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Home > Music > Instructional Cassette Catalog > History
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Medieval and Renaissance
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Approaches to Popular Music
CBM 1463
Part of the series The History of Music in the Western World,
1100-1980.
Background to Music
CBM 1502-1504
This BBC series features short lectures about various
composers and music styles throughout history.
Classical Dances
CBM 181
Traces the formal development of the dance from the earliest
written music to the modern symphonic repertoire.
The Dance in Music
CBM 470
Traces the history of the dance. Includes a minuet by Mozart,
Weber's "Invitation to the Dance," Brahms's Hungarian Dance in G
minor, and Strauss's waltz "Artist's Life."
The Evolution of Modern Music
CBM 169
In a conversation with Carolyn Watt, Scott Huston traces the
history of music through the development of scales. Musical
illustrations represent wide range of styles and genres from the
Gregorian Chant to the popular music.
Good Vibrations
CBM 204
An anthropologist examines the evolution of music and musical
instruments. The discussion ranges from Bach to Moog
synthesizers and Muzak.
How to Understand and Listen to Great Music
CBM 1532-1537
See entry under Music Appreciation
The Origins of Orchestration
CBM 8
Discusses orchestration in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Includes musical examples from Gossec, von Gluck,
Beethoven, Wagner, and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Pioneers of Czech Music
CBM 34
Erich Leinsdorf conducts selections from The Bartered Bride
by Friedrick Smetana, Second Symphony in D minor by Antonín
Dvořák, Concerto for violin and orchestra by Bohuslav Martinu,
and "Schwanda the Bagpiper" by Jaromir Weinberger.
Psalms
CBM 199
Discussion concerning the importance of the Psalms in the
history of Western music. Examples played include choral music by
Palestrina, Handel, Gluck, Franck, and Liszt.
Russian Music
CBM 9
Outlines the history of Russian music from Glinka to
Shostakovich. Includes selections from their works as well as
those of Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky.
Understanding the Language of Music
CBM 1304
Using examples from classical and popular music, Daniel
Abrams discusses modes, scales, chords, and the instruments of
the orchestra. Includes a brief history of music, with analysis
of styles and forms. For the person who would like to acquire a
rudimentary knowledge of music history and theory.
Augsburg: Composers Patronized by the House of Fugger
CBM 381-382
Works of composers supported by the Fuggers, an influential
Augsburg banking family of the sixteenth century. Includes a
madrigal by Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, canzonettes by Hans Leo
Hassler, lute pieces by Jean-Baptiste Besard, and Protestant
church pieces by Adam Gumpelzhaimer.
Dresden
CBM 384
Lecture on Heinrich Schutz, stressing Schutz's importance in
applying Italian polychoral style and dramatic monody to German
church music; motets from Schutz's Symphoniae Sacrae.
Gregorian Chant
CBM 1511
Leipzig: Collegia Musica and the Thomas Cantorate in the
Seventeenth Century
CBM 386-387
Discussion of the importance of the Collegia Musica to the
musical life of seventeenth-century Leipzig, with selections from
the works of the composers who preceded Johann Sebastian Bach as
cantors of Thomaskirche.
Munich: Bavarian Court and Chapel under Orlando DiLasso
CBM 379
Includes details of Orlando DiLasso's life and examples of
his music, such as the echo songs. (This tape contains material
on side one only.)
Music in the Middle Ages
CBM 317
Musicologist Sidney Wilck reviews musical developments of the
Middle Ages, beginning with the plainsong of Pope Gregory I and
concluding with the estampie, a fourteenth-century dance.
Music in the Renaissance
CBM 38
Musicologist Sidney Wilck reviews music history between 1450
and 1600. With musical examples.
Musick's Feaste
CBM 1457
Anthony Rooley discusses music of the Renaissance, 1480-1600.
New Arts for Old
CBM 1456
Christopher Page discusses Medieval music, 1100-1480.
Bach and Ornamentation
CBM 45
Concert artist and Bach specialist Rosalyn Tureck explains
how Bach's ornamentation is "written right into the music."
Bach and Twentieth-Century Composers
CBM 277, CBM 378
Part 1: Rosalyn Tureck performs a composition by Bach based
on a twelve-tone motive, the B Minor Fugue; Lukas Foss analyzes
other works by the baroque composer; and Arthur Berger discusses
the powerful influence of the Bachian signature.
Part 2: Rosalyn Tureck and composers Benjamin Lees, Eric
Salzman, Lukas Foss, and Arthur Berger discuss Bach's influence
on contemporary composers.
Hamburg: Music in the City under the Direction of George
Philipp Telemann
CBM 388
Works by composer Georg Philipp Telemann, who served as
musical director of five principal churches in Hamburg from 1721
until his death in 1767. Includes his secular cantata Die
Landlust.
Lübeck, the Abendmusiken Concerts Established by Dietrich
Buxtehude
CBM 389
Discussion of Buxtehude's fame as an organist, influence as a
composer, and role in establishing the Abendmusiken, a series of
concerts held on the five Sundays preceding Christmas. Includes a
performance of Buxtehude's sacred solo cantata, Laudate Dominum.
The Music of Bach
CBM 43
Works illustrating Bach's genius as a composer such as
Brandenburg Concerto no. 1, Concerto for harpsichord and
strings in D minor, and Organ Concerto in A minor.
