Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
A Grand Tour of Western Classical Music: Five Masterworks From 1727 to 1913
Speaker
Professor Walter Clark
Coordinator
Steve Clarey
In the words of Professor Clark: “If I could rescue
only five works of European classical music from the
proverbial burning house, these would be the ones.
This grand tour does not establish immutable truths
about the relative value of various compositions.
Neither does the preponderance of German-speaking
composers on this list emanate from any ideological
agenda. I simply believe that by understanding
these masterworks, we will come to a deeper
understanding and appreciation of the immense
heritage they represent. The emphasis in each
lecture is on the work itself, its genesis, structure and
significance, in the context of each composer’s life
and music.”
April 3: St. Matthew Passion, Johann Sebastian
Bach (1685–1750)
Bach was a master of the Baroque style. Invented in
Italy in the early 1600s, this style spread throughout
Europe and acquired local inflections in France,
Spain, England and German-speaking lands. Bach’s
music demonstrates an awareness not only of the
German but also Italian and French varieties, a
remarkable feat considering that he never left his
native region. Bach was deeply religious and devoted
enormous energy to writing music for the Protestant
service. The music he composed for St. Matthew’s
narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus
sums up his achievements as a composer and the
Baroque period itself.
April 17: The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Mozart was a master of every kind of music in the
Classical period, especially Italian opera. Indeed,
Mozart’s stage works are among the greatest ever
composed, and of them, Le Nozze di Figaro is perhaps
the best. The libretto was written by a Florentine Jew
active in Vienna, Lorenzo da Ponte. In turn, Mozart
and da Ponte based their work on a play by Pierre-
Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French author
whose theater pieces ridiculed the nobility and
helped to incite the French Revolution. The action of
this delightfully subversive comedy is set in Spain,
a locale then synonymous with despotism.
May 1: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Ludwig van
Beethoven (1770–1827)
Beethoven is the quintessential classical composer,
but he regarded himself not merely as a gifted
craftsman turning out music on commission but
rather as a prophet—one summoning humanity
to a higher and nobler destiny. He is thus a pivotal
figure from the Classical to Romantic periods, and
his groundbreaking Ninth Symphony exhibits not
only a mastery of every aspect of the tradition
he inherited from Mozart and Haydn but also his
deeply philosophical outlook and his unshakable
belief in the humanistic principles of the European
Enlightenment. In this work, Beethoven transformed
not only the genre of the symphony but classical
music itself.
May 15: Tristan und Isolde, Richard Wagner
(1813–1883)
Richard Wagner is the most controversial composer
in the Romantic period. Manipulative, treacherous
and anti-Semitic, he trailed scandal in his wake.
But he is also one of the greatest and most influential
geniuses in music history. His highly innovative
approach to writing opera had an impact on the
entire course of classical music, an impact that is
still felt today in Hollywood film scores, especially
Star Wars. Although all of his mature operas are
staples of the repertoire, Tristan und Isolde is in a
class by itself, in terms of its unusual subject matter,
underlying philosophy, musico-dramatic structure
and radically progressive harmony.
only five works of European classical music from the
proverbial burning house, these would be the ones.
This grand tour does not establish immutable truths
about the relative value of various compositions.
Neither does the preponderance of German-speaking
composers on this list emanate from any ideological
agenda. I simply believe that by understanding
these masterworks, we will come to a deeper
understanding and appreciation of the immense
heritage they represent. The emphasis in each
lecture is on the work itself, its genesis, structure and
significance, in the context of each composer’s life
and music.”
April 3: St. Matthew Passion, Johann Sebastian
Bach (1685–1750)
Bach was a master of the Baroque style. Invented in
Italy in the early 1600s, this style spread throughout
Europe and acquired local inflections in France,
Spain, England and German-speaking lands. Bach’s
music demonstrates an awareness not only of the
German but also Italian and French varieties, a
remarkable feat considering that he never left his
native region. Bach was deeply religious and devoted
enormous energy to writing music for the Protestant
service. The music he composed for St. Matthew’s
narrative of the death and resurrection of Jesus
sums up his achievements as a composer and the
Baroque period itself.
