Appreciating and Discovering Classical Music

Back in the day I would listen to classical music for relaxation or falling asleep. Now I jam to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in my car. How did I get to be like this?

This was my process:

I started with one composer…

In high school, I didn’t know that much classical music except for the most popular pieces. I didn’t know there was a huge world of repertoire out there after I had finished my piano lesson books. I started getting into classical music after discovering one composer: Chopin

In my senior year I watched the movie The Pianist. The movie tells the story of a pianist in World War II. Every piano piece in the movie is by Chopin. At the end of the movie, the character plays Chopin’s Ballade No. 1. I was amazed at the piece and also the Grande Valse Brilliante at the end. I got all the sheet music from the movie and I tried to learn it even though my piano skills weren’t there yet.

Then I explored pieces with similar titles…

Since I enjoyed Chopin’s Ballade No.1 and No. 2 (both on the movie soundtrack), I decided to check out Chopin’s 3rd and 4th Ballades and also enjoyed those. I also listened to Chopin’s Nocturnes and enjoyed many of those, since they are mostly in a similar style to the Nocturne in C# minor.

Then I listened to other composers in the same time period…

I began to expand my listening and listened to other composers from the same time period like Liszt and Brahms. I listened mostly to piano music since I am a pianist. Since I enjoyed listening to a difficult piece like Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, I enjoyed discovering Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, a series of very difficult piano pieces from the same stylistic period.

I learned about the composer/history behind the pieces…

In college I began to study music theory and history. These helped to deepen my interest in classical music.

Music theory is the study of how music fits together. You will notice as you research classical music that there are many pieces called piano sonatas. This is because the piece follows a structure of exposition, development and recapitulation (in the future I plan to write an article on this). The title of the piece will give you an idea of the form of the piece.

A piece that has an interesting history is Mozart’s Requiem. The work was unfinished at the time of Mozart’s death. There are stories about how he came to write the work. There are many things we don’t know because his widow wanted to collect a commission from the work so she couldn’t let anyone know it was unfinished or she would not receive the commission.

I also watch videos and go to concerts…

When I started out listening to classical music, I watched YouTube videos to find music.

One genre I didn’t know much about was opera. I couldn’t get into it because I didn’t understand the language they were singing in. YouTube is a good place to watch opera because many videos have English subtitles. The first one I watched was La Boheme by Puccini. They made it like a movie and included subtitles so you could understand the story. Dido and Aeneas is also a good one to start with because the opera was written in English. There is also a performance of Madame Butterfly I found with English subtitles.

One of many things I missed in 2020 was live concerts. Concert attendance was a requirement in my college music program. It is a great experience to watch and orchestra play live. Some of my favorite concerts in college where Beethoven’s 5 Symphony at the Disney Concert Hall and Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl (with actual fireworks).

It can be expensive to attend a concert at your local symphony. A great option for lower cost is to find performances at local colleges.

Start Today!

If you already have a composer or piece in mind that you enjoy, check out the Listening Recommendation pages to learn more: