My dear, Linus and Lucy is not classical... haha! It seems we have a starting point:) Before we go any further I want to clarify that for the purposes of this discussion that when I refer to "classical music" I am only referring to Western Classical Music and not the classical traditions of other parts of the world (don't even get me started on how the originally Carnatic musician Ilayaraja has arguably spanned a broader musical scope than any other living musician). Anyway, just because something uses piano or violin, etc... does not mean it is classical. For example this gorgeous track by Tom Waits is still pop music. An overly simplified way of thinking about it is this: there is popular music and there is art music. Classical music is music which is now considered art music. Popular music is folk music or music for consumption. Classical music is music for the sake of music (or I should say for the intellect, for the engaged listener, god anyway I say it I sound like a super douche and am going to catch flack). One is not better or worse than the other. Even 500 years ago there was the same distinction.
Before I proceed please note that each piece linked in this blog has been carefully selected for your appreciation and unless noted otherwise should be listened to and considered in full if this lesson is to achieve its desired goal.
Linus and Lucy is music of a folk tradition. Here is a breathtaking example of Polish folk music traditions and here is an example (not a great performance) of Chopin in which he draws on the old Polish folk traditions to create art music. One of the main differences which usually (though not always) separates the two traditions is that folk music is an aural tradition whereas classical is written. That is to say musics like Jazz, though now well documented on paper, evolved and were originally passed down by ear whereas classical music is a tradition which has always relied on the written page to evolve and continue.
Throughout the coming weeks I will post some of my favorite classical pieces. They will be from varied genre's, styles, and time periods. It will be a lot to chew on but give them a good listen and let me know what you liked the most/least and why and that will be our jump-off point for this learning experience (all of this will be from the past 200 years. Some really interesting stuff from the 20th and even 21st century later in the week. For music from before 1800 I am capable and willing to give you all the history you want but I generally don't enjoy it so it would be hard for me to help YOU enjoy it)
Lesson 1 (since you mentioned Beethoven...)
To dissect the name of the piece a bit: Symphony indicates that it is a work for full orchestra (almost always without singers or words of any sort, although in the 4th movement of this very piece there are 4 soloist singers and a choir. There are always exceptions to the rules). Number 9 indicates that it's the 9th symphony he wrote. The piece is in the key of D minor. Opus 125 indicates that it was the 125th piece of music that he published. First movement - usually there are 4 movements in a symphony. A good analogy is if a symphony is an album, a movement is a song. The movements are usually in different keys and different tempos and forms.
Side note, he wrote this piece towards the end of his life while completely deaf. I particularly like the very end - another word for very end in classical music is "Coda." As the story goes, after this piece premiered (on May 7th my birthday!) the crowd roared. Beethoven could not hear it though and when somebody pointed behind him and he turned around and saw the audience's response he wept. Who really knows if it's true?
Q: Didn't the fact that Beethoven was going deaf for the second half of his life have a psychological impact on the composer?
A: Yes
A: Yes
The word Allegro indicates tempo, C# minor is the key that the piece is in. Op. 131-7 just means opus 131, movement 7. This is one of the very last pieces (if not the last) which Beethoven ever wrote. This is the seventh movement although string quartets typically have only 4 movements. Beethoven was cool like that. Again he was totally deaf when he wrote this.
