The 23 Greatest Solo Piano Works by The Great Courses

The piano is the most popular solo concert instrument in Western music. One of the key reasons is the fact that it has inspired many of the greatest masterpieces in the concert repertoire. To study these masterworks and to understand their genius and lasting appeal is to know one of the greatest accomplishments of Western culture, works that give great pleasure even as they deepen your insight into the meaning of music.

The 23 works you’ll study are carefully chosen to highlight the most important compositional and pianistic achievements in the solo piano tradition.

These 24 enthralling lectures by Professor Greenberg take you through more than 200 years of piano music. Beginning with the monumental figure of Bach, followed by Mozart and Beethoven, you experience the piano music of such 19th-century masters as Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt, before moving forward to visionary modernists including Scriabin, Debussy, and Prokofiev. Each lecture presents a single work in a fresh, accessible encounter with its musical substance, welcoming listeners new to concert music as well as experienced concert music lovers.

In addition to your study of the music, the lectures treat you to a rich panorama of music history. You dig deeply into the artistic and cultural environments that the compositions reflect, shedding light on what inspired these great works and how they were written. As a third layer of the course, you delve into the fascinating history of the piano itself, uncovering the ways in which the evolution of the instrument directly influenced the music that composers wrote for it.

In The 23 Greatest Solo Piano Works, Great Courses favorite Professor Robert Greenberg of San Francisco Performances returns with an in-depth exploration of the solo piano works he considers to be among the most exceptional landmarks in the literature. The 23 works you’ll study represent the selections of an internationally respected composer and music historian, carefully chosen to highlight the most significant compositional and pianistic achievements in the solo piano repertoire.

A Solo Repertoire Unparalleled in Western Music

Within the wide range of periods and styles you study, you’ll explore these timeless works:

• Beethoven—Diabelli Variations: Penetrate the musical structure of this crown jewel of the repertoire, as Beethoven magically transforms the theme through successive variations, leading to a transcendent conclusion that invokes the spirit of Bach.
• Chopin—Préludes, opus 28: From this iconic Romantic composer for the piano, experience the expressive power, intimacy, and nuance of these beloved short pieces, embodied in keyboard sonorities of ravishing beauty.
• Liszt—Years of Pilgrimage: Observe how these daring pieces, penned by history’s defining piano virtuoso, create dazzling pianistic effects that push the limits of both the player and the instrument.
• Debussy—Préludes, Book One: As one of the most original composers in piano history, Debussy forged trailblazing pathways in musical harmonies, textures, and nonlinear time, all of which you’ll follow in these powerfully evocative miniatures.
• Albéniz—Iberia: In this luminous journey into the culture of Spain, grasp the compositional techniques through which Albéniz evokes the reverie and passion of Andalusian gypsies, guitarists, and Flamenco dancers.
• Copland—Piano Variations: From our own shores, discover the brilliant synthesis of European modernism, West African rhythm and melodic structure, jazz, and machine-age dynamism that drives this uniquely American masterwork.

About the Author

Dr. Robert Greenberg is Music Historian-in-Residence with San Francisco Performances. A graduate of Princeton University, Professor Greenberg holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has seen his compositions—which include more than 45 works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles—performed all over the world, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, England, Ireland, Greece, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Product details

• Full Audiobook MP3 Program
• Full PDF Guidebook Included
• Listening Length 19 hours and 28 minutes
• Author Robert Greenberg, The Great Courses
• Narrator Robert Greenberg
• Release Date September 27, 2013
• Publisher The Great Courses
• Version Unabridged
• Language English
• ASIN B00F534MFQ