We can learn a great deal from studying and learning music by the great composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Bartok, and even contemporary classical composers. Find out more here..... What the great composers teach us. (this post first appeared on my sister blog The Cross-Eyed Pianist)
Category: Music history
A History of Classical Music – Part 5: Modern
'Modern' classical music is a broad term, referring to music composed from around the turn of the twentieth-century to present-day (music composed now is usually called 'contemporary'). Like modern art, modern music is all about breaking the rules. At the turn of the twentieth-century, music was generally 'romantic' in style, but composers such as Gustav… Continue reading A History of Classical Music – Part 5: Modern
Opus and Köchel, Fitzpatrick and Deutsch
How music is catalogued To help us identify and organise pieces of music by a particular composer, individual compositions or sets are usually given an "Opus" number. The word "opus" is Latin and means "work" or "work of art". The abbreviation is "Op.", or "Opp." in the plural. The practice of assigning an "opus number"… Continue reading Opus and Köchel, Fitzpatrick and Deutsch
A History of Classical Music – Part 4: Romantic
Just like the Baroque and Classical periods before it, the Romantic period in music coincides with the Romantic period in art and literature. The Romantic period in music starts around 1820, a few years before Beethoven died (in 1827), and Beethoven's music can be considered to bridge the gap between the Classical and Romantic periods.… Continue reading A History of Classical Music – Part 4: Romantic
A History of Classical Music – Part 2: Baroque
Baroque ("baah-rock") is a style of art, which includes music, architecture and painting, and which lasted from around 1600 to around 1750. The greatest composer of the Baroque period is Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Baroque is a style of music, rather than an exact period of time. In other words, some composers lived during the… Continue reading A History of Classical Music – Part 2: Baroque
A Piano Teacher Writes... 