What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Listen to Great Music: A Guide to Its History, Culture, and Heart
From one of the most trusted names in continuing education-the knowledge you need to unlock "the most abstract and sublime of all the arts."
Whether you're listening in a concert hall or on your iPod, concert music has the power to move you. The right knowledge can deepen the ability of this music to edify, enlighten, and stir the soul. In How to Listen to Great Music, Professor Robert Greenberg, a composer and music historian, presents a comprehensive, accessible guide to how music has mirrored Western history, that will transform the experience of listening for novice and long-time listeners alike. You will learn how to listen for key elements in different genres of music - from madrigals to minuets and from sonatas to symphonies-along with the enthralling history of great music from ancient Greece to the 20th century. You'll get answers to such questions as Why was Beethoven so important? How did the Enlightenment change music? And what's so great about opera anyway? How to Listen to Great Music will let you finally hear what you've been missing.
Whether you're listening in a concert hall or on your iPod, concert music has the power to move you. The right knowledge can deepen the ability of this music to edify, enlighten, and stir the soul. In How to Listen to Great Music, Professor Robert Greenberg, a composer and music historian, presents a comprehensive, accessible guide to how music has mirrored Western history, that will transform the experience of listening for novice and long-time listeners alike. You will learn how to listen for key elements in different genres of music - from madrigals to minuets and from sonatas to symphonies-along with the enthralling history of great music from ancient Greece to the 20th century. You'll get answers to such questions as Why was Beethoven so important? How did the Enlightenment change music? And what's so great about opera anyway? How to Listen to Great Music will let you finally hear what you've been missing.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2011
About the author
Robert Greenberg
178 books204 followersRobert M. Greenberg is an American composer, pianist and musicologist. He has composed more than 50 works for a variety of instruments and voices, and has recorded a number of lecture series on music history and music appreciation for The Teaching Company.
Greenberg earned a B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served on the faculties of UC Berkeley, Californiz State University, East Bay, and the San Franciso Conservatory of Music, where he was chairman of the Department of Music History and Literature as well as Director of the Adult Extension Division. Dr. Greenberg is currently Music Historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances.
Greenberg earned a B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served on the faculties of UC Berkeley, Californiz State University, East Bay, and the San Franciso Conservatory of Music, where he was chairman of the Department of Music History and Literature as well as Director of the Adult Extension Division. Dr. Greenberg is currently Music Historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
April 19, 2023
Daughter #3 needed a course to round out her college studies, and ended up in one on music appreciation. “How to Listen to Great Music” is the textbook, and she mentioned that I might enjoy it. It’s not often that a class textbook is something you’d pick up for reading at leisure, but if you’re interested in music, this one might be.
Author Robert Greenberg takes the reader through the history of western music. I say western, because there is other music out there. Several years ago our Indian neighbors invited me to go to a local university for a program of Indian music. I went along and it was so strange to me. There were a couple of guys on the stage with instruments I’d never seen before, playing on them, but honestly what they were producing didn’t even sound like music to me. There wasn’t a melody, it was more like a series of sounds. This was kind of a landmark moment to me because, somehow, I had felt like Mozart and Beethoven constituted “music” for everyone worldwide. Clearly, that’s not the case. But — this book is on the music I know as music: “western” music.
I think the book is misnamed because it’s really more about the history of music than about how to listen to it — although, I guess you could make the case that music is better listened to when one understands a bit of its background. In a book like this, I could take pages of notes. I tried to just hit some highlights.
Written music began around the year 1000 AD. The first music was vocal, as in chanting in church services. Instrumental music came later.
The eras of music came next — baroque, classical, romantic. If you’ve read anything about musical composers, you probably know that many of them were not very mentally healthy. Haydn was an exception: emotionally balanced, with a great sense of humor, a great boss and loyal friend. I had to wonder how he even ended up composing great music with such a balanced personality?
I enjoyed a bit of history of the piano — they began as harpsichords, which were mechanical harps. Their sound was dry and brittle “like skeletons on a tin roof.” Around 1770, these morphed into pianos more like those we know today, with hammers striking the strings rather than picks plucking them. These pianos, unlike harpsichords, could play in different dynamic levels (or, levels of loudness and softness).
The author loved Beethoven and names him a truly revolutionary composer, “the single most disruptive and influential composer in the history of Western music.” I learned that Beethoven was only deaf for about his final 10 years. Somehow I was under the impression that he was deaf for most of his life. While composers prior to Beethoven had composed mainly in the style of the day, Beethoven turned that on its head and began the era of composing in whatever personal style a composer chose.
This trend continued in the 1800s romantic era (and romantic era music does not refer to romance as we would think of it, but rather to music composed to fit the composer’s individual style). This era in music coincided with impressionism in the visual art world, and it makes sense as I can imagine Debussy or Liszt playing in the background of a Monet art exhibit.
I should mention that much of what makes this book as readable as it is is the author’s lighthearted tone. He inserts frequent “corny joke” type things that keep the content from becoming too heavy, something I would think students would appreciate.
Opera was another huge musical topic. Italian operas of the 1800s moved the existing opera world into more drama and emotion, and the stories told by operas became as important as the music. Most opera writers worked with a separate librettist, who wrote the lyrics. Richard Wagner was one of the few opera composers who wrote his own librettos.
Speaking of Wagner, he was another musical revolutionary. He filled his music with various “leitmotifs” or little bits of melody that are associated with different characters, objects, or themes in his operas. I have to say that it’s wonderful to watch a Wagner opera and listen for these various leitmotifs to pop up here and there. Wagner also used the orchestra as a character in his operas, giving the instruments more visible roles than they had had previously. I love Wagner’s music and am always a little annoyed when he gets a bad rap due to Hitler and some prominent nazis liking his music. And indeed, Greenberg mentions that his music was “sometimes genuinely depraved.” I wondered what music he considers depraved and actually messaged him on social media — no response yet. Can music be depraved? I’m curious now!
