net/community/th...te-list-of-recommended-classical-music.50499/

This makes me want to adress a topic which I've become fascinated about, and that is: Memorization...

I think ultimately, the most important thing you can do if you are patient, is to do mental practice! Learn to hear, read and think music without your instrument... It's very hard, pretty radical, but I can't think of any other way of developing the closest mind-body connection to sound and having your memorization and imagination skills refined to the point where you can grasp every little detail and nuance in composition and orchestration like a great painter would...

And sing everything, every line, chord-tone, chord progression, scale fragments your voice is really one of the best God-given gift to make the artistic work you love a part of you...

Same with theory, I've come to believe there is no better way to study theory than through your mind's ear! 
Also, check this link and look for "Harmoniast" post, which gives in my opinion a fantastic linear view on which Theory books to study first and last:
http://forums.tedgreene.com/post/schoenbergs-theory-of-harmony-2030166?trail=30

I think we've made it a habit of associating the "ear tradition" with Jazz, whereas with the fundamental principle of mental practice and score-reading, you now have this simple mind-shift so that you can connect your ear with classical music! 

Now, to quote orchestrator Thomas Goss:
_Score-read a lot of Piano Music, then Piano+Solist (violin/piano, cello/piano, flute/piano, etc...).

Then score-read quartets and quintets. At that point you can read a string orchestra score. Then read wind trios, then quartets/quintets, then octets, and then classical symphonies with smaller orchestration (strings plus timpani and winds 0202 or 1202). Then gradually go forward from there to the Late Classical and Early Romantic..._

This is as well what the great pianist Walter Gieseking advised in his fantastic little book called "Piano Technique": _"Listening to one's self is one of the most important factors of the whole of music study, and a thorough training of the ear is a prerequisite of rapid music progress..."
_
Here are, by Thomas Goss and Bernhard (Pianostreet forum...) two links giving, in my opinion, very powerful information on those skills:

http://kantsmusictuition.blogspot.ch/2007/09/mental-practice.html?m=1

I believe most of the battle in playing or writing fast is hearing fast...
That music is first and foremost a mental discipline, not a physical one...
And that's it's about reminding ourselves that we are our own musical instrument...

Oh...one last thing (aside from listening to as much as you can repeatedly):

- Study Bach's 48 Preludes & Fugues "Well-Tempered Clavier" back and forth, it is to me the pinnacle of classical music! This work has been to me, most pertinently, an acquired taste, and it has, again at least to me, even just on an intuitive sense, everything you need to understand the most important elements in music! Especially in the sense that since it's exclusively keyboard-driven, it reveals to me how much the art of composition is the ultimate goal to keep in mind and quite in fact never let especially today's infinite art of orchestration (as in possibility of sounds to be used and performed...) take over, as i believe it is happening today, the higher art of Composition, such as Melody, Harmony, Counterpoint and development!

Anyways, this is what I believe in...
Hope you find anything of value in this...
Do what means the most to you..
-A.s.-


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## heisenberg (Dec 17, 2017)

I was fortunate to have managed a classical music store for a number of years, ahem, almost 30 years ago. I had almost unfettered access to all the recorded music available at that time and took the opportunity to bathe in it and still do.

My suggestion on this is not at this point to name a bunch of stuff that I think is seminal — because the list would be more than several hundred pieces long, at least in my mind — but to suggest that anyone wanting to do this is to get a visceral sense of where of where a given piece of music is in time, in history. That is, place of major events and exigencies of the period of time along with the music that came before it that would have affected the music _and begin to piece in the puzzle together._ Jump all over the place musically in time. Listen to baroque music, listen to medieval music, get a clear sense of who were the composers of the day, get into polyphony — Thomas Tallis was referenced above who is key to that period and why is that music so whacked out different than anything prior, like what the heck. In baroque, for example, there are major subsets of it that are culturally based — British, French, Spanish, Russian, British/Russian to name a few. Ask yourself questions about why culturally these particular periods and cultures spun out such widely divergent musical grammar and perspectives on the world. Explore that. The transition from Baroque to Classical, who spurned that on and what caused that to happen. Follow the path from composer to composer. There is a clear trail. What musical cataclysms happened to cause the move from Classical to Romantic and for that matter the move from medieval to polyphony, to Baroque and to Classical and then from Romantic to modern and its different modalities.

You will eventually develop an understanding of the influences of what brought about this music and you will see the shocking innovation in the music in the way the people of that time heard when it was created, at least insofar as that is possible.

Fine to listen to say Shostakovich but in order to get a good grounding begin listening songs, chamber, orchestral music from the likes of sundry medieval that is available and then Dowland, Tallis, Monteverdi (the Vespers in particular), Boccherini, Charpentier, Scarlatti, Corelli, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert (don't ignore the Lieder), Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Satie, Debussy, Ravel, de Falla, R. Strauss, Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner, Schoenberg, Webern, Varese, Shostakovich, Bartok, Sibelius Kodaly, Weill, early Stockhausen, Benjamin Britten, Terry Riley and Steve Reich (18 Musicians, as shown above in a snippet of the piece which lasts about an hour) to just skim the surface. In each of these composers mentioned there are at least 10 key composers of their day that were/are significant. Find out what key pieces they wrote were and study them in terms of what they most likely brought to their time period as being part of the zeitgeist of the time and how they propelled culture forward. Tons there and far richer than listening to the vast majority of rock and other popular music of our time. Needs to be placed in historical context and then it truly comes alive and will not be a chore to do because someone told you, "It is good for you."

