Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music

This is one of four general guides I own to classical music. I have other books specifically on orchestral, concerto, chamber, choral and opera, but this is one that covers all the different forms. It has a really different approach though. While my other guides focus on composers and their works,

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or the elements of music, this is a different kind of listening guide. The first part teaches you what to listen for in the various forms, say a concerto. The second part puts compositions in "listening group" with common themes. For instance, the first group has four pieces by Dvorak, Bartok and Janacek, all "Eastern European composers... influenced by folk music"--the better to hear how they're similar and how different. I found it a fun and breezy and useful guide to classical music.

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