“How to Listen,” the six-month weekly series that dived into so-called classical music, was not my idea. The suggestion that I rely on a lifetime of listening to guide readers who may be interested in expanding musical horizons through my selection of pieces seemed a reasonable enterprise, although I had no idea how I would go about it.
I did, at first, resist titling it “How to Listen.” In the back of my mind was what Virgil Thomson liked to call the music appreciation racket. What I hadn’t counted on, however, was that the series would not be me telling you how to listen, but me finding out how to listen myself as I worked through 25 pieces that I figured I knew pretty well.