I was kindly sent a copy of a book by Robert Greenberg to review called “How to Listen to Great Music: A Guide to Its History, Culture, and Heart.” The book has about 330 pages and is organized into 33 chapters.
The content of this book is mostly about its subtitle than about its title. It reads like a history book — which is, of course, important to understanding “how to listen to great music.”
I often find history books (music or otherwise) dry and uninteresting; however, Greenberg’s book is more than tolerable — it is a very enjoyable read! From my years as a college student, I remember that my music history textbooks from college that it was easy to get bogged down in the details and fail to recognize over-arching themes and changes across the centuries. Greenberg, however, got it right! He has a knack for indentifying and bringing out those bigger themes to give the reader a better understanding of the historical and musical developments across the time periods. Continue reading “Review: How To Listen To Great Music by Robert Greenberg”
Many piano teachers subscribe to Clavier magazine, and some even subscribe their students to Clavier’s Piano Explorer, the music magazine for kids. I recently found out that their site contains some great resources for teaching about various composers and concepts in music history. This month, there have some great resources about Beethoven, including:
