Music


Read by Martha H. Weller

"So many books are written for beginners on the appreciation of music that I can be thankful that advancing age makes it unnecessary for me to read them, and when I do have to look into any of them I wonder whether the young people of to-day derive as much pleasure from them as I did at eighteen from reading Sir John Hawkins’ History of Music. But I have read this book of Mrs. Creighton’s with much enjoyment, for she is a musician who enjoys music herself and has the art of conveying that enjoyment to others. She has had enough experience as a teacher of the pianoforte to understand the minds of youthful readers, but she has the good fortune to have had no experience of lecturing to appreciation classes. This gives her book a fresh and unconventional point of view. She does not trouble her readers with a mass of historical detail, but talks about the music which she has herself heard and enjoyed. She spares us the well-worn (and in most cases unauthenticated) anecdotes about the great composers ; she prefers to tell us things which help us to realize the social environment in which they lived and made their music. It is a book for those who enjoy music and like to read about it for their own pleasure rather than from fear of examinations ; and one advantage of its discursiveness is that it can be enjoyed by those who like to read comfortably, dipping here and there at haphazard." (from Preface, by Edward J. Dent) (6 hr 55 min)

Chapters

Introduction 13:20 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 1. Early Music 6:43 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 2. Greek Music 6:46 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 3: Folk-Music 4:14 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 4: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony and Qualities of Sound 13:10 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 5: Mediaeval Music 17:41 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 6: Polyphonic Music in England and on the Continent 22:09 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 7: Virginals and Lutes 13:40 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 8: The Beginnings of Opera 12:58 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 9: Harpsichord Composers 7:47 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 10: Purcell 6:30 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 11: Bach and Handel 34:21 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 12: The Father of Modern Music 20:41 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 13: Italian Opera 20:22 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 14: Mozart 25:19 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 15: Beethoven 15:59 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 16: Weber and Contemporary Opera Composers 21:51 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 17: Schubert 13:12 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 18: Paganini 6:04 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 19: Berlioz 13:50 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 20: Mendelssohn and Chopin 9:59 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 21: Liszt 14:12 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 22: Wagner 27:55 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 23: Verdi 9:23 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 24: Schumann and Brahms 17:03 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 25: Some Russian Composers 9:21 Read by Martha H. Weller
Chapter 26: Some Modern Composers 21:40 Read by Martha H. Weller
Appendix. Form in Music 9:36 Read by Martha H. Weller