Classical Music Appreciation 101

I enjoy listening to classical music. It’s something I have always enjoyed, but the older I have gotten, the more I appreciate each piece for its compilation. There’s a certain art to really ‘listening’ to these musical art forms. Many people find it boring, but I think once one has the ability to really understand classical music over the more popular forms of music, one can then appreciate it more. I think the difference between popular music and classical music can basically be summed up as the difference between magazines and works of literature.

I have my favorite works such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Opus # 8, Strauss’s Blue Danube, Opus # 314, and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Opus # 71. I love so many, but these are among my favorites. I used to play the music for background noise. Yes, I said noise, but after beginning to look for new pieces, and really listening, I found that the best way to enjoy classical music is to just sit and listen to it. Focus, but not too hard.

When Daniel took his Music Appreciation class, he and I went too see the NJ Symphony. He had to dissect each piece, and in doing so, we found it was not so easy to enjoy the piece. The assignment led us to believe that in order to enjoy each piece, you simply had to really listen, and understand why the composer wrote what he did, and what message he wanted to send to the audience.

I believe that understanding and appreciating music is a hard thing to define. What does “understanding/appreciating classical music” really mean? There are two ways to look at interpreting the classics. The first is identifying that the classical music world has an abundance of terms associated with it, such as melody, rhythm, harmony, and so on. It’s the technical side of the music. The second important aspect of classical music is being able to understand the emotions and characteristics each piece reveals to the listener. There should be some connection between you and each piece. How does it make you feel? Sad, happy. I believe, this link, between you and the classical piece, is what makes listening to it more pleasurable. Find that link, and really connect to the classics. It’s well worth your time.