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Hector Berlioz
Berlioz, his Life in Music An examination of his life and music using his own remarkable autobiography as a guide. Unlike many of his contemporaries such as Mendelssohn, Chopin and Liszt, Berlioz was not an infant prodigy. In fact he never mastered any instrument and always composed in silence away from the piano, an instrument…
Frederic Chopin
Chopin and Liszt Two of the greatest ever piano composers were also great friends and had a huge influence on their contemporaries and later composers. Two of the greatest pianists of the C19th and the first great composers to emerge from their respective countries; Poland and Hungary. Their music is so familiar today it is…
George Frederic Handel
Handel and Royalty An examination of how closely his music and career was bound up with the British royal family from Queen Anne to George II (course originally run at Crayford Manor to coincide with a workshop on George II). George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) was one of the first composers to make a successful career independent…
Anton Bruckner
Bruckner – his life and works This course set out to try and raise the profile of a much underrated composer. An unassuming church organist, in many ways a most unlikely romantic hero, Bruckner did for the symphony and church music what Wagner did for opera and led the way to the revolutionary works of…
Cécile Chaminade
Cécile Chaminade, from Fame to Obscurity In her lifetime Chaminade was celebrated round the world but her reputation has diminished since her death. Her remarkable output ranges from delightful salon pieces to serious chamber, vocal and orchestral works. This course was about the extraordinary life and beautiful music of one of the foremost French composers…
Handel and Royalty
Handel fell in love with England on his first visit writing music for Queen Anne herself. He was reconciled with George I partly with his Water Music Suite and wrote the coronation music for George II. It is an examination of how closely his music and career was bound up with the British royal family…