Explore Music History from antiquity until the present day. Enjoy the unfolding of western art music through the lives and works of the great composers and discover many a hidden musical gem en route!

 

Ancient & Medieval up to 1450

Renaissance 1450–1600

Baroque 1600–1750

Classical 1750–1825

Romantic 1825–1900

Modern 1900 onwards

 

A Selected Bibliography:

 

Ancient & Medieval

The Story of Music: from Antiquity to the Present. Maria Lord

Music (DK Eyewitness Books). Neil Ardley

Source Readings in Music History: Antiquity and the Middle Ages v. 1

Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Man & Music Series. James McKinnon

Man & His Music: Mediaeval and Early Renaissance Music. Alec Harman

The Music of the Spheres by Jamie James

Knights at Court by Aldo Scaglione

A Distant Mirror: the Calamitous 14Th Century by Barbara Tuchman

 

Renaissance

Companion To Medieval And Renaissance Music

Source Readings in Music History: The Renaissance Vol 2

 

Baroque

Source Readings in Music History: The Baroque Era v. 3

Music in the Baroque Era

Monteverdi: His Life and Works, by Henry Prunieres

The Letters of Claudio Monteverdi ~ Denis Stevens

A Performer’s Guide to Music of the Baroque Period (ABRSM)

Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music. Anna Beer

The Sun King (Vintage Classics) ~ Nancy Mitford

Purcell Remembered ~ Michael Burden

The English Pleasure Garden: 1660-1860 (Shire Library). Sarah Jane Downing

Tosi’s Observations on the Florid Song (Facsimile of 1743 English Edition)

On Playing the Flute by Johann Joachim Quantz

The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach ~ Nicholas Kenyon

Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of J S Bach ~ John Eliot Gardiner

Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great ~ James Gaines

The Faber Pocket Guide to Handel ~ Edward Blakeman

Handel ~ Christopher Hogwood

The Lives of Haydn, Mozart and Metastasio ~ Stendhal

 

Classical

The Lives Of The Great Composers: Third Edition

The Complete Classical Music Guide (Eyewitness Companions)

A Performer’s Guide to Music of the Classical Period (ABRSM)

Source readings in music history from antiquity through the romantic era

Gluck and the Opera – Scholar’s Choice Edition

Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna

Form in Music by Stewart Macpherson

The Classical Era: From the 1740s to the end of the 18th Century (Man & Music)

The Classical Style: Haydn, Beethoven & Mozart, by Charles Rosen

The Faber Pocket Guide to Mozart, by Sir Nicholas Kenyon

The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven (Antony Hopkins)

Schubert (Masters of Music) ~ Percy M. Young

Schubert’s Songs ~ Richard Capell

Rossini: His Life and Works (Master Musicians Series) ~ Richard Osborne

 

Romantic

A Performer’s Guide to Music of the Romantic Period (ABRSM)

Niccolo Paganini: Supreme Violinist or Devil’s Fiddler? (Great Performers Series)

The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz (translated by David Cairns)

Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness 1832-1869 (by David Cairns)

Source Readings in Music History: The Romantic Era v. 5

“Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music” by Anna Beer

‘The Romantic Generation’ by Charles Rosen

‘The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera’ by Daniel Snowman

Verdi (Master Musicians Series)

The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner

The Last Waltz: The Strauss Dynasty and Vienna by John Suchet

 

Modern

Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed the World. Lebrecht

Alma Mahler-Werfel: Diaries 1898-1902. Edited by Antony Beaumont

Stravinsky’s Piano: Genesis of a Musical Language (Music since 1900)

Francis Poulenc: Selected Correspondence, 1915-63

Pierre Bernac: The Interpretation of French Song

‘Messiaen’ by Robert Sherlaw Johnson

The Faber Pocket Guide to Britten

The Operas of Benjamin Britten

 

 

A Selected Discography:

 

Ancient & Medieval

Music of Ancient Greece. Atrium de Madrid. Gregorio Paniagua

Byzantine Hymns: Kassia of Constantinople

Music of the Middle Ages. David Munrow

Chants of the Milanese Church. Ensemble Organum · Pérès

Music and Poetry at Saint Gall. Ensemble Gilles Binchois · Vellard

Mozarabic Chant. Ensemble Organum. Marcel Peres

Hildegard von Bingen: O Jerusalem. Sequentia

Hildegard von Bingen: A Feather on the Breath of God. Gothic Voices

Codex Calixtinus, 12th century /Ensemble Organum · Pérès

Llibre Vermell de Montserrat / Hesperion XX. Jordi Savall

Leonin: Magister Leoninus Vol.2 Sacred Music from 12th-Century Paris

Perotin. The Hilliard Ensemble

The Lily and the Lamb: chant & polyphony from medieval England

Alfonso X El Sabio: Cantigas de Santa Maria ~ Hesperion XX

Love Songs of the Middle Ages ~ Sequentia

Music of the Crusades: 12 & 13 Century Music. David Munrow

Sepharad: Songs of the Spanish Jews ~ Ensemble Sarband

Sumer is icumen in: English Medieval Chants ~ The Hilliard Ensemble

Carmina Burana, Vol. 2 ~ New London Consort. Philip Pickett, cond.

The Century of Ars Nova (14th Century)

Machaut: Messe De Notre Dame. Andrew Parrott, cond.

Codex Faenza-15c.Italy manuscript (14th-century keyboard music)

John Dunstable – Sweet Harmony (Masses and Motets)

 

Renaissance

Ars Subtilior ~ Dawn of the Renaissance

The Garden of Zephirus: Courtly songs of the early 15th Century

Oswald von Wolkenstein: Songs of Myself – Andreas Scholl

El Cancionero de la Colombina 1451-1506

El Cancionero de Palacio 1474-1516. Hesperion XX

Josquin Desprez: Missa Pange lingua /Ensemble Clément Janequin

Josquin Desprez: Adieu mes amours, Chansons.

Renaissance – Music For Inner Peace. The Sixteen

Taverner: Missa Mater Christi Sanctissima

Tallis: Spem in Alium /The Tallis Scholars · Phillips

16th Century Music for Viols. Fretwork & Rose Consort of Viols

Byrd: Mass for Five Voices ~ Christ Church Cathedral Choir/Darlington

Frottole: Songs from the courts of Rennaisance Italy

Luys Milan: El Maestro. Montserrat Figueras & Hopkinson Smith

Cipriano de Rore: Missa Praeter rerum seriem, Motets & Madrigals

Concerto Delle Donne. Consort of Musicke

Gesualdo: Quinto Libro di Madrigali. Consort of Musicke

English Madrigals. The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips, cond.

Musica Della Cappella Sistina: Allegri, Josquin, Morales, Palestrina

Orlande de Lassus: Mass ‘Tout les Regretz’ and Motets

A New Venetian Coronation 1595. Gabrieli Consort & Players. McCreesh

Gabrieli: Music for San Rocco 1608 ~ Gabrieli Consort & Players

Mateo Flecha: Ensaladas. Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall, cond.

Guerrero: Sacrae Cantiones. Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall, cond.

El Cancionero de Medinaceli. Hesperion XX, Jordi Savall, cond.

Dowland: Second Booke of Songs. The Consort of Musicke

 

Baroque

Intermedi (1589) La Pellegrina. Taverner Consort, Andrew Parrott

Monteverdi: L’Orfeo. Gardiner, cond.

Monteverdi: Eighth Book of Madrigals, Vol 1 /Concerto Italiano · Alessandrini

Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea. René Jacobs, cond.

Monteverdi: Vespers 1610. Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra · Gardiner

Carissimi: Jephthah, Jonah. Gabrieli Consort & Players · McCreesh

Tous les matins du monde: Lully, Marais, Couperin. Jordi Savall, cond.