Here is an illustration of how this might work. You might dive into some Liszt. You've heard that the Sonata in B Minor is important in the Liszt canon of work. You don't particularly get it. Too impenetrable on first listen. You look for other Liszt to discover his Années de Pèlerinage and pick that up. You are blown away and note the pianist is different from the one who did the Sonata in B Minor, so you listen to the aforementioned pianist doing the Sonata in B minor and it now makes more sense. You listen to it for a couple of months and the musical vocabulary slowly reveals itself and you realize Liszt is a complex and tortured individual but that his music is hugely important and worthwhile to understand. You now check out some Chopin as you recognize that some of Chopin's musical vocabulary is similar to Liszt and you really love it, so you start to devour Chopin and listen to different interpreters of Chopin and find there are a couple you really dig and the others bore you to tears. You stumble on his 26 Preludes, Op. 28 and the heavens open up (or maybe they don't). You now start oscillating between Liszt and Chopin and begin to recognize patterns of similarity and difference also a somewhat different aesthetic and view on the world and emotion. Eventually you get curious about Liszt's interest in transcribing Schubert so you start exploring Schubert only to discover that the music Liszt has transcribed to piano are originally songs and not solo piano pieces. Schubert wrote songs?! You now discover that Schubert has written several hugely important song cycles and see they were considered revolutionary at the time. You start exploring the reasons why and who were his contemporaries and what were they writing prior to this.

If you have found your point of entry with a composer, just start working your way backwards and forwards in time. You may decide to jump around historically and get into Polyphony or Medieval or French Baroque, so you begin to spread your discovery from several different periods in time, you don't have to go in a linear fashion but try to develop a sense of where the music came from and where it is going in a given period of time.

Finally a cautionary note, most composers wrote for solo, chamber, songs and orchestral. The Classical media and record labels have a tendency to focus on the orchestral output of most composers. Many composers strong suit is not in orchestral music but you wouldn't know it, if all you listened to was classical music stations. So check out the non-orchestral and I will leave it there.


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## conan (Dec 17, 2017)

A few more essentials:


*Olivier Messiaen: Turangalila*




*Béla Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta*




*Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians*




*Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano*



*
Terry Riley: Half-Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight*


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## Farkle (Dec 27, 2017)

Anything by Ravel is a gold mine, but his Daphnis and Chloe Ballet is divine. Samuel Barber has some wonderful pieces, especially his Symphony No 1, his Essay No 1, and his Overture to the School for Scandal. Prokofiev and Ravel should be required. Stravinsky's "Big three" (Firebird, Rite of Spring, Petrouchka) are awesome.

I love Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (both the complete Ballet, and Suites 1 and 2). 

For one of my Farkle Fridays, I made a list of "great starter film score classical pieces". The list grew, a lot... but here's the spotify link:



Hope this helps,

Mike


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## jononotbono (Dec 28, 2017)

Farkle said:


> Anything by Ravel is a gold mine, but his Daphnis and Chloe Ballet is divine. Samuel Barber has some wonderful pieces, especially his Symphony No 1, his Essay No 1, and his Overture to the School for Scandal. Prokofiev and Ravel should be required. Stravinsky's "Big three" (Firebird, Rite of Spring, Petrouchka) are awesome.
> 
> I love Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (both the complete Ballet, and Suites 1 and 2).
> 
> ...




This is brilliant thanks! And here’s to a great 2018!


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## Vin (Dec 28, 2017)

Some of my favourites:


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## FriFlo (Dec 29, 2017)

My advice will not be what to listen to, but how to do it. Heisenbergs journey is already a good idea how to interconnect between different composers and interpretations. But the most important thing is IMO: Listen for the sake of listening and do that obsessively! There are composers (at least parts of their works) which will take a long time (and sometimes a very long time) to grow on you. Nowadays with all the streaming available people tend to listen to stuff in the background. But that is not how you get to know that music, really ... you need to listen in a very involved way and do everything to take part in the music. Sing along, pseudo-conduct it, read scores. Lastly, it is also important to play some of this music, depending on your piano skills of course. But there is an entry point for every level. IMO Bach is a universe in itself and is a great starting point, although sometimes frustrating one when it comes to playing (and partly understanding it), because this is music of the highest complexity ever written.


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## sazema (Dec 29, 2017)

Unfortunately there is no clear guidelines for classical music, you have to discover it by yourself  
Even if I'm 40+ I'm still in discovery mode every day... Also, it's not everything for someone, someone will be more pleased by Beethoven, someone with Stravinsky, etc.
Each musical era has some mainstream composers and ones less known but still good.
There is so many hidden pieces that will just blown you away when you discover it.

For example, even if I have "good" classical music knowledge I discovered this last week for the first time



It's just a goldmine...


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## Stefa_N (Dec 29, 2017)

@Carles: The second video is already gone or not available in my country, so some of us don't know whats just magical


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## Maxfabian (Dec 29, 2017)

This is just a wonderful thread!!! So enjoyable Thanks everyone!


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

I teach at an academy, and before I let them graduate they must at least know these pieces. This comes from an edited version of a text book that I wrote for the school back in 2007:


*I. Middle Ages (400-1400)*

*Famous Influential People in Music: Pope Gregory I and Guido d’ Arezzo *



1. Intro to the Middle Ages


Beginning about A.D. 200, nomadic, warlike tribes began moving into western Europe, attaching the western Roman Empire; city of Rome sacked by Visigoths in A.D. 410.
People settled in old Roman Empire included: Vandals (English word “vandalism”) Franks in Gaul (now France), Angles (in England: cf. “Angle-land”) and Saxons.
The “Middle Ages” are generally dated about A.D. 450-1400. Approximately the first three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire (A.D. 476) are sometimes called the “Dark Ages.”
476 The end of the Roman Empire
500 In China, gongs were first used
570 Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim religion is born.
750-1490 The Moors, which are Muslim people from North Africa, occupy Spain.
800 Charlemagne becomes the first Holy Roman Emperor, the roman style of art and architecture emerges in Europe.
1000 Guido d’ Arezzo in staff notation, Muslim invasion of India, New Zealand is settled
1066 William of Normandy becomes the King of England
Notre Dame School of Music is founded
1276 In Italy, the first paper mill was constructed.
1300 The Aztec Empire rules in Mexico while the Inca Empire rules in Peru.
1346 The Black Death enters in Europe
1368-1644 The Ming Dynasty ruled China
1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England thus developing the middle class
1386-1400 Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_
 

2. Musical Style of the Middle Ages


In the early Middle Ages, the Christian churches began to develop a style of music known as Gregorian Chant or plainsong.
The music was based off of early Jewish religious music which was sung, or chanted, in unison without any instrumental accompaniment.
Monophony: singing the melody all together or in unison.
Nonreligious music, or secular music, also flourished during the Middle Ages. Traveling performers entertained audiences in villages, towns, and the royal courts. Besides singing songs of love and chivalry, the musicians would juggle, recite poetry, and perform acrobatic feats. Often they used instruments to accompany themselves.

3. Pope Gregory I (540-604)


590-600 Pope Gregory I makes collection of plainsong (chants) thus creating sheet music
He also gave the notes their names: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

4. Guido d’Arezzo (991-1033)


Invented staff notation, or composing notes on a staff. This way of writing down notes is still used to this day.



5. Musical Listening for the Middle Ages: _Dies Irae (“Day of Wrath”)_


Some music scholars believed that Thomas d’Celano (1200-1255) composed this composition.







This is the most used music of any chant. Some of the world’s greatest composers such as: Mozart, Berlioz, Liszt, and Stravinsky have all used its melody. 
This melody is also used in movies and other popular cultures. The _Dies Irae_ has found its way into the scores of movies such as: _Sweeny Todd, Lord of the Rings, The Shining, Sleeping with the Enemy, _and_ Knowing._



*II. The Renaissance (1400-1600)*

*Famous Composers: Palestrina and Gabrielli *


6. Intro to the Renaissance “rebirth”


1455 In Germany, Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed book (the Bible)
1455-1485 War of the Roses
1492 Columbus sails the ocean blue and lands in the Caribbean Islands
1502 The first African slaves are taken to the Americas
1508-1512 Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome
1517 Martin Luther launches the Reformation in Germany
1521-1532 Spanish conquer Aztec and Inca Empires
1585 Shakespeare begins his career in London theater
 

7. Musical Style of the Renaissance 


Polyphony or Polyphonic Texture: poly means many or several, so polyphony is music that simultaneously combines several melodies at the same time.
In the 1500’s, religious music was deeply affected by the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther. The reformers provided simple hymns so worshipers could have a more active part in worship. In response, and fearing loss, The Roman Catholic Church provided new and easier-to-follow music for its worshipers.
Developments in secular music sprang up all over Europe. People enjoyed dancing while being accompanied by music as well as playing and singing madrigals (a form of song sang by several people.) Madrigals were usually about love and captured the new self-confidence that defined this new age. 

8. Composer: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) _Sicut Cervus_



9. Composer: Giovanni Gabrielli (1554-1612) _Omnes Gentes à 16_


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

*
III. Baroque Period (1600-1750)

Famous Composers: Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach



10. Intro to the Baroque Period


1607 Jamestown, VA founded, use of forks spreads to England, Ravenscoft, an English composer, finds and jots down “Three Blind Mice.”
1632-1639 Cardinal Richelieu invents mayonnaise, Japan closes door to white man, Taj Mahal built, and Galileo notes the phases of the moon.
1665-1684 France evolves coat and vest, Isaac Newton’s Law of Gravity startles scientist, society scorns the violin except for dance.
1689-1694 Clarinet is invented, French King Louis XIV hold’s Europe’s most brilliant court; fountains and waterworks are Europe’s wonder, and Massachusetts offers bounties for Indian scalps.
1704-1712 Peter the Great turns swamp into St. Petersburg, Russia’s window to Europe, Handel’s trumpeter invents the tuning folk, Italian, Christofori, constructs first piano, Scotland unites with England, and slave riots in New York suppressed.
1713-1715 Fahrenheit invents the thermometer, Typewriter invented; last execution of witchcraft, Liverpool, England is thriving center of slave trade, French King Louis XIV reign draws to a close.
1717-1723 John Wesley founds Methodism at Oxford; Frenchman Bienville sets party of convicts to clear swamp for site of New Orleans.
1730-1735 Freedom of press in New England, invention of boxing gloves, Lord (“Turnip”) Townsend revolutionizes agricultural with four-course system of rotating crops.
1739-1752 Benjamin Franklin invents lighting rod and discovers lightning, A German scientist from Berlin, Marggraf, introduces the microscope in chemical analysis.

11. Musical Style of the Baroque Period


Florentine Camerata (1573-1587) a group of musicians and scholars (including Vincenzo Galilei, father of Galileo) who met in the salon of Count Giovanni de’ Bardi in Florence, Italy. They were inspired by Greek plays and attempted to recreate the same style which was performed in outdoor amphitheaters with an accompaniment of woodwind and stringed instruments. The fundamental principal of which was the words should be set as clearly as possible for the listener, in order to convey directly the sentiments of the performer. Thus, opera and modern homophony were born. The very first opera was Peri’s Euridice and the very first great opera was Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Both operas are about the play Orpheus in the Underworld.
Musical Listening: excerpt from Monteverdi’s Dixit Dominus II (to demonstrate early Baroque music and the texture of early Baroque opera.)
Homophony or Homophonic Texture: homo means the same, so homophony means music in which one voice leads melodically while being supported by an accompaniment in a chordal style; examples include church hymns.
Polyphony or Polyphonic Texture: poly means many or several, so polyphony is music that simultaneously combines several melodies at the same time.
Basso Continuo: an accompaniment in which a keyboard instrument such as an organ, or a harpsichord, along with a bass instrument such as a cello, or a bassoon, provided the bass line and harmony. The term “basso” translates to low.
Counter-melody: counter means against, so counter-melody means a melody against another melody. This term could be applied to polyphony as well.
Baroque Period: in the history of music, the term applied from 1600-1750 (example of composers: Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach.) Basso continuo and ornamentation were the common style of Baroque music, and polyphony was the norm. The Baroque era was a time of highly emotional art. Art normally depicted scenes of action and music was no different. If a composition or a movement in a musical work started in a particular style, it would continue throughout the entire movement. 
Most recorded “classical” composition of all time is the Baroque Period’s Johann Pachelbel’s (1653-1706) Canon in D Major.
Musical Listening: Canon in D Major

