Concertos for soloists and orchestra
Each part of this list is accompanied by a playlist with all the works mentioned in it
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg concerts
A simultaneously large-scale and compact cycle of six chapters ranging from ten to twenty minutes in length. Six completely different concerts, united by Bach's pure joy of life, each of which became the first of its kind: for example, the Fifth Brandenburg - the first ever concert for clavier and orchestra.
Alban Berg
"In Memory of an Angel"
If the opera Wozzeck is one of the highest achievements of the new Viennese school in the field of musical drama, then the Violin Concerto is a masterpiece of lyrical expression. It will not leave you indifferent, although there are no memorable melodies; but the finale of the concert is based on a quote from Bach, organically woven into the fabric of the work.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Concerto for violin and orchestra
Forget everything you've heard about heaviness Beethoven symphonies, - this concert seems to speak to you personally, and there is not a penny of pomp in it. If you get bored in the middle, you will be rewarded in the finale: it will give you such a beautiful and sad melody that you can hardly restrain yourself from grateful tears. One of the greatest violin concertos in the world.
Johannes Brahms
Concerto for violin and cello and orchestra
If there are not as many concertos for cello and orchestra created as for violin or piano, then there are even fewer concertos for violin and cello, and the more valuable each one is. The brightest among them is Brahms' Double Concerto, which incorporates the best features of his symphonic and chamber works. Full of the most beautiful melodies and, despite all the outward restraint, unusually emotional.
Antonio Vivaldi
"Seasons"
One of the most popular works classical music, an absolute hit, known to everyone. Four seasons - four violin concertos, each better than the other.
George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blues
The first successful attempt to cross classical and jazz, which gave rise to more than one new direction and yet remained unique.
Antonin Dvorak
Concerto for cello and orchestra
One of the first large-scale works with cello in leading role, where the harmony and sophistication of the composition are combined with the incredible accessibility of melodies that fall on the ear without any effort.
Felix Mendelssohn
Concerto for violin and orchestra in E minor
Everyone knows the wedding march from A Midsummer Night's Dream, although it is by no means Mendelssohn's main composition. He owns excellent Italian and Scottish symphonies, beautiful trios, quartets and oratorios, as well as the Violin Concerto: no less important than Beethoven’s, but much more intelligible.
Sergei Rachmaninov
Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3
The music of Rachmaninoff and Mahler do not have much in common, but it was Mahler who conducted one of the first performances of the concerto. Although the Third Concerto initially remained in the shadow of the famous Second, it also belongs to highest achievements genre and is one of the most serious tests for participants in piano competitions. And its main theme is one of the best melodies in the whole musical literature.
Jean Sibelius
Concerto for violin and orchestra
TO end of the 19th century century, the primacy of the Austro-German tradition in music was called into question: one after another, new national schools declared themselves - Hungarian, Czech, Polish. The founder of another, Finnish, one of the most advanced in the world today, was Sibelius, whose concert is unlike any other and yet hits the heart.
Opera: from Monteverdi to Bizet and masterpieces of the 20th century
Georges Bizet
"Carmen"
It's hard to believe that the premiere of Carmen was not a success: the hits here follow one another with such density that no other great opera can boast of. Overture, habanera, Toreador couplets, seguidilla, "Gypsy Dance" - just to name a few. One can only envy those who have not heard them yet.
Richard Wagner
"Tannhäuser"
You probably shuddered as a child at the sounds of “Ride of the Valkyries” and heard a lot of unpleasant things about Wagner. Try to form your own opinion about his music; If Wagner's operas are too long for you, the orchestral fragments will suffice as a starting point. The incredibly beautiful overture from the opera “Tannhäuser” is a valuable masterpiece in its own right, which you will surely enjoy, regardless of your sympathy for the socio-political views of the author.
Giuseppe Verdi
"La Traviata"
“Don Giovanni”, “Carmen” and “La Traviata” are one of the three best operas in the world. The charm of La Traviata is impossible to resist, even if you are indifferent to Italian opera: the music is so delightful - bright and at the same time permeated with a foreboding of disaster. Famous story love that is born and dies before our eyes.
Claudio Monteverdi
"Orpheus"
It makes no sense to place any of Monteverdi’s three operas on any list of the best operas: this one is so original Italian genius, who essentially founded opera as a genre. Start with “Orpheus,” especially since the toccata that opens it sounds from everywhere and is probably familiar to you: you won’t be able to tear yourself away.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"Don Juan"
Opera of operas, the main one for all times and peoples. No other great opera has maintained such a balance between the tragic and the comic, the high and the low, the will to life and the inevitability of death. As Svyatoslav Richter said, “Così fan tutte” is a greater mysticism than “Don Juan”. There, it’s all the statue’s fault that it came to life... But here it’s the woman’s fault that she was born in the first place.”
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“This is what all women do” (“Così fan tutte”)
The middle-aged cynic Don Alfonso undertakes to prove to two young men that the fidelity of their brides is a relative concept. The guys supposedly go to war, return in the guise of foreigners in love, and each courtes the other’s bride. The girls submit not without pleasure new destiny and get ready to get married, but then the real grooms return. Two weddings decide to go ahead with it, although no one looks happy. The opera is about the fact that women are more mysterious and unpredictable than men.
Leos Janacek
"The Adventures of a Trickster Fox"
According to the writer Milan Kundera, Janáček accomplished a feat by opening up the world of prose to opera. Indeed, Janáček’s melodies are based on human speech in its entirety. psychological nuances. “The Adventures of the Trickster Fox” is the most lyrical opera by the Czech composer, telling about the coexistence of two worlds - the human world and the animal world - and calling for their rapprochement.
Alban Berg
"Wozzeck"
Music unlike anything you've heard before. On the second or third try, you will discover that the language of this opera about a mad soldier is not so strange: the composer simply does not compose melodies, but bases the music on the natural intonations of human speech. The difference with Janacek, according to Kundera, is obvious: “German expressionism is distinguished by its preferential attitude towards excessive mental states, delirium, madness. Janacek’s expressionism is a rich fan of emotions, a close opposition of tenderness and rudeness, rage and calm.”
Kurt Weill
"The Threepenny Opera"
The composition, which formally belongs to the classics of the 20th century, was sold out into hits, covered dozens of times, starting with the brilliant “Macky Knife” - one of the melodic symbols of the century. Although Weill is a major innovator in the field of academic music, no composer of his generation has received such attention from pop and rock performers.
Igor Stravinsky
"Oedipus the King"
The dissimilar “Petrushka” and “The Rite of Spring” still do not seem to be the works of two different authors, while in the opera-oratorio “Oedipus Rex” you certainly will not recognize the creator of “Petrushka”. It is no coincidence that Stravinsky was called a chameleon and a man of 1001 styles. In "Oedipus" they sing in Latin, and the music - perhaps Stravinsky's most beautiful - goes back to the late Baroque: no Russian archaism, no pancakes.
Dmitry Shostakovich
"Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk"
The main themes of one of the key operas of the twentieth century were sex and violence; that is why, shortly after its triumphant premiere in 1934, it was officially banned by Stalin himself in 1936. Pay special attention to the dancing of the guests in the third act and the singing of the convicts in the fourth - once you hear it, it is no longer possible to forget it.
