Classical Music For Dummies
- Author: Pogue, David
Book
$27.25Contents
- Introduction 1
- About This Book 1
- Foolish Assumptions 2
- Icons Used in This Book 2
- Beyond the Book 3
- Where to Go from Here 4
- Part 1: Getting Started With Classical Music 5
- Chapter 1: Prying Open the Classical Music Oyster 7
- Discovering What Classical Music Really is 8
- Figuring Out What You Like 8
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Composers 9
- Their music is from the heart 9
- They use a structure that you can feel 9
- They're creative and original 10
- They express a relevant human emotion 10
- They keep your attention with variety and pacing 11
- Their music is easy to remember 11
- They move you with their creations 12
- Chapter 2: The Entire History of Music in 80 Pages 13
- Understanding How Classical Music Got Started 13
- Chanting All Day: The Middle Ages 14
- Gregorian chant 14
- A monk named Guido 15
- Mass dismissed! 15
- The First Composer-Saint 16
- Born Again: The Renaissance 16
- The madrigal takes off 16
- Opera hits prime time 17
- Getting Emotional: The Baroque Era 18
- Renegade notes on wheels 18
- Kings, churches, and other high rollers 19
- Antonio Vivaldi 19
- George Frideric Handel 21
- Johann Sebastian Bach 24
- Tightening the Corset: The Classical Style 26
- Joseph Haydn 27
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 29
- Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges 34
- Ludwig van Beethoven: The man who changed everything 34
- Schubert and his Lieder 39
- Felix Mendelssohn 42
- Fanny Mendelssohn 44
- Falling in Love: Hopeless Romantics 45
- Carl Maria von Weber 45
- Hector Berlioz 46
- Frederic Chopin 49
- Robert Schumann 51
- Johannes Brahms 54
- The superstars: Paganini and Liszt 56
- Liszt follows Paganini's lead 57
- Richard Wagner 58
- Strauss and Mahler 59
- Saluting the Flag(s): Nationalism in Classical Music 63
- Bedrich Smetana 64
- Antonin Dvorak 65
- Edvard Grieg 67
- Jean Sibelius 68
- Carl Nielsen 70
- Glinka and the Mighty Fistful 71
- Peter Tchaikovsky 73
- Sergei Rachmaninoff 75
- Listening to Music of the 20th Century and Beyond 77
- Debussy and Ravel 78
- Igor Stravinsky 80
- Sergei Prokofiev 83
- Dmitri Shostakovich 84
- The Second Viennese School 86
- The Americans 87
- Chapter 3: Spotting a Sonata 95
- Symphonies 95
- First movement: brisk and lively 96
- Second movement: slow and lyrical 97
- Third movement: dancy 98
- Finale: rollicking 98
- Sonatas and Sonatinas 99
- Concertos 100
- Concerto structure 101
- The cadenza 101
- Dances and Suites 103
- Serenades and Divertimentos 104
- Themes and Variations 105
- Fantasias and Rhapsodies 106
- Tone Poems (Or Symphonic Poems) 107
- Lieder (and Follower) 107
- Leader of the Lieder 108
- Song forms 108
- Oratorios and Other Choral Works 109
- Operas, Operettas, and Arias 110
- Overtures and Preludes 110
- Ballets and Ballerinas 111
- String Quartets and Other Motley Assortments 112
- Why Do You Need a Form, Anyway? 113
- Part 2: Listen Up! 115
- Chapter 4: Dave 'n' Scott's E-Z Concert Survival Guide (TM) 117
- Preparing - or Not 117
- Knowing When to Arrive at the Concert 118
- Can I Wear a Loincloth to The Rite of Spring? 119
- The Gourmet Guide to Pre-Concert Dining 119
- Figuring Out Where to Sit - and How to Get the Best Ticket Deals 120
- To Clap or Not to Clap: That's the Question 122
- Why nobody claps 122
- More on the insane "no-clap" policy 123
- Who to Bring and Who to Leave at Home with the Dog 125
- Recognizing Which Concerts to Attend - or Avoid - on a Date 125
- Peeking at the Concert Program 126
- The typical concert format 127
- The music itself 129
- A different kind of program 130