12. Composer: Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)


Italian celebrity of the Baroque Period, worked for the Catholic Church.
When he came of age, he entered the priesthood. This decision, plus his blazing red hair, gave him the nickname “The Red Priest.”
Vivaldi’s next job lasted 35 years as a violin teacher at the Mercy Hospital; which was a music conservatory plus school for illegitimate girls.
Vivaldi’s musical style: Concerto: a composition for solo instrument with accompaniment. Vivaldi’s concertos have three movements which became the model for many other Baroque composers such as Handel. Here’s the formula: Fast-Slow-Fast.
Musical Listening: The Four Seasons: Spring, 1. Allegro (fast and lively.) To demonstrate how Vivaldi used his fast-slow-fast formula, we will listen to selections from 2. Largo e pianissimo sempre (very slow and soft to the extreme throughout), and 3. Danza pastorale. Allegro (an outdoor dance followed by fast and lively music) and Concerto in C Major for 2 Trumpets, Allegro.

13. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)


Born in Germany, trained in Italy, lived and worked in England.
Handel went to Italy to learn how to write in the Italian style. He got to meet Vivaldi, whose concertos inspired his own compositions (fast-slow-fast model; ex: Water Music Suite No. 2 Alla Hornpipe.)
Oratorios: pieces for solo singers, chorus, and orchestra, usually with words taken from the Bible. Most famous was Messiah (1742) which he wrote in only three weeks.
Handel’s musical style: fresh, spirited, often dance-like, and often emotionally charged.
Musical Listening: Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah, selections from Royal Fireworks Music, Water Music Suite No. 2 Alla Hornpipe (copy Classical Music for Dummies listening guide, page 138.)
Movie: Handel’s Last Chance
 

14. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)


Has been called the greatest composer who ever lived. Not just because every one of his compositions are wonderful, but because every composer has been touched, inspired, and owes a great dept to him.
Bach was well-known as an organist, not a composer, and worked mostly for churches with the exception of Prince Leopold at the Cöthen Court.
Bach had 20 children from two happy marriages. Several of those children became famous composers themselves such as: Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Carl Philip Emmanuel (C.P.E.) Bach, and Johann Christian Bach (aka the “English Bach”). Bach’s sons lade down the foundations that would become the symphony and the piano concerto.
Bach’s musical style: full of counterpoint: two, three, four, or more melodic lines played at the same time. He perfected the art of the fugue: an astoundingly complex composition usually written for four musical lines or voices.
Bach wrote for one reason: to the glory of God. At the beginning of each manuscript, Bach would write “Jesus Help”, and at the end of his compositions he would write: “To God Be the Glory.”
Bach’s music was the height of the Baroque style in music, and the Baroque Period ended with him.
Bach and Handel never met even though they were born in the same year. Handel worked in England where as Bach worked in Germany.
Musical Listening: selections from: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Air on the G String, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Sheep May Safely Graze, and Brandenburg Concerto No. 2: III. Allegro assai; Listening Guides for “Little” Fugue in G Minor, Fantasia in G Major, and Chaconne. 


*


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

*IV. Classical Period (1750-1825)*

*Famous Composers: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn *



15. Intro to the Classical Period


1769 Oxygen is discovered, people in Paris flock to the first restaurant.
1776-1781 Declaration of Independence signed in America, George Washington is the “Man of the Hour”, and according to the book _Universal History_, published in London, the date of The Creation was September 21, 4004 B.C.
1792-1794 Dr. Guillotin is a strong advocate of his new decapitating machine, France proclaimed a republic with the beheading of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and a young general by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, comes to the fore.
1804 Napoleon becomes emperor, first locomotive, fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Thomas Jefferson is the president, and New Jersey acts, completing abolition of slavery in Northern states.
1818 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly publishes _Frankenstein_.
1819-1823 Gas begins replacing candles, Napoleon dies, British Parliament restricts workday to 12 hours and abolishes child labor, 11 year-old Franz List, destined to become one the world’s first “rock stars” in the Romantic Period, gives first concert in Vienna; is rewarded with public kiss from Beethoven, people read Grimm’s _Fairy Tales_, the _Savannah_ is the first boat to cross the Atlantic with the help of steam, and the first permanent photograph is produced in France.


16. Musical Style of the Classical Period


Homophony or Homophonic Texture: homo means the same, so homophony means music in which one voice leads melodically while being supported by an accompaniment in a chordal style; examples include church hymns.
The Classical Period was a reaction to the excesses of the Baroque Period. Music in the Classical style was simple, more reserved, and more controlled. It was music with a corset on.
The three best composers of the Classical Period were: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. They all knew each other and spent most of their time in Vienna, Austria (where Marie Antoinette was from); which was Ground Zero for music.
The standard Classical Symphony Orchestra consisted of the following instruments: 1st and 2nd violins, violas, celli, double basses, flutes, clarinets, oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and timpani (aka Kettle Drums: the drums Handel threw at his 1st Violinists!) Beethoven later added instruments such as: piccolo, trombones, contrabassoon, and even voices in his symphonies.
In the Classical Period, the piano becomes a favorite instrument for soloists and virtuosos.
The music of the Classical Period is based heavily on forms such as: sonata, theme and variations, minuet and trio, and rondo.

17. Composer: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)


Was the most pleasant, cheerful guy, and teacher, you could ever meet, and his music was no different.
Haydn grew up in Austria. As a boy, he heard lots of peasant folk music, and he came firmly to the conclusion that music was to be enjoyed.
Haydn’s primary income was serving as a royal court musician.
Haydn practically single-handedly standardized the structure of the symphony and the string quartet (2 violins, 1 viola, and 1 cello.) That is why he’s known as the “Father of the Symphony” and why people refer to him as “Papa Haydn.”
As Haydn got older, he incorporated more peasant folk melodies he had heard in his youth.
Musical Listening: _“Surprise” Symphony #94, 2nd Movement_ Theme and Variation form (5:30):
Theme (listen for the “surprise.”)
Variation 1: violins with counter-melody
Variation 2: minor key; sounds strong or bold
Variation 3: 16th notes
Variation 4: full orchestra including brass and timpani
Deceptive cadence (long note)
Coda: just a few measures that ends the composition (this piece ends softly.)