Richard Strauss
"Electra"
The opera is based on the story of the death of King Agamemnon, who was killed by his wife and her lover. The king's daughter hates her mother and lives in hope of retribution. Driven by noble motives, the heroine feels like an instrument in the hand of God, and this obsession turns her into a monster. At the very first moment of such a gloomy story, the orchestra unleashes such hopeless music on the listeners that the hair stands on end. The opera, which runs for almost two hours without an intermission, is like a grandiose symphony that you cannot tear yourself away from.
Solo. Piano and violin
Charles Ives
"Sonata "Concord"
More than a sonata, a whole study on the topic: can music express anything beyond what it sounds? One of the most important piano works of the 20th century remained unfinished only because the author himself decided so: “The sonata seems unfinished to me every time I play it. Perhaps I will not deny myself the pleasure of not finishing it at all.” The sonata is imbued with Beethoven’s “theme of fate,” either restoring order in the midst of chaos or turning the narrative 180 degrees.
Johann Sebastian Bach
“The Well-Tempered Clavier” (HTK)
Probably the most perfect work in the history of music: two cycles of 24 preludes and fugues in all existing keys are like two colossal Gothic cathedrals, each more beautiful than the other. The first Prelude in C major can be played by almost anyone on the piano; however, the cycle gradually becomes more complex. And everything gets more interesting.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonatas and partitas for solo violin
Isn't it boring to listen to a lonely violin for a long time? Not at all - she can do much more than we can imagine. At the very least, Bach strives to fully embrace its possibilities. The pearl of the cycle is the famous chaconne, more piercing than which there is no music in the world.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 14
Among Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, "Moonlight" may not be the best, but it is certainly the most famous; it was quoted by many - from Shostakovich to The Beatles. Few works in the world have outgrown their boundaries to such an extent, becoming a symbol of unrequited love.
Claude Debussy
Preludes
A condensed encyclopedia of the great composer's work, a bizarre combination of romanticism and impressionism, long traditions of piano music and paradoxes of the 20th century. The titles of each prelude are placed not at the beginning, but at the end of the notes, as if asking the listener riddles, checking whether he correctly grasped the mood of the piece, be it “Sails”, “Steps in the Snow”, “Mists” or “Fireworks”.
Olivier Messiaen
"Twenty Views of the Baby Jesus"
One of Messiaen’s main opuses, even in the year of his centenary, was more often played in fragments than in its entirety: this cycle requires too much dedication. The largest piano work of the era, with which only Shostakovich’s 24 preludes and fugues can be compared, is a creation atypical for the mid-twentieth century: where is the irony and reflection, where is the rigor and calculation? This is a grand prayer, two and a quarter hours par excellence major music with numerous repetitions.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata No. 11
The well-known Turkish Rondo is in fact not an independent piece, but the finale of one of Mozart’s sonatas, the other parts of which are no less delightful. Like, in fact, Mozart’s other piano sonatas, not to mention his “Fantasies”.
Modest Mussorgsky
"Pictures at an Exhibition"
This cycle is best known for its orchestration by Maurice Ravel, which is perceived today as a brilliant, but very pop hit. Listen to the original version of "Pictures", originally written for piano: you will be shocked by how unusual and not at all a hit music it is.
Niccolo Paganini
24 caprices for solo violin
A new word in discovering the possibilities of the violin and violinists, which has remained a test of virtuosity for the third century. The last, twenty-fourth caprice is better known than others - a short but brilliant theme, variations on which many great composers wrote.
Erik Satie
Gymnopedies and other works for piano
Although Satie is a composer of the 20th century, many of his works appeared in the previous century: in 1888, gymnopedies were written that anticipated the genre of listening easy. Satie also had the idea of music as an unobtrusive background - today there is nowhere to escape from it, but a hundred years ago it was new.
Frederic Chopin
24 preludes for piano
An encyclopedia of musical romanticism and at the same time a motley kaleidoscope of genres: elegy, mazurka, march, song without words and much more. The main means of expressiveness that attracts the listener’s attention is the contrast of major and minor in each adjacent pair of preludes.
Robert Schumann
"Kreysleriana"
A cycle of fantasy plays, the name of which was given by the image of Johannes Kreisler, a crazy bandmaster invented by Hoffmann, frightening those around him with his devotion to music. One of best essays Schumann, the most romantic composer who ever lived.
Masterpieces of vocal music
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantatas
In addition to the magnificent “Passion” and the Mass in B minor, Bach wrote over two hundred cantatas. Back in to a greater extent than this entire list, they deserve the words " best music in the world." You'll fill up a playlist for months to come if you decide to listen to them all one by one. Since it is impossible to single out the best from the best, we will note three: “Heaven rejoices, earth rejoices” (BWV 31) with a magnificent trumpet solo in the finale, “Who will believe and be baptized” (BWV 37) with the wonderful aria “Faith gives us wings for the soul” and the most famous is probably “I’ve had enough” (BWV 82).
Luciano Berio
Folk songs
A truly universal composition; Berio, the most prominent avant-garde artist of the second half of the twentieth century, processed a number of original songs from Europe and Asia, adding a couple of his own to them. A listener who is far from the avant-garde will be glad that avant-garde artists also have works that seem simple and understandable.
Benjamin Britten
War Requiem
Unusual composition: two orchestras with two conductors, two choirs, three soloists and an organ. Tenor, baritone and chamber orchestra are responsible for the “military” part of the requiem, which is based on the poems of a poet who died in the First World War. A symphony orchestra, choir and soprano perform the traditional parts of the requiem from "Requiem æternam" and "Dies irae" to "Agnus Dei" and "Libera me". An amazing result, unlike both the funeral masses of previous eras and the unconventional requiems of the twentieth century.
Antonio Vivaldi
Arias from operas
You should listen at least to know: “Seasons” is not the only one and, perhaps, not even best work Vivaldi. At the very least, a collection of his arias performed by Magdalena Kozena will make you forget about the evergreen hit for a while.
Valery Gavrilin
“Russian notebook. German notebooks"
The “Russian Notebook” reflected the experience of Gavrilin the folklorist, and this is deeply national essay- an analogue of the great cycles of Schubert and Schumann. But with what can we compare “German Notebooks”, written on Heine’s poems - the most Schumannian material? How to explain the appearance of such a wonderful cycle as “The First German Notebook” by a second-year student from whom the professor, under the threat of a bad mark, demands “something vocal”? Probably only by miracle.
George Frideric Handel
"Messiah"
On the eve of religious holidays, “Messiah” is performed all over the world; A true story about one orchestra member is connected with this. To the question “What happened to you?” he replied: “I had a nightmare! I dreamed that I was playing “Messiah” again! Moreover, when I woke up, it turned out to be true!” Best performances“Messiah” has nothing in common with this reality; it is truly divine music. Having completed Messiah in three weeks, Handel said: “I thought that the sky had opened and I saw the Creator.”
Gustav Mahler
Songs about dead children
One of the most terrible compositions in the history of music: whether we believe in fate or not, however, soon after the creation of this vocal cycle Mahler lost his beloved daughter. Five incredibly beautiful and inexpressibly sad songs.
