I’m glad that I decided to take Music Appreciation as one of my electives this term, because it’s currently my favourite class. Although I’ve already taken music history courses as co-requisites for my piano training, I can’t say that I took very much away from them. As a pre-teen, I didn’t care much about the material, since it just seemed like a big mess of dates and names that didn’t matter to me. It’s great taking this course now, since I already know the basics and because the professor doesn’t put a big emphasis on dates. It helps that the tests and assignments are easy too. Looking back, I think that most of the music history that I learned didn’t amount to much, since I was too young to fully understand the depth behind it. Now that I have a greater capacity for this, I can actually appreciate how the life of the musician ties in with their composition style.
In particular, I’ve come to appreciate the works of Beethoven, since I find his desire to break away from classicism and to move into romanticism so fascinating. I love how he’s able to take the typical forms of the classical period and use them in a completely new way that better conveys his ideas. Studying his Eroica Symphony helped me to understand that studying music is a lot like studying literature. I never realized that orchestral music could have just as much symbolism as literature.
Our professor has walked us through a lot of the more popular pieces, like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, but I’d have to say that one of my favourites so far is Mozart’s Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle. After all, who cares about symbolism, when you can sing along to a classic children’s folk tune?