Musical Listening: _Trumpet Concerto_ _in D Major, Finale: Allegro_ (fast and lively, 4:30):
Listen for two main things: chromatic trumpet (plays a full melody because it can play all 12 notes) and
Natural trumpet (plays only the arpeggios or chordal notes; also called “trumpet calls.”)
This composition was composed to showcase the new _keyed trumpet_ which was a predecessor of the modern valve trumpet. With the addition of keys, a trumpet could now play all 12 notes instead of the limitations of natural harmonics.


18. Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)


It was very common for children to have many names; Mozart had five: Johannes (his grandfather), Crysostomus (his Saint’s name day), Wolfgang (after lake Wolfgang where his mother was born and after his maternal grandfather), Theopholis (after his godfather; he later preferred the Italian form of his name, Amadeus), Mozart.
Where many people would consider Bach as the greatest composer, many people like to bestow that title to Mozart.
Mozart’s father, Leopold, sacrificed his own career to foster his child prodigy.
Mozart grew up in Salzburg, Austria.
At the age of 25, Mozart moved to Vienna to seek his fortune, but he had a hard time finding work. But Mozart found something else: Joseph Haydn. Haydn and Mozart struck up a lifelong friendship.
Without a steady job, Mozart sustained himself around Vienna by writing operas; which were as popular with the public as movies are today.
Mozart drove his rivals nuts because composing was so easy for him. Musical ideas sprang from his sprang into his head, fully formed, as if he were taking dictation (that was the true genius of Mozart.)
His music is the essence of the Classical style: elegant, graceful, refined, high-spirited, and unsentimental, but with a deep vein of emotion.
Musical Listening: _Eine kleine Nachtmusik “A little Night Music” 1st Movement_ _Allegro_ Sonata Form (5:50):

1. Exposition

· Theme A (tonic key: G Major)

· Transition (listen for tremolos in the strings.) The transition modulates the composition from G Major to D Major.

· Theme B (dominant key: D Major)

· The entire Exposition repeats.


2. Transition

· Theme A (dominant key)

· The Transition plays with the keys but goes through modulations and development. This is where Mozart and other composers got to show off their skills as a composer.

· Returns to G Major for the Recapulation.


3. Recapulation

· Theme A (tonic key: G Major)

· Transition (listen for tremolos in the strings.)

· Theme B (tonic key: G Major; theme B sounds lower this time.)


4. Coda

· Theme A (tremolos in low strings)



Movie: _Amadeus_


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

19. Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)


He was the man who changed everything. Beethoven’s predecessors wrote music primarily for religious ceremonies and social gatherings, but Beethoven turned music into a form of self expression. Financially, he was self-sufficient and did not have to be employed by either the church or royalty.
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany but worked mostly in Vienna.
While in Vienna, he studied with “Papa” Haydn.
Beethoven and his music were fiery, impulsive, and impetuous.
At 31, he began to realize that he was gradually losing his hearing.
In expressing his pain, Beethoven single-handedly took music from the Classical style into the Romantic Period, where the most important element in music was the expression of feelings.
Unlike Mozart, Beethoven was not a facile composer; in fact, he’d wrestle with his work in his sketchbook for weeks and months and _still_ he wasn’t satisfied.
Musical Listenings: selections from _Piano Sonata, Opus 27 in C# Minor_ _“Moonlight” 1. Adagio sostenuto_ (slowly and played emotionally), _Piano Sonata,_ _Opus 13 in C Minor “Pathétique” 2. Adagio cantabile_ (slowly and in a singing style.) Listening guide for _Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Opus_ _67 “Fate knocking on the door.” 1. Allegro con brio_ (fast and lively with spirit: 6:46) (copy Classical Music for Dummies listening guide, pages 145-148.)


Listening Guide for _Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Opus 125_ _Final Chorus to Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” Allegro Assai_ (very fast and lively: 12:38.)

_Part 1_: Soft introduction crescendos and leads to
Main “Ode to Joy” chorus.
Tenor (T) and Bass (B) in unison with trombones. See if you can hear the double basses supporting them.
Add Soprano (S) and Altos (A).
TB with trombones.
Add woodwinds (WW’s), strings, and SA. A hymn reaching for Heaven.
Soft WW’s; a touch of sadness.
Add SATB and strings; prayer-like.
Exalted unison, repeated notes.
Brief silence.
WW’s, strings, and S sound mysterious.
Add Tenor (T).
Joyful, fugue-like timbre.
Trumpet, violins, and S with high, sustained notes.
16th notes in the strings underneath the ensemble.
Mysterious, almost sneaky.
Hymn-like, first loud (f) then soft (p).
WW’s, strings, SATB cadence.
_Part 2_: Introduction and soloist (SATB).
Add chorus.
Joyous tutti.
Soft and emotional; listen for the violins’ counter-melody.
Playful.
Building with the timpani.
Joyous tutti.
Soloists (do you hear all 4 parts of the SATB?)
Soft (p) question and answer session crescendos to
Cymbals (Beethoven has broke into the Romantic Period!)
Add chorus (SATB) and the entire orchestra.
Whole-notes.
Exalted, hymn-like passages.
Fast coda; do you hear the piccolo and timpani at the end?


Movie: _Beethoven Lives Upstairs_

20. Composer: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)


Some say Schubert should be classified as a Romantic composer.

Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria; so he did not have to “move” there.
As with Mozart, melodies poured from his head.
He was a decent pianist, but not a virtuoso like Mozart or Beethoven.
He was great at composing songs (one voice, accompanied by piano) that he called _Lieder_ in German. In English, the form is called an _Art Song_.
He died as he lived, very poor and very young; he was only 31.
Musical Listenings: _Erlkönig_ (4:18) (copy Exploring Music listening guide, pages 235-238.)
Listening Guide for _Ave Maria_ (6:14)

21. Composer: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)


Some say Mendelssohn should be classified as a Romantic composer.
Born and lived in Germany.

In 1829, Mendelssohn unearthed and performed Bach’s monumental _St. Matthew_ _Passion_ for the first time since Bach’s death in 1750. From that point on, Bach became revered, admired, and beloved the world over.
Musical Listening: _“Wedding March” from a Midsummer Night’s Dream_


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

*V. Romantic Period (1825-1900)*

*Famous Composers: Rossini (opera), Berlioz, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Bizet (opera), Brahms, Verdi (opera), Wagner (opera), Mahler, Elgar, Saint-Saëns, Puccini (opera), Strauss.*



22. Intro to the Romantic Period


1824-1828 Webster’s dictionary is published and the first railroad.
1829-1830 Braille system for the blind and poor Parisian tailor, Thimmonier, invents the sewing machine.
1838-1841 Eighteen-year-old Victoria ascends the throne of England, baseball is developed, Emerson writes “Essays”, and the 1st bicycle is invented in Scotland; it was persecuted for being: “furious driving on roads.”
1842-1846 First “modern” operation, Queen Victoria abolishes dueling in the army, and Dumas completes “Count of Monte Cristo.”
1847-1850 “This is the place,” says Brigham Young as the Mormons reach Great Salt Lake in Utah, Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto”, and the first shipment of wheat to Chicago opens U.S. mid-West granary.
1853-1858 The first potato chip is invented in New York when a potato peeling falls into some oil, first Steinway pianos, H. Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, Florence Nightingale contributes beginnings of nursing, and the roulette begins to spin.
1858-1860 Darwin’s “Theory of Evolution”, Great Britain controls India, “House divided against itself can not stand,” says Lincoln, the ride of the Pony Express delivers the mail, and the first telegraphic message across the Atlantic.
1861-1866 American Civil War (1861-1865), “Alice in Wonderland”, and viewing Monet’s canvas “Impressions” journalists coins term “impressionism.”
1867-1868 Nobel introduces dynamite and it causes a “big hit”, sterilization spray reduces mortality during operations, U.S buys Alaska from Russia because of interest in fishing, and Emperor Maximilian of Mexico court-martialed and shot by Republican forces.
1869-1871 German Empire proclaimed, the Suez Canal opens, John D. Rockefeller and his brother William found Standard Oil Company, diamonds are discovered in Africa, Chicago fire, Lenin is born 576 miles S.E. of Moscow, last spike driven home in Union Pacific Railroad, and New York Herald correspondent Henry Stanley finds Dr. David Livingstone (“Dr. Livingstone, I presume”) in the wilds of Africa.
 1872-1873 Typewriter becomes practical, Jules Verne’s sensationally successful book “Round the World in 80 days”, Republican Elephant and Democratic Donkey created by cartoonist Nast in _Harper’s Weekly_, and two attempts to reach Europe from America by balloon; both failed….. Um, into the water.
1874-1875 first relics of prehistoric Greece are unearthed thus producing the dawn of modern archeology, Alexander Bell ushers in the invention of the telephone, and the English invent tennis. 
 



23. Musical Style of the Romantic Period


Music of the Romantic Period was represented by feelings, emotion, and self-expression.
Composers often took as their inspiration forces of nature, such as sunrises, thunderstorms, and nature itself.
The orchestra is expanded to the full capacity of what we know it as today: the addition of trombone, bass trombone, tuba, expanded percussion section, harp, piano, and woodwind instruments such as bass and contrabass clarinet, contrabassoon, and English horn.

24. Romantic Composers and Selected Works

· Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1859) _William Tell: “Overture”_

· Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) _March to the Scaffold from Symphonie Fantastique_

· Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) _Minute Waltz_

· Robert Schumann (1810-1856) _Larghetto from Symphony No. 1 “Spring”_

· Franz Liszt (1811-1886) _Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# minor _(Movie: Liszt’s Rhapsody)

· Richard Wagner (1813-1883) _The Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre, Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral, Wedding March Lohengrin_

· Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) _Dies Irae from Requiem_

· Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) _Symphony No. 4, 3rd Movement _

· Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) _The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals_

· Richard Strauss (1835-1921) _Introduction from_ _Also sprach Zarathustra_

· Georges Bizet (1838-1875) _Carmen: “Overture”_

· Edward Elgar (1857-1934) _Nimrod from Enigma Variations_

· Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) _Nessun Dorma from Turandot_

· Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) _Finale from_ _Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 _


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

*VI. Nationalistic Period “Nationalism” (1875-1900)*

*Famous Composers: Dvořák, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sibelius.*



25. Intro to the Nationalistic Period


1876-1877 Thomas Edison invents phonograph, first railway opens in China, and Custer makes his last stand.
1878 First machine gun, Salvation Army begins, and the invention of the microphone.
1879 Edison constructs the electric bulb.
1880 Niagara Falls harnessed; electric power illuminates park.
1881 French dig Panama Canal, “Please refrain from shooting game from car windows,” Union-Pacific posts on its billboards, Vatican archives opened to historians, President Garfield assassinated by disappointed office seeker.
1882-1883 R.L. Stevenson’s _Treasure Island_, U.S. places ban on Chinese immigration, Mormons have to “deal” with anti-polygamy bill, Houdini begins his career, Brooklyn Bridge completed, horse and buggy area about to run out of steam, and Franklin D. Roosevelt is born.
1884-1887 First electric trolleys, cremation legalized in England, Statue of Liberty unveiled, and the first appearance of Sears.
1888-1889 First crossing of Greenland’s ice, Oxford Dictionary, French build first navel submarine, automobile becomes practical, Eiffel Tower completed, Montana, Washington, and the Dakotas become states, Adolph Hitler is born.
1890-1894 Last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, ascends the throne, elementary education is made free in England, Ramsay discovers helium, boos and hisses greet impressionism in music as Paris hears Debussy’s _Afternoon of a Faun_, Lenin gives up law for revolution.
1895-1896 Freud introduces psychoanalysis, France annexes Madagascar, Browning invents automatic revolver, automobiles in England may travel 12 M.P.H., discovery of the X-ray by the Germans, Crane’s _Red Badge of Courage_, Lumiere Brothers invent the cinema, and the Olympic Games are revived at Athens.
1896-1898 In India, Ronald Ross discovers that malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, diesel engine put into use, and the discovery of radium.
1899 Canned pineapple, Russia suppresses liberties in Finland.

