How to Listen to and Understand Great Music

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music

0.045mOctober 31, 2023

This opening lecture introduces themes, concepts, and terminology that will be followed and used throughout the series, including: concert music, classical music, popular music, and Western music. We will see how music is a “mirror” of historical change on various levels. The course will focus on representative works in relation to their historical contexts and will endeavor to build listening skills and a musical vocabulary designed to increase musical knowledge and appreciation. Using Ludwig van Beethoven as an example, the “composer” is discussed, not as idiot savant or Godhead, but as a human being who has chosen music as the conduit for the expression of his or her thoughts, feelings, and worldview.