Life and times of Charles I and Henrietta Maria Charles was never meant to be king but rose to the challenge and he and Henrietta led a glittering court. Sadly they were at odds with Parliament and the people which led to Civil War. This course was run at the Queen’s House Greenwich on Saturday…
The Life and Times of James VI & I This one day course was run at the City Lit on Sunday 26th November 2017. James was already king of Scotland when he succeeded Elizabeth I in 1603. In fact he had been a king virtually his whole life when he became the first monarch of…
This was a one day course run as a collaboration between the City Lit and the National Maritime Museum at the Queen’s House in Greenwich on Saturday 22nd July 2017. The course was inspired by the new hang of artworks in the Queen’s House and in particular the portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of his friend Captain…
MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE No. 6 All’s Well That Ends A Summary of the earlier talks and some examples taken from Twentieth Century Music and Art including some Popular ones. Music – Fantasia on Greensleeves by Vaughan Williams. That work is misleadingly called the “Fantasia on Greensleeves” by Vaughan Williams despite not really…
MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE No. 5: All At Sea – [this talk was cancelled but I have included it so that anyone interested can see what art I was going to talk about. I have adjusted the music as I included some works in other talks]. Much of Shakespeare takes place when characters…
MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE No. 4: The Scandinavian Connection To celebrate being in Scandinavian waters the art and music inspired by Hamlet will be examined. Finland’s greatest composer, Sibelius, was also inspired by Shakespeare’s plays. Music – Sibelius’s “Storm” from Incidental Music for The Tempest. We have already heard some Sibelius this week…
MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE No. 3: Midsummer Dreams Some of Shakespeare’s fantasies especially Midsummer Night’s Dream but other supernatural phenomena such as ghosts as well. Music – Wedding March from Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Incidental Music. That music is so familiar that we often forget why it was written. Mendelssohn composed an Overture…
MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE No. 2: Love’s Labours Some Music and Art inspired by Shakespeare’s great love stories, especially Romeo and Juliet but also Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and others. Opening Music – Opening of Act III of Prokofiev’s Ballet “Romeo and Juliet” That music is not the most conventional for a…
This is the first of six postings for lectures from the Cruise on the SAGA Pearl II to the Gulf of Bothnia. MUSIC AND ART INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE This series of Six Talks was devised to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016. They were commissioned for a cruise to the Gulf of…
The Life and Times of King Edward VII This course ran at the City Lit on Saturday 20th February 2016. Edward VII was heir for nearly 60 years and often in conflict with his parents. He had a popular wife and charmed all those he met. When he succeeded he surprised many with his successful reign….