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The Concerto
Course Lecture Titles
1. The Voice in the Wilderness
2. The Baroque Italian Concerto
3. Baroque Masters
4. Bachs Brandenburg Concerti
5. Mozart, Part 1
6. Mozart, Part 2
7. Classical Masters
8. Beethoven
9. The Romantic Concerto
10. Hummel and Chopin
11. Mendelssohn and Schumann
12. Romantic Masters
13. Tchaikovsky
14. Brahms and the Symphonic Concerto
15. Dvorak
16. Rachmaninoff
17. The Russian Concerto, Part 1
18. The Russian Concerto, Part 2
19. The Concerto in France
20. Bartok
21. Schönberg, Berg and the 12-Tone Method
22. Twentieth-Century Masters
23. Elliott Carter
24. Servants to the Cause and Guilty Pleasures
1. The Voice in the Wilderness
2. The Baroque Italian Concerto
3. Baroque Masters
4. Bachs Brandenburg Concerti
5. Mozart, Part 1
6. Mozart, Part 2
7. Classical Masters
8. Beethoven
9. The Romantic Concerto
10. Hummel and Chopin
11. Mendelssohn and Schumann
12. Romantic Masters
13. Tchaikovsky
14. Brahms and the Symphonic Concerto
15. Dvorak
16. Rachmaninoff
17. The Russian Concerto, Part 1
18. The Russian Concerto, Part 2
19. The Concerto in France
20. Bartok
21. Schönberg, Berg and the 12-Tone Method
22. Twentieth-Century Masters
23. Elliott Carter
24. Servants to the Cause and Guilty Pleasures
Audio CD
First published January 1, 2006
6 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Robert Greenberg
157 books216 followersRobert M. Greenberg is an American composer, pianist and musicologist. He has composed more than 50 works for a variety of instruments and voices, and has recorded a number of lecture series on music history and music appreciation for The Teaching Company.
Greenberg earned a B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served on the faculties of UC Berkeley, Californiz State University, East Bay, and the San Franciso Conservatory of Music, where he was chairman of the Department of Music History and Literature as well as Director of the Adult Extension Division. Dr. Greenberg is currently Music Historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances.
Greenberg earned a B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University and received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served on the faculties of UC Berkeley, Californiz State University, East Bay, and the San Franciso Conservatory of Music, where he was chairman of the Department of Music History and Literature as well as Director of the Adult Extension Division. Dr. Greenberg is currently Music Historian-in-residence with San Francisco Performances.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 16, 2026
I have learned so much from Robert Greenberg's lectures on "How to Understand Music" and now "The Concerto". I went through all 24 lectures of the latter by listening to snippets of each lesson while running errands, and since I do not take many long trips by car, it has taken me months to finish this course. Greenberg is funny, entertaining, authoritative, presenting his lectures in a friendly, down-to-earth style.
Not intending to bore readers by repeating a hackneyed phrase, I do believe that music is the language of the soul; so, if that's true, a culture without music is a zombie culture without a soul as are its adherents. Whereas, if a culture nurtures its musical heritage from the time it inculcates it in the young until the time the maturer members know enough to distill every meaning that burgeons from it, that culture will grow and branch out fractally with unexpected twists and turns in achieving the highest state of cultural consciousness possible until future generations push their musical heritage, hence its soul, to its farthest limits.
You get this through the humor and delight with which Dr. Greenberg teaches us music. Anyone who grew up assuming they would have a high appreciation of music, especially classical music, but finds later that they are in fact paupers in their knowledge of what the great masters have tried to leave us, then any course or book taught by Robert Greenberg is a good way to get back to your original goal. Nor would his courses be lost on the young either.
Now that I have finished "The Concerto", I intend to take Greenberg's notes that are included with each set of CDs, review them and listen to each work that he introduced repeatedly and more closely.
Not intending to bore readers by repeating a hackneyed phrase, I do believe that music is the language of the soul; so, if that's true, a culture without music is a zombie culture without a soul as are its adherents. Whereas, if a culture nurtures its musical heritage from the time it inculcates it in the young until the time the maturer members know enough to distill every meaning that burgeons from it, that culture will grow and branch out fractally with unexpected twists and turns in achieving the highest state of cultural consciousness possible until future generations push their musical heritage, hence its soul, to its farthest limits.
You get this through the humor and delight with which Dr. Greenberg teaches us music. Anyone who grew up assuming they would have a high appreciation of music, especially classical music, but finds later that they are in fact paupers in their knowledge of what the great masters have tried to leave us, then any course or book taught by Robert Greenberg is a good way to get back to your original goal. Nor would his courses be lost on the young either.
Now that I have finished "The Concerto", I intend to take Greenberg's notes that are included with each set of CDs, review them and listen to each work that he introduced repeatedly and more closely.
June 25, 2021
The concerto is my favorite genre in the realm of classical music. Robert Greenberg is a composer, pianist, and musicologist. He delivers these lecture with zest, with wild enthusiasm, and with great mastery and knowledge. He covers the time period from baroque to the 20th century. He freely gives his opinion about which pieces of music are the best, and which are not so good.
Greenberg considers the concerto to be a collaboration between the solo instrument and the orchestra. This is in contrast to Girdlestone's book Mozart and His Piano Concertos, where I remember reading that the concerto is a battle between the solo instrument and the orchestra. What a difference in opinions!
The great advantage of using an audiobook format is that a liberal sprinkling of music excerpts is spread throughout the book. Books about music are rather constraining, but this type of audiobook is wonderful. Greenberg points out what facets of the music to listen for, just before presenting the music. This is a wonderful approach! My only regret is that the publisher has put the recording into MP3 format. Unfortunately, the MP3 compression algorithm tends to destroy the fidelity, and some of the music is definitely distorted. If you can get over the low-fidelity playback, you are in for a real treat! Greenberg's sense of humor, his rants and wild exclamations make this audiobook truly entertaining and enlightening.
Greenberg considers the concerto to be a collaboration between the solo instrument and the orchestra. This is in contrast to Girdlestone's book Mozart and His Piano Concertos, where I remember reading that the concerto is a battle between the solo instrument and the orchestra. What a difference in opinions!
The great advantage of using an audiobook format is that a liberal sprinkling of music excerpts is spread throughout the book. Books about music are rather constraining, but this type of audiobook is wonderful. Greenberg points out what facets of the music to listen for, just before presenting the music. This is a wonderful approach! My only regret is that the publisher has put the recording into MP3 format. Unfortunately, the MP3 compression algorithm tends to destroy the fidelity, and some of the music is definitely distorted. If you can get over the low-fidelity playback, you are in for a real treat! Greenberg's sense of humor, his rants and wild exclamations make this audiobook truly entertaining and enlightening.
May 16, 2023
Listened to this on morning walks, and each lecture was just the right length. Lecturer is pretty full of himself, but he does know his subject and really steers adroitly between overgeneralizing and filling his lectures with too much technical detail. Will definitely look for more of his courses.
May 16, 2016
Greenberg wows, challenges, and entertains again as he carries me along on a musical journey.
February 21, 2024
Loving this guy's courses! Bob, you rock.
January 22, 2017
Greenberg suffuses every episode with joie de vivre. He charts out the history of classical music, connecting the dots from the Italian Overture to say Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Schoenberg, Walton, and so forth. Yet every composer really comes alive as a person. They're not just names - they have personality, from Liszt's ego to Brahms' self-criticism.
December 14, 2008
I continue to learn so much from Dr. Greenberg--he has inspired me to seek out a lot of great music and I now know that I LOVE the concerto.
November 5, 2013
Companion on a trip to New Mexico. Very enjoyable. Learned a lot.
December 1, 2021
When you get started on Greenberg's explanations, explorations, and applications of some of the most beautiful music ever created, why stop? Sometimes, you can get 24 university lectures (with many examples of the music he's discussing) for just a few dollars. And, the more whole sets of lectures you hear, the more it all fits together. Music history is not something that grows on trees, but it's some of the best stuff humans have done. Greenberg is one of the very best lecturers I have ever heard.
December 1, 2019
Listened to the first third of it (the library broke the series down into 3 parts of 8 CDs each). It is interesting, but I found that I don't understand enough about music to really get it. I will maybe come back after listening to another of Greenberg's series, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music.
September 24, 2018
Same as other courses by Prof. Greenberg: I learned a lot while having fun. I especially enjoyed the last lecture where he talks about the relationships among soloist & conductor & orchestra: Thoroughly entertaining and informative to me!
June 14, 2022
Five stars, like every other lecture by Prof Greenberg. He's an amazing teacher! I just found out that a lot of his courses are available for streaming with Audible membership. 🥳🙌 On to Bach and the High Baroque ...
November 23, 2021
Prof. Greenberg's delivery is truly enjoyable. I learned a lot. Some of the composers fit me better than others.
July 20, 2022
I’ve listened to many of Greenberg’s lectures and this is one of the best sets.
April 18, 2023
I enjoyed this introduction to the Concerto from its beginnings to modern times so much that when I got to the end, I started over again at the beginning.
April 12, 2018
Anyone who follows my reviews knows I'm a big fan of Robert Greenberg. I love his take on music and musical history, and while I don't always agree with him, I always find that he gives me something to think about. He's persuaded me to give a number of composers a second or third chance, and for that alone I'd love his lectures.
I always learn a great deal from his courses, and find that when I'm fatigued by virtually every other audiobook I have available, I can turn to Professor Greenberg and be refreshed.
Aaaaannnndddd... I wasn't as crazy about The Concerto as I hoped I'd be. Don't get me wrong, it's still an excellent course, but for some reason I found my mind wandering a lot during the later lectures in particular. I gritted my teeth and listened to as much of Eliot Carter as I could and then hit Fast Forward. Even the good professor couldn't convince me on that one.
So do I recommend it? You bet I do, but not as completely as some of the other courses, certainly it's not even close to Music as a Mirror of History or Bach and the High Baroque. But if you're interested in this particular musical form, it's an excellent overview.
I always learn a great deal from his courses, and find that when I'm fatigued by virtually every other audiobook I have available, I can turn to Professor Greenberg and be refreshed.
Aaaaannnndddd... I wasn't as crazy about The Concerto as I hoped I'd be. Don't get me wrong, it's still an excellent course, but for some reason I found my mind wandering a lot during the later lectures in particular. I gritted my teeth and listened to as much of Eliot Carter as I could and then hit Fast Forward. Even the good professor couldn't convince me on that one.
So do I recommend it? You bet I do, but not as completely as some of the other courses, certainly it's not even close to Music as a Mirror of History or Bach and the High Baroque. But if you're interested in this particular musical form, it's an excellent overview.
January 23, 2019
Really love listening to Robert Greenberg. I'll probably add several more of his titles to my list this year. And you should too!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews