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Can anybody recommend a reader on classical music?

 
 
 
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rousseau

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I've always found approaching classical music a bit overwhelming. There seems to be so much out there and before I get into it seriously I'd like to better understand the threads that have been woven throughout it's history. How did it evolve, who came after who, how did ensemble's develop.. etc.

I've done some research looking for a book that does what I'm looking for but nothing so far has popped out at me as something I'd want to buy. People here have also always been pretty fantastic at recommendations like this so I thought I'd sent a feeler out there.

I picked up Ted Gioia's 'History of Jazz' a few months ago and I guess I'm looking for something similar to it, but for classical I'd be ok going a little more academic in terms of music, and less historical.
 
I don't have a specific book, but something that outlined the major composers from Bach through Brahms would be a good start. And listen as you go.

The Great Pianists, by Harold Schoenberg, comes to mind, but obviously is piano-centric.

Another approach would be to start with your favorite composer, then work backwards or forwards from there.
 
There's also the opposite side of the spectrum here. Classical music's entire history abbreviated into three pages.
 
I have a half-dozen or so books like that in my library. The one I would most recommend to you is probably The Vintage Guide to Classical Music, by Jan Swafford. Swafford is a composer and music historian who has also written critically acclaimed biographies of Beethoven, Brahms and Charles Ives.
 
A google search reveals several online music appreciation courses, and I'm sure Amazon has a selection of texts as well.
 
MarkW said:
I have a half-dozen or so books like that in my library. The one I would most recommend to you is probably The Vintage Guide to Classical Music, by Jan Swafford. Swafford is a composer and music historian who has also written critically acclaimed biographies of Beethoven, Brahms and Charles Ives.
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Thanks for the reply. Good odds I'll purchase this one.

seyorni said:
A google search reveals several online music appreciation courses, and I'm sure Amazon has a selection of texts as well.
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Yea, Amazon is generally my first go to for research on books. Surprisingly, though, search terms like 'classical music' and 'classical music history' didn't bring up anything I wanted to bite on.
 
I read Swafford's Ives book, and liked it. With the minor caveat that he sometimes seemingly went out of his way to demonstrate his knowledge of German.
 
rousseau said:
I've always found approaching classical music a bit overwhelming. There seems to be so much out there and before I get into it seriously I'd like to better understand the threads that have been woven throughout it's history. How did it evolve, who came after who, how did ensemble's develop.. etc.

I've done some research looking for a book that does what I'm looking for but nothing so far has popped out at me as something I'd want to buy. People here have also always been pretty fantastic at recommendations like this so I thought I'd sent a feeler out there.

I picked up Ted Gioia's 'History of Jazz' a few months ago and I guess I'm looking for something similar to it, but for classical I'd be ok going a little more academic in terms of music, and less historical.
Click to expand...

Unless something has changed since I was in college, the most authoritative history of music textbook is still Donald Jay Grout's "A History of Western Music." This is a textbook, so it's not light reading. And to be honest, I don't know how helpful it is to people who haven't already had extensive exposure to classical music.

My recommendation would be to find an audiobook that had a variety of musical excerpts to help you hear the development of the music rather than just read about it. My recommendation would be this audiobook/course by Robert Greenberg. I haven't listened to this audiobook myself, but I am currently listening to an audiobook/course by Greenberg on "Bach and the High Baroque," and it is absolutely rock solid in its presentation and content.
 
Achwienichtig said:
rousseau said:
I've always found approaching classical music a bit overwhelming. There seems to be so much out there and before I get into it seriously I'd like to better understand the threads that have been woven throughout it's history. How did it evolve, who came after who, how did ensemble's develop.. etc.

I've done some research looking for a book that does what I'm looking for but nothing so far has popped out at me as something I'd want to buy. People here have also always been pretty fantastic at recommendations like this so I thought I'd sent a feeler out there.

I picked up Ted Gioia's 'History of Jazz' a few months ago and I guess I'm looking for something similar to it, but for classical I'd be ok going a little more academic in terms of music, and less historical.
Click to expand...

Unless something has changed since I was in college, the most authoritative history of music textbook is still Donald Jay Grout's "A History of Western Music." This is a textbook, so it's not light reading. And to be honest, I don't know how helpful it is to people who haven't already had extensive exposure to classical music.

My recommendation would be to find an audiobook that had a variety of musical excerpts to help you hear the development of the music rather than just read about it. My recommendation would be this audiobook/course by Robert Greenberg. I haven't listened to this audiobook myself, but I am currently listening to an audiobook/course by Greenberg on "Bach and the High Baroque," and it is absolutely rock solid in its presentation and content.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Why do you say it might not be helpful for people not already versed in classical?

I'd say I have a pretty good understanding of classical as a style of music, and generally how it developed, just not with any depth. That's what I'm looking for: to make all of the vague notions I have about it and it's development concrete, and to get a stronger appreciation of different composers.

