The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works

By: Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Robert Greenberg

Length: 24 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Over the centuries, orchestral music has given us a category of works that stand apart as transcendent expressions of the human spirit. What are these "greatest of the greats"? Find out in these 32 richly detailed lectures that take you on a sumptuous grand tour of the symphonic pieces that continue to live at the center of our musical culture. These thirty masterworks form an essential foundation for any music collection and a focal point for understanding the orchestral medium and deepening your insight into the communicative power of music. While seasoned music lovers will find the lectures a revealing journey through the repertoire, the course welcomes newcomers to orchestral music, offering a very accessible point of entry to this magnificent repertoire.

You'll encounter symphonies, concertos, tone poems, symphonic poems, and suites, delving into the works through extensive musical excerpts. The course covers the major eras and stylistic periods in Western music from the early 18th- to the mid-20th centuries and highlights a wide range of European and American works. Among these: Haydn's Symphony no. 104, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, and Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5. Throughout these lectures, you'll learn about the major musical forms found in orchestral writing and how they're used in conveying expressive meanings. Knowing how these forms work allows you to grasp the structure of the music as you hear it, and also to appreciate how the greatest composers used them, extended them, and finally departed from them in sublimely original ways.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses

An absolute delight!

What made the experience of listening to The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works the most enjoyable?

I've been a musician all of my life and yet in each of these lectures there was something new to learn. I enjoyed Dr. Greenberg's delivery and found the contextual information about the composer and the time in which they lived to have a profound impact of how I heard the pieces discussed. I also came away with a new-found appreciation for some of the composers with whom I was less familiar. All in all I was sad to hear it end and will definitely look for another series.

Exquisite

Bob Greenberg's, knowledge and passion is infectious. I really can't express the joy I have received from his lectures. This one is a gem

Entertaining and Educational

Where does The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's right up there among my favorite audio books. Professor Greenberg is a fantastic speaker and the content is compelling.

What about Professor Robert Greenberg’s performance did you like?

His performance is very enthusiastic and he uses contemporary quips and analogies to illustrate how timeless this great music is. His arguments are compelling and the way he fleshes out the lives of the artists adds great richness to the enjoyment of the music.

Any additional comments?

This has been really wonderful, however, I recommend you download each orchestral piece in it's entirety, listen to it before and/or after listening to the lecture. Each lecture contains only portions of the music. I also find that if I listened to one right after another I would miss out. It would be better to listen to one lecture, listen to the music and wait a day or so before moving on to another. This isn't really a five hour car ride audio book. More of a daily walk kind of audio book.

best teacher ever

I never write reviews, but professor Robert deserves it. He is funny, knowledgeable in music and history and gossip and deluvers an amazing, interesting, amusing class! Best great courses evar, and I am not a musician

Greenberg's style makes the course great

I liked every minute of the course because Robert Greenberg makes every minute worth listening to. My problem (and it's mine not his) is that I often don't hear what he wants me to hear, so I just don't appreciate what he wants me to. In any case all of the selections are worth hearing and studying. My major learning from the course was often the biographical or historical information that preceded the musical analysis.

This is exactly what audiobooks are for!

The combination of music pieces played, clear and to-the-point explanations, historical discussions and personal opinions by the narrator is just exceptional.
The narrator/lecturer is funny, opinionated and super knowledgeable. Making it a must hear for any symphony/history enthusiast.
Highly recommended

A Horizon Expanding Tour Through Musical Greats

This is my third music class by Professor Greenberg. As always, he is a master storyteller and presenter. I started pursuing a musical education from a point of next to zero understanding or appreciation. I was goaded into beginning these courses by my daughter's school requirement that she learn to play a musical instrument. I do not want to be ignorant about anything my daughter is doing, so I started taking these Great Courses lectures to build an understanding. I confess that I did not really expect to like learning about music and just hoped for a decent experience. I have been more than pleasantly surprised by both the quality of the presentations and the subject matter. I never expected it to happen, but these courses have begun to radically change my taste in music. My music collection has grown considerably as I have purchased recordings of the various composers covered by Professor Greenberg. From these courses, I have developed an appreciation of the art form that previously was not part of my life. What started out as just a desire to learn what my daughter is learning is turning into a desire to learn for my own sake.

This course examines thirty great orchestral works. I must disagree with the word "greatest" in the title because the professor admits from the beginning that he wanted to survey orchestral works through time, starting with Vivaldi (who was born in the 1600s) and ending with Shostakovich (who died in 1975). The professor also limited his selections to no more than two works from the same author with an exception for Beethoven who was included three times, and he excluded works that he covered thoroughly in other classes. Therefore, these are not necessarily the thirty "greatest" of all time. These are, however, each masterworks. The professor discusses the context in which each work was written, focusing on either the era that the work was created or the life experience of the composer that led to its creation (or sometimes both). Each lecture includes a brief biography of the composer then analyzes the highlights of the music piece both from a technical perspective and an experiential perspective. The course is somewhat inconsistent in the amount of time the spent listening to the actual musical pieces—some works are discussed with just very brief excerpts while others include long passages. This approach is fine as long as the student is prepared to buy each of the works separately to listen to them in their entirety. Thankfully, most of these works can be purchased at a very minimal price. This is an excellent course well-worth the time.

Brilliant

Another thoroughly enjoyable course by an amazing instructor. He can put a passionate desire anyone to continue exploring the world of Classical music.

Learn while laughing.

I love history and music, but I know so very little about both. In fact, the more I learn, the less I know. Greenberg does a fabulous job making it deeply insightful. A bit zany, but he really grows on you. Looking forward to hearing more and more from him.

Professor Greenberg delivers another winner

Excellent in depth research matched with superlative musical knowledge and an always entertaining delivery makes this lecture series another must listen for music lovers.