April 17: The Marriage of Figaro, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Mozart was a master of every kind of music in the
Classical period, especially Italian opera. Indeed,
Mozart’s stage works are among the greatest ever
composed, and of them, Le Nozze di Figaro is perhaps
the best. The libretto was written by a Florentine Jew
active in Vienna, Lorenzo da Ponte. In turn, Mozart
and da Ponte based their work on a play by Pierre-
Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, a French author
whose theater pieces ridiculed the nobility and
helped to incite the French Revolution. The action of
this delightfully subversive comedy is set in Spain,
a locale then synonymous with despotism.
May 1: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Ludwig van
Beethoven (1770–1827)
Beethoven is the quintessential classical composer,
but he regarded himself not merely as a gifted
craftsman turning out music on commission but
rather as a prophet—one summoning humanity
to a higher and nobler destiny. He is thus a pivotal
figure from the Classical to Romantic periods, and
his groundbreaking Ninth Symphony exhibits not
only a mastery of every aspect of the tradition
he inherited from Mozart and Haydn but also his
deeply philosophical outlook and his unshakable
belief in the humanistic principles of the European
Enlightenment. In this work, Beethoven transformed
not only the genre of the symphony but classical
music itself.
May 15: Tristan und Isolde, Richard Wagner
(1813–1883)
Richard Wagner is the most controversial composer
in the Romantic period. Manipulative, treacherous
and anti-Semitic, he trailed scandal in his wake.
But he is also one of the greatest and most influential
geniuses in music history. His highly innovative
approach to writing opera had an impact on the
entire course of classical music, an impact that is
still felt today in Hollywood film scores, especially
Star Wars. Although all of his mature operas are
staples of the repertoire, Tristan und Isolde is in a
class by itself, in terms of its unusual subject matter,
underlying philosophy, musico-dramatic structure
and radically progressive harmony.
May 29: The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky
(1872–1971)
(1872–1971)
Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps may be
the single most influential classical composition
of the 20th century. The ballet centers around
a “rite of spring” in pagan Russia during which a
young woman is chosen to be a ritual sacrifice by
dancing herself to death. Not only its violent subject
matter but also its highly dissonant and percussive
music scandalized the Parisian audience at the
1913 premiere. But this score also pointed the way
forward for succeeding generations of composers,
who now saw dissonance, rhythm and percussion
as relatively untapped resources in the Western
classical tradition.
the single most influential classical composition
of the 20th century. The ballet centers around
a “rite of spring” in pagan Russia during which a
young woman is chosen to be a ritual sacrifice by
dancing herself to death. Not only its violent subject
matter but also its highly dissonant and percussive
music scandalized the Parisian audience at the
1913 premiere. But this score also pointed the way
forward for succeeding generations of composers,
who now saw dissonance, rhythm and percussion
as relatively untapped resources in the Western
classical tradition.
Speaker Bio
Walter Aaron Clark is a Distinguished
Professor of Musicology at UC Riverside, where
he is founder/director of the Center for Iberian and
Latin American Music. He is the author of books
on a number of Spanish composers, as well as the
Romero family of guitarists. He is editor-in-chief of
the UC online journal Diagonal: An Ibero-American
Music Review and the Grove Dictionary of Latin
American and Iberian Music. Although a specialist
in the Ibero-American heritage, the courses he
teaches, including previous Osher classes, span
the entire history of Western classical music from
the Middle Ages to the modern era. He received
his doctorate in musicology from UCLA, and a
master’s from UC San Diego.
Professor of Musicology at UC Riverside, where
he is founder/director of the Center for Iberian and
Latin American Music. He is the author of books
on a number of Spanish composers, as well as the
Romero family of guitarists. He is editor-in-chief of
the UC online journal Diagonal: An Ibero-American
Music Review and the Grove Dictionary of Latin
American and Iberian Music. Although a specialist
in the Ibero-American heritage, the courses he
teaches, including previous Osher classes, span
the entire history of Western classical music from
the Middle Ages to the modern era. He received
his doctorate in musicology from UCLA, and a
master’s from UC San Diego.
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