Nuremberg: The Brass Makers and Composers of the Seventeenth
Century
CBM 383, CBM 385
Discussion of Nuremberg's role as the center for production
of fine brass instruments; sacred and secular works by Nuremberg
composers Johann Staden and Johann Erasmus Kindermann, Johann
Pachelbel, Georg Kaspar Wecker, and Johann Krieger.
The Oratorio
CBM 179-180
History of the oratorio, from its beginnings in the sixteenth
century to its present-day form. Includes musical examples from
Jephte by Carissimi, Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, and Haydn's
oratorio Creation.
A Pearl Distorted
CBM 1458
Christopher Hogwood discusses the baroque period: 1600-1750.
The Classical Era in Music
CBM 24
Sidney Wilck characterizes the classical period as one of
refinement and standardization.
Concert Masterworks
CBM 1538
Dr. Robert Greenberg examines eighteenth and nineteenth
century music through the examples of works by Mozart and
Beethoven.
Concert Masterworks
CBM 1540
Dr. Robert Greenberg examines nineteenth century music
through the examples of works by Beethoven and Brahms.
Music of Williamsburg
CBM 312
Williamsburg was founded in the 1700s to be the capital of
Virginia. Included in this lecture is music by American and
European composers that may have been heard in Williamsburg.
Sonata and the Creative Ideal
CBM 1459
Alan Hacker discusses the classical period: 1750-1830.
Concert Masterworks
CBM 1539
Dr. Robert Greenberg examines nineteenth-century music
through the examples of works by Antonín Dvořák and Richard
Strauss.
Concert Masterworks
CBM 1541
Dr. Robert Greenberg examines nineteenth-century music
through the examples of works by Felix Mendelssohn and Franz
Liszt.
Expression and Extravagance
CBM 1460
Norman Del Mar discusses the romantic period: 1830-1900.
Musical Pioneers of Italy
CBM 410
Discusses mid-nineteenth-century Italian composers of the
symphony. Includes selections from Locatelli, Sgambati, Respighi,
and Casella.
Pioneers of Impressionism
CBM 63
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of
Fabians Sevitsky, plays selected works by Debussy, Delius,
Griffes, and Ravel.
The Arrival of Atonal Music
CBM 207
Scott Huston discusses the roles of Anton Webern, Arnold
Schoenberg, and Alban Berg in the development of atonality.
The Avant-Garde Today, Parts 1-2
CBM 208-209
Scott Huston looks at the work of the "anti-music" composers
and at musical composition, past and future. He predicts that
traditional composition will soon become a dead art form.
The Concert Overture
CBM 636
Independent orchestral compositions for the concert hall.
Examples offered are Berlioz's "Corsaire," Dvořák's "Carnival
Overture," and Van Vactor's "Overture to a Comedy no. 2."
Contemporary Music
CBM 1462
Narrated by Hugh Wood.
Elements of Jazz
CBM 1546
Bill Messenger gives an overview of jazz, its elements, and
the times from which it was born. Lecture 1: Plantation
beginnings. Lecture 2: The rise and fall of ragtime. Lecture 3:
The jazz age. Lecture 4: Blues. Lecture 5: The swing era. Lecture
6: Boogie, big band blues, and bop. Lecture 7: Modern jazz.
Lecture 8: The ABC's of jazz improvisation.
Elliott Carter and Leon Kirchner
CBM 275
Using excerpts from their compositions, Elliott Carter and
Leon Kirchner show how contemporary music has developed from
older forms.
Evergreens from Bud
CBM 550
Reminiscences by Bud Green, lyricist of the hit "Sentimental
Journey" along with discussion about Sibelius's "Finlandia" and
Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever," two pieces sealed in a time
capsule at the New York World's Fair of 1939.
Frankie and Johnny
CBM 177
This lecture explores the origins of the Frankie and Johnny
story and song which began with the murder of Allen Brit by
Frankie Baker in 1901. It traces the development of the song
through Mae West, Guy Lombardo, and Johnny Cash.
George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
CBM 891
The story behind writing this composition and performing it
with Paul Whiteman in New York. Gershwin cut the piano roll used
for this performance.
Gershwin
CBM 709
Description of life and musical style of Gershwin,
accompanied by several excerpts of his major works and numerous
popular songs.
Islands in the Sun
CBM 1465
Felix Cross discusses the story of reggae and calypso music.
Jazz Joins the Classics
CBM 133
Dave Brubeck explains how composer Darius Milhaud used jazz
for the first time in classical compositions.
Modern Music
CBM 32
Discussion by Clifton Fadiman, critic; Goddard Lieberson,
music record executive; Henry Pleasants, music writer; and
Jacques Barzun, historian.
Pioneers of Twentieth-Century Music
CBM 50
Howard Hanson conducts his "Cherubic Hymn," Daniel Gregory
Mason's "Festival Overture," Roy Harris's Symphony no. 3, Samuel
Barber's Adagio for Strings, and Louis Mennini's Allegro
Energico.
Ravel and Sibelius
CBM 307
Identifies the folk influences in Maurice Ravel's "Bolero"
and Jean Sibelius's "Swan of Tuonela."
Reaction and Revolution
CBM 1461
Wilfrid Howard Mellers discusses the modern period:
1900-1945.
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Posted on 2006-05-30