We begin with famous storms in music (Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, and Wagner’s Walkure) and then discuss the different qualities of music that make some music so memorable. We listen for the highly textured finale of Mozart’s famous “Jupiter” Symphony, the vast open space in the finale of Verdi’s Aida, the haunting repetition in Ravel’s Bolero, and the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen. Indulge in the music that novelists have found the most pleasurable moments in Western art music—Chopin’s Nocturne in F# and the Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth. We end with two symphonic masterpieces that have transfixed generations of listeners—Beethoven’s Fifth and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.

When have movie directors turned to great works of classical music as background? You will recognize the famous excerpts we’ll watch in an early Disney cartoon and two blockbuster war movies (Apocalypse Now and Platoon). Classical masterpieces illustrate cosmic force, as we’ll see in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Classic horror films turned to modern music, as we see in The Shining. We’ll also study the opera scenes in some of Hollywood’s greatest films, like Pretty Woman.

Listen to the greatest music that inspired political change from the 60s to the 80s. Some artists wrote their own music, others made famous recordings of earlier songs. Starting with the famous civil rights song “We Shall Overcome,” popularized by Pete Seeger, we’ll discuss local Minnesota artist Bob Dylan (“The Times They Are A-Changin’”). We’ll contrast two memorable hits from 1967— and blues star Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” We end with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”