Apple Music Classical is here. This morning, when my alarm went off (that is, the alarm I set on my mobile), when I opened my eyes enough to see the notifications, I was happy to see that the app, Now available was downloaded in the iOS App Store, and thus I had the largest catalog of classical music on a streaming service (or so Apple claims) at my fingertips, and most importantly, from my ears via an app designed specifically for said musical universe.

So while I devoted one hand to first putting the coffee in the microwave and then dipping the muffins in it, I devoted the other to starting my first exploration of Apple Music Classical, both the app and the content (list playback, search engine, catalog density, genre diversity etc.) and I worked on it all day, v an experience that proves immensely satisfying. Today will be the first day in many years that I only listen to serious music… and I can’t rule out repeating the plan tomorrow, because the proposal is simply exceptional.

What is Apple Music Classical?

But let’s start by recalling the basics: Apple Music Classical is Apple’s new app that provides access to the entire classical catalog (I’ll get to that point later) Apple Music, which the company says consists of more than five million songs. At least for now, the app is only available for devices from Cupertino and is free (the app and access to the catalog, of course) for all subscribers of the various Apple Music plans, with the sole exception of the Voice plan, so something, we already expected when Apple opened the pre-purchase of the app in the App Store. So the only requirement to access the service is to have a device with iOS 15.4 or higher (good news for users who couldn’t upgrade to iOS 16) and a subscription to Apple’s aforementioned streaming music service.

The first impression upon opening the app is one of familiarity. Its interface clearly resembles the Apple Music application with practically the same elements. The main difference is that Classical does not, at least for the moment, have the function of a personalized radio section, but from the first moment you clearly realize that it is of course not that, because the current big hits that occupy the Cupertino streaming service are replaced by an attractive and very varied editorial a selection that covers the universe of classical music in all its breadth.

I must pause at this point to clarify something important, and this is What do Apple and I mean when we talk about classical music?. The academic definition limits the term to works composed between 1750 and 1820, a period known as musical classicism. However, for the vast majority, a much broader definition that refers to music produced or based on the liturgical and secular music traditions of the West, especially Western Europe, fits better. Thus, this definition covers many genres of music and a time span that ranges from ancient or medieval music to compositions of today and compositions yet to come in the future.

Apple Music Classical undoubtedly encompasses the broadest interpretation of this concept of classical music, so we find a wide range of genres from Bach’s baroque classicism to Astor Piazzolla’s tango mastery, Samuel Barber’s exceptional use of musical rhetoric and the emotionality and warmth of Yann Tiersen’s work or Ludovico Einaudi’s hypnotic pieces. . I imagine some purists will think the app doesn’t deserve the name Classical, but for mere mortals the wider offering is much more appealing.

So Apple Music Classical is an app for anyone who likes classical music, regardless of their level of knowledge. What’s more, we mean exactly those less knowledgeable about the matter, we can find a plethora of playlists to help us explore artists, styles and genres. This is undoubtedly one of the points where you can see the hard work of the editorial team working on organizing and documenting the content of the service.

A special mention at this point about the expected search engine optimized for the application. Imagine, for example, that you want to listen to a particularly well-known piece, which will therefore surely be searched hundreds or thousands of times a day on Apple’s music streaming service. For this example, I chose Tomas Albinoni’s Adagio, perhaps the most well-known and reproduced work of classical music (although I think it rubs shoulders with Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in this regard). In the image below, you can see the difference between Apple Music search results and Apple Music Classical:

As you can see, the difference is more than noticeableand that we only see a part. Be careful, this is not a criticism of Apple Music’s search engine, but rather a praise for how they know how to rethink the search to fit this particular context. This reminds me of Apple’s best days in terms of user interface design, something that (albeit with ups and downs over time) has always been a Cupertino focus.

Why did I say before that we only saw part of it? Well, let’s now go to Pachelbel’s Canon, pay attention to the following sequence of images:

In the image on the left you can see the search result for “Canon Pachelbel”. As you can see, it is displayed grouped into blocks, first works, then albums and, although it is not visible in the picture, later songs. Since the result we are interested in is the first one displayed, the one with 1.108 on the right is the one I selected.

The second image from the left shows what we see when we access the result. As you can see, the first result is the one chosen by the Apple Music Classical editorial team and is therefore the recommended option. Below (third image) we find some of the most popular recordings of what we were looking for. Behind it we find the text “View all” and below it a selection (also editorial) of related works (third image). And what happens when we click “View All”? Well, we will have access to all the recordings of that piece, in this case 1,108, available in the catalog of the service, as you can see in the last of the images.

Only for this feature, for this genre tailored search engine (allows searching also by catalog number) supported by editing work carried out by Apple, this new application would already be more than justified, as it will end the nightmare that browsing through extensive classical music catalogs can be with instruments that were not specifically designed for this purpose. Those in the know will probably already have their favorite interpretations, but for us laymen, the editorial selection and organization of content provides a tremendously effective compass.

But there is more to it. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but something that surprised me when I first opened the app was to find among the selected items (ie the ones that appear at the top of “Listen”) playlist compiled by virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma, one of the best cellists in history. Aside from my admiration for Ma and how recommended her selection seems to me (especially if you don’t know too many cello pieces and want to push the boundaries), as she appears under the “Guest Playlist” heading, it leads us to believe that more listings of this of the type with the signatures of particularly important artists will be added in the future.

Which of course leads me to talk about it Classic Apple Music playlists. A common thing in music streaming services is to find a classic playlist with the most relevant composers, some related to moods and of course the usual ones for concentration, relaxation, sleep, etc. I have nothing against this type of playlists, on the contrary, I find them a good format for many people to they bring the classics closer, but they don’t offer an organization where music is an end in itself, not a means to being more productive or sleeping like a freshly fed baby.

And how does Apple Music Classical approach exploring its content? In the “Explore” section, we find three ways to do this: by basic descriptors (composer, period, genre, conductor, orchestra, etc.), by mentioned thematic playlists, and by instruments. In each of these categories we can find either subcategories (in the case of descriptors) or selected content (in playlists and browsing by instrument type).

When it comes to sound quality, another fundamental aspect, there is no difference between the two apps. In both we will have access to recordings in Hi-Fi quality (up to 192 kHz/24-bit lossless), surround sound (Dolby Atmos)etc. I tried playing the same songs in both apps with multiple headphones and found no difference (and I really didn’t expect it).

Yes, there are some differences in the playback interface. As you already know, Apple Music has a lyrics function that we access by clicking on the icon that appears at the bottom left of the application. This makes perfect sense in an application that gives access to all types of music, but if we are talking about classical music, it loses a lot of meaning, since a large part of the catalog lacks lyrics (although I admit that they would be very useful when, for example, listening to opera) . As a result of this difference in the Apple Music Classical app the function of lyrics is replaced by information about what we are listening to.

It’s been about a year and a half since Apple bought Primephonic, a music streaming service specializing in classical music. At the time, those from Cupertino confirmed that they would launch a specific app for the service, albeit linked to Apple Music, sometime in 2022. As the end of last year approached, we wondered what had happened and if the plans were continuing (although it was late ). Fortunately, we first learned of Apple’s plans in this regard earlier this month, and as the date approached, we wondered what to expect from Apple Music Classical.

Well, after a full day of testing this new Apple app, I know the wait was worth itand I accept the delay in publishing it if it was due to the desire to present the application and the service in their current state. Apple Music Classical is a gift for Apple Music users, and no, I’m not saying that because it’s free, but because they’ve managed to create an app that satisfies the desires of many of the biggest music lovers, while also being an excellent gateway to musical universe, into the classical music universe that many people have on their to-do list.

The only pity is that At the moment there is only an iOS app. Users of other Apple devices, as well as Android and those who want to access the service from the web interface, will have to wait and cross their fingers that Apple has such an extension planned. In the meantime, we’ll have to make do with the iPhone version, although I honestly think Cupertino did such a good job with this version that it should push Apple Music Classic as far as it can go.