Gustav Mahler
"Song of the Earth"
The first symphony, where they sing from beginning to end, and big orchestra It sounds chamber-like - so that all instruments can be heard. The author considered the last part - “Farewell” - suicidal, but I want to return to it again and again.
Olivier Messiaen
Three Little Liturgies of the Divine Presence
Catholicism, the study of the language of birds and attention to non-European cultures - these are the features that make up Messiaen’s work, a separate direction in the music of the twentieth century. Although Messiaen's language is unlike anyone else's, his music is unusually infectious: listen to the liturgies at least once and you will find yourself humming them.
Alfred Schnittke
"The Story of Doctor Johann Faust"
Schnittke’s cantata has nothing in common with Goethe’s Faust: it is based on “ People's book about Faust" of the 16th century. A brilliant find - Mephistopheles, appearing in two guises: the seducing devil (countertenor), the mocking and punishing devil (contralto). Although Alla Pugacheva’s planned participation in the Moscow premiere was cancelled, mounted police were on duty outside the hall. The hero's humiliation reaches its peak in a rollicking tango with saxophones, unexpectedly invading the harsh music.
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 14
Although Shostakovich's penultimate symphony is dedicated to Britten, it is more closely associated with Mahler. Essentially a continuation of his Song of the Earth, a cantata symphony with two singers is entirely dedicated to death. Even among Shostakovich's gloomy symphonies, this one in particular is full of depression and a sense of loneliness. The two voices unite only to sing in the finale: “Death is sovereign. She is on guard and in a happy hour.”
Franz Schubert
"Winter Retreat"
Top of the world vocal music: 24 songs united by a common bitter mood and gloomy images of nature. The final one, “The Organ Grinder,” is one of Schubert’s most hopeless songs (and he has about 600 of them!): a melancholy melody sounds against the backdrop of the dull, monotonous sounds of an organ grinder.
Great symphonies
Hector Berlioz
Fantastic Symphony
One of the first - perhaps the most striking - examples of program music: that is, music that is preceded by a specific scenario. The story of Berlioz's unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson formed the basis of a masterpiece, which includes "Reverie", and "Ball", and "Scene in the Fields", and "Procession to Execution", and even "Dream on the Night of the Sabbath".
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7
Of Beethoven's three most famous symphonies, it is better to start neither with the Fifth with its "theme of fate" nor with the Ninth with its finale "Embrace, Millions." In the Seventh there is much less pathos and more humor, and the brilliant second part is familiar even to listeners far from the classics from the processing group Deep Purple.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 3
Brahms's first symphony was called Beethoven's Tenth Symphony, referring to the continuity of tradition. But if Beethoven's nine symphonies are unequal, then each of Brahms' four symphonies is a masterpiece. The pompous beginning of the Third is just a bright cover for a deeply lyrical statement, reaching its climax in an unforgettable allegretto.
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 7
Mahler is considered Bruckner's successor; Compared to his rollercoaster-like canvases, Bruckner's symphonies can seem a little boring - especially their endless adagios. However, each adagio is followed by an exciting scherzo, and the Seventh Symphony will not let you get bored from the very first movement, thoughtful and drawn-out. No less good are the finale, scherzo and dedicated to memory Wagner Adagio.
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 45 “Farewell”
It seems impossible to write simpler than Haydn, but in this deceptive simplicity lies main secret his skill. Of his one hundred and four symphonies, only eleven were written in a minor key, and the best among them is “Farewell,” at the end of which the musicians leave the stage one by one. It was from Haydn that the group Nautilus Pompilius borrowed this technique to perform the song “Goodbye, America.”
Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 90
Compared to the impetuous Farewell, Haydn's later symphonies are much more balanced and positive. They are full of special warmth, artless beauty and harmony. And, of course, humor: the last part of the symphony is crowned with a “false” ending, which even the sophisticated audience takes for the real one and begins to applaud while the orchestra is still playing.
Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
While collecting material for the symphony, Dvorak studied the national music of America, but did without quoting, trying primarily to embody its spirit. The symphony in many ways goes back to both Brahms and Beethoven, but is devoid of the pomposity inherent in their opuses.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5
Mahler's two best symphonies seem similar to each other only at first. The confusion of the first movements of the Fifth leads to a textbook adagietto, full of languor, repeatedly used in cinema and theater. And the ominous fanfare of the introduction is met by a completely traditional optimistic ending.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 6
Who would have thought that Mahler's next symphony would represent the darkest and most hopeless music in the world! The composer seems to be mourning all of humanity: such a mood is established from the very first notes and only worsens towards the finale, which does not contain a ray of hope. Not for the faint of heart.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 7
The trilogy ends with a mystery symphony. It is generally considered inconvenient to perform and perceive, although it is a real celebration of music: if in the rest of Mahler’s symphonies you still look for conflict, willy-nilly, it is almost impossible to find it here. One can only guess why between the outer movements of the Seventh there is, as it were, another internal symphony of two octurnes and a central scherzo.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 25
Among Mozart's forty-odd symphonies, only two were written in a minor key, and in the same key: G minor unites a number of his key works. The Twenty-Fifth and the Forty are separated by fifteen years, in the case of Mozart - almost half his life. Both are equally sad, but while the Fortieth unfolds thoughtfully and leisurely, the Twenty-Fifth comes at you with all the speed of the Sturm und Drang era.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 40
Another super hit, the beginning of which causes involuntary irritation. Try to tune your ears as if you are hearing the Fortieth for the first time (even better if you are): this will help you survive the brilliant, although completely hackneyed, first part and know that it is followed by no less wonderful second, third and fourth.
Sergei Prokofiev
Classical symphony
Prokofiev explained the name of the symphony this way: “Out of mischief, to tease the geese, and in the secret hope that ... I will beat it if over time the symphony turns out to be such a classic.” After a series of daring compositions that excited the public, Prokofiev composed a symphony in the spirit of Haydn; it became a classic almost immediately, although his other symphonies have nothing in common with it.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5
Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony is not as popular as his ballets, although its melodic potential is no less; Any two or three minutes of it could be turned into a hit by, for example, Paul McCartney. If you want to understand what a symphony is, listen to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth, one of the best and most complete examples of the genre.
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
In 1936, Shostakovich was defamed at the state level. In response, calling on the shadows of Bach, Beethoven, Mahler and Mussorgsky for help, the composer created a work that became a classic at the time of its premiere. According to legend, Boris Pasternak said about the symphony and its author: “He said everything he wanted - and he didn’t have anything for it.”
Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 7
One of the musical symbols of the twentieth century and certainly the main musical symbol of the Second World War. Insinuating drum roll begins the famous “invasion theme”, illustrating not only fascism or Stalinism, but any historical era, the basis of which is violence.
Franz Schubert.** Unfinished Symphony
The Eighth Symphony is called the Unfinished Symphony - instead of four movements there are only two; however, they are so rich and strong that they are perceived as a complete whole. Having stopped work on the work, the composer did not touch it again.
Bela Bartok.
Concerto for orchestra
Bartok is known primarily as the author of countless plays for music schools. The fact that this is not all Bartok is evidenced by his concert, where parody is accompanied by severity, and sophisticated technique is accompanied by cheerful folk melodies. In fact, it is Bartók’s farewell symphony, as is Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances.”
