Apple turns conductor with app for classical music fans and newbies
The world of classical music is now at your fingertips, thanks to a new stand-alone app by Apple.
Available to download from the App Store, Apple Music Classical reportedly has more than five million tracks currently, in high-resolution audio. The app is available via an Apple Music subscription and is limited to iPhone users running iOS 15.4 and later, while iPad, Mac and Android users are not able to use it yet.
As the app is available for existing Apple Music subscribers, it naturally follows the same clean design aesthetic and functionality.
The Listen Now section basically serves as a homepage where users can scroll through Apple Music Classical’s main features and services.
The Browse page is divided into catalogue, playlists and instruments sections, where users can access thematic playlists and albums.
The search function allows you to find content by composer, track title and keywords.
With classical music titles often including numbers, it is recommended to use exact song titles where possible. For example, typing “Beethoven’s Symphony No.5” as opposed to “Beethoven’s Symphony Number 5” will provide more accurate results.
Users can also search by artist or composer.
Some of Apple Music Classical’s most important features are designed with newbies to the genre in mind, in a bid to ingratiate the millions of subscribers the company already has – and newcomers.
The platform’s Essentials playlists are ideal introductions to sub-genres ranging from baroque and symphonic to opera and choral.
Each list also comes with a nifty blurb about the characteristics of the music included.
The Story of Classical is another great feature. The nine-part playlists trace the evolution of the genre from the Middle Ages to the present day. Important works and composers – including the likes of Mozart, Bach and Tchaikovsky – are also highlighted with introductory commentary to each playlist.
In a competitive market, streaming services define themselves by functionality and curation, with recommendations to keep listeners engaged. When it comes to the latter, Apple Music Classical does a good job of making a specialised genre more accessible.
There are more than 100 playlists available on this dedicated page, which are then divided into subsections including certain musical periods and a variety of ensembles, from solos to octets.
Highlights are Instruments is home to 25 playlists featuring works tailored to specific instruments ranging from the piano to the viola da gamba.
Different styles of operatic vocals also are included here, such as The Soprano Voice – featuring classical arias composed by Gaetano Donizetti and Antonio Vivaldi – and Tenor Voice, with key pieces such as Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini. Also worth checking out is the Curated by Artist section, featuring thematic playlists chosen by stars from the classical music world. There are more than 700 playlists to guide listeners through 800 years of music.
Titled Our Common Nature, Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s selection (featuring Pablo Casals and Kathryn Stott) is made up of works that “remind us that we do not live in isolation from one another”.
Egyptian soprano Fatma Said has curated a rhythmic playlist called Dance, featuring important works from the tango and opera genres.
Apple will also curate a Hidden Gems highlight selection.