TELEVISION

Great Solo Piano Works

Series: Great Courses
4.7
(50)
sign up
Episodes
24
Rating
TVPG
Year
2013
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

The piano has inspired many of the greatest compositional works in the Western concert repertoire: extraordinary pieces celebrated for their compositional mastery, emotional impact, and their creative use of the instrument. In addition to learning about these masterworks, watch as three dynamic concert pianists perform live in our studio. This course is one you'll want to hear again and again.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 24

1. Piano Starts Here!

45m

sign up
Begin by reflecting on the life of the concert pianist and the extraordinary rigors and demands of this unique profession within the music world. Then trace the history of the harpsichord, the piano's predecessor, and how the piano evolved from its beginnings in 1700 into the modern concert instrument.

2. J. S. Bach-The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One

45m

sign up
Learn about the aesthetic of the High Baroque, with its duality of exuberant expression and intellectual control. Define the highly controlled fugue as a "polyphonic" musical form, and the free-form prelude that precedes each fugue in Bach's scheme. Then explore the "well tempered" tuning system and Bach's use of musical genres in his preludes and fugues.

3. J. S. Bach-Goldberg Variations

45m

sign up
Trace the roots of this masterpiece and the circumstances of its creation. Penetrate its complexity by digging into its "concentric" structure to discover the remarkable "trinities" and how they serve the larger unity and spiritual meaning of the set.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish