Anthony Rudel - Classical Music Top 40: Learn How To Listen To And Appreciate The 40 Most Popular And Important Pieces I

ANTHONY J. RUDEL

A FIRESIDE BOOK
P UBLISHED BY S IMON & S CHUSTER
N EW Y ORK L ONDON T ORONTO
S YDNEY T OKYO S INGAPORE

FIRESIDE
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Copyright 1995 by Anthony Jason Rudel

All rights reserved
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Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rudel, Anthony J.

Classical music top 40 / Anthony J. Rudel.

p. cm.

A Fireside book.

1. Music appreciation.

2. Compact discsReviews.

I. Title.

II. Title: Classical music top forty.

MT90.R8 1995

781.68dc20 9423109

CIP

MN

ISBN: 0-671-79495-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-671-79495-8
eISBN: 978-1-439-13505-1

TO MY WIFE,
KRISTY RUDEL,
WHO INSPIRED ME
TO WRITE THIS BOOK.
WITH LOVE.

Appendix B: Postlude: A List of Other
Important Works of Interest

I am one of the lucky ones. Not only because I have had a wonderful, extended career in popular music, but also because when I was a child I had parents who introduced me to classical music. The treasure that is the classics has stayed with me, influenced my writing, and has continued to be an inspiration throughout my life. To this day, I sit down at the piano and play through classical works by ear, perhaps some Debussy or an ersatz rendition of a Rachmaninoff piece. It serves to remind me what a shame it is that our schools have been forced to cut back on music education; too many kids today grow up without being introduced to Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Bach, or other great composers.

When I started taking piano lessons at age four, I often found the music I had to practice to be somewhat tedious, but I had a good ear and could imitate the styles of the great composers. So instead of doing my scales, I would make up pieces that sounded like easy Mozart sonatas, each day improvising another movement. By the end of the week, I had created an entire piece, but I couldnt play my assigned lesson. When I got to high school I made another interesting discovery, thanks to my classical training: At parties I would find a piano and sit alone, improvising lonely melodies. Soon I would notice one girl standing there and listening, and then another, and another. It dawned on me that music was like an aphrodisiac, but this was a motivation that Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt, and countless other composers had understood long ago.

As a composer, I have learned many lessons from the classical masters. In fact, solutions to all songwriting problems can be found in the classics. Beethoven said it all and conquered all. The key to all good music, whether it be classical, popular, jazz, or Broadway is composition. The elements of composition are chords, melody, and rhythm, but especially melody. When you hear a popular song for the first time and like it, what you are reacting to is the melody or, as the Music Biz calls it, the hook. The truth is that classical music is filled with hooks. Beethovens Pastoral Symphony (no. 6) is one great melody after another, blending to paint a large picture. Melody itself can be so evocative that it can dictate the subject matter of the lyric or libretto.

When I write a song, the melody comes first. Once I have the music, the words seem to fall into place, inspired by the mood and character of the music itself. Classical music is no different: The melodies create emotional images, but the literary scope of these words is much larger than the minutes allotted to a popular song.

Whenever I hear a melody, I have to listen. Even when I am standing in an elevator and hear some god-awful Muzak version of one of my own songs. The great classics require even keener listening, and I am thrilled when I can introduce friends to this music. I might start them on Mozart, and then gradually move to Beethoven, and then on to the Romantics like Schumann or Dvorak. Just having played classical music on the stereo has had an obvious influence on my daughter. It has been a joy to watch her absorb these treasures, and to pass it on to her so that her life may be richer for it.

I am often astounded by how many times I find my own compositions being influenced by the classical music I love. In the original version of The River of Dreams, there was a blend of classical-style lullaby, some Ambrosian chant, and a bit of Schumannesque Romanticism (until it was edited to its present version). My song This Night utilizes Beethoven in its chorus, while For the Longest Time evolved from a Mozartian piano piece into a late 1950s doo-wop piece. But I shouldnt be surprised, because the power of the past is immense. We could not write the songs that become the popular hits of today if it hadnt been for the composers who came before us.

What you have to realize is that the satisfaction we seek in contemporary music can also be found in the classics. If you are looking for revolutionaries and romantics, consider that Beethoven tore up the original dedication of his Third Symphony because he was so anguished that his proletarian hero, Napoleon, had named himself emperor. Surely, this was a more sincere form of protest than a rock star who sells millions of albums dramatically ripping up a picture of the Pope on television. If you love todays music because of the bohemian nature of its musicians, you should be looking at the classical musicians who struggle for years to learn their craft and then survive from job to job on the hope they might at least make a living from their music. And even if they dont, they continue in their craft purely because they love the music itself. Classical musicians make todays rockers seem pretentious. Lets face it: Rock musicians are no longer outlaws or starving artists, especially those of us who have nice fat recording contracts (which most classical musicians do not have).

With todays contemporary music in rather poor condition, the continuity provided by the classics is reassuring, especially when you take time to really absorb all there is. Power, passion, sex, angst, libido, stimuli, sorrow, joy it can all be found in classical music. If you want to hear the blues, listen to Barbers Adagio for Strings; there aint no blues that sad. If you want to dance, try moving to the wild rhythms of Ravel and Stravinsky, or the exciting melodic propulsion of Brahms and Chopin. These syncopated compositions are much more challenging than todays rote, 4/4 time, Yo! MTV Raps dance drivel.

Let yourself become familiar with classical music and it will please you for the rest of your life in a way that fads and fashions simply cannot. Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Copland, Mahler, and all the other greats who speak to us from the grave are sharing with us the secrets of their souls. We owe them a huge debt. Perhaps I can repay a part of my own debt to them by introducing you to this terrific book and, in turn, the music it will bring into your life.