How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition cover art

How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition

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About this listen

Great music is a language unto its own, a means of communication of unmatched beauty and genius. And it has an undeniable power to move us in ways that enrich our lives - provided it is understood.

If you have ever longed to appreciate great concert music, to learn its glorious language and share in its sublime pleasures, the way is now open to you, through this series of 48 wonderful lectures designed to make music accessible to everyone who yearns to know it, regardless of prior training or knowledge. It's a lecture series that will enable you to first grasp music's forms, techniques, and terms - the grammatical elements that make you fluent in its language - and then use that newfound fluency to finally hear and understand what the greatest composers in history are actually saying to us.

And as you learn the gifts given us by nearly every major composer, you'll come to know there is one we share with each of them - a common humanity that lets us finally understand that these were simply people speaking to us, sharing their passion and wanting desperately to be heard. Using digitally recorded musical passages to illustrate his points, Professor Greenberg will take you inside magnificent compositions by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and more. Even if you have listened to many of these illustrative pieces throughout your life - as so many of us have - you will never hear them the same way again after experiencing these lectures.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2006 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2006 The Great Courses
Music Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Feel-Good Piano

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Robert Greenberg goes on massive tangents at times and can get very effusive. He can also be ridiculously pedantic (getting upset with people saying concertos instead of concerti). In a 32 hour series, he says there is no time to explain the difference between a major and minor key (although he spends hours waffling on about the Italian language).

There are bound to be issues with what he misses out. We have two lectures on Beethoven's 5th, but the 9th hardly gets a mention. The whole series is heavily weighted towards the Baroque and Classical eras. He seems to rush his way through the late nineteenth century and the coverage of the twentieth century is very light (Shostakovich is barely mentioned!).

Overall though it's very good, especially for Bach and Mozart.

32 hours is not enough!

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I enjoyed listening to prof Greenberg, funny guy and very smart in his field which makes each chapter interesting.
a well structured course enabled me to keep on top when tackling new genres.

The downside however, having been drilled so hard about JS Bach and never once covered anything of Vivaldi.

Great for music lovers

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Extremely thought-provoking survey of the sweep of Western music from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century, taught by a funny, charismatic teacher.

My highest recommendation to anyone looking to dip their toes in this vast subject.

Superb survey course

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I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook course and it's exhuberant presentation by Professor Robert Greenberg and highly recommend it to all lovers of classical music.

Outstanding music course

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Robert does such a great work. I have learned so much and the passion that Robert gives on the subject just makes it even more interesting and worth reviewing. I've always enjoyed Classic Music and now I know why, Thank you so Much

Phenomenal

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Where does How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the most interesting, engaging and compelling listens that I've had.

What did you like best about this story?

The mixture of historical context and musical theory together with audible examples.

What about Professor Robert Greenberg’s performance did you like?

Greenberg's enthusiasm for his subject together with his humour.

Any additional comments?

Audible considers the additional course literature as "unnecessary" to listening to the course. I disagree. Certainly the word scores referred to would be invaluable.

Excellent

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Words can't express how much I've enjoyed this course. Professor Green berg's enthusiasm for music is infectious.

An absolute triumph!

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Would you listen to How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition again? Why?

There is so much information to absorb and so many insights I will be listening over and over

What did you like best about this story?

so much insight learned a lot

Have you listened to any of Professor Robert Greenberg’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have two of his others and this one compares very well

Very good informative and a good listen

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Prof Greenberg has an infectious enthusiasm for his subject. He is also a tremendous teacher and guide. I've been listening to classical music for 20+ years and yet this course gave me new insights, moments of intense pleasure. And laughter too. Very highly recommended, as his his Opera course, also available through Audible.

Enlightening. An absolute pleasure to listen to

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This is the 2nd of Robert Greenberg's lecture series I've listened to (the other was the opera lectures). He has such a good, easy style. I have learned so much without trying (I've not been following the downloadable notes, just bee listening on the go). I will now seek something else out in the series. I can't recommend them enough.

Enjoyable and informative.

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