Classical music appreciation: basics

In this lecture we name the major periods which make classical music history and introduce some time coordinates.

In this lecture we talk about the first of the four major periods, Baroque: we name the main composers and instruments commonly used and in the end through an example we take a look of the style typical of baroque music.

Here we move on to Classicism, the second major period. As we did with Baroque we take a look at main composers, main instruments and style of the period.

It is worth dedicating this lecture to Beethoven, the revolutionary who transition music towards Romanticism: we talk about his personality and the changes he introduces with his music.

Time to talk about Romanticism. Here and in the next lecture you will find the main features of this third period alongside some of the main composers.

It is finally time to dive deep into a piece. As an example of romantic music we will taste and analyze the beginning of Robert Schumann's piano concerto. Due to its incredible richness of ideas and shivers we will need three lectures to properly enjoy this piece.

In this lecture we spend some words on the last of the major periods, the modern era: some of the main composers, mindset, innovations.

Preview of our focus in this section: music's triple nature.

Let us talk about the most primordial element of music, rhythm: its characteristics, its meaning, its role.

Who doesn't know what "melody" means? Still, it is worth spending some time to summarize its features and its impact on us, with the aid of a delicious example of course!

In this lecture we get to know the least immediate element of music: harmony. What it is, what it does and what it is capable of will be the main topics. Many of you will be surprised by the musical example I chose!

To show how the three elements are combined to create a great piece I dedicate this lecture and the following to another in-depth music appreciation moment: we discuss about the great ending climax of the first movement from Anton Bruckner's sixth symphony.

The concept of "genre" is crucially important in classical music. In this first lecture I already explain a couple of important and recurring terms we already mentioned which are used a lot in classical music.

Starting from the most little formations we take a look at a couple of common genres born in the baroque period.

Chamber music is not only a matter of number of musicians involved: it implies a mindset, a world of expression son of Viennese Classicism. We learn its meaning in this lecture.

With Romanticism the cultural conception of chamber music cannot remain the same: the context changes, the expressive needs are no longer the same. We see this evolution together.

Very loved and often used, big formations have their own pools of genres, very famous and commonly found in concerts programs. Who has never heard the words "concerto" or "symphony"? In this lecture we describe their characteristics.

Being a part of European culture, classical music cannot avoid being involved in Christianity and the artistic representation of its imaginary. The main genres of classical sacred music are two: we learn about them here.

The orchestra is a big formation and it is not easy to get familiar with all the instruments involved. In this lecture we take a brief look at its history and evolution through three centuries.

Here I introduce you the piece we are going to use to get in touch with each instrument of the orchestra. Before going into the single ones we start out with the instrumental families and get a picture of how the various groups of instruments sound while playing together.

In this lecture we name all the woodwinds instruments and we listen to their variations.

It is time to move to another family: the strings. Here and in the next lecture we will see the differences between them and their timbers.

The artillery of the orchestra: the brasses. Still, they are not only very loud and powerful instruments; each of them has a distinct personality to: we get to know them here.

Britten gives a lot of room in this piece for percussion instruments: we see why and which is the most important of them.

A super quick, trampling and terrific run through all the instruments again: this is how our piece end in grand fashion.

Thank you for joining and stay tuned!