Lully: Atys (Les Arts Florissants/William Christie)

José Marín – Tonos Humanos. Montserrat Figueras, sop./Rolf Lislevand, guitar.

Dame Janet Baker, mezzo: Bach, Purcell, Rameau, Cavalli

Christmas Music ~ Scarlatti, Corelli, Bach. Emma Kirkby, sop/London Baroque

F Couperin: L’Apothéose de Lully; harpsichord works

Purcell: The Fairy Queen

Per un bacio – 17th Century Italian Cantatas & Madrigals. Marta Almajano, sop.

Domenico Scarlatti: Sonatas for Harpsichord/Trevor Pinnock

Miserere. Westminster Abbey Choir: Allegri, Lotti, Gesualdo, Gabrieli, Monteverdi

Vivaldi: Opera Arias

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; Salve Regina (Kirkby/Bowman))

Pergolesi – La Serva Padrona

Vivaldi: Violin Concerto RV581, Salve Regina. Il Seminario Musicale

J S Bach: The Vivaldi Concerti/Franz Hauk, organ

J S Bach: Harpsichord Concertos Vol. 2 – Aapo Hakkinen, harpsichord

J S Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 4-6. The English Concert/Trevor Pinnock

A Vauxhall Gardens Entertainment: Handel, Abel, Arne, Boyce/London Baroque

Handel: Samson. Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Telemann: Recorder Duos-Volume. 1

Handel: Messiah/Trevor Pinnock, cond.

Vivaldi – Gloria & Magnificat/Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini, cond.

J S Bach: Magnificat & Cantata BWV51/John Eliot Gardiner, cond.

J.S. Bach: Cello Suites ~ David Watkin, baroque cello

Bach: Goldberg Variations ~ Steven Devine, harpsichord

Bach: Mass in B Minor. Collegium Vocale Gent/Philippe Herreweghe, cond.

Charpentier: Te Deum. Les Arts Florissants/William Christie, cond.

Rameau: Pygmalion. Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset, cond.

John Gay & Christopher Pepusch: The Beggar’s Opera

Handel: As Steals the Morn ~ arias & scenes for tenor. Mark Padmore, tenor

 

Classical

Bach: Musikalisches Opfer (The Musical Offering), BWV 1079

CPE Bach: Instrumental Chamber Music

Drama Queens: Joyce DiDonato, mezzo

Baroque Opera Arias: Purcell, Handel, Gluck. Carolyn Watkinson, contralto

Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride

Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76, No. 4 (Sunrise), No. 5, No. 6

O Tuneful Voice: Songs from C18 London. Kirkby/Müller

Haydn: Stabat Mater

Haydn: Paukenmesse

Haydn: Die Schöpfung (The Creation)

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Serenata Notturna, A Musical Joke

Diana Damrau ~ Arie di Bravura (Mozart, Salieri, Righini)

Edita Gruberova ~ Mozart: Concert Arias

Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte

Mozart: Mass in C minor/Philippe Herreweghe, cond.

Mozart: Horn Concertos

Mozart: Symphonies 40 & 41 (Jupiter). Vienna Philharmonic/Karajan, cond.

Beethoven: String Quartets Op.18, 1-6 ~ Jerusalem Quartet

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis/Philippe Herreweghe, cond.

Beethoven: Symphony No.9. The Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood, cond.

Beethoven : Fidelio [Highlights] – Harnoncourt, cond.