Sergei Rachmaninov
"Symphonic Dances"
Rachmaninov's last opus is a masterpiece of unprecedented power. The beginning seems to warn of an earthquake - it is both a harbinger of the horrors of war and an awareness of the end of the romantic era in music. Rachmaninov called “Dances” his best and favorite composition.
Chamber Music Treasures
Johannes Brahms
Sonata for violin and piano No. 3
The chamber ensemble is one of the finest types music making: a violin sonata, piano trio or string quartet can often express much more than a ballet or symphony. Synonym chamber music- the name of Brahms, whose every chamber composition is a masterpiece. Including this sonata, the unforgettable beginning of which is born from a phrase, as if interrupted mid-sentence.
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 11 “Serioso”
Beethoven's late quartets are one of the pinnacles of chamber music. Before this, the composer had not written them for almost fifteen years, taking a pause after the brilliant quartet in F minor with the subtitle “Serioso” - “Serious”. Despite its brevity, it is incredibly rich in ideas and changes of mood, especially the fast part, the intonation of which constantly rushes between interrogative and affirmative.
Johannes Brahms.
Quartet for piano, violin, viola and cello No. 1
Another gem where each of the chapters is full of surprises, especially the last two: isn’t that jubilant march in the middle of the lyrical part surprising? Doesn't the final "Rondo in the Hungarian style" leave any of the "Hungarian Dances" far behind? The quartet was created by Brahms long before his First Symphony, but the four instruments were given such a wealth of melodies and harmonies that it would be enough for an entire orchestra.
Antonin Dvorak
Quintet for piano, two violins, viola and cello No. 2
Dvorak's second quintet was created in 1887, a quarter of a century after Brahms' quartet. Another one late romantic essay, even more contrasting and even more densely flavored with Eastern European motifs - there is a place for both Ukrainian duma and Bohemian dances. There are three main characters here: the cello and viola, whose solos open the first and second movements, as well as the piano, which connects the fabric of the quintet with invisible threads.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata for violin and piano No. 21
The saddest music in the world.
Cesar Frank
Sonata for violin and piano
One of the best violin sonatas ever written is a completely romantic composition, striving with all its might to go beyond the boundaries of romanticism. Without a doubt, you will remember the amazingly beautiful first phrase the first time, and not only that.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
"In memory of the great artist"
For many, Tchaikovsky is “The Nutcracker”, “Sleeping Beauty”, First Piano Concerto. The trio “In Memory of the Great Artist” has nothing in common with these works - a tragic, deeply intimate statement, devoid of any heaviness or pomp. You've never heard Tchaikovsky like this before.
Dmitry Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 8
The title “In Memory of the Victims of Fascism and War” is only a cover for the real title that Shostakovich had in mind: “In Memory of the Author of this Quartet.” Far from being the composer’s last work, it nevertheless became his monument to himself: a mournful epitaph, layered with quotes from Shostakovich’s best works.
Franz Schubert
Piano trio No. 2
Schubert's chamber works are no less expressive and soulful than his vocal ones. An example of this is the trio for piano, violin and cello: the main theme of its second movement is remembered the first time and for the rest of your life, check it out.
Classics of the 20th century
Charles Ives
"The Unanswered Question"
A small masterpiece is the key to all the music of the twentieth century: strings play one thing, flutes another, trumpet another. There is no memorable melody, but it sounds beautiful and bewitching.
Arnold Schoenberg
Serenade
Another example, along with “Wozzeck,” of “dodecaphony with a human face.” Although hardly anyone will be able to sing a few bars of the serenade, it is full of drive and humor: among the instruments are a guitar and a mandolin, giving the chilly sound of the ensemble some informality and even nationality.
Arnold Schoenberg
"Lunar Pierrot"
If the serenade is an example of a strict, established style, then Pierrot Lunaire is only his search: Schoenberg had not yet discovered dodecaphony, but had already abandoned tonality, major and minor. To the accompaniment of a small ensemble, a vocal part sounds in the manner of speech singing - halfway between singing and excited human speech. One of the most revolutionary works of the twentieth century.
Pierre Boulez
"A Hammer without a Master"
The musician who created the master recordings of Schoenberg's works responded to his death with an article with the provocative title "Schoenberg is Dead." And three years later, “The Hammer without a Master” appeared for voice and ensemble, a kind of “Pierrot Lunaire” of the second half of the twentieth century. Stravinsky, who defined Pierrot Lunaire as the solar plexus of new music, would later without hesitation call The Hammer Without a Master the best modern composition, sounding "like ice cubes clinking as they collide in a glass."
Claude Debussy
"Afternoon of a Faun"
The day of the premiere of the work - December 22, 1894 - became the birthday musical impressionism. “Faun” begins with an unforgettable flute solo that opened new horizons in world music.
Zoltan Kodaly
"Dancing from Galanta"
A spectacular piece based on authentic folk melodies, where slow pace change so quickly that it takes your breath away. This change of pace - characteristic feature Verbunkos, a Hungarian dance performed at recruitment points and at the farewell to the army. Fifteen minutes of pure joy.
Darius Milhaud
"Creation of the World"
The French composers from the Six group proposed a European version of what Gershwin managed: to combine classical tradition with jazz and big city sounds, turning to simple forms and catchy melodies. Milhaud was especially successful with his ballets Bull on the Roof and The Creation of the World. “What, this is also a classic!?” - you ask. Absolutely yes.
Arthur Honegger
"Pacific 231"
Another musical symbol of the twentieth century in general and technological progress in particular. Having finished the energetic orchestral piece, the author, as a joke, gave it the name of the most powerful steam locomotive in the world. The public took the joke seriously, hearing in Pacifica a sound portrait of a steam locomotive accelerating, humming, and then braking; excellent music that gives a lot of scope to the imagination.
Krzysztof Penderecki
"Cry for the victims of Hiroshima"
The play, like Pacific 231, was made famous primarily by its title. Written in the most advanced language for the mid-twentieth century, the score was not successful under its original name “8.37”, but under the new name it became very popular, although not a single note was changed. As positive as “Pacific” is, “Crying” is just as depressive, although you should definitely get to know it.
Sergei Prokofiev
"Romeo and Juliet"
The best of the musical incarnations of Shakespeare's tragedy, numbering several hits - first of all, the well-known theme “Dance of the Knights” (popular under the name “Montagues and Capulets”). It's amazing that Bolshoi Theater, who commissioned the ballet, initially rejected it, considering the music unscenic and unthinkable for the theater.
Maurice Ravel
"Bolero"
Drum roll, flute plays a deceptively simple theme, which is gradually picked up by other instruments of the orchestra. It seems like a simple scheme, but the listener will still be left with his mouth open, even if he knows “Bolero” by heart.
Maurice Ravel
Waltz
From the vague hum gradually emerges the typical Viennese waltz. The dancers spin faster and faster, and finally this enraged music box the spring bursts. An eerie and perfect image of the end belle époque, which was replaced by a century of world wars.
Arvo Pärt
"Frates"
Pärt - most performed contemporary composer, his works are heard around the world hundreds of times a year. In the mid-1970s, Pärt moved from the avant-garde to quiet, slow music, which turned out to be incredibly in demand: many Pärt lovers are far from the classics and perceive his works as a kind of musical sedative. The reference composition is “Fratres”, which sounds different in each of the numerous editions, but does not lose the intonation of a sad question mark.
