Book & Music Reviews: How to Listen to Great Music

The Great Courses (The Teaching Company)

A Guide to the Its History, Culture and Heart by Robert Greenberg

I have quite a library of The Great Courses in my home.  I love their catalog, which encompasses anything you want to know about in depth and via textbook and DVD audio tapes.  These subjects are written and audio tapes from college professors, some of the best in the country.  They are in depth and are the equivalent of college courses and are some of the best teaching instructions in the country. 

Robert Greenberg is a composer, faculty on board The Teaching Company, pianist and music historian.  In “How to Listen to Great Music,” Greenberg, in eloquent and understandable prose, defines music as “sound in time.”  The textbook begins with the roots of Western music, and the progresses to the role of music in ancient Greece, the Medieval Church, music theory and terminology, national styles and musical form. The content is comprehensive, in depth and yet extremely interesting and easy to follow for someone like me who has never taken any classes in music.

I love classical music but am basically ignorant.  The Great Courses book and audios provide in depth consideration of each subject and inform people who really want to know the background and thematic of each subject, the different great composers, the ins and outs of composing and the essence of great music.

With his equally engaging and comprehensive guide to Western concert music: How to Listen to Great Music: A Guide to Its History, Culture, and Heart. This book is a wonderful way to further enrich how you engage with great composers and their masterpieces. Plus, it’s filled with all of the fascinating stories and insights you expect from a mind as engaging as Professor Greenberg’s. Order this book together with Professor Greenberg’s masterful course and you’ll have everything you need to finally hear what you’ve been missing.

Along with the book, the DVDs include:

This DVD set includes guidebook and DVD set with 8 lectures on 8 discs (45 minutes per lecture).  If you love Beethoven, or are just curious and want to learn about him and his music, this presents a comprehensive history of his life and presents his music so that you learn to appreciate the behind the scenes of a great composer.

If you love listening to audios while in your car, taking a trip, or enjoying a rest on your patio, you will love these sets.  These sets are wonderful as gifts and you can listen to one lecture at a time and set the others aside to listen to later.

I order quite a few of The Great Course sets, from American literature to Egyptian history to ANYTHING that I have an interest in.  These again are comprehensive and serve almost like an entire college lecture series and are wonderful for people who want to continuously learn but don’t want the expense of going back to college or are home-bound.  I have never been disappointed, and Robert Greenberg is an enjoyable speaker and immensely entertaining and interesting.