How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
Where to Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
47.
Early 20th-Century Modernism—Igor Stravinsky
2023-11-01
We continue our exploration of early 20th-century modernism with a discussion of Igor Stravinsky. He gained almost instant fame in Paris with The Firebird in 1910, which displays aspects of tradition and innovation, the latter marked by Stravinsky's idiosyncratic use of rhythm.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 47 Now
46.
Early 20th-Century Modernism
2023-11-01
This lecture explores early 20th-century modernism with an examination of the life and music of Claude Debussy. We discuss the increasing French cultivation of the French language in the arts, both visual and musical.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 46 Now
45.
An Introduction to Early 20th-Century Modernism
2023-11-01
Survey musical and expressive trends from the Baroque era through the late 19th century. With an expressive language pressed to the breaking point, with a new scientific and technological world at hand, and the thrill of a new century about them, will the best young composers be content to work within the same melodic and harmonic language as their great-great-grandfathers?
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 45 Now
44.
Russian Nationalism
2023-11-01
Russia's entry into the greater European community as a result of the defeat of Napoleon and the Decembrist Revolution of 1825 are discussed, as is the growing conviction that the language and native music of Russia were capable of the highest artistic expression. The music and ideas of the Russian Five are discussed, with special emphasis on Rimsky-Korsakov and his Russian Easter Overture.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 44 Now
43.
Romantic-era Musical Nationalism
2023-11-01
This lecture examines the trend of folkloric musical nationalism during the second half of the 19th century with a brief history, followed by a discussion of musical exoticism. Ultimately, the lecture turns to Franz Liszt, perhaps the most representative instrumental virtuoso/composer of the 19th century, and his composition Totentanz.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 43 Now
42.
The Concert Overture, Part 2
2023-11-01
In this lecture we continue to discuss major genres of 19th-century orchestral program music. We discuss Shakespeare's importance to 19th-century music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 42 Now
41.
The Concert Overture, Part 1
2023-11-01
We return to the realm of instrumental music, specifically late 19th-century orchestral program music. We will define and discuss major genres of 19th-century orchestral program music and Shakespeare's importance to 19th-century music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 41 Now
40.
19th-Century German Opera
2023-11-01
Richard Wagner was a revolutionary who sought to radically reinterpret the function and substance of music drama in the mid-19th century. This lecture explores his early life and his paternity, then turns to the overture and Act I of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde as an example of Wagner's use of the orchestra, leitmotif, and the impact of the ideas of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 40 Now
39.
19th-Century German Opera—Nationalism and Experimentation
2023-11-01
In this lecture we examine early 19th-century German opera, which developed rather late compared to Italian and French opera. Genuine German opera evolved from native German roots, not by imitating and adapting Italian operatic plots and singing style.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 39 Now
38.
19th-Century Italian Opera—Giuseppe Verdi
2023-11-01
Verdi was not an innovator or reformer; his operatic style evolved as he sought ever-greater refinement of dramatic line, singing technique, and literary truth. He elevated the role of the orchestra and favored characterization and dramatic truth over the vocal prettiness of the bel canto style.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 38 Now
37.
19th-Century Italian Opera
2023-11-01
In this lecture, early 19th-century Italian opera is examined as a popular art, the product of a highly profitable media industry. The style of this opera is called bel canto; its essential composers were Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini, and Gioacchino Rossini.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 37 Now
36.
The Program Symphony—Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Part 2
2023-11-01
Hector Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique combines his four great loves: the drama of Shakespeare, the musical storytelling of opera, the symphonic genre of Beethoven, and himself. We examine the gestation of the symphony, the fixed melodic idea that is heard in each movement and that represents the "beloved image," and the final two movements.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 36 Now
35.
The Program Symphony
2023-11-01
Hector Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique combines his four great loves: the drama of Shakespeare, the musical storytelling of opera, the symphonic genre of Beethoven, and himself. We examine the gestation of the symphony, the fixed melodic idea that is heard in each movement and that represents the "beloved image," and the final two movements.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 35 Now
34.
Formal Challenges and Solutions in Early Romantic Music
2023-11-01
This lecture explores a paradox encountered by many early Romantic composers: the spontaneity and creative freedom of the composer being at odds with the preordained musical form. This lecture discusses the formal solutions embraced by composers who chose to abandon Classical form, and focuses on two miniatures.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 34 Now
33.