26. Musical Style of the Nationalistic Period “Nationalism”


Through the 1850’s, a composer was nothing until he was a master of the German-Austrian style, but at the end of the last part of the 19th century composers threw off what was popular and express themselves through the pride of their own countries and personal heritage.
 Many of each country’s own folk or popular music became the basis of serious composition; it would be like taken _Amazing Grace_, _The Star Spangle Banner, _or _The Devil Went Down to Georgia_ and arranging it in a serious work for the concert hall.
 


27. Nationalistic Composers and Selected Works


_Czech (in Austria):_ Antonin Dvořák (1833-1897) _Finale, from Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”_
_Russia:_ Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1931) _The Great Gate of Kiev_ The orchestration was done by another brilliant composer by the name of Maurice Ravel. We will study him in the next period.
_Russia:_ Pyotr (Peter) Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) _Finale, from Symphony No. 6_
_Norway:_ Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) _In the Hall of the Mountain King_
_Russia:_ Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) _Flight of the Bumble Bee_
_Finland:_ Jan (Jean) Sibelius (1865-1957) _Finlandia _


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## Rodney Money (Dec 29, 2017)

*VII. Modern Period; 20th Century to present (1900-present)*

*Famous Composers: Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Holst, Schoenberg, Ives, Respighi, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Orff, Gershwin, Copland, Shostakovich, Barber, Cage, Britten, and Adams.*



28. Intro to the Modern Period


1900-1905 Ragtime (early ancestor of jazz) spreads from America, peasants in Russia are thrown in jail for revolting and trying to start a revolution including a young Stalin, first movie: _Great Train Robbery_, Wright Brothers take flight, Einstein’s _Theory of Relativity_, England raises speed limit to 20 M.P.H. France introduces intelligent tests.
1906-1911 The merger of C.S. Rolls and F.H. Royce, 1,285,000 new European immigrants come to America, artist Picasso founds cubism, Peary reaches North Pole, T-model Ford rolls off the assembly line, short skirts, Mount Etna erupts, Halley’s comet causes people to live in their basements fearing the end of the world, Amundsen reaches South Pole in race with Scott.
1912-1921 Titanic disaster, first blues (Memphis) published in USA, Arizona and New Mexico are latest states, Hitler is a carpenter in Munich, riots breakout in Paris during Stravinsky’s premiere of _Rite of Spring_, atom structure is discovered, World War I (1914-1918.)
1922-1929 Bootleggers rise to the occasion as prohibition blankets the USA, first airplane to cross the Atlantic, radio broadcasting makes it through its 1st year, people dance the _Charleston_, _Reader’s Digest_, low waistline and bobbed hair usher in age of the flapper (roaring 20’s), Japanese earthquake kills ½ million people, _Time Magazine_, speakeasy era at peak, America’s Woodrow Wilson and Russia’s Lenin die within two weeks of each other, Lindbergh flies non-stop from New York to Paris, Portugal bans walking barefoot, millions spent on Hollywood’s first talkies (people complain they hurt their ears), While working in a garage, 12 people worked on the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon _Steamboat_ _Willie_, Wall street crashed.
1930-1935 Jazzing of classics is protested, USA depression hits the bottom, 31,822 failed businesses in the year of 1932, the British witness 1st television broadcast, FDR is elected president, Germany bans use of cosmetics, As Disney releases the movie _The Three Little Pigs_, the world loves singing _Who’s Afraid of_ _the Big Bad Wolf_, Swing music is latest USA popular music craze, German Jews are outlawed, Nazi rituals replace school prayers, Persia (think the movie _300_) is renamed Iran, and social security.
1936-1939 Italy and Germany unite (axis power), _Gone with the Wind_ makes publishing history, Hindenburg disaster, the _jitterbug_ dance, Hitler takes over Austria and invades Poland, the book _Grapes of Wrath_ is ordered to be burned at the St. Louis Library.
1940-1946 WWII (1939-1945), Winston Churchill is prime minister of England; Pearl Harbor is attached by Japan, and the atomic bomb.
1947-1959 Jackie Robinson is the first African American in professional baseball, Korea War, first holiday inn in Memphis, TN, the discovery of DNA, Brown vs. Board of Education, _I Love Lucy_, first McDonald’s opens in California, Elvis Presley hits #1 with _Heartbreak Hotel_, Cuban Revolution, Alaska and Hawaii become 49th and 50th states, and the first Barbie Doll.
1960-1969 JFK is elected as USA’s youngest president and is assassinated in 1963, Martin Luther King, The Beetles invade America, Vietnam War protest, Woodstock music festival, first man on the moon.
1970-1979 Watergate, USA troops withdraw from Vietnam, Apple computers, age of disco in popular music, Elvis dies in Graceland, and Pac-man is the first video arcade game.
1980-1999 John Lennon from the Beetles is shot for being too political, Challenger explodes, Berlin Wall comes down in 1989, Bill Clinton is impeached, Gulf War, and Bill Gates founder of Microsoft.
2000-Present World Trade Center Towers are destroyed by terrorists, Gulf War II, and the first African American president, Obama, is elected. 


