Classical Music Mayhem!!

I love the Project Gutenberg. Now reading a book on the history of the violin that was written in the late 1800s and as such is in the public domain.

You can read it here.

Maybe this book has been discussed before? Maynard Solomon's "Mozart A Life" it's interesting if you like a psychological approach to Mozart:

I prefer a more biography approach, anyone have suggestions for good Mozart books?

Sonjia

I can suggest anything by Neal Zaslaw or Alfred (not Albert) Einstein. Both are eminent Mozart scholars, though Einstein (1880-1952) may be a bit out of date. Professor Zaslaw posts over at MozartForum every now and again, so if you post there you may bump into him from time to time.

Einstein's book:


One of Zaslaw's books:


Another interesting book is the one on Mozart's piano works by Paul Badura-Skoda, which came to my attention via a pal of mine, Gurn Blanston. Written in 1962, Badura-Skoda literally wrote the book on historically-informed performance of Mozart's piano works! Might be hard to find, though...

Hi, Sonjia
Hi, Sorin

a great Mozart book, maybe the best one (as wrote Charles Rosen) is Hermann Abert's study of 1919 (revised in 1955),
a book of about 1500 pages, full of biographic details and of analyses.
Obviously, since 1919/1955, biographic and musicologic knowledge has been improved,
but the translation of Abert's book now available for English readers provides footnotes by the editor updating Abert's information.
I have an Italian translation.
Read Charles Rosen's review of the English translation, on the New York Review of Books: LINK

at Amazon
at Barnes & Noble

Another famous book on Mozart that I want recommend is by Wolfgang Hildesheimer. Not exactly an ordered biography: it contains a fascinanting series of psichologic, biographic and aesthetic reflections, written in a smart and humorous style.

at Amazon

by the way: I want read, sooner or later, Rosen's Book "The Classical Style. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven"

at Amazon

Thanks Brine and Sorin, I will try some of these books!

Sonjia

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It's a long time since I read it but I remember 'The Classical Style' by Charles Rosen being of invaluable help in one way and another. Stravinsky's 'Autobiography' and his 'Poetics of Music' are wonderful - Stravinsky writes very clearly. Another enthralling book is Schoenberg's 'Style and Idea'.
Regards,
Elaine

Yes I think Rosen's book is well known and popular.

would any of you be able to recommend me a decent, thorough 'Beginner's refernce guide' to classical music? I don't want anything overly simplistic, but neither something full of technical terms, for which I'd need a dictionary beside me. I could really do with something on the historical development of musical styles; a brief analysis of major works and how to interpret them... any ideas??

thanks...

For starters, try listening to the analysis of various compositions provided here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/listeninglibrary.shtml

That's a great resource. Similar to this is Masterpieces of Western Music by Jeffrey Lependorf, from the Portable Professor series, 14 lectures on CDs from Vivaldi to Copland, and Leonard Bernstein's Harvard lectures.

From your postings, it doesn't sound to me like you need much education.

Personally, I'm always buying music appreciation books at used bookstores, and they're all pretty much the same, Like Roger Kamien's Music, An Appreciation and Hoffer's The Understanding of Music. The standard textbook for a long time has been Grout's A History of Western Music, if you're wanting something more substantial. I think it's not overly technical. Ulrich and Pisk's A History of Music and Musical Style is another one in this vein.

One book I've found with a unique approach is David Hurwitz's Beethoven or Bust, which emphasizes actual listening over historical details. He has you listen to music in groups to compare/contrast, like Symphonie Fantastique, Schumann's 3rd symphony, Beethoven's 6th symphony, and Mahler's first, with a brief commentary on how they relate.

Now that one really does sound interesting... I have a neighbour who tried me on Mozart: Requiem, Beethoven: Missa Solemnis & Dvorak: Requiem back in the spring, to demonstrate developing trends within religious music, and I found that very enlightening. This, I will persevere with...

I think this is an excellent way to gain an appreciation of a style of music. Some time in the not too distant future I'm going to attempt this with the Mass.

I started off with The Teaching Company's Lecture "How to Understand and Listen to Great Music". The title is a bit snobbish but it's actually an excellent overview of music styles, history, and terms from early Medieval through modern times. It's 48 lectures long, and each lecture is about 45 minutes.

You may need to find a copy at your local library as the cost is prohibitive to buy it new. However, it is a college level course (albeit an introductory one), and as such is cheaper than paying tuition.

How to Listen To Great Music

Oh, I forgot about that one. I'm fortunate that my library has a copy of that. Mr. Greenberg is an excellent communicator.

Have you heard his series on the Schumanns? It's an interesting study of this couple's struggles to keep a relationship with dual careers.

Not yet--I'll have to see if it's available at my library. Their relationship to Brahms was an important influence on his music.

Speaking of Brahms, I've just purchased his biography by Jan Swafford.


Amazon Link

So far it's a fascinating read.