Introduction to Romanticism
2023-11-01
This lecture introduces the Romantic era and examines the legacy of Beethoven's vision of music as self-expression. Finally, we introduce and examine four Romantic trends that will be studied in detail over the next few lectures.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 33 Now
32.
Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, op. 67, Part 2
2023-11-01
Lecture 32 continues describing Beethoven's mature compositional innovations and artistic beliefs through the example of his Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 32 Now
30.
The French Revolution and an Introduction to Beethoven
2023-11-01
In comparing Haydn's Symphony No. 88 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, we emphasize the fact that Beethoven's symphony does not reflect a period style but is, rather, a self-referential art work. We explore Beethoven's early life and progressive hearing disability to understand the sources of his rage, alienation, and independence.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 30 Now
29.
Classical-era Opera, Part 2
2023-11-01
We discuss the operas of Mozart with special attention to Don Giovanni. We then discuss the nature and content of an opera buffa finale.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 29 Now
28.
Classical-era Opera
2023-11-01
Explore the development of Classical opera buffa: the ideal operatic genre for the Classical era's more realistic plots, more "natural" music, and more common characters, over the Baroque era's formulaic nature in opera seria and the domination of these operas by singers and virtuosic singing. Finally, we will sample Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's opera La Serva Padrona.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 28 Now
27.
The Solo Concerto
2023-11-01
We discuss the perfection of the violin family and the invention of the piano during the Baroque era, primary instruments for the concerto repertoire during the Classical era. We discuss the invention of the piano and compare the sound of an early piano to a harpsichord.
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26.
The Symphony
2023-11-01
This lecture explores the Classical symphony as both an orchestral genre and a social phenomena. The Baroque antecedents of symphony are described and discussed; a Baroque, Italian-style overture by Handel is compared directly to an early Classical symphony by Johann Stamitz.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 26 Now
25.
Classical-era Form—Sonata Form, Part 3
2023-11-01
Two additional sonata-allegro form movements are analyzed and discussed: the first movement of Haydn's Symphony No. 88 in G Major, and the overture to Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 25 Now
24.
Classical-era Form—Sonata Form, Part 2
2023-11-01
In Lectures 23 and 24 we examine sonata-allegro form, but first, we observe the life and personality of the extraordinary Wolfgang Mozart. We discuss the many meanings and uses of the word "sonata.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 24 Now
23.
Classical-era Form—Sonata Form, Part 1
2023-11-01
In Lectures 23 and 24 we examine sonata-allegro form, but first, we observe the life and personality of the extraordinary Wolfgang Mozart. We discuss the many meanings and uses of the word "sonata.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 23 Now
22.
Classical-era Form
2023-11-01
We discuss the antecedents of rondo form
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21.
Classical-era Form—Minuet and Trio Form
2023-11-01
Late 18th-century composers extended the formal structure and the expressive content of minuet and trio to create movements appropriate for the multimovement instrumental genres of the Classical era. With minuet and trio movements by Mozart and Haydn as examples, we examine the highly stylized minuet and trios of the Classical era.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 21 Now
20.
Classical-era Form—Minuet and Trio: Baroque Antecedents
2023-11-01
This lecture continues the examination of Classical instrumental musical form with an investigation of Baroque minuet and trio form, the antecedent of Classical minuet and trio form. The importance of courtly dance in 17th-century France is discussed, as is the development of stylized dances.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 20 Now
19.
Classical-era Form—Theme and Variations
2023-11-01
This lecture initiates a discussion of Classical instrumental musical form that will continue through Lecture 25. We examine the theme and variations form, an adaptation of Baroque variations to the expressive and musical needs of the Classical era.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 19 Now
18.
The Viennese Classical Style, Homophony, and the Cadence
2023-11-01
This lecture seeks to further build listening skills and vocabulary regarding cadence, or musical punctuation. The four cadence types are defined, demonstrated, and discussed.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 18 Now
17.
The Enlightenment and an Introduction to the Classical Era
2023-11-01
This lecture introduces the Age of Enlightenment and its impact on musical style. The dramatic difference between the music of the late Baroque and Classical eras is brought into high relief
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 17 Now
16.
