Anyone who is familiar with the What Makes It Great? series--which airs on NPR's Performance Today at Lincoln Center as well as at other concert halls around North America--knows about Rob Kapilow's special gift for helping listeners of all kinds deepen their understanding and appreciation of classical music. In this book, Kapilow focuses on short masterpieces by major composers to help you understand the essence of each composer's genius and how each piece--which can be seen as well as heard on the book's companion website--transformed the musical language of its time. His down-to-earth approach makes these great pieces easy to grasp no matter what your musical background. You'll explore the musical styles and genius of eighteen great classical composers, including Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Puccini, Wagner, Dvoak, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and more.

You'll delve deeply into some of the most popular music from the classical repertoire, such as Vivaldi's "Spring" from The Four Seasons and Tchaikovsky's "Trepak" from The Nutcracker Suite. With Kapilow's guidance, you'll get to know each short piece measure by measure, phrase by phrase, and layer by layer, and gain a rich, in-depth understanding of its language and style. As you listen to each composition, you'll discover how the piece is put together, what makes it great, and how it exemplifies the composer's style. This combination of close listening--via the easy-to-use website--and historical and musical context will not only foster a deep understanding of these pieces and composers, but also inform and enrich your experience when listening to classical music.

Whether you're a first-time listener, an experienced concertgoer, or a performing musician, What Makes It Great?, along with musical examples on the book's website (with a scrollbar that allows even those who don't read music to follow along), offers an invaluable point of entry into the world of some of Western music's greatest composers and a collection of individual masterpieces spanning almost two hundred years [Publisher description].