I enjoyed the various “boxes” on pages of the book where the author went into more details on a certain topic. One, about Chopin, mentioned how he used the entire keyboard of the piano, “and milks every last bit of resonance out of the instrument. This is piano music that could not have been conceived before the invention of the metal harped piano.” True. I have a teenage boy piano student who has worked on Chopin pieces the past few years. It’s truly a thing of beauty the way his big hands can actually play Chopin’s big chords (when I tried them, I would have to “roll” them or just give up and leave out certain notes). One thing that never occurred to me as a piano student, but does regularly now, is how the size of one’s hands can really limit or help a pianist. Honestly I should never have even attempted some of the pieces I did, but I don’t regret the attempts 🙂
It’s interesting that Greenberg notes that most composers were products of their time. For instance, if Mozart lived now he wouldn’t be writing the pieces he did. There were some composers who composed “outside the box,” but for most, the era they lived in was a large part of their destiny. In listening to a Beethoven piece, we can experience for a while the culture and milieu he lived in. This is a great thought and a wonderful reason, in my opinion, to listen to music!
I think this would be a tough read if you didn’t have a musical background. But if you do, and are curious, as I was, it’s enjoyable and you’ll learn a thing or two.
Author Robert Greenberg takes the reader through the history of western music. I say western, because there is other music out there. Several years ago our Indian neighbors invited me to go to a local university for a program of Indian music. I went along and it was so strange to me. There were a couple of guys on the stage with instruments I’d never seen before, playing on them, but honestly what they were producing didn’t even sound like music to me. There wasn’t a melody, it was more like a series of sounds. This was kind of a landmark moment to me because, somehow, I had felt like Mozart and Beethoven constituted “music” for everyone worldwide. Clearly, that’s not the case. But — this book is on the music I know as music: “western” music.
I think the book is misnamed because it’s really more about the history of music than about how to listen to it — although, I guess you could make the case that music is better listened to when one understands a bit of its background. In a book like this, I could take pages of notes. I tried to just hit some highlights.
Written music began around the year 1000 AD. The first music was vocal, as in chanting in church services. Instrumental music came later.
The eras of music came next — baroque, classical, romantic. If you’ve read anything about musical composers, you probably know that many of them were not very mentally healthy. Haydn was an exception: emotionally balanced, with a great sense of humor, a great boss and loyal friend. I had to wonder how he even ended up composing great music with such a balanced personality?
I enjoyed a bit of history of the piano — they began as harpsichords, which were mechanical harps. Their sound was dry and brittle “like skeletons on a tin roof.” Around 1770, these morphed into pianos more like those we know today, with hammers striking the strings rather than picks plucking them. These pianos, unlike harpsichords, could play in different dynamic levels (or, levels of loudness and softness).
The author loved Beethoven and names him a truly revolutionary composer, “the single most disruptive and influential composer in the history of Western music.” I learned that Beethoven was only deaf for about his final 10 years. Somehow I was under the impression that he was deaf for most of his life. While composers prior to Beethoven had composed mainly in the style of the day, Beethoven turned that on its head and began the era of composing in whatever personal style a composer chose.
This trend continued in the 1800s romantic era (and romantic era music does not refer to romance as we would think of it, but rather to music composed to fit the composer’s individual style). This era in music coincided with impressionism in the visual art world, and it makes sense as I can imagine Debussy or Liszt playing in the background of a Monet art exhibit.
I should mention that much of what makes this book as readable as it is is the author’s lighthearted tone. He inserts frequent “corny joke” type things that keep the content from becoming too heavy, something I would think students would appreciate.
Opera was another huge musical topic. Italian operas of the 1800s moved the existing opera world into more drama and emotion, and the stories told by operas became as important as the music. Most opera writers worked with a separate librettist, who wrote the lyrics. Richard Wagner was one of the few opera composers who wrote his own librettos.
Speaking of Wagner, he was another musical revolutionary. He filled his music with various “leitmotifs” or little bits of melody that are associated with different characters, objects, or themes in his operas. I have to say that it’s wonderful to watch a Wagner opera and listen for these various leitmotifs to pop up here and there. Wagner also used the orchestra as a character in his operas, giving the instruments more visible roles than they had had previously. I love Wagner’s music and am always a little annoyed when he gets a bad rap due to Hitler and some prominent nazis liking his music. And indeed, Greenberg mentions that his music was “sometimes genuinely depraved.” I wondered what music he considers depraved and actually messaged him on social media — no response yet. Can music be depraved? I’m curious now!
I enjoyed the various “boxes” on pages of the book where the author went into more details on a certain topic. One, about Chopin, mentioned how he used the entire keyboard of the piano, “and milks every last bit of resonance out of the instrument. This is piano music that could not have been conceived before the invention of the metal harped piano.” True. I have a teenage boy piano student who has worked on Chopin pieces the past few years. It’s truly a thing of beauty the way his big hands can actually play Chopin’s big chords (when I tried them, I would have to “roll” them or just give up and leave out certain notes). One thing that never occurred to me as a piano student, but does regularly now, is how the size of one’s hands can really limit or help a pianist. Honestly I should never have even attempted some of the pieces I did, but I don’t regret the attempts 🙂
It’s interesting that Greenberg notes that most composers were products of their time. For instance, if Mozart lived now he wouldn’t be writing the pieces he did. There were some composers who composed “outside the box,” but for most, the era they lived in was a large part of their destiny. In listening to a Beethoven piece, we can experience for a while the culture and milieu he lived in. This is a great thought and a wonderful reason, in my opinion, to listen to music!
