Robert Greenberg
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William Shatner's Brown Bag Wine Tasting volume 17
Language
English
Description
Music historian Robert Greenberg reveals the true inspiration for Beethoven's symphonies over a glass of mystery wine. William and Robert discuss how time and experience gradually lead to a greater appreciation for, and understanding of, classical music.
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English
Description
When it comes to creative longevity, brilliance across a range of styles, and near-universal fame, Igor Stravinsky (1882—1971) is nearly unrivaled among 20th-century artists. Stravinsky's career was a dizzying progression across the miles and the decades, from fin de siècle czarist Russia to Southern California in the 1960s. His career features styles ranging from nationalism and Impressionism to Fauvism, Neoclassicism, and the 12-tone ultra-serialism...
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Series
Language
English
Description
Professor Robert Greenberg offers a spirited introduction to the mysterious realm of music theory-the complex syntax of structural and instrumental resources that composers draw on. Sidestepping the necessity to read music, these lectures represent a rare opportunity for learning music theory-for understanding the processes of composition. The course will reward you many times over as you find yourself enjoying much deeper connections with the language...
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English
Description
More than many other composers, Gustav Mahler's works are highly personal expressions of his inner world, a world of overwhelming alienation and loneliness - "thrice homeless," in his own words, "as a Bohemian in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, as a Jew throughout the world - everywhere an intruder, never welcomed." Incredibly, Mahler was able to draw upon the diversity of this world that offered him no true home, as well as his often tortured...
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Language
English
Description
Have you ever wondered how the lives of great composers - especially when set against the social, political, and cultural context of their world - influenced their music? After listening to this perceptive series of eight lectures on the life and music of Ludwig van Beethoven, you will likely find that you hear his work in an entirely different way, with your insight informed by new knowledge of how Beethoven was able to create masterpieces from the...
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English
Description
To watch any opera lover listen to a favorite work, eyes clenched tight in concentration and passion, often betraying a tear, is to be almost envious. What must it be like, you might think, to love a piece of music so much? And now one of music's most gifted teachers is offering you the opportunity to answer that very question, in a spellbinding series of 32 lectures that will introduce you to the transcendentally beautiful performing art that has...
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 6
Language
English
Description
Piano Sonata no. 6 in F, op. 10, no. 2 remained a special favorite of Beethoven's for many years after its composition. Examine the elements that make it seem so playful, before turning to the grander work that concludes the opus 10 set: Piano Sonata no. 7 in D.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 20
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English
Description
Piano Sonata no. 28 in A, op. 101, is unique among Beethoven's 32 in that he had someone else's hands and spirit in mind when he composed it: namely his brilliant student Baroness Dorothea von Ertmann. It is also one of Beethoven's most rigorous and experimental works composed to that point in his life.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 24
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English
Description
Beethoven completed his final piano sonata, no. 32 in C Minor, op. 111, five years before his death. Opus 111 seems obviously Beethoven's valedictory statement for the genre; it ties up loose ends, yet it is so stunningly original that it caps, rather than continues, the composer's run of 32 sonatas for piano.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 7
Language
English
Description
Focus on one of Beethoven's most popular piano sonatas: no. 8 in C Minor, op. 13 (Pathetique). Professor Greenberg shows how time and popularity can trivialize even the most revolutionary creation, rendering us immune to what was once considered new and shocking.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 5
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English
Description
In his three opus 10 sonatas, Beethoven continues his formula of composing a triad of starkly different works, ranging from darkly passionate to witty to grand. Look at the first of these pieces: Piano Sonata no. 5 in C Minor.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 3
Language
English
Description
Beethoven's first four piano sonatas are four-movement works that are orchestral in scope, reflecting Beethoven's concept of the piano as a major instrument. We look at the second of his opus 2 set, Sonata no. 2 in A, as an example of these "grand sonatas."
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 22
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English
Description
Continue your study of the Hammerklavier, focusing on the paradoxical fourth movement fugue, composed seemingly without limits or limitations. The Hammerklavier has been called "monstrous and immeasurable," a sonata like no other. With it, Beethoven opened the door to a new expressive world.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 18
Language
English
Description
Continuing your exploration of Beethoven's often overlooked piano sonatas, study no. 25 in G, op. 79, and no. 27 in E Minor, op. 90. The opening movement of op. 79 is a parody of Classically styled piano sonatas, while op. 90 opens with great pathos and tenderness.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 14
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English
Description
Explore the other two opus 31 sonatas: no. 16 in G (which literally saved the life of pianist Claude Frank) and no. 18 in E flat. We also look at the opus 49 pair: no. 19 in G Minor and no. 20 in G; both were published against Beethoven's wishes and have since become favorites of young players.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 11
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English
Description
The most popular of all of Beethoven's piano works is his Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight). Imbued with tragic feeling, the Moonlight is almost impossible not to relate to the composer's progressive hearing loss.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 23
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English
Description
Beethoven's last three piano sonatas owe much to his epic Missa Solemnis ("Solemn Mass") which was also composed in the period 1820-1822. Explore the spiritual and compositional links to the Missa Solemnis, particularly as they relate to sonatas no. 30 in E, op. 109, and no. 31 in A flat, op. 110.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 13
Language
English
Description
While the groundbreaking Third Symphony was Beethoven's public declaration of his "new path" as a composer, the piano sonatas were, collectively, his workshop for getting there. None more so than Sonata no. 17 in D Minor, op. 31, no. 2 (Tempest).
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 16
Language
English
Description
Likened to Dante's Inferno and Shakespeare's King Lear, Sonata no. 23 in F Minor, op. 57 (Appassionata) is not only esteemed by audiences, it was also one of Beethoven's favorites among his piano works. With the Waldstein, it is a quintessential example of Beethoven's "heroic" style.
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Beethoven's Piano Sonatas volume 19
Language
English
Description
Piano Sonata no. 26 in E flat, op. 81a (Les Adieux) was dedicated to the Archduke Rudolph, an aristocratic patron and friend of Beethoven's who was fleeing Vienna ahead of Napoleon's armies, hence its name: the Farewell Sonata. We look at the piece as a mirror of contemporary events and as program music.