Great overview of the history of the symphony

This course covers the symphony as a musical form - how it was formed, the composers who had a major impact on it's subsequent development and it's impact on music generally.

Starting with the early antecedents of the symphony, the overtures to operas, we see how the symphony developed alongside the orchestra, and how composers took up this new form to create some beautiful music. The baroque forms are moulded by Mozart, Haydn and other classical composers to create what is now called the 'classical structure' of the symphony. Then Beethoven comes along and changes everything. From this point onwards, the content of the lecture seems to become fairly repetitive - a discussion of a composer's life, how many symphonies they wrote and then an more in depth look at one of these.

The composers covered range in nationality and period and go right up to Shostokovich. If you are already into music history, I'm sure a lot of this will be known to you. If like me you are fairly new to this, then it is very interesting listening and I was introduced to many new composers I had never heard of.

Now for my criticism, which is that Beethoven is given just one lecture. The lecturer says at the outset of this lecture that he has done a 34 lecture course on Beethoven's symphonies, which is fine but in this course he essentially brushes over the most important development in the history of the symphony, whilst Haydn gets two lectures?! Very strange and seems like a bit of self-promotion. In fact, the lecturer advertises his own other great courses probably six or seven times throughout, which is fine but don't use that as an excuse not to discuss something!

Of course what kind of music you like is subjective, but Beethoven's symphonies are important well beyond just how nice they are, they completely changed the genre and this is clear from various references and quotes given in the course, so it feels like a waste of an opportunity to only discuss them for one lecture.

As a lecturer, Prof. Greenberg is very enthusiastic, funny and engaging. I will be listening to other courses by him for sure.

Overall, I certainly recommend this course and enjoyed listening to it immensely.

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3 people found this helpful

Outstanding

I have listened to over 70 audiobooks on audible. This one is outstanding. The content, information and above all the delivery by the lecturer is simply stunning. If you have any interest in classical music at all - this is a must! Get it

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Developing my craft

Love this series of lectures. As a modern composer myself finding this series was a dream come true. Dence with musical information of the great composers I feel I have grown significantly as an artist after studying this.

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Exhilarating

I had listened to "Bach and the High Baroque" by the same author (and lecturer/narrator) in the same series (The Great Courses), which I thoroughly enjoyed. This new title caught my eye and appealed to me in its own right so that I would have listened to it anyway but I was delighted to see (and to hear) the same lecturer. He brought his by-now familiar insights and enthusiasm to this new topic. He faced the same problem of choosing what to include and what to illustrate with musical examples in the face of the enormous quantity of high quality material available to him and he should feel comfortable that he managed to do this with distinction. I enjoyed revisiting old friends and on each one I learned something new about the piece, the composer and the social milieu that framed it, either by influence or by iconoclasm on the part of the composer. Inevitably this yielded portraits of genius, triumphs and tragedies. Mapping music onto emotion and intellect will obviously always be imperfect but Robert Greenberg presents compelling explanations that make sense in historical and biographical context. His choice of final symphony (and hence composer) forms an exhilarating climax to the series of lectures that matches the most satisfying of endings of any of the symphonies that he discusses. It is well worth the investment of time and suspense to work through all of the lectures in order, and to leave the concluding lecturer to the very end.

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Robert Greenberg is a treasure. Course is essential.

I would honestly be lost as largely self directed student of music without Robert Greenberg’s work.
Presented with humour and playfulness your in the hands of a master music teacher. This course like all his courses is essential, and is now on the top of my favourites. So much fantastic music to listen to and absorb i will be coming back for repeated listening and learning. This is also amazing to have them here on audible as I have in the past spend hundreds of pounds getting the cd’s of the teaching company mail order. Anyway why are you still reading get this course and start your listening ;)

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Simply marvellous!

What a wonderful journey into the world of music and the symphony, by a passionate, zany and phenomenal music teacher! In the first 5 mins I already knew that I would enjoy it, and it did not let me down all the way to the very end! Incredible and highly recommended.... I now know a lot more and can appreciate more of the musical symphony than ever. I travelled back in time and lived the lives of the great composers and understood what drove them and motivated them. Each part was accompanied by examples of the music or excerpts which made it fully come to life! Please listen to this audio book, you will not regret it!

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1 person found this helpful

Great way to grasp one of the finest art forms

Superb narrative, appropriate humour, wonderful exerts of the music. Never too complicated or over simplified. All round a masterpiece.

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Never Disappoints

I have now done seven of Professor Greenberg’s lecture series. They are always well delivered, full of interest and well structured. I can’t read a note of music but still learn a great deal about the music I love.

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Very interesting

Very interesting to broaden one’s horizons and interest and listening opportunities. I was not sure about the authors rather negative view of English music. For Elgar Broadheath is nowhere near Manchester. It is south west of Birmingham. Walton didn’t get a mention. The other fundamental problem is that altjoughWagner did not write symphonies he was tremendously influential so he deserves more of a mention.

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