I think this would be a tough read if you didn’t have a musical background. But if you do, and are curious, as I was, it’s enjoyable and you’ll learn a thing or two.
December 9, 2023
[2023] I will be revisiting this (along with Fry's The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within) every few years because, well, there is so much here. Greenberg is entertaining, engaging, and damn, he knows a lot. When it comes to the arts, I don't mind someone like him holding my hand through the exploration.
[2019]
I listen to The Teaching Company's Great Courses on my commutes and with the exception of one on Native American Peoples to start this year, the rest have been concert music oriented. Greenberg has a ten artist series on the lives and music of great masters and the one I am finishing now, of the same title as this. It's a 48 lecture companion course and I highly recommend listening to it in parallel to reading this. Greenberg is energetic, entertaining and eminently knowledgeable. I can't begin to capture here even a fraction of the breadth he covers. There is depth, to be sure, but Greenberg masterfully surveys the monumental repertoire of modern western music from ancient Greece (yes! they've managed to reconstruct a couple of pieces from stele and pottery!) through medieval times through Baroque, Classical, Beethoven (per Greenberg, he sort of is in his own category), Romanticism and early 20th century modern composition.
He describes the language necessary to understand the music of the different periods in their context and he frames those periods with histories of the times and the composers he illustrates.
A few highlights:
Greenberg says that instrumental music is the ultimate abstract art. Plays or literature are bounded by the words in a language we understand. Painting is framed by two dimensions. Sculpture must occupy the three-dimensional space that contains it. The only dimension that instrumental music is contained by is time. And the Baroque era was when these concepts were developed:
"When we read a book or a poem, when we watch a play, we understand, at the very least, the language the author is using, and unless it’s Pynchon, Joyce, Gödel, or the lyrics to 'I Am the Walrus,' we usually understand what the writer is trying to say." When we hear instrumental music, we don't have the explicit language from the composer to describe what he/she is doing, or trying to convey. There might be a consensus, but it is still interpretation. Greenberg says "In vocal music, it’s the poetic structure of the words being set that almost invariably determines the form, the structure, of the piece of music that results." And "But instrumental music has no a priori literary structure on which to base its form; in instrumental music, form is the result of compositional processes: repetition, variation, contrast, and development."
To illustrate nuance in music, Greenberg gives an entertaining lengthy and exhilarating (intended) step by step, play by play, Harry Caray style accounting of a baseball double play, to which a foreign person unfamiliar with baseball asks, “What is double play?” Greenberg describes the structure (nine innings, two halves per inning, three outs per half) and intimates at the nuance (me: pitch, ball, hit, walk, strike, flyball, ball, hit by pitch, single, triple, fielder’s choice, ground rule double, etc...) Without a context, nuance cannot possibly be understood or appreciated. Without a sense of the large scale structure, we can’t understand the detail which makes things so interesting.
[2019]
I listen to The Teaching Company's Great Courses on my commutes and with the exception of one on Native American Peoples to start this year, the rest have been concert music oriented. Greenberg has a ten artist series on the lives and music of great masters and the one I am finishing now, of the same title as this. It's a 48 lecture companion course and I highly recommend listening to it in parallel to reading this. Greenberg is energetic, entertaining and eminently knowledgeable. I can't begin to capture here even a fraction of the breadth he covers. There is depth, to be sure, but Greenberg masterfully surveys the monumental repertoire of modern western music from ancient Greece (yes! they've managed to reconstruct a couple of pieces from stele and pottery!) through medieval times through Baroque, Classical, Beethoven (per Greenberg, he sort of is in his own category), Romanticism and early 20th century modern composition.
He describes the language necessary to understand the music of the different periods in their context and he frames those periods with histories of the times and the composers he illustrates.
Art does not shape its time; rather, the times shape the artist, who then gives voice to his time in his own special way. To understand an artist’s world and something of the artist herself are the first requisite steps to understanding the artist’s work, its style, and its meaning.I know somethings of music theory, but I'll need to visit this book and the lectures again to absorb the language further. Tonality, motivity, timbre, phrasing, melody, themes, recitative, aria...this book describes the concepts well, but the reader also needs to be a listener. At the least, find the music selections Greenberg uses.
A few highlights:
We would do well to avoid the notion that art is linear, and that , somehow, it just keeps getting better as we go along. Certainly, art— and for us, music— gets different as it goes along. Just as, certainly , the musical language itself—that is, the actual materials available to composers —has grown as we’ve moved toward the present day.This is important. As Surrealism is no better than Expressionism is no better than Impressionism is no better than purely representational art, Debussy, Stravinsky, Mahler are no better than Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt which are no better than Beethoven, Mozart, Bach. They are all great in their own ways and Greenberg tells us why.
Greenberg says that instrumental music is the ultimate abstract art. Plays or literature are bounded by the words in a language we understand. Painting is framed by two dimensions. Sculpture must occupy the three-dimensional space that contains it. The only dimension that instrumental music is contained by is time. And the Baroque era was when these concepts were developed:
An essential step in the emergence of instrumental music during the Baroque era was the development of instrumental musical forms.
[...]
One might think that when it comes to instrumental music, anything is possible; that a composer can sit down and just go with the inspirational flow and write whatever comes to mind. In actuality, the opposite is true: the abstract nature of instrumental music demands tremendous compositional discipline and rigor to create musical and expressive clarity and coherence in the absence of words.