Beethoven, Meyerbeer & Spohr: Lieder Melodies ~ Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo

Schubert: Trout Quintet

Schubert/Schumann:Songs ~ Elly Ameling, sop. & Jörg Demus, piano

Schubert: Lieder ~ Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, baritone & Gerald Moore, piano

Schubert: Lieder ~ Christoph Prégardien, tenor & Tilman Hoppstock, guitar

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini: Mosè in Egitto

 

Romantic

Weber : Der Freischütz

Paganini: 24 Capricci, Op.1. Salvatore Accardo, violin.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique / Lélio

Berlioz: Les Nuits d’été. Susan Graham, mezzo

Norwegian Violin Favourites (Ole Bull, Grieg, etc)

Songs to Shakespeare (Henry Bishop, etc). Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

Mendelssohn: Elias/Paulus/A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Herreweghe, cond.

Mendelssohn- Piano Trios Nos 1 & 2 (Gould Piano Trio)

Fanny Mendelssohn / Clara Schumann: Piano Trios (The Dartington Piano Trio)

A Romantic Songbook. Thomas Quasthoff, bass-bariton; Justus Zeyen, piano

Chopin: Piano Concerto 1/Preludes/Barcarolle/Scherzo. Martha Argerich, piano

Chopin: Works for Piano and Orchestra. Emanuel Ax, piano/OAE

Liszt’s Petrarch Sonnets. Bruce Ford, tenor. Il primo dolce affanno/Opera Rara

Schumann: Piano Concerto; Symphony No2. Staier, piano/Herreweghe, cond.

Clara Schumann: Songs

Thomas Hampson Lieder Recital (Schumann, Beethoven etc)

Brahms: Symphonies 1-4

Brahms – Volkslieder; Zigeunerlieder

Twilight Of The Gods – The Ultimate Wagner Ring Collection

Maria Callas: Verdi Arias, Vol. 1

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Highlights)

Offenbach: Orpheus in Der Unterwelt

Natalie Dessay ~ Miracle of the Voice

Golden Operetta

René Kollo: Dunkelrote Rosen

Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus

Gilbert & Sullivan – The Mikado

Bruckner: Choral Works. La Chapelle Royale/Philippe Herreweghe

The Best of Grieg

Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade

Dvorak: Rusalka (Highlights)

The Ultimate Elgar Collection

A Portrait of Frederica von Stade

Fauré Mélodies. Barbara Hendricks, sop.

Granados songs and tonadillas. The Art of Pilar Lorengar, sop.

Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne. Frederica von Stade, mezzo

Hugo Wolf – Goethe-Lieder

Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel. Anthony Rolfe Johnson, tenor

 

Modern
Mahler: Symphony No.1/Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Fischer-Diskau, bar.

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Thomas Hampson, baritone

Mahler: Rückert-Lieder. Janet Baker, mezzo/John Barbirolli, cond.

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (Chamber version arr. Schoenberg)

Songs by Schubert, Mahler and R. Strauss (Margaret Price/Geoffrey Parsons)

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony)

Strauss: Elektra

R Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (highlights)

Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande

Romantic French Songs: Debussy’s Chansons de Bilitis (Sarah Walker, mezzo)

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No.5./Canteloube. Kiri Te Kanawa, sop.

The Best of Sibelius

Sibelius Songs. Anne Sophie von Otter, mezzo

Puccini: Tosca

Montserrat Caballé: Diva (Puccini arias)

French Chamber Classics РRavel: Gaspard De La Nuit. C̩dric Tiberghien, piano

Ravel: L’enfant et les sortilèges – Ma mère l’oye

Ravel: Mélodies

Songs by Reynaldo Hahn

Schoenberg / Berg / Webern

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire (Boulez)

Schoenberg – Moses und Aron

Berg: Lulu

Berg / Korngold / Strauss: Lieder

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess

Speak Low: Kurt Weill Songs. Anne Sophie von Otter, mezzo

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; L’Oiseau de feu. Antal Dorati, cond.

