Robert Greenberg

A couple of years ago I was at our local library & checked out volume I of an 8-volume-or-so set (8 CD's in each volume) called 'How To Listen To & Understand Great Music.'  A Gregorian Chants - thru - Shostakovich rundown of classical music.  Hours and hours of lecture & short sample segments of music.  I expected it to be dry as a bone but informative if I managed to stay awake.

I think what motivated me to pick this set up was the fact that I'd been in touch with Andy Newman, of 'Thunderclap Newman' fame.  I'd published my 'Who Are You' book probably a year before, and was still attempting to improve it.  I was under the (now I understand delusional) impression that I'd get an opportunity to update the book at some point in the future, so I did several interviews during this period, including a lengthy one with Mr. Newman, an engaging, warm character who seemed pleased to share what I can only describe as his encyclopedic knowledge of music with me.  Too bad I didn't get to include anything from this interview in the book.  I'll save the details of our conversation for a further blog post or two, but, in addition to discussing such varied topics as Thunderclap Newman, Bix Beiderbecke, cricket and Muhammad Ali, we discussed the influence of Baroque music on Pete Townshend's compositions, especially that of Henry Purcell.  This got me thinking:  What I knew about Baroque, or any other classical music at the time, to borrow a term I first picked up from Dougal Butler in his "Moon the Loon" book, I could put in a gnat's piss pot and still have room for the piss.

So I began listening to the aforementioned series of CD lectures.  The lecturer is one Robert Greenberg, a musicologist & composer & I believe a college professor in California.  Now - to state the obvious - these CD lectures are really made - or broken - by the guy doing the lecturing.  It can be the most interesting subject matter in the world, but if the lecturer is about as interesting as Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, then your eyes will roll back in your head in no time, and off goes the switch in your brain.

No such problem with Dr. Greenberg.  This guy is clearly profoundly turned on by the subject matter, and his preparation for these courses is simply incredible.  I listened to all 60-some CDs, each about 45 minutes long, and found them enriching, enlightening, enjoyable... you get the point.  I looked forward to getting in my car for the drive to work so I could listen to the next segment.  Imagine that:  Looking forward to the drive to work.

Our library just got another series lectured by Dr. Greenberg - a 24-CD set on symphonies.  I just finished the last CD today.  I think Greenberg may have even improved.  I've now listened to probably about 90 CDs of this guy's lectures, and can remember one - ONE - instance of an "um".  His preparation is flawless.  The flow and structure of his lectures is clean, seamless and thoroughly professional.  Which sounds boring as hell, I acknowledge.  But then there's two things:

Passion:  Before playing certain samples, he'll describe what we're about to hear as 'exquisite', 'devastating', 'stunning'... etc - and you can tell he means it.  You can tell that this music brings him great joy and enriches his life.  You can imagine him listening to Dvorak's cello concerto in B minor or Shostakovich's 10th symphony, with tears running down his face.  His normal speaking voice is sharp, clear and peppy.  When emphasizing a quote, he sometimes yells.  His energy and enthusiasm are infectious.

Sense of humor:  In the symphony series, he managed to use the term 'bitchy' to describe a few composers and their audiences, he was able to wrestle Sophia Lauren's body parts into a metaphor for beauty, and sprinked other odd references throughout the course, including sumo wrestlers, 40 pound schnitzels, and merde-storms.  He sometimes follow quoting a composer's misguided summary of the meaning of his own work or a critic's hack-job with "riiiiiiiiight," or "whatever dude".

Greenberg's approach is thoroughly professional but equally thorough in passion.  He has exposed me to Haydn, Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mahler, Dvorak, Mozart, Ives, Barber, Wagner, Schubert... dozens and dozens of others.  His mini-biographies of each composer were fascinating - his little asides which humanized the composers and created context for their work were enthralling.  He sometimes lost me when he got into the nuts & bolts of the compositions - recapitulations, sonata form, modulating bridges, etc. - but I feel that he presented the essence of each composer's work and never failed to deliver.

Dr. Greenberg, thank you.  Now I need to pick up a copy of your book.