Professor Craig Wright: Listening to Music

Craig M. Wright is the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Music at Yale University. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in 1966 and his Ph.D. in musicology from Harvard University in 1972. He began his teaching career at the University of Kentucky and for the past 40 years has been teaching at Yale University, serving as the chair of the department of music from 1986 to 1992. At Yale, Wright's courses include his perennially popular introductory course "Listening to Music," also part of the offerings of Open Yale Courses, and his selective seminar "Exploring the Nature of Genius." He is the author of numerous scholarly books and articles on composers ranging from Leoninus to Bach. Wright has also been the recipient of many awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Einstein and Kinkeldey Awards of the American Musicological Society, and the Dent Medal of the International Musicological Society. In 2004, he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Chicago. And in 2010, he was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joining fellow inductee banjo player Steve Martin. Wright specialises in music history. His early work concentrated on mediaval and renaissance music. More recently, he started to work on Mozart. Among his books are Music at the Court of Burgundy, 1364-1419: A Documentary History (1979); Music and Ceremony at Notre Dame of Paris, 500-1550 (1989); The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology and Music (2001); Music in Western Civilization (2005); Listening to Music (6th edition, 2010); and Listening to Western Music (2007). He is presently at work on a volume entitled Mozart's Brain: Exploring the Nature of Genius. Lecture 1 - Introduction Overview Professor Wright introduces the course by suggesting that "listening to music" is not simply a passive activity one can use to relax, but rather, an active and rewarding process. He argues that by learning about the basic elements of Western classical music, such as rhythm, melody, and form, one learns strategies that can be used to understand many different kinds of music in a more thorough and precise way -- and further, one begins to understand the magnitude of human greatness. Professor Wright draws the music examples in this lecture from recordings of techno music, American musical theater, and works by Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Strauss, in order to introduce the issues that the course will explore in more depth throughout the semester. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 1 – Introduction 1. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 2. "Also Sprach Zarathustra," by Richard Strauss Lecture 2 - Introduction to Instruments and Musical Genres Overview This lecture provides an introduction to basic classical music terminology, orchestral instruments, and acoustics. Professor Wright begins with a brief discussion of the distinctions between such broad terms as "song" and "piece," briefly mentioning more specific terms for musical genres, such as "symphony" and "opera." He then moves on to describe the differences between a "motive" and a "theme," demonstrating the distinction between the two with the use of music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. Following this, he calls upon three guest instrumentalists on French horn, bassoon, and viola to give a brief performance-introduction to each instrument. He concludes the session with a discussion of acoustics, focusing on the concept of partials, and then brings the lecture to a close with commentary on Richard Strauss's tone-poem, Death and Transfiguration. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 2 – Introduction to Instruments and Musical Genres 1. "Piano Concerto," by Ilyich Tchaikovsky 2. "Pictures at an Exhibition," 3. "Death and Transfiguration," by Richard Strauss Lecture 3 - Rhythm: Fundamentals Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright explains the basic system of Western musical notation, and offers an interpretation of its advantages and disadvantages. He also discusses the fundamental principles of rhythm, elaborating upon such concepts as beat, meter, and discussing in some depth the nature of durational patterns in duple and triple meters. The students are taught to conduct basic patterns in these meters through musical examples drawn from Chuck Mangione, Cole Porter, REM, Chopin, and Ravel. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 3 – Rhythm: Fundamentals 1. "Bolero," by Maurice Ravel Lecture 4 - Rhythm: Jazz, Pop and Classical Overview Professor Wright begins this lecture with a brief introduction to musical acoustics, discussing the way multiple partials combine to make up every tone. He reviews fundamental rhythmic terms, such as "beat," "tempo," and "meter," and then demonstrates in more depth some of the more complex concepts, such as "syncopation" and the "triplet." Professor Wright then moves on to discuss the basics of musical texture, giving detailed examples of three primary types: monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic. The class is then taught the basics of rhythmic dictation -- skill that entails notating the rhythm of a piece after listening to it. Each of these disparate threads is brought together in the conclusion of the lecture, in which Mozart's Requiem is shown to weave different rhythms, textures, and pitches together to depict the text effectively. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 4 – Rhythm: Jazz, Pop and Classical 1. "Pictures at an Exhibition," by Modest Mussorgsky Lecture 5 - Melody: Notes, Scales, Nuts and Bolts Overview This lecture explores the basic nature of melody. Touching on historical periods ranging from ancient Greece to the present day, Professor Wright draws examples from musical worlds as disparate as nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century India, China, and America. Professor Wright puts forth a historical, technical, and holistic approach to understanding the way pitches and scales work in music. He concludes his lecture by bringing pitch and rhythm together in a discussion of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Lecture 6 - Melody: Mozart and Wagner Overview This lecture discusses melody and aesthetics; Professor Wright raises the question of what makes a melody beautiful, and uses excerpts from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro to explore this issue. Throughout the discussion, the foundations of classical phrase-structure and harmonic progressions are used to explain some of the choices these three composers made. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 6 – Melody: Mozart and Wagner 1. "Gianni Schicchi (O mio babbino caro)," 2. "Tristan and Isolde (Liebestod)," by Richard Wagner Lecture 7 - Harmony: Chords and How to Build Them Overview Professor Wright explains the way harmony works in Western music. Throughout the lecture, he discusses the ways in which triads are formed out of scales, the ways that some of the most common harmonic progressions work, and the nature of modulation. Professor Wright focuses particularly on the listening skills involved in hearing whether harmonies are changing at regular or irregular rates in a given musical phrase. His musical examples in this lecture are wide-ranging, including such diverse styles as grand opera, bluegrass, and 1960s American popular music. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 7 – Harmony: Chords and How to Build Them 1. "Appalachian Spring," by Aaron Copland Lecture 8 - Bass Patterns: Blues and Rock Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright teaches students how to listen for bass patterns in order to understand harmonic progressions. He talks through numerous musical examples from both popular music and classical music, showing the way that composers from both realms draw on the same chord progressions. The musical examples are taken from Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Wagner, Gene Chandler, the Beach Boys, Badly Drawn Boy, the Dave Matthews Band,and Justin Timberlake. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 8 – Bass Patterns: Blues and Rock 1. "Prelude to 'Das Rheingold,'" by Richard Wagner 2. "Symphony No. 6," by Ludwig van Beethoven 3. "Symphony No. 5," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 4. "Overture to 'Italian in Algiers,'" by Gioachino Rossini Lecture 9 - Sonata-Allegro Form: Mozart and Beethoven Overview A brief foray into the formal characteristics of contemporary popular music is used to launch this lecture on musical form. After a discussion of the "verse-chorus" form often used in popular music, Professor Wright proceeds to take students into the realm of classical music, focusing particularly on ternary form and sonata-allegro form. Throughout his detailed explanation of sonata-allegro form, he also elaborates upon some harmonic concepts describing, for example, the relationship between relative major and minor keys. This lecture draws its musical examples from 'N Sync, Mozart, and Beethoven. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 9 – Sonata-Allegro Form: Mozart and Beethoven 1. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lecture 10 - Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations Overview Professor Wright delves into sonata-allegro form in some depth in this lecture. He focuses especially on characterizing four types of music found within a sonata: thematic, transitional, developmental, and cadential. He then moves on to discuss a different form, theme and variations, which is accomplished through the use of examples from Beethoven's and Mozart's compositions. Professor Wright and guest artist Kensho Watanabe then conclude the lecture by demonstrating a set of theme and variations through a live performance of Corelli's La Folia. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 10 – Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations 1. "Symphony No. 38," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 2. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 3. "Symphony No. 41," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lecture 11 - Form: Rondo, Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations (cont.) Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright prepares the students for the upcoming concert they will attend, which will include pieces by Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven. He discusses each of the pieces that will be on the program, paying special attention to form. Additional classical pieces are used to supplement the discussion of theme and variations and rondo form in the concert pieces. The lecture concludes with an example of rondo form found in a piece by the contemporary popular artist Sting. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 11 – Form: Rondo, Sonata-Allegro and Theme and Variations (cont.) 1. "Rondeau," by Jean-Joseph Mouret 2. "Four Seasons: Spring," by Antonio Vivaldi 3. "Horn Concerto," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lecture 12 - Guest Conductor: Saybrook Orchestra Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright discusses the nature of a critical concert review, in preparation for the students' assignment to review the Saybrook Orchestra's upcoming concert. The students are also introduced to Bradley Naylor, one of Saybrook Orchestra's conductors, who talks about what it takes to rehearse and lead an orchestra; Katie Dryden, the principal violist, who demonstrates some of the most interesting viola passages from the pieces on the program; and Elana Kagan, the principal flutist, who performs an excerpt from Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, which will close the concert. Lecture 13 - Fugue: Bach, Bizet and Bernstein Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright briefly explores the manifestations of the fugue form in poetry, painting, and other disciplines, and then gives a detailed explanation of how fugues are put together in music. Though he uses excerpts by composers as disparate as Georges Bizet and Leonard Bernstein to illustrate his points, he draws his main musical examples from J.S. Bach. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 13 – Fugue: Bach, Bizet and Bernstein 1. "Symphony in No. 1 in C Major," by Georges Bizet Lecture 14 - Ostinato Form in the Music of Purcell, Pachelbel, Elton John and Vitamin C Overview This lecture begins with a review of all the musical forms previously discussed in class: sonata-allegro, rondo, theme and variations, and fugue. Professor Wright then moves on to discuss the final form that will be taught before the students' next exam: ostinato. With the aid of music by Pachelbel, Purcell, and a few popular artists, Professor Wright shows the multitude of ways in which the ostinato bass has been used throughout the past several centuries. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 14 – Ostinato Form in the Music of Purcell, Pachelbel, Elton John and Vitamin C 1. "Organ Passacaglia in C Minor," by Johann Sebastian Bach 2. "Dido and Aeneas, 'Dido's Lament,'" by Henry Purcell 3. "Canon in D Major," by Johann Pachelbel Lecture 15 - Gregorian Chant and Music in the Sistine Chapel Overview This lecture begins the third part of the course, which looks at music from a historical perspective. Here Professor Wright focuses on the medieval period. He discusses chant, and its role in the lives of monks and nuns in medieval monasteries, convents, and cathedrals. He then moves on to briefly discuss polyphony. The lecture is supplemented by visuals of cathedrals, monasteries, and medieval illuminations, as well as recordings of monophonic chant by the eleventh-century polymath Hildegard of Bingen, anonymous polyphony, polyphony by the Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina, and a recording of the last papal castrato, Alessandro Moreschi. Lecture 16 - Baroque Music: The Vocal Music of Johann Sebastian Bach Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright discusses the Baroque period through a detailed look at the life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach. He first takes the students through the basics of Bach's life, showing slides of the towns and buildings in which Bach and his family lived. Professor Wright then discusses Bach's music, and techniques of Baroque music in general, within the context of the composer's life. The lecture concludes with a discussion of the Advent cantata Bach wrote based on the chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme." Lecture 17 - Mozart and His Operas Overview Mozart and the nature of his life and work make up the topic of this lecture. Professor Wright begins by discussing the basic ways in which classical music differs from Baroque music. He then launches an exploration of Mozart's life and compositional process, making use of Mozart's letters and compositional sketches to illustrate his points. The lecture culminates with a performance of select scenes from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, featuring guest singer Professor Richard Lalli. Lecture 18 - Piano Music of Mozart and Beethoven Overview This lecture addresses the history of the modern piano and its music. Undertaking a detailed discussion of the different forms of the piano from the early eighteenth through twentieth centuries, Professor Wright also shows how the instrument evolved through a variety of photographs and paintings. He further supplements the lecture by playing recordings that were made on the pianos actually owned by such composers as Mozart and Beethoven. The lecture ends with a guest piano performance by Yale undergraduate Daniel Schlossberg, Jr. Lecture 19 - Romantic Opera: Verdi's La Traviata, Bocelli, Pavarotti and Domingo Overview This lecture focuses on opera and the operatic voice, from the Romantic period to the present. Professor Wright integrates a discussion of one of the most often-performed and famous operas in the Western canon, Verdi's La Traviata, with a discussion of vocal performance practice. For the latter, he uses recordings of singers from the early to late twentieth century as examples of different types of voices and the ways in which aesthetic values about the voice have changed throughout the past hundred years. Lecture 20 - The Colossal Symphony: Beethoven, Berlioz, Mahler and Shostakovich Overview The history and development of the symphony is the topic of this lecture. Professor Wright leads the students from Mozart to Mahler, discussing the ways in which the genre of symphonic music changed throughout the nineteenth century, as well as the ways in which the make-up of the symphony orchestra itself evolved during this period. The changes in the nature of orchestral music are contextualized within the broader historical changes taking place in Europe in the nineteenth century. The lecture is supplemented with musical excerpts drawn from Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Wagner, and Mahler. MUSI 112 – Listening to Music with Professor Craig Wright Lecture 20 – The Colossal Symphony: Beethoven, Berliotz, Mahler and Shostakovich 1. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lecture 21 - Musical Impressionism and Exoticism: Debussy, Ravel and Monet Overview In this lecture, Professor Wright teaches the students about musical Impressionism. While his discussion focuses on the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, he nonetheless draws examples from other composers, as well as painters and poets who worked with a similar aesthetic style during the same time period. The class concludes with a performance of Ravel's "Ondine" by guest pianist Naomi Woo. Lecture 22 - Modernism and Mahler Overview In this final formal lecture of the course, Professor Wright discusses Modernism, focusing on Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. He explores several musical reasons why The Rite of Spring caused a riot at its 1913 Paris premiere. Professor Wright then goes on to share with the class one of his favorite pieces, by Gustav Mahler, the orchestral Lied "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen." After an enumeration of this piece's qualities, Professor Wright ends the class with a paean to classical music and an exhortation to all to preserve this great tradition. Lecture 23 - Review of Musical Style Overview This review session teaches students how to identify the various time periods of Western music history, through careful listening and close attention to the musical-stylistic characteristics of a given piece. Professor Wright plays several musical examples culled from different historical periods, and then guides the students in identifying a variety of musical features that can be used to figure out approximately when the music was written.