Stravinsky: Le Rossignol

Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress

Stravinsky/Gesualdo: Choral Works

Composers in Person: Poulenc/Bernac & Britten/Pears

Voyage A Paris: The Mélodies of Francis Poulen. Felicity Lott, soprano

Poulenc: Mass In G/Motets

Poulenc: Les Mamelles de Tirésias/Le Bal Masqué

Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmélites

American Songs (Barber, Copland, etc): Barbara Bonney, sop./André Previn, piano

Samuel Barber: Vanessa

Messiaen: Poemes Pour Mi/Chants De Terre

Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony – Quatour pour la fin du temps

Britten – English Choral Music

Britten: Peter Grimes

Britten: Gloriana

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Tippett: King Priam

Bernstein: West Side Story

Bernstein: Candide

 

In this course we explore the life and works of a group of composers whose music is perhaps not at the centre of the standard concert repertoire. All of the selected composers share either a birth anniversary or a death commemoration in 2016, and their works range from Renaissance madrigals and Classical opera to French art songs and early 20^th-century Modernism. The six featured composers are: Cipriano de Rore, Sebastián Durón, Giovanni Paisiello, Erik Satie, Francesco Paolo Tosti and Max Reger.

 

A Selected Discography:

The Best of Erik Satie

Satie: French Song Cycles. Hugues Cuenod, tenor

Max Reger – Sinfonietta Op.90, An Die Hoffnung Op.124

Tosti – Canzone. Carlo Bergonzi, tenor

Canzoni ~ Ramon Vargas, tenor

Pavarotti – Mattinata

Arie Amorose: Janet Baker, mezzo

Las Mujeres y Cuerdas – Songs and Guitar Music

Paisiello: Nina, o sia la pazza per amore

Paisiello: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Barroco Español, Vol.2. Sebastián Durón

Barroco Español, Vol.3

A Batallar Estrellas РAl Ayre Espa̱ol

Cipriano de Rore: Missa Praeter rerum seriem, Motets & Madrigals

Starting in Lima at the dawn of the 18^th Century, this course explores some highlights of the operatic repertoire created in the Americas. Our musical journey will take us from baroque Peru to modern day USA with works by Torrejón y Velasco, Barber, Bernstein and Glass, among others, and back to South America with Piazzolla’s tango opera!

 

A Selected Discography:

Torrejón y Velasco ~ La Púrpura de la Rosa

Piazzolla ~ María De Buenos Aires

Thomson ~ Four Saints in Three Acts

Gershwin ~ Porgy and Bess

Barber ~ Vanessa

Ren̩e Fleming РI Want Magic

Menotti ~ The Medium/The Telephone

Bernstein ~ Candide

Adams ~ Nixon in China

Glass ~ Akhnaten

J S Bach is often regarded as the musician’s musician, a composer whose music can be regarded as profoundly moving and daunting at the same time. In this course we explore the life and work of one of the most influential baroque composers and one of the cornerstones of the classical repertoire.

 

A Selected Bibliography:

Harmony and Discord, The Real Life of J S Bach ~ Julian Shuckburgh

The Faber Pocket Guide to Bach ~ Nicholas Kenyon

Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of J S Bach ~ J E Gardiner

Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment ~ James Gaines

 

A Selected Discography:

Bach – Violin and Voice

Organ Masterworks by Bach: The Vivaldi Concerti. Franz Hauk, organ

J S Bach Arias & Choruses. John Eliot Gardiner, cond.

Telemann & the Leipzig Opera

Christmas Music. Emma Kirkby & London Baroque

Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas – Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord

Bach: The Well-tempered Clavier. Angela Hewitt, piano

Bach: Orchestral Suites / Ensemble Sonnerie

Enchantment. Magdalena Kozena, mezzo-soprano

Harpsichord Concertos Vol. 2 – Aapo Häkkinen, harpsichord

Brandenburg Concertos, Nos 4, 5, 6 / The English Concert. Pinnock

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6. Christopher Hogwood, cond.

Bach Violin Concertos. Henryk Szeryng and Maurice Hasson

Janet Baker. Grandi voci

Bach: Coffee/Peasant Cantatas, Nos 211 & 212

Bach: Christmas Oratorio. Karl Richter, cond.

Bach: Christmas Oratorio. René Jacobs, cond.

Bach: Magnificat BWV243 / Kantate BWV51. J E Gardiner, cond.

J.S. Bach: Cello Suites. David Watkin, cello

JS Bach: Motets BWV 225-230

Armonia Di Flauti. Bach ~ Vivaldi. Flanders Recorder Quartet

Morimur. J S Bach ~ The Hilliard Ensemble & Christoph Poppen, violin

Bach: St John Passion. J E Gardiner, cond.

Bach: St Matthew Passion. John Butt, cond.

Bach: The Musical Offering BWV 1079 /Ensemble Sonnerie

Bach: Mass in B minor. Andrew Parrott, cond.

Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988; Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord

Bach: Mass in B Minor BWV 232. Philippe Herreweghe, cond.

Discover the fascination that Ancient Egypt has had on opera composers and librettists from the 17th century. We trace the story of pharaohs in opera from Cesti’s Orontea, Queen of Egypt (1656) to the High Baroque operatic fashion of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Hasse’s Antonio e Cleopatra, as well as Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Then Rossini’s Mose in Egitto, Verdi’s Aïda and Massenet’s Thaïs in the 19th century, and explore the atonal world of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron and the minimalist output of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten.

 

A Selected Discography:

 

Cantate. Cesti (Jacobs, Concerto Vocale)

Arie Amorose. Janet Baker, mezzo

Handel – Opera Arias & Cantatas. María Bayo, sop.

Diana Damrau ~ Arie di Bravura (Mozart, Salieri, Righini)

Drama Queens. Joyce DiDonato, mezzo.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte. Roger Norrington, cond.

Rossini: Mosè in Egitto

Verdi: Aida

Massenet: Thaïs

Schoenberg – Moses und Aron

Glass: Akhnaten

Explore the German art-songs of Richard Strauss. Greatly inspired by the voice of his wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, Strauss composed full-blooded melodies with rich a varied piano writing, including some of the most beautiful and moving Lieder in the German repertoire of the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century.

 

A Selected Discography:

Strauss Lieder: Jonas Kaufmann, tenor

Richard Strauss: 20 Lieder. Dame Gwyneth Jones, soprano

Thomas Quasthoff – A Romantic Songbook

Simply the Best – Songs and Lieder

Les Introuvables de Nicolai Gedda, tenor

Janet Baker – Song Recital

The RCA Victor Vocal Serie: Lotte Lehmann, soprano

Berg / Korngold / Strauss: Lieder. Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo

René Kollo singt Wagner & Strauss

Gluck enjoyed one of the most significant careers in the operatic world of the 18th Century, and his influence would be felt in the Romantic operas of Berlioz and Wagner. In this course we explore Gluck’s output, ranging from his early baroque Italian operas, through to the ‘reform’ operas for Vienna – including the groundbreaking Orfeo ed Euridice – and the breathtakingly dramatic works he created for the Paris Opéra.

 

A Selected Bibliography:

 
The Lives Of The Great Composers (Harold Schonberg)

Gluck and the French Theatre in Vienna (Bruce Alan Brown)

The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Opera

 

A Selected Discography:

 
Gluck: Le Cinesi

Carolyn Watkinson: Baroque Opera Arias by Purcell, Handel & Gluck

Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice

Les Introuvables de Nicolai Gedda

Enchantment. Magdalena Kozena, mezzo

Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride

The undisputed king of bel canto, Rossini created some of the most beloved operas of the Italian repertoire. In this course we explore his enduring comedies – from The Barber of Seville to La Cenerentola – while also discovering the dramatic operas he created for Naples, and his final works for Paris. We follow Rossini through his career and enjoy the most virtuosic vocal displays in the opera world.

