hi!
i want to start listening to western classical music .. where should i start? I agree that YouTube is always a good place to start...it's free and there is a lot to listened to. I would be wary of bad student versions of piece, however.
I would simply start typing in composers to get a feeling for how their music sounds:
The long list that someone gave is very helpful....but it goes into too much detail for a beginner, in my opinion.
Here are the GIANTS of each major period. People that you must know:
Baroque era : J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel
Classical era: Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven
Romantic era: Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky (extra credit: Mahler, Wagner, Puccini, Verdi, Faure, Saint-Saens)
Impressionist era: Debussy, Ravel
Modern era/early-mid 20th century (this music really varies): Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Bartok, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Copland, Schoenberg
Post modern era/late 20th cent&21st cent: Gyorgy Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski, John Cage, George Crumb, Steve Reich, Pierre Boulez, Philip Glass.
Hopefully this will get you started! with the giants, Bach, there are probably three of them. Mozart, I like his piano concertos but you need time to adjust them into your mental system. Beethoven so passionate, you will fall in love with him. Tchaikovsky, so sad but beautiful. Nothing is more confusing, for someone not familiar with music history, than to hear about something like: "classical music". One could define this term as: 'a kind of art form which has proved to be of a mature nature and balanced in emotions and formal structure. In normal language it simply means that this music is not belonging to the range of easy listening or pop music. I requires a certain level of involvement of the listener.
In Western music history the term 'Classical' means the time between ca. 1760 and 1820. The period of the Viennese trinity Joseph
Haydn, Wolfgang- Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. In India we have the famous Carnatic 'classic' Trinity of Shyama Sastry, uthuswami Dikshitar and Tyagaraja.
The term 'classic' came in vogue after Beethoven's death (1827) and denotes the perfection of form structure, the humanitarian continence and aesthetic ideals. One can freely translate 'classical' by adapting virtues as "truth, beauty, symmetry and harmony" as well as simplicity and clarity. Emotion, reason, continence and structure create a subtle balance in the outlook of the composition. You can truly say that the obtained result is 'timeless'.
For any Asian "rasika" (music lover) who wants to know a little more about this European classical music, I give some details below:
BAROQUE PERIOD :
ca 1570/1620 Early Baroque Period :
C.Monteverdi,
J.P. Sweelinck
G.Gabrieli
ca 1620/1680 High Baroque Period :
JB. Lully
F. Couperin
H. Purcell.
ca 1680/1730 Late Baroque Period :
JS. Bach
GF. Handel
J.Ph. Rameau,
A.Vivaldi..)
CLASSICAL PERIOD :
ca 1730/1760 Pre Classical Period :
JC. Bach
J. Stamitz
GB. Sammartini
ca 1760/1780 Early Classical Period :
C.W. Gluck
GB. Pergolesi,
JA. Hasse
ca 1780/1820 High Classical Period :
J. Haydn
WA. Mozart..)
ROMANTIC PERIOD :
ca 1800 / 1830 Early Romantic Period :
Ludwig van Beethoven
Carl M. von Weber
ca 1829 / 1850 High Romantic Period :
F. Liszt
R. Wagner
ca 1849 / 1890 Late Romantic Period :
G. Brahms,
A. Bruckner
TURN OF THE CENTURY :
ca 1889 / 1914 :
R. Strauss
G. Mahler
AFTER 1900 :
Impressionism : C.Debussy
Expressionism, Atonality : A. Sch枚nberg, A. Berg, A. Webern.
Neo-classicism : Stravinsky
Serial music, Electronical music : Aleatoric music, New simplicity.
********************
To perform a composition from a certain era, the musician gets, lends or purchases the score and starts working on it. To deal with the interpretation he will listen to one or more recordings of the piece and maybe read some background books concerning the period. He won't have to compose or add anything to it, all the necessary components of the composition are already printed. With ancient music more research work has to be done, there one has to consult old treaties concerning the interpretations of style, rhythm, speed, embellishments etc... For the last preparations ( in case of orchestra involvement) the soloist will study the composition together with a keyboard player, in order to get used to the accompaniment. Finally he will get 3 or more rehearsals with orchestra and conductor before the work is performed on stage.
A Western classical concert is never performed extempore, it will be always prepared and rehearsed several days before the concert. The percussion is never as prominent as in Indian music. To say more, in European classical music percussion has always been placed on a side track.
The European system tonic never changes. (this means the first sound, note of the scale (saptak) C or do (sa) will always be the same pitch) In order to perform higher or lower a other scale will be used. ( hence scales in D, E etc.) On the Indian Subcontinent the pitch of the system tonic is changed according to the chosen instrument or voice, but still will be called "Shadja".
The 'Sounds' of Western music :
1) aesthetically chosen pre-designed sequence of sounds
2) presented mostly in ascent order.
3) mostly consisting of 8 sounds, sometimes less, sometimes more.
4) dependent on the rules of harmony or polyphony.
5) No pre-designed traditional motifs are available for a chosen
scale/tonality.
6) Starting on a pitch which pre-fixed by international "Western"
standard.
7) Uses a set of ornaments, however mostly occurring in ancient
European music.
8) Acting always from a written score, with no improvisation
interaction by the performer.
9) The score is written in the Western international Sol fa system,
which is uniform for all Western countries. I would start with youtube ; type in a composer's name and/or an instrument and see what you get. After a while you will get an idea of what appeals to you.
If you have a local classical music radio station, then listen to that and take note of what you like.
It takes a few months but eventually you will build up a picture of where your interest lies ; orchestral, solo piano, solo guitar, duets for violin and piano, string quartets etc.
Some of my favourites : Bach, solo works for cello
Guitar...anything by Fernando Sor
Violin....anything by Sarasate Whoa! If you learn all the stuff mentioned in the answers so far given, you could probably teach a class in the subject! I think that the YouTube idea is excellent, although listening to whole pieces--some of which are too long for YouTube is also important, but at least you'll get a flavor for what it's all about.
Many of the previous answers were influenced by a pro-symphonic prejudice, that minimizes the importance of opera. Wagner was one of the most important composers in the history of Western music, not "extra credit".
To simplify, I'd say start with:
*a symphony, concerto, or string quartet by Mozart
*a symphony by Beethoven--try #3, 5, 6, 7 or 9.
*an prelude or excerpt from one of Wagner's operas
*a symphonic work by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, or Dvorak.
*a whole opera by Puccini--on DVD would be best, with subtitles.
You can then start to expand your search from there... try rachmaninoff. most of his works are good. you could try beethoven too or even chopin. |
