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Music as a Mirror of History cover art

Music as a Mirror of History

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Robert Greenberg
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Summary

In the worlds of painting and literature, it's easy to see where history and art intersect. In Picasso's Guernica or Tolstoy's War and Peace, it's evident how works of art mirror and participate in the life of their times, sometimes even playing roles in historical events. But what about music?

In Music as a Mirror of History, Great Courses favorite Professor Greenberg of San Francisco Performances returns with a fascinating and provocative premise: Despite the abstractness and the universality of music - and our habit of listening to it divorced from any historical context - music is a mirror of the historical setting in which it was created. Music carries a rich spectrum of social, cultural, historical, and philosophical information, all grounded in the life and experience of the composer - if you're aware of what you're listening to. In these 24 lectures, you'll explore how composers convey such explicit information, evoking specific states of mind and giving voice to communal emotions, all colored by their own personal experiences. Music lovers and history enthusiasts alike will be enthralled by this exploration of how momentous compositions have responded to - and inspired - pivotal events.

Ranging widely across the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, you witness historical moments such as the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian-Ottoman conflict, the Hungarian nationalist movement, the movement for Italian unification, the economic ascent of the US, the Stalinist regime in the USSR, and World Wars I and II. Across the arc of the course, you'll see how these events were felt and expressed in the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Verdi, Wagner, and many others, including modern masters such as Janáček, Górecki, and Crumb, and you'll hear superlative musical excerpts in each lecture. Join us for an unparalleled look into the power and scope of musical art.

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

©2016 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2016 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Music as a Mirror of History

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    2 out of 5 stars

Too much history, not enough music

I greatly enjoyed Professor Greenberg's previous courses for the Great Courses, and particularly The Symphony, which I recently finished. Having read the summary, I was also looking forward to this. Unfortunately, there is too much history, and not enough analysis of classical music and how this was influenced by historical events and trends. This was not what I expected. I would instead recommend the audiobooks by James Naughtie or Howard Goodall.

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Another fantastic course from the incredible Dr G

Having listened to a couple of Dr Greenberg's other courses on music one of which referenced this one I was intrigued to hear more. This fantastic recording tells the story of music from ancient Greek times through to the Romans and then the chanting of monks and then the explosion of creativity during the renaissance and beyond. In each chapter the historical backdrop of world events is compared with the lives of the composers so you get really get what was going on around them and what motivated them to produce their works. Fame and fortune as well as artistic motivations even for the greats artists of each era, some things never change.
What strikes the listener, well me anyway, is the extent to which certain composers could be in / out of favour so quickly and how historical events can shape the mood and sound of the music produced.
It is an ambitious project to tie together world history with music history. Dr Greenberg is probably the only person who could possibly do this properly and this is a resounding success. I love it.

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2 people found this helpful

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Outstanding!

This is a beautifully constructed course that takes pride of place on my Audible bookshelf.
The lectures are delivered with passion and gusto and set the scene for key historic events, context and respective pieces from around the world.
Highly recommended indeed!

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Very informative

A sort of History 101 with some period music. Not quite what I expected but Greenberg is always entertaining.

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1 person found this helpful

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Absolutely captivating

Totally hooked on Professor Bob's courses. Enlightening, entertaining and beautifully structured. Can not recommend this highly enough. Also I recommend his Wagner course.

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1 person found this helpful

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Thoughly Enjoyable listening experience

I am thoroughly enjoying this audiobook. The narration is engaging, interesting and wonderful to listen to. The voice quality and intonation is good, and so is the way the topic is spoken about. Even my teenage boys ears perked up while this was playing in my car.

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1 person found this helpful

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Matchless

put simply, there is nothing like it. More of that later. OK, so some might say, not enough music. I totally understand why Greenberg did that: if you want LOTS of music a GOOD amount of history, you only need to look at his other very numerous courses. I already have all his other courses so to me this courses is simply PERFECT. This is really a course about music in the context of history. Some says, get the courses by Goodall or Naughtie. I would say, get these ALSO, not INSTEAD. For one reasons: Greenberg is simply the best. His lectures are huge, far longer than anything I have seen, plus, and this is important, they come all with top notch reference books, and these aren't your half baked little introduction manuals. I simply cannot believe I can get these huge and beautiful courses for the price of a cheap monthly membership. Four stars for this course? are you kidding? this deserves SEVEN stars. I can only hope Greenberg keeps them coming. Again, these courses are matchless. No question.

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Beautiful music. Bloody history.

RG combines his love of music and history to provide a background to some famous, and lesser known pieces of music. A great listen.

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Really excellent

I found this whole lecture series fascinating. I found the moving between the micro stories about the composer's and the macro geo/political narratives thought provoking and often very moving. Thank you

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Fascinating

Really informative and stimulating lectures presented with warmth and humour. Can't recommend this series highly enough.

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