Composer Russell Steinberg—Music and Writings

AudioMaps® To The Beethoven Symphonies
     
Vol. 1 Beethoven Symphony No. 1

Vol. 2 Beethoven Symphony No. 5    

INFORMATION ON EACH PRODUCT BELOW

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BRAND NEW 

"LISTENING TO MAHLER'S 1ST SYMPHONY BY RUSSELL STEINBERG"

mp3 download now available—on voluntary donation basis!
(a survival guide to the LA Philharmonic MAHLER PROJECT)

    
If you liked my first "Listening To Mahler"  audio mp3, you will truly enjoy this next one. I offer specific guidance in learning to follow Mahler's music through a survey of his first symphony. This 43 minute tour includes an overview of Mahler's idea of musical storytelling and structure, specific piano examples of his thematic developments, and copious audio examples that help you follow the "plot" of the entire symphony with easy comprehension. I think you'll find this a very rewarding journey, one that opens your heart to Mahler's music forever.

This audio mp3 is offered as a donation. Suggested donation is $5. If you can't afford that amount, you may download it for free. If you wish to show support and encourage me to do more of this, please contribute whatever you feel it is worth. Thanks! This second one was made possible because so many people chose to contribute more. I am deeply thankful for their support!

CHANGE THE WAY YOU HEAR MUSIC FOREVER: 
AudioMaps® To The Beethoven Symphonies, Vol. 1 and 2

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Become the expert listener you've always wanted to be. My AudioMaps® books on the Beethoven 1st and 5th symphonies feature a new concept that lets you follow classical music with the same focus you have watching a film. My UCLA classes and LA Philharmonic audiences tell me this approach has greatly enriched their lives. Now with the narrated CDs that come with these books, you can teach yourself to follow Beethoven as well as the musicians on stage in your own living room.

Vol. 1 Beethoven Symphony No. 1
Book and CD/$25
E-Book and mp3/$12  
Both Book/CD and E-book/mp3/$29   

Vol. 2 Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Book and CD/$25 
E-book and mp3/$12
Both Book/CD and E-book/mp3/$29

For personal check, please add $5 shipping and 9.25% sales tax and send to: Masterwork Journeys, 4924 Balboa Blvd. #162 Encino, CA 91316

"Stories from My Favorite Planet" premiered in October 2003 with Los Angeles Philharmonic violinist Mitchell Newman, actor Josh Coxx, and composer, conductor, performer Russell Steinberg on piano. The piece intertwines readings from five articles published in "At Home in the World" (a collection of Daniel Pearl's writings from the Wall Street Journal), into a musical tapestry that portrays Danny's compassion as well as his sense of the ridiculous. 

The CD begins with a musical overture that represents Danny's drive from California to Massachusetts for his first job at the North Adams Transcript. In the first article, a young Danny delivers a hilarious indictment against the bureaucracy of the Registry of Motor Vehicles. A melancholy violin soliloquy precedes the next article, a powerful Wall Street Journal story set in Kosovo where Danny tries to discover if any Serb and Albanian friendships still remain amidst the war. Perhaps Danny's most humorous article concerns the rediscovery of a UCLA-owned Stradivarius violin that fell off the roof of someone's car, but whose new owner is loathe to return it! Musically, Russell Steinberg sets this movement as a tango. 

The climax of the piece is a musical tarantella that prepares one of Danny's darkest stories detailing Osama Bin Laden's gem smuggling trade in Africa. Here Danny discovers how strongly Islamic fundamentalists desire to kill Americans, eerily anticipating his own fate. The musical elegy that follows is a "ghost" version of the earlier tango. Danny Pearl's wit would not stand for a depressing conclusion, so we end as we began, with a sequel to the first article in Massachusetts. Danny gloats that he has outlasted his "tormentor", the chief of the Motor Vehicle Registry, only to learn that you can't beat City Hall! 

"Stories from My Favorite Planet" was commissioned by the Daniel Pearl Foundation for the second annual worldwide Daniel Pearl Music Days. Danny's father, Dr. Judea Pearl, suggested the title, and wryly quipped that Russell Steinberg's compositions may be the very first piece of music inspired by the Wall Street Journal. 

CLASSICAL VIENNA, VOL. 1 $19.95
Introduction to the Classical Style Change the way you hear music forever in this one hour video lecture with piano demonstration by Russell Steinberg using musical examples by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn and W.A. Mozart Vienna at the end of the 18th century: Haydn is at the height of his powers, about to embark on a lucrative trip to London, after which he will stop in Bonn to audition his future pupil, the young Beethoven; meanwhile, Mozart furiously attempts to write himself out of poverty with his opera The Magic Flute and the Requiem mass... Three of history's greatest composers crossed paths, knew each other, and were intimately acquainted with each other's works. Drawn to Vienna, the musical capital in the Age of Enlightenment, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven developed a musical language to which all subsequent eras are still compared. These lectures explore the classical style in the context of the lives and works of all three composers. They emphasize listening skills that make all classical music more approachable and enjoyable, for novices as well as experienced music lovers. The first volume explores how the Baroque style evolved dramatically a new structure and expression we call the Classical style. The language of the Classical style is the foundation for most of the music we hear in classical concerts. This video includes discussion and piano demonstrations of music by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig Van Beethoven.