Recordings:
Scores:
Analysis: an old but quality site (requires Adobe Shockwave)
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Recording: By the Choir of King’s College in Cambridge
Score: From IMSLP
Excerpts (part 1, scene 1, 4-5, part 2, scene 7):
A true English tradition, Handel’s best known oratorio was composed in just under a month. More…
Recording: Performed by the Venice Baroque Orchestra
Scores: From IMSLP
Sonnet text: From Wikisource
Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni). Second in popularity only to Pachelbel’s Canon in D, the original one hit wonder, this staple of easy listening lists has a lot going on after its unmistakable opening theme. More…
Recording: Performed by the Youtube Symphony Orchestra 2011 (17′)
Britten, from Britain, was one of the greatest 20th century composers around WWII, and he was pretty much the first person to write English operas since Handel and Henry Purcell in the Baroque. He also wrote an incredibly haunting piece called “War Requiem” where he combines the Catholic requiem text with Wilfred Owen’s war poems. This piece is a handy showcase of all the orchestra’s instruments and their various combinations. More…
This is a resource and listening list for the Royal Conservatory examination, which briefly covers western music from the Baroque period to the 20th century. More…
The subjects taught as “music history” can be pretty vague. In my experience it is really about two things:
Critical listening is more than turning on the radio while you are in a car. More…