"When we read a book or a poem, when we watch a play, we understand, at the very least, the language the author is using, and unless it’s Pynchon, Joyce, Gödel, or the lyrics to 'I Am the Walrus,' we usually understand what the writer is trying to say." When we hear instrumental music, we don't have the explicit language from the composer to describe what he/she is doing, or trying to convey. There might be a consensus, but it is still interpretation. Greenberg says "In vocal music, it’s the poetic structure of the words being set that almost invariably determines the form, the structure, of the piece of music that results." And "But instrumental music has no a priori literary structure on which to base its form; in instrumental music, form is the result of compositional processes: repetition, variation, contrast, and development."
To illustrate nuance in music, Greenberg gives an entertaining lengthy and exhilarating (intended) step by step, play by play, Harry Caray style accounting of a baseball double play, to which a foreign person unfamiliar with baseball asks, “What is double play?” Greenberg describes the structure (nine innings, two halves per inning, three outs per half) and intimates at the nuance (me: pitch, ball, hit, walk, strike, flyball, ball, hit by pitch, single, triple, fielder’s choice, ground rule double, etc...) Without a context, nuance cannot possibly be understood or appreciated. Without a sense of the large scale structure, we can’t understand the detail which makes things so interesting.
How many times have we heard a baseball announcer say, “I’ve been around this game for 40 years and I’ve never seen that happen!”? So, despite the formula nature of the structure, an infinity of nuance and detail can take place, but we can only understand it if we first understand the large scale context, the process, the form of the piece.Well, Greenberg talks about form in all the eras. And so much more.
...music—the most abstract of all of the arts—is capable of transmitting an unbelievable amount of expressive, historical, allegorical, metaphorical, metaphysical, and even philosophical information to us, provided that our antennae are up and pointed in the right direction. That is why we listen, constantly, to music. Yes, to be entertained and amused, but even more, to be thrilled: to be enlightened, edified, reminded of our humanity, and to experience that white hot jolt of wordless inner truth that is the special province of musical expression.Read this and go have a listen.
September 22, 2018
I really enjoyed this brief history of music, highlighted by funny and insightful commentary into the lives and times of the composers and their music. The author was occasionally too emphatic or dogmatic for my taste (pretty sure the entire musical universe does not agree on the single best opera buffa of all time) but I just took those frequent proclamations with a grain of salt, filled them mentally as hyperbole, and kept on reading. This is one I'd recommend to anyone interested in classical music.
June 26, 2021
I wish I had read something like this as a high school band geek. It is indispensable general context about where an arrangement was originally played, for what audience and patron, to exploit what new instrumental technology or compositional novelties.
He started to lose me in the final "modern" chapters-- trying to pick a few measures of word painting a heart condition in a 30 minute Mahler clip took more patience than I could muster. His wife, Alma seems worth tracking down a biography about though.
He started to lose me in the final "modern" chapters-- trying to pick a few measures of word painting a heart condition in a 30 minute Mahler clip took more patience than I could muster. His wife, Alma seems worth tracking down a biography about though.
July 4, 2021
I learned a good bit form this book. It provides an overview of technically, historic, and biographical information about the music and composers.
July 2, 2013
Finished the book and as long as the author kept to the point it was interesting, however, as soon as he brought his own personal voice to it the whole thing was marred. I don't know if it is a singular quirk of the author to add personable elements to his work or it is not a usual feature of other authors with similar work experience. However, I found his own personal side remarks to be infantile and ridiculous. I mean there is nothing too wrong in trying to give what is called a human touch to instructive books. In this case of Robert Greenberg it failed miserably. This could be seen as overly critical, but I don't know by what authority he claims to say that Romani music is not genuine Hungarian music? There are Romani Hungarians and their music can added to the overall nationality of Hungary as a whole. Oddly enough Puccini did not get a mention nor Gustav Holst nor many of the 20th century composers nor Richard Strauss's opera Salome. The physical description of Beethoven seemed pointless for the understanding of great music especially, to say he was short, ugly and smallpox scarred is very short sighted. There is also something incredibly childish in "sweet mother of marmalade!" for a critic in Germany in the 19th century. From my point of view this book would have got another star if he had kept it to professional study without the side comments which only served to make it mindless twaddle. The bright side is if a reader has never read anything on the history and study of music then have a look at this book and draw your own conclusions. Who knows you could get a snicker from his side comments or are used to this idea of thing in other books in which case you may be blissfully unaware of them.
September 11, 2012
If you enjoy music you will enjoy this book. It is a series of lectures on music and how it is made. I have a few musicians in the family and the knowledge they have far exceeds mine, but with this book I can sort of hold my own in a musical conversation.
Great information for anyone interested in music. It took me a long time to read being a lecture series and not a mystery, but it was worth the time. The authors approach is multi-faceted in the fact that he talks about the history, the structure of music and some of the instruments. Also some interesting stories are thrown in along the way.
This author knows his stuff and that enthusiasm comes out in this writing. My musical knowledge was small, but this book has really opened my eyes to what is out there. I had no idea what many of the pieces he mentioned were so I Googled a few and was fascinated. I think the CD is the way to go, the book can get a bit dry at times. But, I enjoyed this book and think I have a much better grasp on music than I ever did before.
Great information for anyone interested in music. It took me a long time to read being a lecture series and not a mystery, but it was worth the time. The authors approach is multi-faceted in the fact that he talks about the history, the structure of music and some of the instruments. Also some interesting stories are thrown in along the way.
This author knows his stuff and that enthusiasm comes out in this writing. My musical knowledge was small, but this book has really opened my eyes to what is out there. I had no idea what many of the pieces he mentioned were so I Googled a few and was fascinated. I think the CD is the way to go, the book can get a bit dry at times. But, I enjoyed this book and think I have a much better grasp on music than I ever did before.
August 20, 2017
Great intro to western composed music and its relevant history. The author did a good job of putting social and historical context to some well known pieces of music which makes for much more enjoyable and interesting listening. Short and interesting bios of some of the more well known composers adds to the listening pleasure too. I wish the musical glossary was a little more extensive. Well written, short and to the point. A lot of fun.
April 3, 2019
As someone who has enjoyed several of the author's Great Courses on classical music [1], there is obviously much to enjoy here. While I do not agree with everything in this course (more on that shortly), the author is obviously both knowledgeable and passionate about concert music and seeks to inspire in the reader the same degree of passion for the repertoire of the Western music tradition. It should be noted that this course is a condensed version of the author's 48-lesson course on how to listen to and enjoy great music, which is itself an abbreviated and abridged form of the author's usual music appreciation courses, which are likely a great deal more extensive in terms of the music they cover in both breadth and depth. By and large I find much to agree with concerning the author's broad appreciation, but I must admit that I have a hard time appreciating the atonal music that the author closes with, and find that the demented culture of the West in the period after World War I has created a crisis of legitimacy in the Western music tradition that has cut off contemporary composers from an appreciative mass audience as was the case for hundreds of years.
The 300 pages of this book are divided into 33 short chapters that cover western music from its beginnings to the early part of the 20th century. Beginning with a discussion on the importance of understanding and listening to music (1), the author talks about his mad dash through the roots of Western music (2) and the music of the Medieval church (3) as well as some music theory and terminology (4). The author discusses the Baroque paradox of exuberance and intellectual control (5), the rise of instrumental music (6), national styles (7), fugues (8), and Baroque opera seria (9) as well as oratorios and cantatas (10). The author talks about baroque genres (11, 12), the enlightenment (13), classical era form and genre (14, 15, 16, 17, 18), and opera (19). There are discussions of Beethoven (20, 21), the Romantic movement (22), structural issues (23) and program symphonies (24), and the rise of Italian opera (25, 26), as well as nationalism in Germany, Central Europe, and Russia (27, 28, 29). Finally, the author concludes this book with a discussion of modern music (30), the rise of new music (31) in the early 20th century, as well as Stravinsky (32) and Schoenberg (33) before closing with some suggestions for the reader to listen to from the classical repertoire.
So long as the reader recognizes that this is a very superficial and brief discussion of the Western classical music tradition, this book can be greatly enjoyed for the author's obvious erudition and enthusiasm. To be sure, there are plenty of areas where the author could and should have expanded his discussion--the American classical tradition, as well as that of Scandinavia and the Czechs, and even some discussion of the classical traditions outside of the West would have been fertile areas for discussion. That said, this is a book that is honest about the fact that it is very incomplete and partial in its scope, and one that should be supplemented by other volumes for those who want a deeper look into classical music. Those readers who want a generally tolerant view of the wide scope of Western opera, instrumental, and religious music will find much to appreciate here, though, and are recommended to listen to the author's Great Course on the same subject as well, which is helpfully advertised at the end of this volume. To be sure, there is a lot that is left out, but what is included will whet an appetite for more than the author has time or space to discuss here.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
The 300 pages of this book are divided into 33 short chapters that cover western music from its beginnings to the early part of the 20th century. Beginning with a discussion on the importance of understanding and listening to music (1), the author talks about his mad dash through the roots of Western music (2) and the music of the Medieval church (3) as well as some music theory and terminology (4). The author discusses the Baroque paradox of exuberance and intellectual control (5), the rise of instrumental music (6), national styles (7), fugues (8), and Baroque opera seria (9) as well as oratorios and cantatas (10). The author talks about baroque genres (11, 12), the enlightenment (13), classical era form and genre (14, 15, 16, 17, 18), and opera (19). There are discussions of Beethoven (20, 21), the Romantic movement (22), structural issues (23) and program symphonies (24), and the rise of Italian opera (25, 26), as well as nationalism in Germany, Central Europe, and Russia (27, 28, 29). Finally, the author concludes this book with a discussion of modern music (30), the rise of new music (31) in the early 20th century, as well as Stravinsky (32) and Schoenberg (33) before closing with some suggestions for the reader to listen to from the classical repertoire.
So long as the reader recognizes that this is a very superficial and brief discussion of the Western classical music tradition, this book can be greatly enjoyed for the author's obvious erudition and enthusiasm. To be sure, there are plenty of areas where the author could and should have expanded his discussion--the American classical tradition, as well as that of Scandinavia and the Czechs, and even some discussion of the classical traditions outside of the West would have been fertile areas for discussion. That said, this is a book that is honest about the fact that it is very incomplete and partial in its scope, and one that should be supplemented by other volumes for those who want a deeper look into classical music. Those readers who want a generally tolerant view of the wide scope of Western opera, instrumental, and religious music will find much to appreciate here, though, and are recommended to listen to the author's Great Course on the same subject as well, which is helpfully advertised at the end of this volume. To be sure, there is a lot that is left out, but what is included will whet an appetite for more than the author has time or space to discuss here.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
January 15, 2021
I've read several books on great music over the years; this one was the most practical in that you can apply the topics covered in the chapters to your listening. The chapters are short and include 'music boxes' that take you through a piece of music that highlights what was covered in that chapter. The author also wrote with some humor and his style was overall engaging. There's a helpful glossary and a list of works highlighted.
Though the book is short, about 300 pages, I recommend taking your time to go through it in order to get the most out of it.
The author does a great job in presenting the material in historical context and traces the evolution from vocal to instrumental in that context leading into Baroque and on through Classical (proper), Romantic and Modern up the beginning the 20th century. What's missing is everything after the first world war, which apparently he dismisses. (Come on, Grofe, Holts, Copeland, Elgar?)
He spent several chapters on opera, and when you read the book it's understandable. While those chapters were interesting and I cast a wide net when it comes to listening to music I am still not going to get into opera any more than I would rap or heavy metal.
I would have liked more on chamber music (quartets, quintets, sextets, septets, octets) and found the book lacking in that area.
Overall I recommend if you are into concert music.
Though the book is short, about 300 pages, I recommend taking your time to go through it in order to get the most out of it.
The author does a great job in presenting the material in historical context and traces the evolution from vocal to instrumental in that context leading into Baroque and on through Classical (proper), Romantic and Modern up the beginning the 20th century. What's missing is everything after the first world war, which apparently he dismisses. (Come on, Grofe, Holts, Copeland, Elgar?)
He spent several chapters on opera, and when you read the book it's understandable. While those chapters were interesting and I cast a wide net when it comes to listening to music I am still not going to get into opera any more than I would rap or heavy metal.
I would have liked more on chamber music (quartets, quintets, sextets, septets, octets) and found the book lacking in that area.
Overall I recommend if you are into concert music.
April 27, 2021
Outstanding book. Already I'm thinking I want to re-read it. It requires a musical understanding to begin with, so it would be tough going for non - musicians.
I love the way he writes, his use of words, as he looks in detail at the development of music through the common practice periods from pre-baroque, through baroque, classical, romantic up to early modern, ending with Stravinsky and Schoenberg.
Essentially, he shows how music has been a reflection of the historical, religious, cultural, and philosophical development at the time.
Okay, this may not initially sound riveting, but it is, it really is. I've learned so much that I want to retain.
And one take-out for me, is an even clearer grasp of the genius of Beethoven. He towers above them all. In the development of music, the division really is B. B. and A. B - before Beethoven and after Beethoven.
I love the way he writes, his use of words, as he looks in detail at the development of music through the common practice periods from pre-baroque, through baroque, classical, romantic up to early modern, ending with Stravinsky and Schoenberg.
Essentially, he shows how music has been a reflection of the historical, religious, cultural, and philosophical development at the time.
Okay, this may not initially sound riveting, but it is, it really is. I've learned so much that I want to retain.
And one take-out for me, is an even clearer grasp of the genius of Beethoven. He towers above them all. In the development of music, the division really is B. B. and A. B - before Beethoven and after Beethoven.
April 3, 2023
Fairly well-conceived telling of musical terms, history, and concepts loaded under syrupy, corny prose. Things were not always logically organized (by time period, by concept, or by cause/effect), which was off-putting, but the information made it through in the end. Greenberg has a very . . . special sense of "humor" (like calling Beethoven a "bad boy" or pretending he'd have ridden a motorcycle around) which seriously detracts from the book. It's probably better to simply come across as deeply appreciative and let the history speak for itself. We don't need puerile humor to help us through the book; those who need such humor to survive reading will probably not be taking this book on, in all honesty.
September 1, 2024
Whew, that was a lot. 48 lectures later, can report back with a few takeaways. First, I did learn a lot even though listening to these mostly at 1.7x while doing other things is not the best way to absorb information in a way I can retain (not a huge surprise). Second, while this exposed me to some work I was less familiar with (opera, the Baroque period) I find that I didn't actually find many new composers or styles I enjoy listening to that I wasn't previously aware of (for instance, still can't get into opera or the Baroque period). The lecturer does an able and silly job keeping the subject interesting throughout.
May 4, 2017
Read it for class and absolutely loved it! Concise, and understandable for people who don't have experience in Common Practice era music. The music boxes are really helpful and fun to listen to; my suggestion is that if a piece is mentioned (especially if it's explained in the text), even if it doesn't have a music box, you should find a recording of it and listen.
I wasn't unfamiliar with a lot of concepts, but my appreciation for some of the 'genres' I didn't much listen to had increased in my new understanding of the social and historical influences.
I wasn't unfamiliar with a lot of concepts, but my appreciation for some of the 'genres' I didn't much listen to had increased in my new understanding of the social and historical influences.
March 29, 2020
This book provides easy-to-follow guides to understand and appreciate classical music for classical fans with no formal musical education like myself. I am glad to be able to build some framework for my future musical apprehension as well as pick up some quintessential vocabulary in music: things that I didn't know that I was seeking as I grew more interested in my musical journey as a fan. I am sure that I will often come back to this book as a good reference. Recommend to people like me who are looking for a kind and unassuming guide to the world of classical music.
December 27, 2019
This really is great, but since it’s a book there is one major flaw — you can’t hear the music he discusses. He includes sheet music, but if you could hear the music in your head just by looking at the sheet music, then you probably wouldn’t need to read this book.
I strongly recommend using this book as a companion with Greenberg’s excellent Great Courses audiobook, “How to Listen to and Understand Great Music” (which includes the actual music!). Well worth just a single credit on Audible.
I strongly recommend using this book as a companion with Greenberg’s excellent Great Courses audiobook, “How to Listen to and Understand Great Music” (which includes the actual music!). Well worth just a single credit on Audible.
November 8, 2020
This books is a brief introduction to western music. It covers all the main musical periods: Baroque, classical, romantic etc. But sometimes the book gets quite technical and I find it hard to understand. Nevertheless, the author offers several very important ideas regarding western music and I find them to be very insightful.
June 15, 2024
"How to Listen to Great Music" by Robert Greenberg is one of the clearest and most entertaining explanations I've read on any topic. The author's wonderful sense of humor keeps the content engaging while still providing substantial depth. Notable works are referenced throughout, making it easy to build a solid foundational knowledge quickly. This book is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of classical music.