Ritornello Form and the Baroque Concerto
2023-11-01
Focus now on ritornello form and the Baroque concerto. We first differentiate between chamber and orchestral music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 16 Now
15.
Passacaglia
2023-11-01
We introduce the concept of instrumental musical form
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14.
The Lutheran Church Cantata
2023-11-01
This lecture continues the examination of Baroque sacred music, focusing now on the Lutheran church cantata, which evolved as a musical commentary on a particular Bible reading. We also examine the operatic ideals of the Lutheran librettist Erdman Neumeister, and Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 14 Now
13.
The Oratorio
2023-11-01
his lecture introduces the oratorio and Lutheran Church cantata, and briefly discusses and defines the Baroque Mass, Magnificat, Passion, and sacred Motet as well. The oratorio is then examined in detail, from its modest beginnings as a musical setting of some Biblical text through its growing popularity as an operalike entertainment.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 13 Now
12.
Baroque Opera, Part 2
2023-11-01
We continue the evolution of opera from the late Renaissance through the early Baroque. We discuss the transition of Italian opera from courtly to popular entertainment and the development of the aria around 1660.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 12 Now
11.
Baroque Opera, Part 1
2023-11-01
We discuss the evolution of opera from the late Renaissance through the early Baroque. Believing that ancient Greek drama was entirely sung, members of the Florentine Camerata sought to create their own music dramas, and, in doing so, they invented opera around the year 1600.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 11 Now
10.
Fugue
2023-11-01
Drawing on fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel, this lecture introduces and examines the parts of a fugue: the exposition, subject restatements, and episodes. This lecture also seeks to define and discuss the various tuning systems used up to and during the Baroque era.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 10 Now
9.
National Styles
2023-11-01
This lecture describes the rise of German music during the Baroque. The Protestant Reformation put a new emphasis on the German language in worship, and the music with it followed the idiosyncratic cadences of the German language, as opposed to Latin/Italian.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 9 Now
8.
Style Features of Baroque-era Music
2023-11-01
In this lecture, we build listening skills and a descriptive vocabulary and discuss style and features of Baroque music. Essential musical elements as pulse, meter, scales, and harmony are examined in light of the Baroque predilection for scientific investigation, systemic organization and codification.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 8 Now
7.
An Introduction to the Baroque Era
2023-11-01
This lecture introduces the brilliant and exuberant Baroque era. We differentiate between the measured elegance of Renaissance music and the extravagant emotionalism of Baroque music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 7 Now
6.
The Madrigal
2023-11-01
This lecture focuses on the madrigal, the most important genre of Italian secular music of the late Renaissance. Examine the heightened poetic content of the madrigal and the Petrarchian revival.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 6 Now
5.
The Renaissance Mass
2023-11-01
This lecture introduces the mass as the most important compositional genre of the Renaissance. The mass itself is defined and the ceremony is discussed in detail, in particular the nature and content of the Proper and Ordinary.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 5 Now
4.
Introduction to the Renaissance
2023-11-01
This lecture examines the impact of the rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture on Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. Important Renaissance trends are defined and discussed.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 4 Now
3.
The Middle Ages
2023-11-01
This lecture focuses on the changing role of music in the medieval world. First we examine the liturgical plainchant and its musical characteristics.
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2.
Sources
2023-11-01
This lecture introduces the ancient world as a 4,000-year period of extraordinary cultural richness and variety. We discuss the cyclical, rather than linear, nature of art and music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 2 Now
1.
Music as a Mirror
2023-11-01
This opening lecture introduces themes, concepts, and terminology that will be used throughout the series. Important definitions and distinctions are discussed, including: concert music, classical music, popular music, and Western music.
Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition Season 1 Episode 1 Now
How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition is a series categorized as a new series. Spanning 1 seasons with a total of 46 episodes, the show debuted on 2023. The series has earned a no reviews from both critics and viewers. The IMDb score stands at undefined.
How to Watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition
How can I watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition online? How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition is available on The Great Courses with seasons and full episodes. You can also watch How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, 3rd Edition on demand at Prime Video, Amazon online.
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