 

A Selected Bibliography:

 
Rossini (Master Musician). Richard Osborne

The Golden Century of Italian Opera from Rossini to Puccini

The Lives Of The Great Composers: Third Edition

Bel Canto Principles and Practices. Cornelius Reid

 

A Selected Discography:

 

Rossini: La cambiale di matrimonio

Rossini Operatic Arias: Raul Gimenez, tenor

Las Mujeres y Cuerdas – Songs and Guitar Music

Rossini: Tancredi

Rossini: L’italiana in Algeri (highlights)

The Age of Bel Canto /Jerry Hadley,Richard Bonynge

Rossini: Colbran, the Muse (opera arias). Joyce DiDonato, mezzo

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini Three Tenors – Bruce Ford, William Matteuzzi, Paul Austin Kelly

Rossini: La Cenerentola

Juan Diego Flórez – Rossini Arias

Rossini: Mosè in Egitto

The Heroic Bel Canto Tenor. Chirs Merritt

Coloratura Spectacular. Joan Sutherland, Sumi Jo, Marilyn Horne

100 Years of Italian Opera (1810-1820)

A Hundred Years of Italian Opera (1820-1830)

Bravissimo – Best of Bel Canto

The Art of the Prima Donna: Joan Sutherland

At the start of the 20th Century, Strauss broke all the rules of Romantic opera with his modernistic works: Salome and Elektra. A few years later, he created Der Rosenkavalier, one of the most endurably successful German operas, full of waltzes and exquisite vocal ensembles. In this course we explore Strauss’s extraordinary operatic career, from the Wagnerian influences in Guntram to the intellectual depth of Capriccio and the posthumous Die Liebe der Danae.

 

A Selected Discography:

R Strauss: Famous Scenes

Strauss – Elektra. Polaski/Palmer/Schwanewilms

Strauss, R; Wagner – Arias & Scenes. Deborah Voigt, sop

R Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (highlights)

Edita Gruberova: Famous Operatic Arias

R Strauss: Capriccio

Discover the fascinating life and work of the 9th-century composer and abbess Kassia of Constantinople, the earliest composer with extant music.

Discover the fascinating musical heritage of the Ottoman Empire, including their exotic instruments and their different musical forms. Listen to examples of the music performed at one of the most sophisticated court palaces during the Renaissance and the Baroque: the Sublime Porte, the seat of Ottoman political life in Istanbul.

Explore the daily life of a monk and the different musical forms that dominated medieval sacred music. Learn about the four dialects of plainchant, and listen to some of the most beautiful music of the medieval era.

Explore the songs for voice and piano of Francis Poulenc and Benjamin Britten, two of the most influential composers of the 20th century.

Explore the other side of these two giant figures of Romantic Italian and German opera: their songs for voice & piano. Both Verdi and Wagner composed a number of  pieces to be performed in the most intimate atmosphere of the musical salon, and both showed their musical genius in the creation of these chamber music gems.

2013 marks the joint bicentenary of two of the most influential opera composers of the 19th century. Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner came to epitomise Italian and German Romantic opera, respectively. In this course we compare and contrast the very different oeuvres of this two giants of the opera world.

 

A Selected Discography:

Verdi: Nabucco

Callas – Verdi Arias, Vol. 1

Callas – Verdi Arias, Vol. 2

Jonas Kaufmann: Wagner Arias

Verdi: I Lombardi

The Essential Wagner

Dame Gwyneth Jones sings Wagner

Montserrat Caballé: Diva

Coloratura Spectacular: Joan Sutherland, Sumi Jo & Marilyn Horne

Jerry Hadley & Thomas Hampson: Operatic Duets

Wagner: An Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen

Twilight Of The Gods – The Ultimate Wagner Ring Collection

Lucia Popp – Opera Arias

Marcelo Alvarez. Bel Canto

Essential Opera

The Best Opera Album In The World… Ever!

