How to Deal with Wrong Titles of Classical Music: 6 Simple Tips

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Many of us could see Mozart's "melody of the heart" and Beethoven's "music of tears" on social networks. Everyone will doubt the authenticity of such compositions, but it is often quite difficult to identify the original works of the classics.

1. Improve your musical literacy

Sometimes it is quite simple to distinguish a classic work from a fake: it is enough to know basic things. For example, the fact that a piano composition can hardly be called a symphony, and the time signature of a waltz is 3/4.

2. Use music recognition services

Searching for the name of an instrumental piece is a task that search services cannot cope with, they are unlikely to be able to identify your tunes and those around you. Feel free to use Shazam, SoundHound, Google Play audio search and other services, even if you are looking for a very famous song.

3. Check authorship of suspicious compositions

"Rain Music", "Melody of Tears", "Symphony of the Heart", "Sonata of Angels" - all these beautiful names have nothing to do with the world of classical music. If you are suspicious of the name of the song, check its authenticity on the "Not Bach" website or in the "VKontakte" Club for the Protection of Music from Wrong Names. Perhaps you are not the first person to fall for the next "Requiem for a Dream" by Beethoven.

4. Choose the right sources

You run the risk of running into songs with incorrect names if you use sites with user-uploaded audio as sources. In order to be sure of the authenticity of the work, use streaming services or verified portals:

• Classic Music - the history of classical music works, biographies of composers and performers, an encyclopedia of musical instruments and a lot of other useful information.
• Dive into the classics - thousands of pieces of music and reference material. There is also a live forum for classics lovers.
• RuTracker - careful moderation of uploaded audios provides RuTracker with one of the richest classical music databases with correct song titles.
• Classical music "VKontakte" is the most complete archive of classical music with correct names on the vastness of the social network.

5. Use catalogs of works by classical composers

To make sure that the work really belongs to the composer, use the work catalogs. They can be found on the sites mentioned above; in this case, Wikipedia also provides fairly reliable information.

The lists of works of some composers are included in separate catalogs, and the compositions are assigned a letter designation and a serial number. So, getting acquainted with the work of Mozart, you will surely see the index with the letter K in the names of the compositions, and when studying the works of Bach, you will stumble upon the abbreviation BWV. Systematization simplifies the search for numerous works, but you also need to be able to work with such catalogs.

6. Love classical music

True love for classical music does not exist apart from the ability to understand it, to see the obvious and subtle features inherent only in this genre. Anyone who loves the works of Bach, Vivaldi and Haydn will never confuse them with the compositions of Rolf Lovland, Secret Garden or Clint Mansell.