NIGEL BEALE NOTA BENE BOOKS

Here from Michael Gelb’s rockin’ How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci are, by expert consensus, the ten greatest works in the classical canon:

1. Bach: Mass in B Minor
2. Beethoven: Symphony #9
3. Mozart: Requiem
4. Chopin: Nocturnes
5. Brahms: German Requiem
6. Mahler: Symphony #6
7. R. Strauss: Four Last Songs
8 Debussy: Preludes
9. Stravinsky: “The Rite of Spring”
10. (tie) Verdi: Aida and Puccini: La Boheme

And in case you need pointers on how to appreciate: Listen for patterns of tension and release. ‘By using such techniques as rhythmic variation, key change, rests, and harmonic movement, the composer leads the listener along a path of motion, stillness, and melodic highs and lows, all leading to the raising of musical expectations and fulfillment’.

And if this isn’t enough: try cataloging your favourite composers by dominant element: earth, fire, water, air…and wind of course…

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