Steve Reich
"Different Trains"
Another living classic, once considered an avant-garde artist. “Other Trains” is a monument to the victims of the Holocaust: Reich contrasts the trains of his childhood, on which he crossed America more than once, with others that sent his European peers to concentration camps. The essay was written for string quartet and soundtracks that include the sound of wheels, locomotive whistles, and stories of Holocaust survivors. Fragments of human speech, recorded in notes, became the basis of instrumental parts. Ideal for your first meeting with Reich.
Igor Stravinsky
"Parsley"
One of the most perfect expressions of the Russian spirit in music: Maslenitsa, barrel organ, accordion, gypsies, trained bear, “Along the Piterskaya Street”, “Oh you, my canopy, canopy”, carnival, fun, pancakes.
Igor Stravinsky
"The Rite of Spring"
The complete opposite of “Petrushka”: paganism, fear of death, slow dark round dances, sacrifice in the hope of appeasing the elements, completely mind-blowing harmonies - one of the most revolutionary and scandalous scores in the history of music.
Alfred Schnittke
Concerto grosso №1
Chief's business card Soviet composer after Shostakovich: elements of mutually exclusive styles merge here into a single whole. “Within the Concerto grosso, I introduced a lively children’s chorale, a nostalgic-atonal serenade - a trio guaranteed to be an authentic Corelli (made in the USSR) and my grandmother’s favorite tango, played by her great-grandmother on the harpsichord.”
Alfred Schnittke
"Revision's Tale"
An ideal introduction to Schnittke's music for those who find it too difficult. The combination of the harpsichord with pop instruments creates a multifaceted space where there is a place for Beethoven’s “theme of fate”, and a parody of Haydn, whose intonations are brought to the point of sweetness, and the shadows of Mozart and Tchaikovsky dancing tango and cancan.
Simply masterpieces
Johann Sebastian Bach
Suites for orchestra No. 2 and 3
Compared to HTC, the two suites sound like light music, especially since each contains at least one super hit: “Joke” and “Aria”, respectively, which have long been distributed as ringtones and TV and radio screensavers. However, this could also happen with other fragments of these suites, which are replete with bright melodies.
Johannes Brahms
"Hungarian dances"
If symphony orchestra plays an encore, in one case out of three the conductor will choose the First “Hungarian Dance”; as a last resort - the fifth. Two dozen miniatures for two pianos, later arranged for orchestra, were created based on authentic Hungarian melodies; result - 21 exemplary encores.
Edvard Grieg
"Peer Gynt"
Ibsen's drama "Peer Gynt" is world famous, and Grieg's music, written for its premiere, is even more popular: "Solveig's Song" and "In the Cave of the Mountain King" you undoubtedly know. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of listening to “Peer Gynt” in its entirety.
Alexander Scriabin
"Prometheus"
In his last and perhaps most significant symphonic work, Scriabin sought to express the idea of the triumph of the spirit, to achieve the utmost radiance. Therefore, “Prometheus” (aka “Poem of Fire”) was written not only for orchestra, piano, organ and choir, but also for a light keyboard, immersing concert hall into the radiance of one color or another. However, the music of “Prometheus” itself is literally overflowing with sunlight.
Bedřich Smetana
"My homeland"
The cycle of symphonic poems is a musical portrait of the Czech Republic, its history, nature and legends. “Vltava” is especially popular, in which you can hear the flow of the river, hunting in the forest on its banks, and the night dances of mermaids. Main topic dates back to the 17th century Italian song "La Mantovana". Later, the same melody formed the basis of the Israeli anthem.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
"Scheherazade"
First, the author gave names to the parts of the suite: “The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship”, “ Fantastic story Prince Kalender", "Tsarevich and Princess", "Baghdad holiday. Sea. The ship crashes on a rock with bronze horseman. Conclusion,” but later decided to remove them. Nevertheless, they are well known, and, listening to music, we involuntarily associate the violin with the voice of Scheherazade, the exclamations of the winds with a storm at sea, the solo flute with the ship of Sinbad the Sailor. One of the best examples of program music.
Richard Strauss
"Don Quixote"
The most famous of Strauss’s works is the poem “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” the introduction of which serves as the intro for the program “What? Where? When?". However, “Don Quixote,” where the cello sings on behalf of the famous knight, is much richer in unexpected turns and, like little other music in the world, resembles an exciting movie.
The musical alphabet or the country where sounds live: Major and Minor
Asya sat at the piano and tried to find on the keyboard where all the tones and halftones were hidden. She pressed the keys and thought: “So many sounds are produced and as soon as they are controlled, it’s so difficult to compose a melody from all these sounds!” she thought and immediately heard Solmina’s voice.
I know how to help you find all the tones and halftones and bring order to your sounds. Listen to the tale about two brothers who helped the king of Soundland and will help you...
In ancient times in fairyland King Ding-Dong the Seventh ruled under the name Soundland. More than anything else, he loved to sleep and be bored. It used to be that he would sit on his throne and be bored...
He's swinging his legs out of boredom,
Out of boredom he will order cookies to be served,
And for the soldiers to sing a song.
His soldiers were unusual -
All of them are excellent singers.
And for this, by the way,
Dean and Don began to call them Sounds.
The Sounds will sing one song, then another, to the king.
The king will snore, and Sounds will also go to the side.
They sleep until the morning.
In the morning they will get up and shout: “Hurray!”
The king will wake up
It will turn from side to side,
And everything will start again:
Boredom, cookies, soldiers' singing.
From this life the Sounds have become so lazy,
They have completely forgotten how to sing properly.
The king was terribly upset.
He even stopped being bored.
Makes them sing this way and that,
But they don’t want to.
And then one day two brothers arrived in Soundland from the distant country of Ladiya - Lada. Two brothers, but how different they were. One was a cheerful, laughing dancer, the other was sad and thoughtful. The cheerful one was called Major, and the sad one was Minor. Major and Minor learned about the king's trouble. News travels quickly in the Kingdom. They decided to help the king...
They came to the palace
The king was bowed as expected.
“Hello, Ding-Dong,” they say.
We want to listen to your soldiers.
“Come on,” the king commanded the sounds.
- Sing everything if you please! One-two! One-two!
The Sounds sang, some into the forest, some for firewood.
The brothers couldn't stand this music,
They shouted in two voices: “Enough!”
“Come on,” they say, “Ding-Dong, we’ll help you and put together a good song from your sounds.”
Lined up Major Sounds in a row -
The result was a SOUND SCORDER.
The Major commanded them: “Calculate by tone-semitone!” The sounds were quickly calculated:
Tone, tone, semitone,
Tone, tone, tone, semitone.
“Sing,” Major commanded. The sounds began to sing.
We all stood in a row together.
The result was a scale.
Not simple - MAJOR
Joyful, perky.
When we finished singing the Sounds, Minor stepped forward. Commanded: Calculate by tone-semitone! For some reason the sounds immediately made me sad and reluctantly settled.
Tone, semitone,
Tone, tone, semitone.
Tone, tone.
Start singing! - Minor commanded. The sounds sang:
We are a MINOR scale,
There is a long line of sad sounds.