January 25, 2019
I was hoping more time could have been spent on analyzing the music, not the context and background story. Anyway, the chapter on Beethoven's symphony No.5 is very good. It helps you understand how this piece is being written.
June 25, 2021
I love listening to Robert Greenberg, I think audio is the best way to learn from him.
These Great Courses books on music are well worth their value, they offer entertainment and knowledge AND beautiful music. What more could anyone want?
These Great Courses books on music are well worth their value, they offer entertainment and knowledge AND beautiful music. What more could anyone want?
March 7, 2023
Wonderful book chock full of information not only about music but about history and humanity and the motivations and inspirations for the music. Too much information to be fully absorbed in a single reading so I'm sure I will be reading it again.
June 29, 2017
I read a library copy of this book, but I found it so valuable that I am going to buy a copy to keep for reference and review.
August 17, 2017
It goes together with the TTC Course, without of Course the Vibrant personality of Robert Greenberg
January 21, 2022
Very readable, very informative. Based on his Great Course lectures, which I started, and are great, but which went too slow for me. Having such immediate access to music with Spotify and YouTube makes this book so much more useful than it would’ve been 15 years ago.
September 3, 2022
Need the audio book alongside.
August 29, 2024
only gets 3 stars because it mentioned the Erlking
January 6, 2017
Robert Greenberg's How to Listen to Great Music is a fascinating guide to and history of what is commonly known as "classical music". More correctly known as "music of the common practice" or "Composed music", Greenberg offers an overview of the development of great music.
The book is clearly written for average readers, and he clearly explains terminology necessary to understand music. Greenberg convincingly demonstrates that an understanding of the context and meaning of great compositions helps listeners have a greater love for pieces of music.
Greenberg's tour begins with religious chants of the middle ages known as plainchants. As the late middle ages gave way to the renaissance, individual composers within churches began to play a bigger role in crafting unique chants. It was in the late middle ages that individual composers were first recognised. In the late middle ages churches specifically searched for talented chant composers. From here, Greenberg provides the reader a tour through renaissance era baroque music, with its complicated and intricate patterns, into the beautiful symmetry and simplicity of enlightenment music. From there he takes us through the growing individualism of composers and the romantic era. Greenberg explains how the intense focus on individuality and unique music, led to a celebration of regional and national difference and tied into 19th-century nationalism. He finishes his tour by taking us through impressionism, modernism and the end of the "common practice."
Greenberg lucidly demonstrates that music is intimately connected to history. Baroque fascination with intricacy, rooted very much in 16th and early 17th-century European culture, directly influenced the music of the era. The enlightenment championing of cosmopolitanism, humanism and the universality of human experience produced music that emphasized beauty, simplicity and human universality. The increased focused on individualism took route in musical culture as well as romantic-era composers infused their own personalities and cultures into their music. Eventually, this move towards individual focus led composers to question common assumptions and produced ever more esoteric music, attempting to capture specific feelings or moments in time. This tied into the impressionistic art movement and produced a unique musical form. Finally in the modern era musicians eventually abandoned the common practice as technology rendered much of the tradition unnecessary to the creation of music.
Greenberg demonstrates that musical development was intimately connected to technological development. Music was a response to the technology that existed at the time, and musicians have always been creative and interested in harnessing new technologies. Fascinatingly Greenberg demonstrates is the way that music ties into culture and language. The Germanic language allowed for a very different type of opera than the Italian language. French music had a different characteristic from Germanic music. Language fundamentally shaped music, and music helped influence the development of language and culture. Whatever one thinks of Wagner, his music powerfully shaped modern Germany and Europe.
There is so much that readers can learn about music history in this book. Composers of the common practice were superstars of their day. The staid and classy atmosphere of modern orchestral concerts bears no resemblance to the raucous nature of concerts in the 18th and 19th century. Many of the most famous composers were every bit as arrogant and troubled as today's popular music divas.
Greenberg convincingly argues that opera is probably the most important musical form ever developed, or certainly the most influential musical form. Modern day popular music was shaped by opera. And the development of operas was key to all other developments in composed music. It is fascinating to read how much of our culture of music listening stemmed from popular Italian opera culture.
Reading the book helps us understand how Johann Sebastien Bach is a great exemplar of Baroque intricacy, how the symphonies of Joseph Haydn and works of Mozart typify the grace of the Enlightenment era "classical" music, how Beethoven's music was a bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras and how the pieces of Schoenberg and Liszt exemplify the impressionistic culture of late 19th and early 20th century.
The book is based on Greenberg's popular "Great Courses" program about music. Every chapter of the book offers at least one in-depth study of a particular piece of music. I can't help but wish that I had listened to the course instead, and that is probably a better way to grasp this material. Still, the book is lucidly written, and a great way for lovers of music to develop a greater appreciation for great music and its importance to our lives.
The book is clearly written for average readers, and he clearly explains terminology necessary to understand music. Greenberg convincingly demonstrates that an understanding of the context and meaning of great compositions helps listeners have a greater love for pieces of music.
Greenberg's tour begins with religious chants of the middle ages known as plainchants. As the late middle ages gave way to the renaissance, individual composers within churches began to play a bigger role in crafting unique chants. It was in the late middle ages that individual composers were first recognised. In the late middle ages churches specifically searched for talented chant composers. From here, Greenberg provides the reader a tour through renaissance era baroque music, with its complicated and intricate patterns, into the beautiful symmetry and simplicity of enlightenment music. From there he takes us through the growing individualism of composers and the romantic era. Greenberg explains how the intense focus on individuality and unique music, led to a celebration of regional and national difference and tied into 19th-century nationalism. He finishes his tour by taking us through impressionism, modernism and the end of the "common practice."
Greenberg lucidly demonstrates that music is intimately connected to history. Baroque fascination with intricacy, rooted very much in 16th and early 17th-century European culture, directly influenced the music of the era. The enlightenment championing of cosmopolitanism, humanism and the universality of human experience produced music that emphasized beauty, simplicity and human universality. The increased focused on individualism took route in musical culture as well as romantic-era composers infused their own personalities and cultures into their music. Eventually, this move towards individual focus led composers to question common assumptions and produced ever more esoteric music, attempting to capture specific feelings or moments in time. This tied into the impressionistic art movement and produced a unique musical form. Finally in the modern era musicians eventually abandoned the common practice as technology rendered much of the tradition unnecessary to the creation of music.
Greenberg demonstrates that musical development was intimately connected to technological development. Music was a response to the technology that existed at the time, and musicians have always been creative and interested in harnessing new technologies. Fascinatingly Greenberg demonstrates is the way that music ties into culture and language. The Germanic language allowed for a very different type of opera than the Italian language. French music had a different characteristic from Germanic music. Language fundamentally shaped music, and music helped influence the development of language and culture. Whatever one thinks of Wagner, his music powerfully shaped modern Germany and Europe.
There is so much that readers can learn about music history in this book. Composers of the common practice were superstars of their day. The staid and classy atmosphere of modern orchestral concerts bears no resemblance to the raucous nature of concerts in the 18th and 19th century. Many of the most famous composers were every bit as arrogant and troubled as today's popular music divas.
Greenberg convincingly argues that opera is probably the most important musical form ever developed, or certainly the most influential musical form. Modern day popular music was shaped by opera. And the development of operas was key to all other developments in composed music. It is fascinating to read how much of our culture of music listening stemmed from popular Italian opera culture.
Reading the book helps us understand how Johann Sebastien Bach is a great exemplar of Baroque intricacy, how the symphonies of Joseph Haydn and works of Mozart typify the grace of the Enlightenment era "classical" music, how Beethoven's music was a bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras and how the pieces of Schoenberg and Liszt exemplify the impressionistic culture of late 19th and early 20th century.
The book is based on Greenberg's popular "Great Courses" program about music. Every chapter of the book offers at least one in-depth study of a particular piece of music. I can't help but wish that I had listened to the course instead, and that is probably a better way to grasp this material. Still, the book is lucidly written, and a great way for lovers of music to develop a greater appreciation for great music and its importance to our lives.
August 8, 2021
I became acquainted with Greenberg years ago, when a colleague of mine loaned me his course from the Teaching Company. I've since been a subscriber to that service and have taken countless courses from them. Almost without exception the courses are wonderful, but I would go as far as saying that Greenberg's course was in a class of it's own. It is easily my favorite course from them, and that's saying something.
This book is more or less that course in book form. It is a terrific music primer, and suitable for just about anyone below "professional" or someone with a degree in Music. Greenberg has a way of educating in a fun and unpretentious manner. His true love of music comes through loud and clear, and makes you reexamine some of your own tastes.
While completely appropriate for a novice, the sweet spot might be for those that have had some formal musical education. I consider myself reasonably well educated musically, already listened to his course, yet still found plenty of nuggets of knowledge in this book. It's difficult to write a book in such a way that you can hit such a wide audience, but Greenberg did it.
The book wasn't as good as the movie however. Listening to the music he references is important to getting the most out of the book, and every 10 pages or so it was necessary to fire up Idagio and hunt for the music. Through no fault of the author, the book format is just a bit clunkier than the online course
All in all, a terrific book.
This book is more or less that course in book form. It is a terrific music primer, and suitable for just about anyone below "professional" or someone with a degree in Music. Greenberg has a way of educating in a fun and unpretentious manner. His true love of music comes through loud and clear, and makes you reexamine some of your own tastes.
While completely appropriate for a novice, the sweet spot might be for those that have had some formal musical education. I consider myself reasonably well educated musically, already listened to his course, yet still found plenty of nuggets of knowledge in this book. It's difficult to write a book in such a way that you can hit such a wide audience, but Greenberg did it.
The book wasn't as good as the movie however. Listening to the music he references is important to getting the most out of the book, and every 10 pages or so it was necessary to fire up Idagio and hunt for the music. Through no fault of the author, the book format is just a bit clunkier than the online course
All in all, a terrific book.
January 7, 2013
This is a very good primer for the novice, but music majors and serious musicians might find it a bit patronizing or dumbed down. Being neither a music major nor a serious musician (or even a reasonably competent one), I found it helpful, and I liked Greenberg's obvious passion for his subject and his deep knowledge of the material. Although he's certainly engaging, sometimes his tone is a bit annoying; he has a penchant for dorky jokes, but those probably come across a lot better in a classroom than on the printed page. (They seem to in the few DVD lectures of his that I've watched, in any case.) Nevertheless, I learned a lot of useful things, and I didn't feel intimidated by the examples from the sheet music, even though my sight-reading is halting at best. He puts the music in a historical context without getting bogged down in too much specialized minutiae. A few chapters are considerably more detailed, however, such as his careful exegesis of a Beethoven symphony and an entire chapter on Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of concert music in its proper context. At the very least, it struck me as a fine foundation for a more in-depth study, especially if you've never taken a college music class.
July 14, 2011
this was a beast that took me nearly forever to read, but i'm thrilled i stuck with it. greenberg does his damnedest to highlight the pertinent socio-political events occurring during the time that "classical" music was composed and why composers created the masterworks they did. all music was intertwined, stemming from roots laid by previous generations and constantly evolving. understanding the context in which it was originally performed lends the modern listener to feel the awe that the first audiences heard listening to these classic. the author holds a passionate understanding for this and conveys it to the reader.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews