Classical Music: The Traits, Trends, Traditions and Transitions Through the Ages
WednesdayS October 14 to December 02 10:00 am to 12 noon
IN-PERSON at Fairfield Seniors Centre
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Presenter: Rick Phillips
Course Overview: How and why has classical music survived for centuries and continues to speak to us today? How, when and why did it begin? How did geography, culture and politics affect its evolution? This series will trace the course of music from the Middle Ages and Renaissance through the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th century periods, and touch upon the present day.
It includes Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Copland, and many more composers and features music from legendary recordings. We will explore the basics of classical musical form and structure and reveal the mysteries of music to help you develop a more critical musical ear and enhance your understanding, appreciation and love of classical music.
“Any great work of art revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world - the extent to which it invites you in…” Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
October 14: Medieval & Renaissance (c.1000-1600) - The journey begins with a single unaccompanied line of music – plainchant or monophony, mostly vocal. From there it blossoms into polyphony, or multiple independent lines creating a denser texture with the addition of instruments, richer harmonies and greater expression. Music by Hildegard von Bingen, Machaut, Palestrina, etc.
October 21: Baroque I (c.1600-1750) - Polyphony continues to dominate music, culminating in the sacred and operatic masterpieces by Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Gabrieli. Instruments are developed, providing for larger and more diverse ensembles with highly decorated and antiphonal music. The church continues to be powerful but secularism and the demand for suitable courtly music grows.
October 28: Baroque II - At the turn into the 18th century, the High Baroque period culminates in the sacred and secular polyphonic masterpieces by J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel. The orchestra comes into its own, keyboard and other instruments are further developed, all anchored by a firm underlying support system called ‘basso continuo.’
November 4: Classical I (c. 1750-1825) - Called “Classical” to recall the highest quality and standards of the ancient Greco-Roman world, the church loses some of its power as the great courts of Europe blossom. Opera continues strongly and instrumental forms like the sonata, symphony concerto and string quartet come into their own with composers like F. J. Haydn and W. A. Mozart. Clarity and order now dominate as the musical style shifts from polyphonic to more ‘homophonic’ music, or melody with accompaniment.
November 11: Classical II - Music becomes more expressive and emotional as the ideals of freedom, equality and human rights emerge from revolution. By instilling classical form and style with music of more drive and intensity, the young Beethoven introduces many of the salient features of Romanticism.
November 18: Romantic I (c.1800-19??) - Now freer, the Romantic spirit blooms in all the arts, encouraging and emphasizing the individual, nationality, imagination and creativity. Emotion, feeling and sentiment grow more important than formality and structure. The heart over the mind. The Industrial Revolution and advances in science and technology create new and improved instruments, allowing the orchestra to double in size during the century. Music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, etc.
November 25: Romantic II - Composers like Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler continue and expand upon the Romantic ideals, resulting in gargantuan forces presenting music that philosophically comments on human life, death and even life-after-death.
December 2: 20th century (c. 1900-2000 and beyond) - Fueled by world events, politics, immigration and advances in science and technology, a broader range of musical styles develops, like Impressionism, Expressionism, serialism, primitivism, neoclassicism, neoromanticism and minimalism. Blending with other musical genres like jazz, popular and world music, classical music strives to survive in a commercial, product-driven world.
Committee Contact and Chair: Glenn Yaffee
Rick Phillips is a well-recognized broadcaster and webcaster, freelance writer and reviewer, lecturer, panel moderator, consultant, musical tour guide, artistic director and concert host. For 14 years, Rick was the Host and Producer of SOUND ADVICE®, the weekly guide to classical music and recordings, heard across Canada on CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two every weekend. Rick also presents many pre-concert talks for patrons of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and other Toronto-based classical music organizations.
Often a juror in the classical music categories for the Juno Awards, Rick is also the author of “The Essential Classical Recordings – 101 CDs” published by McClelland & Stewart. He presents a variety of Music History & Appreciation courses at such venues as the University of Toronto, York University, the Royal Conservatory of Music, George Brown College and has been a very popular lecturer at Learning Unlimited Etobicoke.
