RAH! IT’S SPRING! YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! IT’S A ROUNDUP OF PROTEST SONGS IN CLASSICAL MUSIC!! AND IT’S ONLY PART ONE!
Protest Music, Part 1
Category: Introductions
Blog updates (Elitism sucks!)
Real talk for a second. I started this blog because classical music is in trouble. The halls are oppressive and unwelcoming, the elitism, sexism, and racism are rampant among and obvious to performers, administration and audiences alike. What did I think this blog was going to do? Unleash a powerful wave of magic that made everyone go all sunshine and rainbows about the world and music?
The Nutcracker: A Series Introduction
FRENZ IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!
Regardless of one’s personal religious beliefs, Christmas means that a whole bunch of classical musicians are valued and loved at this time of year and perhaps even more importantly, paid. And a whole lot of instrumentalists are making their rent off this baby right here.
Mad as hell and I just want to sing about it
Sup fam.
I did a dumb thing today and started a comment fight on a Classic FM post because I just couldn’t handle their ludicrous claim that Olympia’s “Doll aria” aka “Les oiseaux dans les charmilles” from Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffman was “the most insane piece ever written for soprano“.
Continue reading “Mad as hell and I just want to sing about it”
A Brief Introduction to: Counterpoint!
Here at Canon Fodder, one of the most common reasons we hear that people don’t like classical music is that they don’t know anything about it, and therefore that they won’t understand it. The truth is, though, that even people who consider themselves newbies know more about classical music than they realize. For one thing, classical works are much more present in people’s everyday lives than they might think. From movie and television soundtracks to commercials to even many pop songs, you have probably been exposed to more of the “great works” than the average person who was alive when they were written.
Much of pop music today relies on the same concepts of harmony and composition that were established over hundreds of years of classical music1. So when we talk about some fancy-schmancy classical music concept like counterpoint, it’s important to remember that you probably know more about it already than you think, and you have definitely already heard it. I’m going to give you the basics of counterpoint so you can impress your friends and co-workers at happy hour, and show you how it’s still being used today — come for the Renaissance, stay for Bob’s Burgers!
Introduction to the Orchestra Instruments
This is post intended for newbies but please don’t ever feel like you’re dumb for not knowing instruments. It’s something I’ve heard people say before and I am here to tell you that identifying instruments by sight and sound is both something so simple children can do it and also something I still occasionally screw up (sometimes oboes sound like clarinets man, it happens).
Continue reading “Introduction to the Orchestra Instruments”
Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Part One
THE PIECE(er… -s): “Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann”, Clara Schumann (Op. 20) / Johannes Brahms (Op. 9)
DATE: 1853 (Clara Schumann) / 1854 (Johannes Brahms)
ERA: Romanticism
GOOD FOR: when you feel sad because love is so beautiful but will you ever find it?!?!, generally crying your eyes out
The relationship between Robert and Clara Schumann is the most beautiful, bonkers, and heartbreaking love story in classical music. It has everything: Star-crossed lovers! A scandalous legal battle! Incredible musical works inspired by and dedicated to each other! Syphilis! And one of the most tragic endings you’ll hear this side of Shakespeare. It’s my favorite coupling in all of music, so just give up now, Taylor Swift!
Continue reading “Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Part One”
How to use this blog
Hello you!
Here’s a handy little guide to using this blog! We started this blog because we both love classical music and want to share it with the world. And we mean the whole world, from classical musicians to metal-heads to top 40 devotees and everything in-between.
The classical music “canon” is simply massive and even the professional musicians we know are constantly discovering new music, or realize they’ve gotten into a listening rut. For everyone else, it can be baffling how to even get started listening to classical music. People have asked us what piece they should listen to to get started…which is about the same as someone asking “Hey I’ve never read a book, which one should I read to know if I like reading books?”
SO
Here’s what we propose. We’ll give you a musical walk through in layman’s terms (and layman’s gifs) for a wide variety of classical works and topics. Much of the classical music canon was intended for non-musicians to listen to, and widely speaking, people are people are people– from the 16th century to the 21st. We’ll let you in on musical jokes that aren’t as obvious in our society today (but most of the jokes hold up pretty well) and any other pertinent information. Anything that’s fodder for the classical music canon is fair game for us, so suggestions are more than welcome!
We do our very best to try and link any musical terms/lingo we don’t directly explain to easy-to-understand explanations and examples so click around!
Classical music has huge variations, so as you’re going through, take note of what you like and what doesn’t quite click. We tag all our posts with the composer, general musical era, and other pertinent classifications, so follow those rabbit holes and see if there’s anything else hiding in those tags you might love.
You can read the post and then follow our link to listen, or listen while you read, or whatever else makes you feel good. Head over to our article on how we like to listen to classical music (coming soon!) for more ways to make classical music listening awesome.
Happy listening and exploring!