I'll sing a sad song,
And now we will roar.
Since then, order has come to Soundland...
Dean - Don began to live differently,
Under new music stopped sleeping
He will be sad - Minor will appear,
If he wants to have fun, the Major will appear.
The sounds began to live. Okay.
And the songs sounded smooth.
Which interesting tale- Asya said when Solmina finished reading.
The tale is really interesting. Did you like the brothers from the distant country of Ladia?
Of course we liked it. The two brothers are somewhat similar, but still so different,” Asya said thoughtfully.
Questions and tasks:
1. Try to remember: how to distinguish brothers?
2. What were the rhymes for each of the brothers?
Major and minor
Once upon a time there was a gentleman,
His name was Major.
Smiled, laughed,
I never felt sad.
Another signor lived nearby,
It was called Minor,
He often cried, was sad,
Didn't laugh, didn't joke.
Two neighbors lived together
Both served music
Only everyone - as best he could,
Both have a lot to do.
Questions and tasks:
Draw funny portraits of two gentlemen.
Which musical instruments do you most associate with minor or major?
What in life can be major or minor? (Mood, day, weather, color.)
Are you closer to a minor or major mood?
Children are divided into pairs. One in a pair is major, the other is minor. In a dialogue skit, children tell each other what the most important things are for the major and the minor.
Come up with a fairy tale about how one day a major and a minor decided to make musical gifts for people.
The Sound of Music
Robert Schumann was not only outstanding composer, but also a pianist, conductor, teacher. From the age of 7, Robert Schumann studied piano, composed, studied at the gymnasium, and later at the university. At the age of 20, he heard the play of the great, world famous Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini. N. Paganini's playing had such an effect on R. Schumann vivid impression that he decided to devote himself to music forever. He knew how to see the wonderful, extraordinary in life, hidden from the views of other people, and translate everything he experienced into sounds. R. Schumann wrote a lot of varied music - symphonies, choral music, opera, romances, piano pieces; Surprisingly, he created portraits of people in music, conveying their feelings and moods.
A dreamer and inventor, Robert Schumann loved children very much and wrote a lot for them. In his “Album for Youth” he reveals the world of children's joys, sorrows, and the wonderful world of fairy tales.
Russian composers highly valued the work of Robert Schumann. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky especially loved him. Under the impression of his “Album for Youth,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his wonderful “Children’s Album.”
More than 200 years ago in Germany, he was born into a poor, almost destitute family. great composer Ludwig van Beethoven. His father was a degenerate man, a drunkard, rude and cruel in his treatment of his exhausted wife and children. Severe and debilitating illnesses haunted Beethoven throughout his life, undermining his health. He was not yet 30 years old when he felt the first signs of approaching deafness, which then separated him from the outside world with an impenetrable wall. Beethoven was unhappy in love: he dreamed of a good friend, a faithful, beloved wife, but he died alone. Born into a simple family descended from peasants, Beethoven hated the rich and noble, heartless, incapable of appreciating the real art of aristocrats, and understood the needs of simple, small people who had difficulty getting a piece of bread.
At that time, you could often find an organ grinder playing on the street. A barrel organ is a musical instrument. An old man would enter the yard with a colorfully painted box on his shoulder, often with a monkey or other animal sitting on it. It was an organ grinder. Our organ grinder came with a marmot.
Questions and tasks:
1. Listen to R. Schumann’s play “The Cheerful Peasant Returning from Work.” What is the mood in the music? Does it correspond to the mood of the painting “Peasant Dance”?
2. What is the difference between the plays “The Cheerful Peasant...” and “The Groundhog”?
3. Remember the ones you know musical works, written in major and minor.
Presentation
Included:
1. Presentation: 15 slides, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Beethoven. Marmot (performed by the Bolshoi Children's Choir), mp3;
Beethoven. Marmot (instrumental) - 2 versions, mp3;
Rachmaninov. Italian polka, mp3;
Schumann. Cheerful peasant, mp3;
3. Article for the lesson “Major and Minor”, docx;
5. Major and minor. Poem, docx.
Music has an amazing power to influence a person and therefore it is one of the wonderful and very powerful means of his internal development. He experiences music the way he could experience real events in your life, and getting to know music is an opportunity to gain positive life experiences.
“Any form of communication with music teaches you to hear music, continuously improving the ability to listen and think about it,” said the famous teacher D.B. Kabalevsky. But the most active and accessible form of communication with music, awakening thoughts and feelings, are the moments when a person acts as a listener. It is at these moments that the greatest attention, concentration and tension of mental strength are required from him. "Listening" is the main type musical activity. And therefore it is necessary to use every opportunity to form musical taste, the ability to compare, contrast, distinguish and recognize what has been heard.
Raphael. Parnassus. Apollo and the Muses.
What can you hear in music besides the music itself? If you ask: what can be seen in the artist’s painting? What can you read about in the book? What can you see in the movie? In all these cases the answer will be more or less specific, because the content of these works of art is quite definite. It reflects some aspect of people’s lives, the state of the nature around them, it can be retold in words.
But if you imagine an orchestra performing or a musician performing instrumental piece. Is it right to ask: what are they playing about? A question that doesn't apply to music. Why then, for what and for whom is music played? Of course, for those who listen to it. This means that you can hear something in the music. This is what attracts a person to her.
Like any other work of art, music makes us feel excited, sometimes experience some unusual, strong feelings. If music were an empty play of sounds, it would not find a spiritual response, a person would remain indifferent, indifferent to it. This means that music contains something important, meaningful for a person, that is, it is meaningful.
What does this content consist of and how does it manifest itself? First of all, music is capable of conveying this or that state of mind person, to express his feelings and experiences. Sometimes the composer initiates listeners into his plan. Then he explains the content of the work in one way or another, for example, gives it an appropriate title. If the content of works for instruments or orchestra is conveyed mainly only by the expressive means of the music itself, which I will try to talk about separately, then in vocal, theatrical works this already involves the word, and the action, and the dance, and decoration scenes.
How much can be expressed using sounds alone? What exactly? Are they able to paint a picture, convey movement, tell about people’s lives? To do this, you need to turn to the music itself and try to “hear” the content that is in each work.
T.A. Chekhova in her work offers the following advice to beginners and not very experienced listeners:
1. At first it is better to choose short works until the skill of “following sounds” with the ear has been developed.
2. For listening, you must choose compositions both vocal (for voice) and instrumental (for various musical instruments) music. It should be remembered that the text in vocal works helps to understand the content and works of software instrumental music with a certain plot, expressed in the title of the composition, it is easier to perceive and it is better to begin to gain experience in listening to music from them.
3. During the sound, you must carefully monitor what is happening in the music from the very beginning to the very end, covering your ears sound by sound, without losing sight of anything.
4. From time to time, you should definitely return to listening to familiar works in order to learn to easily and quickly recognize them, to imagine their sound mentally (“inner” voice).
5. In some cases, you can choose an illustration that suits your mood to what you heard or draw your own “musical picture.” Lines from literary, especially poetic, works, which can be found in great variety in famous writers and poets. Reflecting on why these lines and not others are so consonant with music will also help you hear more.
6. Some musical compositions They have the same names, but in their mood and feelings they are completely different. You should especially listen to the sound of such works, memorize them and note this dissimilarity for yourself. (Try to distinguish between characters and images).
P. Picasso. Three musicians
To determine the nature of a work, its emotional and figurative perception, you can first use the dictionary of aesthetic emotions that exist in music as signs of the nature of sound, which is offered by the scientist, teacher and psychologist V.G. Razhnikov.
JOYFUL: cheerful, festive, loud, sparkling, vigorous, lively, perky, bright, radiant
SOLEMNLY: majestic, victorious, inviting, enthusiastic, graceful, life-affirming
TENDERLY: affectionately, cordially, touchingly, affably, trustingly, sweetly, kindly
CALM: peaceful, serene, good-natured, light, transparent, benevolent
EXCITED: anxious, worried
HEAVY: awkward, angular
GROZNO: dynamic, tragic
Poetic: dreamy, melodious, soulful, reverent, heartfelt
A good example here would be, say, the album “Seasons” by P.I. Tchaikovsky. Where every month has its own character and mood. Sound pictures of nature created by talented composers can be compared to landscapes famous artists, with a description of the beauty of the surrounding world in poetry. Captivating moonlit night, full of magical charm, mysterious and enigmatic - this is the image of the play “Moonlight” by C. Debussy. The leisurely approach of morning is conveyed by the introduction to Mussorgsky's opera - "Dawn on the Moscow River".
Music has access to both the fairy-tale, fantasy world and the real world, in which people live, everyday events occur, and various actions are performed. How is it represented in music? In the first case, the works of a Russian composer would be very suitable, musical storyteller, Rimsky-Korsakov. For example, his operas “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Sadko”, “Snow Maiden”, “The Golden Cockerel”, and the suite “Scheherazade”. Quite a lot fairy tale images Among Mussorgsky's plays, united under the general title "Pictures at an Exhibition", Anatoly Lyadov's fairy-tale picture "The Magic Lake".
I. Levitan. Forest Lake
Is music capable of conveying a person's character? To begin with, you can get acquainted with the characters from “Carnival” by the German composer Schumann. If we compare musical portraits Florestan and Eusebius, it will become clear how opposite they are: Florestan is impetuous, always on the move, while Eusebius is calm, prone to daydreaming. Familiar masks also appear at the carnival - the angular, slightly funny Pierrot and the light, jumping gait Harlequin.
Eusebius (from Carnaval) - Eusebius
Another carnival is also known in musical literature... The French composer Saint-Saëns called it “Carnival of the Animals”.
And in the orchestral work by O. Messiaen “The Awakening of the Birds” the various sounds of a summer forest filled with the voices of birds are very accurately conveyed, portraits of “forest singers” were created.
Anton Arensky has a suite "Silhouettes". The suite includes five portrait sketches, written in an elegant and relaxed manner, attracting with the subtlety and wit of their sound images.
Can music provide insight into an event? From a piece of music you can also learn about events of the distant past. One of them was captured in music by Rimsky-Korsakov. His “Battle at Kerzhenets” is a vivid picture of a brutal battle.
Listening and hearing music are two different things. The content of music is as rich and varied as the content of other forms of art. It is only revealed with the help of expressive means characteristic of music. Unlike non-musical sounds musical sounds have a precise height and a specific duration. In addition, they can have different colors, sound loud or quiet, and be performed quickly or slowly. Melody and accompaniment to it, mode and harmony, meter and rhythm, register and timbre, dynamics and tempo - all this is means of expression musical art. Learning to hear and distinguish them, to understand the language of music in which the composer addresses the listener, is just as necessary as understanding literary text, means of painting. Then the content of works of musical art will be revealed in all its richness.
Music has an amazing power to influence a person and therefore it is one of the wonderful and very powerful means of his internal development. He experiences music as he might experience real events in his life, and exposure to music is an opportunity for positive life experiences.
“Any form of communication with music teaches you to hear music, continuously improving the ability to listen and think about it,” said the famous teacher D.B. Kabalevsky. But the most active and accessible form of communication with music, awakening thoughts and feelings, are the moments when a person acts as a listener. It is at these moments that the greatest attention, concentration and tension of mental strength are required from him. “Listening” is the main type of musical activity. And therefore, it is necessary to use every opportunity in order to develop musical taste, the ability to compare, contrast, distinguish and recognize what has been heard.
Raphael. Parnassus. Apollo and the Muses.
What can you hear in music besides the music itself? If you ask: what can be seen in the artist’s painting? What can you read about in the book? What can you see in the movie? In all these cases the answer will be more or less specific, because the content of these works of art is quite definite. It reflects some aspect of people’s lives, the state of the nature around them, it can be retold in words.
But if you imagine a performance by an orchestra or a musician performing an instrumental piece. Is it right to ask: what are they playing about? A question that doesn't apply to music. Why then, for what and for whom is music played? Of course, for those who listen to it. This means that you can hear something in the music. This is what attracts a person to her.
Like any other work of art, music makes us feel excited, sometimes experiencing some unusual, strong feelings. If music were an empty play of sounds, it would not find a spiritual response, a person would remain indifferent, indifferent to it. This means that music contains something important, meaningful for a person, that is, it is meaningful.
What does this content consist of and how does it manifest itself? first of all that. that music is capable of conveying one or another mental state of a person, expressing his feelings and experiences. Sometimes the composer initiates listeners into his plan. Then he explains the content of the work in one way or another, for example, gives it an appropriate title. If the content of works for instruments or orchestra is conveyed mainly only by the expressive means of the music itself, which I will try to talk about separately, then in vocal and theatrical works the word, action, dance, and stage decoration already participate in this.
How much can be expressed using sounds alone? What exactly? Are they able to paint a picture, convey movement, tell about people’s lives? To do this, you need to turn to the music itself and try to “hear” the content that is in each work.
T.A. Chekhova in her work offers the following advice to beginners and not very experienced listeners:
1. At first, it is better to choose short works until the skill of “following sounds” with your ears has been developed.
2. For listening, you must choose compositions of both vocal (for the voice) and instrumental (for various musical instruments) music. It should be remembered that the text in vocal works helps to understand the content, and works of program instrumental music with a certain plot, expressed in the title of the composition, are easier to perceive and it is better to begin to gain experience in listening to music from them.
3. During the sound, you must carefully monitor what is happening in the music from the very beginning to the very end, covering your ears sound by sound, without losing sight of anything.
4. From time to time, you should definitely return to listening to familiar works in order to learn to easily and quickly recognize them, to imagine their sound mentally (“inner” voice).
5. In some cases, you can choose an illustration that suits your mood to what you heard or draw your own “musical picture.” Lines from literary, especially poetic, works, which can be found in great variety from famous writers and poets, will also help to awaken fantasy and imagination. Reflecting on why these lines and not others are so consonant with music will also help you hear more.
6. Some musical compositions have the same names, but in their mood and feelings they are completely different. You should especially listen to the sound of such works, memorize them and note this dissimilarity for yourself. (Try to distinguish between characters and images).
P. Picasso. Three musicians
To determine the nature of a work, its emotional and figurative perception, you can first use the dictionary of aesthetic emotions that exist in music as signs of the nature of sound, which is offered by the scientist, teacher and psychologist V.G. Razhnikov.
JOYFUL: cheerful, festive, loud, sparkling, vigorous, lively, perky, bright, radiant
SOLEMNLY: majestic, victorious, inviting, enthusiastic, graceful, life-affirming
TENDERLY: affectionately, cordially, touchingly, affably, trustingly, sweetly, kindly
CALM: peaceful, serene, good-natured, light, transparent, benevolent
EXCITED: anxious, worried
HEAVY: awkward, angular
GROZNO: dynamic, tragic
Poetic: dreamy, melodious, soulful, reverent, heartfelt
A good example here would be, say, the album “Seasons” by P.I. Tchaikovsky. Where every month has its own character and mood. Sound pictures of nature created by talented composers can be compared with landscapes of famous artists, with descriptions of the beauty of the surrounding world in poetry. A captivating moonlit night, full of magical charm, mysterious and enigmatic - this is the image of the play “Moonlight” by C. Debussy. The leisurely approach of morning is conveyed by the introduction to Mussorgsky's opera - "Dawn on the Moscow River".
Debussy - Moonlight
Music has access to both the fairy-tale, fantasy world and the real world, in which people live, everyday events occur, and various actions are performed. How is it represented in music? In the first case, the works of the Russian composer, musical storyteller, Rimsky-Korsakov would be very suitable. For example, his operas “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Sadko”, “Snow Maiden”, “The Golden Cockerel”, and the suite “Scheherazade”. There are many fairy-tale images among Mussorgsky’s plays, united under the general title “Pictures at an Exhibition,” and Anatoly Lyadov’s fairy-tale picture “The Magic Lake.”
I. Levitan. Forest Lake
Is music capable of conveying a person's character? To begin with, you can get acquainted with the characters from “Carnival” by the German composer Schumann. If you compare the musical portraits of Florestan and Eusebius, it will become clear how opposite they are: Florestan is impetuous, always on the move. whereas eusebius is calm and prone to daydreaming. Familiar masks also appear at the carnival - the angular, slightly funny Pierrot and the light, jumping gait Harlequin.
Eusebius (from Carnaval) - Eusebius
Another carnival is also known in musical literature... The French composer Saint-Saëns called it “Carnival of the Animals”.
And in the orchestral work by O. Messiaen “The Awakening of the Birds” the various sounds of a summer forest filled with the voices of birds are very accurately conveyed, portraits of “forest singers” were created.
Anton Arensky has a suite "Silhouettes". The suite includes five portrait sketches, written in an elegant and relaxed manner, attracting with the subtlety and wit of their sound images.
Can music provide insight into an event? From a piece of music you can also learn about events of the distant past. One of them was captured in music by Rimsky-Korsakov. His “Battle at Kerzhenets” is a vivid picture of a brutal battle.
"Battle at Kerzhenets"
Listening and hearing music are two different things. The content of music is as rich and varied as the content of other forms of art. It is only revealed with the help of expressive means characteristic of music. Unlike non-musical sounds, musical sounds have an exact pitch and a certain duration. In addition, they can have different colors, sound loud or quiet, and be performed quickly or slowly. Melody and accompaniment to it, mode and harmony, meter and rhythm, register and timbre, dynamics and tempo - all these are the expressive means of musical art. Learning to hear and distinguish them, to understand the language of music in which the composer addresses the listener, is just as necessary as understanding a literary text and the means of painting. Then the content of works of musical art will be revealed in all its richness.
So, our focus today is on the most famous classical musical works. Classical music has been exciting its listeners for several centuries, causing them to experience storms of feelings and emotions. It has long been a part of history and is intertwined with the present with thin threads.
Undoubtedly, in the distant future classical music will be no less in demand, since a similar phenomenon in musical world cannot lose its relevance and significance.
Name any classic– it will be worthy of first place in any music chart. But since it is not possible to compare the most famous classical musical works with each other, due to their artistic uniqueness, the opuses named here are presented only as works for reference.
"Moonlight Sonata"
Ludwig van Beethoven
In the summer of 1801 it was published brilliant work L.B. Beethoven, who was destined to become famous throughout the world. The title of this work, " Moonlight Sonata“, is known to absolutely everyone, from old to young.
But initially, the work had the title “Almost a Fantasy,” which the author dedicated to his young student, his beloved Juliet Guicciardi. And the name by which it is known to this day was invented by music critic and the poet Ludwig Relstab after the death of L.V. Beethoven. This work is one of the composer's most famous musical works.
By the way, the publications of the newspaper “ Komsomolskaya Pravda” – compact books with discs for listening to music. You can read about and listen to his music - very convenient! We recommend order classical music CDs directly from our page : click the “buy” button and immediately go to the store.
"Turkish March"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
This work is the third movement of Sonata No. 11, it was born in 1783. Initially it was called “Turkish Rondo” and was very popular among Austrian musicians, who later renamed it. The name “Turkish March” was assigned to the work also because it is in tune with the Turkish Janissary orchestras, for which the sound of percussion is very characteristic, which can be seen in the “Turkish March” by V.A. Mozart.
"Ave Maria"
Franz Schubert
The composer himself wrote this work for the poem “The Virgin of the Lake” by W. Scott, or rather for its fragment, and did not intend to write such a deeply religious composition for the Church. Some time after the appearance of the work, no one famous musician, inspired by the prayer “Ave Maria,” set its text to the music of the brilliant F. Schubert.
"Fantasy-impromptu"
Frederic Chopin
F. Chopin, the genius of the Romantic period, dedicated this work to his friend. And it was he, Julian Fontana, who disobeyed the author’s instructions and published it in 1855, six years after the composer’s death. F. Chopin believed that his work was similar to the impromptu of I. Moscheles, a student of Beethoven, famous composer and a pianist, which was the reason for the refusal to release Fantasia-Impromptus. However, no one has ever considered this brilliant work to be plagiarism, except the author himself.
"Flight of the Bumblebee"
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Composer of this work was a fan of Russian folklore - he was interested in fairy tales. This led to the creation of the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” based on the story by A.S. Pushkin. Part of this opera is the interlude “Flight of the Bumblebee”. Masterfully, incredibly vividly and brilliantly, N.A. imitated the flight sounds of this insect in the work. Rimsky-Korsakov.
"Caprice No. 24"
Niccolo Paganini
Initially, the author composed all his caprices solely to improve and hone his violin playing skills. Ultimately, they brought a lot of new and previously unknown things to violin music. And the 24th caprice - the last of the caprices composed by N. Paganini, carries a rapid tarantella with folk intonations, and is also recognized as one of the works ever created for the violin, which has no equal in complexity.
"Vocalise, opus 34, no. 14"
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov
This work concludes the composer’s 34th opus, which combines fourteen songs written for voice with piano accompaniment. Vocalise, as expected, does not contain words, but is performed on one vowel sound. S.V. Rachmaninov dedicated it to Antonina Nezhdanova - opera singer. Very often this piece is performed on the violin or cello accompanied by piano accompaniment.
"Moonlight"
Claude Debussy
This work was written by the composer under the impression of the lines of a poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine. The title very clearly conveys the softness and touchingness of the melody, which affects the soul of the listener. In 120 films different generations it sounds like popular work the brilliant composer C. Debussy.
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