The Anna Russell Album

Luciano Pavarotti: King of the High C’s

Joan Sutherland: The Art of the Prima Donna

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Highlights)

Verdi: La Forza del Destino

 

A Selected Bibliography:

 

The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner

Verdi (The Master Musicians)

The Lives Of The Great Composers: Third Edition

The Good Wagner Opera Guide

The Golden Century of Italian Opera from Rossini to Puccini

Opera and Its Symbols: The Unity of Words, Music, and Staging

Wagner’s “Ring”: An Introduction to The Ring of the Nibelung

The Pocket Kobbe’s Opera Book

Eyewitness Companions: Opera

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Opera

 

The turbulent decades following Henry VIII’s rupture with Rome, and the subsequent changes under Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, prompted dramatic changes in the musical landscape of the 16^th century. Through listening to excerpts from the sacred music of Taverner, Tallis and Byrd, among others, discover how Tudor composers adapted their works and literally ‘changed their tunes’ to suit the rapidly moving political and religious climate.

 

A Selected Discography

The Lily and the Lamb/Anonymous 4

Taverner: Missa Mater Christi Sanctissima/The Sixteen

Tallis: Spem in Alium /The Tallis Scholars · Phillips

Byrd: Mass for Five Voices/Christ Church Cathedral Choir

Renaissance – Music For Inner Peace/The Sixteen

Music of the Sistine Chapel: Allegri, Palestrina, Morales, Desprez

English Madrigals/The Tallis Scholars

2013 commemorates the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth. After the success of Peter Grimes in 1945, Britten became the most influential opera composer in post-war England. Discover the great stage works of this Suffolk-born composer by focusing on some of the best operatic works in the English language.

 

A Selected Bibliography:
The Operas of Benjamin Britten. Edited by David Herbert

The Faber Pocket Guide to Britten; by John Bridcut

 

A Selected Discography:
Britten: Peter Grimes

Britten: The Rape of Lucretia

Britten: Albert Herring (Bedford, Northern Sinfonia, Gillett, Palmer)

Britten: Billy Budd

Britten: Gloriana – Box Set

Britten: The Turn of the Screw

Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In this day-course we focus on the art songs of both composers: from the cosmopolitan outlook of Liszt’s German, French & Italian songs, to Mahler’s song cycles and his re-working of German folk melodies.

In this course we explore the versatility and beauty of the Baroque Recorder, from early 17^th-century consort pieces, to the sonatas and concerti written by the great Baroque composers: J S Bach, Handel & Vivaldi. We also discover the extended modern repertoire written for the instrument.

 

A Selected Discography

17th-Century Italian Recorder  Music – La Fontegara Amsterdam

Venezia 1625 – Maurice Steger and Ensemble

Armonia di Flauti – Flanders Recorder Quartet

Recorder and Lute – Clas Pehrsson & Jakob Lindberg

Baroque Recorder Music – Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet

Telemann: Recorder Duets, Vol.1. Clas Pehrsson & Dan Laurin

Handel: The Complete Recorder Sonatas – Clas Pehrsson

GB & G Sammartini: Concerti & Sinfoniae – Ensemble 415

Debussy was not only one of the most influential composers of French mélodie, but he also heralded the advent of modernity in Western music. 2012 marked the 150^th anniversary of Debussy’s birth. In this day-course we explore his influence in the music of the turn of the 20^th century by focusing on his art songs.

 

A Selected Bibliography:

‘A French Song Companion’ by Graham Johnson & Richard Stokes

‘The Interpretation of French Song’ by Pierre Bernac

‘A History of Song’ edited by Denis Stevens

‘The Lives Of The Great Composers’ by Harold Schonberg

 

A Selected Discography:

Véronique Gens ~ Nuits d’étoiles (Mélodie françaises)

Gerard Sousay, baritone. Lieder and Melodies

Hugues Cuénod, Vol.3: Faure, Debussy, Schubert

Frederica von Stade, mezzo. Berlioz, Debussy, Ravel