What to Listen for in Music

Rating:
Summary: Everything you always wanted to know about music . . .
Review: . . . for the listener who enjoys and wants to deepen her understanding of orchestral music.

Aaron Copland built much of his career on writing modern "classical" music that could be enjoyed and appreciated by the common listener. He felt that modern music should communicate to the non-musician, as well as the more experienced one. He knew that if the listener understood what made up the basics of musical composition and structure, that the experience of listening would be tremendously enhanced. This book is in the spirit of that goal, and like his most accessible music, Copland achieves this with a brilliant, conversational eloquence that is neither pandering nor pretentious. I found this book to live up to its title, "What to listen for in music." Copland takes the reader on a step by step journey of what components make up a piece of music; from the different type of composers, through the creative process and the individual elements that support the musical architecture. These elements include rhythm, melody, harmony and tone/texture. Once these are clear, he then is able to talk about a musical work as a whole, which includes its structure the different forms that it takes (eg. sonata form, synphony, opera, etc.) One does not need a musical backround to understand and enjoy this book, and yet the seasoned musician will also find a refreshing review of the basics of music. Copland loved music and this is always obvious in his joyful presentation. All one need to have to benefit from this book is a curiosity of music and its mysterious ability to move mountains.

Rating:
Summary: Everything you always wanted to know about music . . .
Review: . . . for the listener who enjoys and wants to deepen her understanding of orchestral music.

Aaron Copland built much of his career on writing modern "classical" music that could be enjoyed and appreciated by the common listener. He felt that modern music should communicate to the non-musician, as well as the more experienced one. He knew that if the listener understood what made up the basics of musical composition and structure, that the experience of listening would be tremendously enhanced. This book is in the spirit of that goal, and like his most accessible music, Copland achieves this with a brilliant, conversational eloquence that is neither pandering nor pretentious. I found this book to live up to its title, "What to listen for in music." Copland takes the reader on a step by step journey of what components make up a piece of music; from the different type of composers, through the creative process and the individual elements that support the musical architecture. These elements include rhythm, melody, harmony and tone/texture. Once these are clear, he then is able to talk about a musical work as a whole, which includes its structure the different forms that it takes (eg. sonata form, synphony, opera, etc.) One does not need a musical backround to understand and enjoy this book, and yet the seasoned musician will also find a refreshing review of the basics of music. Copland loved music and this is always obvious in his joyful presentation. All one need to have to benefit from this book is a curiosity of music and its mysterious ability to move mountains.

Rating:
Summary: I don't know of a better book on the subject.
Review: Aaron Copland forgot far more than I will ever know about music. In reading this book, I learned a bit about the differences between Sonatas, Concertos and Symphonies. I learned why Beethoven and Wagner are highly regarded, and I can more readily recognize reflections of their styles in the music I hear. I diligently acquired and listened to many of the recordings listed in the back pages, much to my benefit. I've referred many times to a copy of the 1957 edition I've kept on my shelf for years. I learned about many composers I hadn't much listened to or heard much of, and for some of them, I now know why I never listened much. I learned that for me, Bartok, Haydn, Hindemuth, Nielsen, Hugo Wolf, Berg and Stravinsky are boring if not annoying. On the other hand, due to this book, I intentionally heard Couperin, Gesualdo, Palestrina, and Berlioz's "Harold in Italy" for the first time, and much to my delight. Copland and I had different tastes, I suppose. With as much benefit as I got from this book, I can't call it a bad book. But I must confess it was hard for me to read. Copland gets technically deeper than I can follow. Still, it was a good experience for me, and there were some really fine pieces of information. For example, "The first real interpretive problem is presented by the notes themselves. Musical notation, as it exists today, is not an exact transcription of a composer's thought. It cannot be, for it is too vague..." But because it wasn't really a pleasant read, I lopped a star from the rating.

Rating:
Summary: What to Listen for in Music
Review: Aaron Copland is a great composer, but his ability to write a book about music is not as great as his composing skills. This book is more useful to musicians than to the common reader. As a musican, this was a very useful book. I enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Attention Music Lovers!
Review: Anybody who has any interest in music owes it to themselves to read this book. In this definitive guide to musical enjoyment, Aaron Copeland takes a look at how to listen to music intelligently. Two questions are addressed in this interesting, in-depth study: Are you hearing everything that is going on? Are you really being sensitive to it?

It doesn't matter what kind of music you enjoy, everyone can get something out of this book. Though relating more closely to classical music, Aaron Copeland's ideas for listening to music will give the reader a better appreciation and understanding of whatever music they listen to.

From reading this book you will gain insight into the creative process of a composer. In laymen's terms, the book describes the way composers write music as well as how they actually listen to it. It explains that there are three separate planes upon which music is listened to. They are the sensuous plane, the expressive plane, and the sheerly musical plane. Copeland goes on to tell how music is heard on each plane and explains how each works, which I found very interesting.

Overall, Aaron Copeland's What To Listen For In Music is a good book that I recommend to anyone who has an interest in music or enjoys listening to it. A whole new level of listening ability can be gained from reading this book. It explains music from the composer's point of view, giving you insight into how music is composed, and how to listen to it, which gives you a deeper appreciation of music.

Rating:
Summary: Some Good Ideas Presented to Grow in Music Listening
Review: Copland certainly knows the subject matter, and at times is very coherent on the topic. His passion for desiring that we all grow in our abilities to hear and understand the music we love to listen to comes forth easily from his writing.

I received many useful bits of info to aid the depth and breath of my music listening adventures. His point that this type of help is necessary to charting the waters of more complicated musical styles is appreciated. His emphasis on styles recognition was good, and challenging. Because they blend and ebb and flow between each other and then there is that modern category which delights in casting off any resemblance to anything.

I will have this guide with me to puruse when listening, and it will make a valuable resource contribution.

I wish there was more of a practical slant at times, such as what I find with a concurrent book I'm using: Listening To Music, by Wright which fills in the blanks for me at many turns, due to his clear definitions and examples accompanied by CD's. Copland's work is supplemented by listening suggestions.

Rating:
Summary: Some Good Ideas Presented to Grow in Music Listening
Review: Copland certainly knows the subject matter, and at times is very coherent on the topic. His passion for desiring that we all grow in our abilities to hear and understand the music we love to listen to comes forth easily from his writing.

I received many useful bits of info to aid the depth and breath of my music listening adventures. His point that this type of help is necessary to charting the waters of more complicated musical styles is appreciated. His emphasis on styles recognition was good, and challenging. Because they blend and ebb and flow between each other and then there is that modern category which delights in casting off any resemblance to anything.

I will have this guide with me to puruse when listening, and it will make a valuable resource contribution.

I wish there was more of a practical slant at times, such as what I find with a concurrent book I'm using: Listening To Music, by Wright which fills in the blanks for me at many turns, due to his clear definitions and examples accompanied by CD's. Copland's work is supplemented by listening suggestions.

Rating:
Summary: This one will stay on your shelf for some years.
Review: I actually bought and read this book 10 years ago now. I recently went back to it, after my partner's newly found interest in classical music.

"What to listen for in music" is a classic book, written by someone who REALLY understood the subject. The first edition appeared in 1939, and a major revision appeared in 1957. So the musical examples are a bit out of date. Yet the book is as relevant as ever. If you are new to music, or new to classical music, this is a great place to start. Even if you have some musical background (like I have) the book can teach you a lot.

The book covers many areas, and very important from the listener's point of view, is the design of the musical piece. What are the elements of music (rhythm, melody, harmony and tone), and how does the composer use these elements to create a composition.

Next, musical texture (monophony, homophony and polyphony) and structure (or organisation) are covered. Much of the rest of the book (nearly half) is devoted to musical forms. Too much to summarise here, yet the material is presented clearly enough for the average listener to understand - the book is not intended as a university text, but as a guide for music appreciation.

There is also a chapter about contemporary music, and a few appendixes with examples and analysis. For me, one of the big benefits of the book is that it introduced me to a lot of new music (including American music) that I did not know before. The list of recorded musical examples is nearly 7 pages long, and most of this music is still available in recorded format today. It has taken me 10 years, but I have listened to most of these examples by now, and in the process my musical knowledge and experience have been expanded significantly.

This book makes a nice companion to Barry Kernfeld's "What to listen for in jazz". One small complaint. My cheap edition (Mentor) is of fairly low quality. After 10 years, it is falling apart. If you want to keep this book on your shelf for along time (and you would want to), then buy a quality edition.

Rating:
Summary: A great book to read and reference!
Review: I am not a musician...I don't even read music... but I love listening to great orchestral and chamber music. This book is the perfect guide for someone like me. It was absorbing, informative, and entertaining. It explains different structural forms of music, when and how they are used, and how to listen for them. It also explains many terms that I did not know, such as rondo, scherzo, sonata, etc. It has enhanced the pleasure I get from listening to music.

Rating:
Summary: that cello's not a walrus!
Review: I checked out this book hoping to gain a new perspective on the music I was listening to, unfortunately chamber music hardly dominates my music playlist. Nevertheless this book provided invaluable information to not only a music lover, but also an active musician. The in-depth description of the various musical forms was interesting and foreign to me. Although I find it hard to believe that this book is really that accessible to non-musicians those music lovers that have never studied music theory would seem to be lost through this at times lofty guide. The most comprehensive method used to illustrate his points in this book were the actually notated music figures and the recommendations of each form at the end of each chapter. Enjoy this book, but beware those not versed in music theory you could be in for some heavy reading.