29. Musical Styles of the Modern Period _(“Here comes the “ism’s!”)_


Impressionism: composers wanted to break through the tyranny of traditional tonality which lasted the last 400 years. Claude Debussy was the composer who broke those chains. The music uses repetition of short motifs, colorful instrumental effects, stacked chords, and new scales such as the whole-tone scale to depict music that sounds blurry, ethereal, airy, otherworldly, magical, and shadowy. Because of these mystical effects, the music’s beat and tempo is often very hard to find. Instead of depicting realism, the music simply conveys a mere impression of the world just like impressionist artists like Claude Monet _(Impression, Sunrise)_ and Vincent van Gogh _(The Starry Night.)_ 
Neoclassicism: a return style of the forms and techniques of the Classical Period (balanced and with restraint) but with modern techniques involved which often made the music sound dissonant.
Serialism, Expressionism, Atonality, Pantonality, and 12 tone and Set Theory: music that substitutes rules of math and intellect for the inspiration of composing notes. This type of music does not reflect on reality, but instead of raw human, often dark, deep emotions or expressions. If it is based on reality, the mood is often distorted just like the paintings of expressionistic artists such as Edvard Munch _(The Scream.)_ This type of music is not typically lush or beautiful, but on the contrary it can be very dissonant and harsh to the ears and psyche.
Minimalism: music that uses very repetitive and rhythmic snippets of music. With its shifting rhythms, subtle harmony changes, the music supposed to seduce you into a sort of altered, otherworldly state.
Experimental and Avant-garde: music that is typically ahead of its time and is characterized by the rejection of tonality or music that is based on a tonal center. The music pushes the boundaries and often conjures the question, “Is it music?” The music uses chance elements happening within the music that often has outcomes that are not foreseen.
Neotonalism: although the music uses contemporary techniques of composition, basic elements such as tonality and emotion are not sacrificed for the sake of musical prosperity. _(For example the composition can be completely tonal but based on a twelve tone set row or use elements of several different periods of music within a single composition.)_

30. 20th and 21st Century Composers and Selected Works


(Impressionism) _France:_ Claude Debussy (1862-1918) _Clair de lune_
(Neoclassicism) _Russia:_ Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) _Prelude in C# minor_
(Neoclassicism) _Great Brittan:_ Gustav Holst (1874-1934) _Mars, The Bringer of War and Jupiter, The Bringer of Jolly_
(Serialism)_ Austria: _Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) _A Survivor from Warsaw _
To compose this composition, Schoenberg used a technique he invented called twelve-tone set theory which gives all the notes equal importance instead of just one. This technique abandons traditional considerations such as: keys, chords, and modulation, but it is not free of form or theory. We will now compose our own 12-tone row.



(Serialism)_ America: _Charles Ives (1874-1954) _The Unanswered Question_
(Impressionism) _France:_ Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) _Pavane pour une Infante défunte (Dance for a Dead Infant or a dead, baby princess)_
(Neoclassicism) _Italy:_ Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) _Finale, The Pines of the Appian Way, _from_ The_ _Pines of Rome_
(Neoclassicism) _Russia:_ Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) _The Rite of Spring: Opening _to the_ End of Jeu de_ _Rapt (Ritual of Abduction) _(copy Classical Music for Dummies listening guide, pages 156-158) and _Finale_ from_ The Firebird_
(Neoclassicism) _Russia:_ Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) _Peter and the Wolf_
(Neoclassicism) _Germany: _Carl Orff (1895-1982) _O Fortuna, _from_ Carmina Burana_
(Musicals and the stage) _America: _George Gershwin (1898-1937) _Rhapsody in Blue_
(Neoclassicism) _America: _Aaron Copland (1900-1990) _Simple Gifts_ from _Appalachian Spring_
(Neoclassicism) _Russia:_ Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) _Finale, _from_ Symphony No. 5 in D minor_
(Neoclassicism) _America:_ Samuel Barber (1910-1981) _Adagio for Strings_
(Experimental and Avant-garde)_ America:_ John Cage (1912-1992) _4’33’’ _or_ Silence_
Cage wanted people to know that music is everywhere. “The point of this gesture is to focus attention on the sounds around us furthering the premise that any sound or no sound at all is as valid or “good” as any other.


(Neoclassicism) _Great Brittan:_ Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) _Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra_
(Minimalism)_ America:_ John Adams (b. 1947) _A Short Ride in a Fast Machine_


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## kimarnesen (Mar 2, 2018)

Here's a selection of the works and composers that have changed me. All essential works from different epochs, although not all of them is well known. (And yes, I write mostly for choir)

One of the greatest masterpieces of our time: Leonard Bernstein - *Symphony No. 3 "Kaddish". *
(My absolutely favorite composer from the20tht century, whose orchestration is SO worth studying):


I'm sure I've heard 50 recordings of this work, this is among the best: Gabriel Fauré - *Requiem*


I studied 5-6 recordings of this on in detail and found that I liked Maria Kliegel's performances best: John Tavener - *The Protecting Veil*


One of my favorites from the baroque: Giovanni Pergolesi - *Stabat Mater*


My favorite smashing opera hit from the baroque: Jean-Philippe Rameau - _Les Savages _from* Les Indes Galantes*


Continues...


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## kimarnesen (Mar 2, 2018)

2/2

My favorite recording of one of the most important classical works: Mozart - *Requiem*
It is not the Süssmayr's edition (Mozart's student) who completed parts of it after Mozart died, but a newer one by Robert Levin, which I prefer.
**

By my own teacher in composition: Terje Bjørklund - *Sarek*


My favorite short choral piece: Charles Stanford - *Bluebird*


Michael Nyman - *Chasing Sheep is best left to Shepherds*


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## jononotbono (Mar 4, 2020)

So looking back on this thread I’m glad I started it. Recently I have bought the full scores for Daphnis and Chloe, The Rite of Spring, and The Planets. Can someone point me to what versions of recordings they prefer so I can buy these on iTunes or Spotify and use these as a guide with the music and that is going to be exactly what is in the full scores I now own? Obviously I’d love to hear alternative versions but in this context I’m trying to find note for note versions. May the journey continue!


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