With the jazz history I mentioned above I've done that and now my jazz listening experience is far, far richer than it was before.

In any case I definitely don't run from denser histories, if anything that's what I'd be looking for. Curious to know why you lean against it, though.
 
rousseau said:
Achwienichtig said:
Unless something has changed since I was in college, the most authoritative history of music textbook is still Donald Jay Grout's "A History of Western Music." This is a textbook, so it's not light reading. And to be honest, I don't know how helpful it is to people who haven't already had extensive exposure to classical music.

My recommendation would be to find an audiobook that had a variety of musical excerpts to help you hear the development of the music rather than just read about it. My recommendation would be this audiobook/course by Robert Greenberg. I haven't listened to this audiobook myself, but I am currently listening to an audiobook/course by Greenberg on "Bach and the High Baroque," and it is absolutely rock solid in its presentation and content.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Why do you say it might not be helpful for people not already versed in classical?

I'd say I have a pretty good understanding of classical as a style of music, and generally how it developed, just not with any depth. That's what I'm looking for: to make all of the vague notions I have about it and it's development concrete, and to get a stronger appreciation of different composers.

With the jazz history I mentioned above I've done that and now my jazz listening experience is far, far richer than it was before.

In any case I definitely don't run from denser histories, if anything that's what I'd be looking for. Curious to know why you lean against it, though.
Click to expand...

I lean against it for several reasons. Firstly, I have always used it as a reference book, not a reader. This is how my music history professor recommended it be used, and I think he was right. It has a great layout (although I can't speak for the latest editions) that makes looking things up fairly easy. The drawback is that it can be terse in its treatment of what I would consider to be important developments. It is, after all, trying to condense a lot of information into one volume. It is more of an encyclopedia than anything else. For myself, I can quite literally say that I have learned nothing new from the book. I use it not to learn new things but to check my other sources against it.

Given all these considerations, I just don't think it will make a good reader, particularly if you don't have other sources to work with as well.

My main method of studying music has always been through audio, which sort of makes sense. Audio courses allow you to hear the things that are being talked about. My own sources, however, are rather eclectic and I can't point to just one as being the best (or even the worse, for that matter). I recommended Greenberg because his presentation is spot on, his information is solid, and because he does lots of comparisons. Having said that, I would still warn that I haven't used the particular audiobook I recommended.
 
I haven't looked at my Grout(in school it was always referred to to, disparagingly, as "Grout") since college, but what you say is consistent with my memory.

Your other point about listening I agree wholeheartedly. In the age of YouTube, it's easier than ever.
 
Horatio Parker said:
I haven't looked at my Grout(in school it was always referred to to, disparagingly, as "Grout") since college, but what you say is consistent with my memory.

Your other point about listening I agree wholeheartedly. In the age of YouTube, it's easier than ever.
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Yes, Youtube has a lot of music appreciation resources you can use. Like this one:

 
Bronzeage said:
I would start here.
Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts

It will help you understand classical music, and Bugs Bunny cartoons, as well.
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Actually I would recommend Bernstein's Omnibus series. Those were a small number of live broadcasts about classical music and everything behind it. One episode has some unknown named Carol Burnett for a second (actually, I don't know how unknown she was at the time).
 
Achwienichtig said:
rousseau said:
Thanks for the reply. Why do you say it might not be helpful for people not already versed in classical?

I'd say I have a pretty good understanding of classical as a style of music, and generally how it developed, just not with any depth. That's what I'm looking for: to make all of the vague notions I have about it and it's development concrete, and to get a stronger appreciation of different composers.

With the jazz history I mentioned above I've done that and now my jazz listening experience is far, far richer than it was before.

In any case I definitely don't run from denser histories, if anything that's what I'd be looking for. Curious to know why you lean against it, though.
Click to expand...

I lean against it for several reasons. Firstly, I have always used it as a reference book, not a reader. This is how my music history professor recommended it be used, and I think he was right. It has a great layout (although I can't speak for the latest editions) that makes looking things up fairly easy. The drawback is that it can be terse in its treatment of what I would consider to be important developments. It is, after all, trying to condense a lot of information into one volume. It is more of an encyclopedia than anything else. For myself, I can quite literally say that I have learned nothing new from the book. I use it not to learn new things but to check my other sources against it.

Given all these considerations, I just don't think it will make a good reader, particularly if you don't have other sources to work with as well.

My main method of studying music has always been through audio, which sort of makes sense. Audio courses allow you to hear the things that are being talked about. My own sources, however, are rather eclectic and I can't point to just one as being the best (or even the worse, for that matter). I recommended Greenberg because his presentation is spot on, his information is solid, and because he does lots of comparisons. Having said that, I would still warn that I haven't used the particular audiobook I recommended.
Click to expand...

Yea that sounds like something I'm not interested in, except maybe down the road. The more information the better, but I'm hoping for some readability.
 
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