# Music commentaries?



## nefigah (Aug 23, 2008)

I've been captivated recently by these lectures which I found through a post on these forums. Though the written word is great (and I have a couple music books on the ole Christmas list), audio is (not surprisingly) particularly effective in this realm.

Does anyone know of any other easily accessible archives of lectures/commentary? They certainly don't have to be about piano or Beethoven; indeed I'd be anxious to learn more about any composer's works or any facet of art music.

Thanks!


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

*I'm going to go on a riff here, please be patient*

No mention of music commentaries ought to go by without referencing Deryck Cooke's 2-CD masterpiece of Wagnerian commentary: "Introduction to the Ring Cycle." In addition to Cooke's explanations, it is very liberally interspersed with music examples, including some _solo/soli_ passages taken out of their orchestral context and prepared especially for Cooke's presentation.

Now, I don't know if this meets the criterion of "easily accessible;" it is on CD- it will cost money to get it- but I certainly think it's worth every penny.

I've seen people in another fomerly prominent (now potentially defunct) forum say that their problem with Wagner Societies is that we talk too little about the music. In this respect, we're really following Wagner's own example- in his self-justifying writings there is little to be found by way of musicological comment on his own works. It takes a high level of musical erudition to talk authoritatively about Wagner's musical methods- and that's exactly what Cooke provides to us in his material.

Bryan Magee argued that Cooke had a more detailed knowledge of Wagner's score than anyone- perhaps not even excepting Wagner himself. He also said that he discoursed with Cooke on fine musical points in Wagner's compositions- to the point that he later wrote that Cooke's "Introduction" represented "a drop" from his "ocean" of understanding.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

A few similar, and almost as good in my opinion, can be found here:

http://www.instantencore.com/Podcasts.aspx

_Explore the Symphony_ and _What Makes it Great _have similar commentary, maybe a little lacking in Schiff's reverence for the material, but I do learn from them. I especially enjoy the _Performance today Piano Puzzlers._


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## nefigah (Aug 23, 2008)

*CTP*: Sounds awesome; I'll put it on the Christmas list as well. Now, I feel stupid for asking this question, given the title of the work, but is it the sort of introduction that's safe to serve as an introduction to Wagner? Or does it assume I've already listened to him?

*Weston*: Thanks for the link (I believe you were the genius behind linking the Schiff lectures as well). I've listened to a couple of the Explore the Symphony ones so far; the guy is borderline goofy  But some interesting stuff.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

nefigah said:


> *CTP*: Sounds awesome; I'll put it on the Christmas list as well. Now, I feel stupid for asking this question, given the title of the work, but is it the sort of introduction that's safe to serve as an introduction to Wagner? Or does it assume I've already listened to him?


Cooke's presentation is purpose-specific to the _Ring_ cycle. Having said that, knowledge of what Cooke imparts *can* (and does) aid in understanding other Wagner works. Most importantly, though, the _music examples_ are so freely given that one need not know the full length of the _Ring_ cycle to comprehend the points being made.


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## BuddhaBandit (Dec 31, 2007)

I haven't heard the Cooke discs (if Chi recommends them, they're probably good), but I found this site particularly useful when I fist started listening to the Ring.

Also, the Teaching Company has a variety of lecture sets devoted to composers. I haven't tried them, but judging from the quality of other TC sets, I'm sure they're great. Your local library probably stocks them or something similar.


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