Jim Dan Hill Library: Music Appreciation and Fundamentals: Music Appreciation Resources

Musical Genres and Works - Library Resource Selections

Through our subscription to the database Films on Demand, UWS Patrons can access various Film Series and performance documentaries [if off-campus, you must be logged in to the database with your UWS credentials for the links to work].

Opera

The series Opera Easy consists of short documentary discussions (circa ~30 minutes) with excerpts attending to select operas. The following are just a few examples from the series:

Musical Eras (in Western/Classical Music)

Presented by James Galway, the series Music In Time features one-hour discussions of different moments of musical history (e.g. The Renaissance).

Additional Genres and Features

The Young People's Concerts (a digitization of an iconic series presented by Leonard Bernstein).

Consider keyword searches, such as composer's name, or "symphony" for additional results and options.

Musical Works and Productions - Publicly Available Online Resources

Ballet, Musical, Opera

Google Arts and Culture: West Side Story
Multimedia (and multifaceted) online exhibition through Google Arts and Culture in collaboration with Carnegie Hall, the NYPL, Museum of the City of New York, and the National Museum of American Jewish History.
The Morgan Library and Museum: Crafting the Ballets Russes: The Robert Owen Lehman Collection
Video Duration: 6:31
Video Description: "Robinson McClellan, Associate Curator of Music Manuscripts and Printed Music, discusses the importance of Robert Owen Lehman’s extraordinary collection of music manuscripts that has been an inspiration to scholars and visitors since it was placed on deposit at the Morgan Library & Museum. Among its many splendid works are deep holdings of early-twentieth-century ballet, including Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird (1910), Petrouchka (1911), and Les Noces (1923); Claude Debussy’s L’après-midi d’un Faune (1912); and Maurice Ravel’s Bolero (1928) and La Valse (1920)."
Winter Wonderland: George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®
An Online Exhibition from the NYPL for the Performing Arts. Includes sketches, set models, and background information
Brief Podcast on Richard Wagner's Wedding March Manuscript, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum
A four minute podcast discussing a handwritten page for a work commonly recognized as "Here Comes the Bride." "This could be an original or an early copy of Richard Wagners creation from the mid 1800s."

Instrumental

Keeping Score - Playlist
The playlist includes features from Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony on Aaron Copland and the "American Sound;" Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th Symphony; Charles Ives' Holiday Symphony; Gustav Mahler's Legacy; Piotr Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony; Ludwig van Beethoven's Eroica; Hector Berlioz and Symphonie Fantastique; and more
Classics Explained: Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky
An animated (rather tongue-in-cheek) narration of this composer and work. From the video description: "How to commemorate your friends by ONLY GOING AND WRITING A MASTERPIECE; this video reveals the touching story behind Mussorgky's famous suite. "
Young People's Concert: "The Sound of a Hall" (excerpt) | Leonard Bernstein - New York Philharmonic
An excerpt from one the 53 Young People's Concerts Bernstein conducted from 1958-1972. For more information, see https://www.leonardbernstein.com/about/educator/young-peoples-concerts
A YouTube playlist highlighting diverse performers of western European art music:
Playlist originally compiled by Sonya Lawson, added to by Matteo Magarotto
Silk Road Ensemble Playlist
Playlist by WuMan

Assorted

Kennedy Center: Digital Stage
From the website: "Watch extraordinary performances from the Kennedy Center’s stages and beyond, with new releases daily, special series and original stories. Explore our vast collection of thousands of videos."
Dance to the Music (Smithsonian)
"Dance and music, music and dance. One inevitably happens in the presence of the other. Even in dances with no music, the absence of music is felt, and the dancers nonetheless keep a beat or tune in their head or feet. We describe particularly enjoyable music as being "foot-tappingly good," calling out our desire to move to the music."