In a future post, I’ll write about some of the free open-enrollment courses that you’ll find on Coursera.com and other online learning platforms. I’m writing about something different today –lectures about classical music that you can watch online any time you want.
Here are some choices to explore . . .
Listening to Music, taught by Prof. Craig Wright, Yale Open Courses
This free online course offers 23 highly informative lectures on topics that include “Introduction to Instruments and Musical Genres,” “Sonata-Allegro Form: Mozart and Beethoven,” “Modernism and Mahler,” and more. They’re sophisticated, yet targeted for highly intelligent students who might not necessarily be music majors. I almost hesitate to tell you about these lectures. If you start watching them, you might never come back to my blog again!
Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts, YouTube Artfullearning Channel
These legendary lectures are now available on YouTube. They offer worthwhile insights for everyone, not only kids. Topics include “Fidelio: A Celebration of Life,” “What Is a Mode,” and others. On another level, it’s a kick to see the interior of Philharmonic Hall (later renamed Avery Fisher Hall) as it was when it first opened – and before three or four complete acoustic redo’s.
To check them out, CLICK HERE.
Online Courses and Lectures from iTunes University
Some iTunes U “courses” are really only short video clips. Some charge you to download individual lectures. It’s a mixed bag. If you’re looking for a not-exactly-sizzling general intro to music course for undergraduates, for example, there’s The Language of Music from the University of Missouri. But there are also surprises, like a course in electronic music from Lake Forest University. The bottom line is, you can find some good stuff if you hunt around.
iTunes U works best when you use an app that Apple offers for iPhones and iPads, but it iTunes U is also available to PC users via a website that’s a bit hard to find. To locate it, install iTunes on your computer, click on the “Store” tab on the upper right of the screen, and then click on the “iTunes U” tab. Voilà! You might not be as cool as an iPad owner, but you got to iTunes U anyhow. At this time, no app is available for Android devices.
But Here’s One Problem . . .
Leonard Bernstein’s legendary “The Unanswered Question” lectures at Harvard University in 1973 have been made available on YouTube from OpenCulture. The problem? The audio portions of these videos have been removed because of a copyright problem. If you love Leonard Bernstein so much that you’ll be happy just watching him talk without hearing his words, this is the resource for you. (It’s kind of like watching a goldfish in a bowl that’s moving its lips, but making no sound.) Let’s hope that the audio portions will be running again soon.
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