- Introducing the Concertmaster 132
- Finding the pitch 133
- Twisting and turning, pulling and pushing 133
- Enter the Conductor 135
- Understanding interpretation 135
- Slicing up time 137
- Reading the job description 138
- Chapter 5: For Your Listening Pleasure 141
- 1 Handel: Water Music Suite No 2: Alla Hornpipe 142
- 2 Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2: Prelude and Fugue in C Major 143
- 3 Mozart: Piano Concerto No 22 in E-Flat, Third Movement 145
- 4 Beethoven: Symphony No 5, First Movement 149
- Exposition 150
- Development 151
- Recapitulation 151
- Coda 152
- 5 Brahms: Symphony No 4, Third Movement 153
- 6 Dvorak: Serenade for Strings, Fourth Movement 155
- 7 Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 6, Fourth Movement 156
- 8 Debussy: La Mer: Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer 158
- 9 Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring: Opening to the End of Jeu de Rapt 161
- Introduction 161
- Danses des adolescentes (Dances of the Adolescent Girls) 162
- Jeu de rapt (Ritual of Abduction) 163
- Intermission: Backstage Tour 165
- Living in the Orchestral Fishpond 165
- What I Did for Love 166
- Going through an Audition 167
- An almost-true story 167
- Rigged auditions 169
- The list 169
- The prescription 170
- Playing the odds 170
- An unexpected meeting 171
- The return 171
- Onstage 172
- Behind the screen 172
- The wait 174
- The aftermath 175
- The Life of an Orchestra Musician, or What's Going on in the Practice Room? 175
- Selling the Product 176
- Understanding Contract Riders 179
- The Strange and Perilous Relationship between an Orchestra and Its Conductor 180
- Why an Orchestra Career is Worth the Grief 182
- Part 3: A Field Guide To The Orchestra 183
- Chapter 6: Keyboards & Co 185
- The Piano 185
- Looking inside the piano 186
- Naming the notes 186
- Finding an octave 186
- Playing the black keys 187
- Looking inside the piano 188
- Pressing down the pedals 188
- Hearing the piano 190
- The Harpsichord 191
- Winning the Baroque gold medal 191
- Hearing the harpsichord 192
- The Organ 193
- Pulling out the stops 194
- Hearing the organ 194
- The Synthesizer 195
- Chapter 7: Strings Attached 197
- The Violin 198
- Drawing the bow 199
- Tuning up 199
- Playing the violin 200
- Vibrating the string 201
- The unbearable lightness of bowing 201
- Plucking the strings 202
- Hearing the violin 203
- The Other String Instruments 204
- The viola 204
- The cello 206
- The double bass 208
- The harp 209
- The guitar 212
- Chapter 8: Gone with the Woodwinds 215
- The Flute 216
- Making music out of thin air 216
- Hearing the flute 217
- The Piccolo 218
- The Oboe 219
- Playing the oboe 221
- Hearing the oboe 222
- The English Horn 223
- The Clarinet 223
- Transposing instruments 223
- Hearing the clarinet 225
- The Saxophone 226
- The Bassoon 227
- Chapter 9: The Top (and Bottom) Brass 231
- Making a Sound on a Brass Instrument 232
- The French Horn 233
- Hunting for notes: The natural horn 234
- Adding valves: The modern, treacherous horn 234
- Hearing the French horn 235
- The Trumpet 236
- Tonguing 237
- Using mutes 237
- Hearing the trumpet 237
- The Trombone 238
- Sliding around 239
- Hearing the trombone 240
- The Tuba 241
- A gaggle of tubas 241
- Hearing the tuba 242
- Pet Peeves of the Brassily Inclined 242
- Chapter 10: Percussion's Greatest Hits 243
- The Timpani 244
- Drum roll, please! 246
- Hearing the timpani 246
- The Bass Drum 246
- The Cymbals 247
- The Snare Drum 247
- The Xylophone 248
- Other Xylo-like Instruments 250
- More Neat Instruments Worth Banging 250
- The triangle 250
- The tambourine 252
- The tam-tam and gong 253
- The castanets 254
- The whip 254
- The cowbell 255
- The ratchet 255
- Part 4: Peeking Into The Composer's Brain 257
- Chapter 11: The Dreaded Music Theory Chapter 259
- I've Got Rhythm: The Engine of Music 260
- Dividing up time 260
- Feeling the beat 261
- Sight-reading for the first time 262
- Making notes longer 263
- Making notes shorter 264
- Adding a dot 265
- Taking the final exam 266
- Understanding Pitch: Beethoven at 5,000 rpm 267
- Performing an experiment for the betterment of mankind 268
- 12 pitches! 269
- Notating pitches 270
- Dave 'n' Scott's 99.9999% Key-Determining Method 278
- Why we have keys 279
- Making the Leap into Intervals 280
- The major second 281
- The major third 282
- The fourth 282
- The fifth 283
- The major sixth 284
- The major seventh 285
- The octave 285
- Telling the difference: major and minor intervals 286
- The minor second 286
- The minor third 287
- The minor fifth (not!) - aka the tritone 288
- The minor sixth 288
- The minor seventh 289
- Getting on the Scale 290
- Constructing a Melody 292
- Getting Two-Dimensional: Piece and Harmony 292
- Major, minor, and insignificant chords 293
- Friends and relations: harmonic progressions 294
- Friends, Romans, chord progressions 295
- Listening to the oldies 296
- Put in Blender, Mix Well 297
- Getting Your Music Theory Degree 298
- Chapter 12: Once More, with Feeling: Tempo, Dynamics, and Orchestration 299
- Meet the Dynamics Duo: Soft and Loud 300
- Honey, I shrunk the LoudSoft (TM) 301
- Wearing Italian hairpins 302
- Getting into matters of sonic taste 303
- Throwing Tempo Tantrums 303
- Telling 'Bones from Heckelphones: Orchestration Made Easy 304
- Playing with sound colors 304
- Notating orchestrations 304
- Who's the orchestrator? 305
- Part 5: The Part of Tens 307
- Chapter 13: The Ten Most Common Misconceptions about Classical Music 309
- Classical Music is Boring 309
- Classical Music is for Snobs 310
- All Modern Concert Music is Hard to Listen to 310
- They Don't Write Classical Music Anymore 311
- You Have to Dress Up to Go to the Symphony 311
- If You Haven't Heard of the Guest Artist, She Can't Be Any Good 311
- Professional Musicians Have It Easy 312
- The Best Seats Are Down Front 313
- Clapping between Movements is Illegal, Immoral, and Fattening 313
- Classical Music Can't Change Your Life 314
- Chapter 14: The Ten Best Musical Terms for Cocktail Parties 315
- Atonal 316
- Cadenza 316
- Concerto 317
- Counterpoint 317
- Crescendo 317
- Exposition 318
- Intonation 318
- Orchestration 318
- Repertoire 318
- Rubato 318
- Tempo 319
- Using Your New-Found Mastery 319
- Chapter 15: Ten Great Classical Music Jokes 321
- Master of Them All 321
- The Heavenly Philharmonic 322
- Brass Dates 322
- The Late Maestro 323
- Basses Take a Breather 323
- Houseless Violist 324
- Ludwig's Grave 324
- The Weeping Violist 324
- Musicians' Revenge 325
- One Last Viola Joke 325
- Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Get More Music in Your Life 327
- Get Involved with Your Orchestra 327
- Join a Classical Music Tour 328
- Meet the Artists - Be a Groupie 328
- Make Music Friends on the Internet 329
- Join an Unlimited Music Service 330
- Listen to Your Local Classical Station 330
- Load Up on Your Own Recordings 331
- Watch Classical Music Movies 332
- Study Up on the Classics 333
- Make Your Own Music 334
- Part 6: The Appendixes 337
- Appendix A: Listen to This! Starting a Classical Music Collection 339
- List 1: Old Favorites 340
- List 2: MILD on the Taste Meter 341
- List 3: MEDIUM on the Taste Meter 342
- List 4: MEDIUM HOT on the Taste Meter 343
- List 5: HOT on the Taste Meter 344
- Appendix B: Classical Music Timeline 345
- Appendix C: Glossary 353
- Index 359