A Practical Approach to Viennese Classical Music

Description

This book is to some extent a continuation of Dr. Kiss’s 2015 textbook APractical Approach to Harmony: From the Birth of Polyphony to the Baroque Era.Theaim of this book is to support conservatory students (aged 14-22) and theirteachers with a collection of carefully selected material from which to learnthe necessary musical concepts and practical knowledge of music theory, form,and harmony.Thetarget era is the Viennese Classical period, which spans just under onehundred years between around 1730 and 1830. The focus is on the greatestrepresentatives of their time: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.Thebook concentrates on the practical aspects of studying music theory, form, andharmony. This means that all musical concepts become practical knowledge andare integrated into skills that a cultured musician needs (score reading,writing, singing or playing, composing, memorizing, transposing, arranging,analyzing, and so on).Thebook consists of ten units grouped into three levels of difficulty: Basic(units 1 to 5), Intermediate (units 6 to 8), and Advanced (units 9 and 10).CONTENTS:1. Listening and Analysis: Analysis of selected compositions based on thefollowing considerations: the structure of melody, rhythm, harmony, tonality,instrumentation, and form; 2. Theory and Practice: Learning theoreticalconcepts from masterpieces, and applying them to singing, playing,transposing, piano reduction writing, improvising, composing, and analyzing;3. Keyboard Harmony: Creative activities such as: writing and realizingfigured basses; harmonizing melodies; and playing, composing, and transposingchord progressions; 4. Ear Training: Harmonic singing exercises and notatingchords and complex musical excerpts after listening to them; 5. Appendix.