The Three B’s of Music with Barry Wiesenfeld

Albert Wisner Public Library will host “The Three B’s of Music” with Barry Wiesenfeld in December.

Wiesenfeld is an internationally-respected musician who has toured on three continents, performed and recorded with Grammy- and RMI-winning artists, and has appeared on radio and TV. In addition to performing and lecturing, Wiesenfeld teaches for Ramapo College and SUNY.

Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.: Back to Bach

NASA once approached a well-known musicologist and scientist and asked: “We’re sending a rocket into deep space and want to include a representation of the music of the human race. What do you recommend we send?”

He responded: “Well, I’d suggest the complete works of J. S. Bach - but that would be bragging.”

How right he was. Johann Sebastian Bach literally and figuratively wrote the book on how music works. The forms, harmonies, progressions we use today were outlined by him more than 300 years ago. His influence is everywhere.

In this class we’ll listen to some of the remarkable works he left us, and learn why they are so remarkable.

Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.: Learning Ludwig (Beethoven)

The year 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth, and there are celebrations worldwide. This colossus of music took the aural world that he was born into, mastered it, and then shouted: “OK, everyone, follow me!”

And so he led the way to a new era. In this presentation, we’ll talk about and listen to some of his great work. But we’ll also explore the person behind the genius: his upbringing, his love/hate of the metronome, what event caused him to give greater depth to his bass lines, how deep his frustration with his deafness really was, and his influence on the musical world around him.

Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.: The Beatles

When musicologists refer to the “Three Bs of Music,” they generally mean Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

But that list presumes we’re limiting ourselves to the classical world. If we shed that shackle and widen our horizons, another indisputable “B” must be The Beatles.

The Beatles did for pop music what Beethoven did for the classical world: mastered what came before them and then took us all in a new direction.

Lyrics, instrumentation, studio techniques (and more) will all be discussed. Join us!

Essentials

You can register online. For more information, call 845 986-1047 or visit albertwisnerlibrary.org.