Music Appreciation: Major and Minor Composers

If you have a love of classical music and want to know more, this course is for you! In this course you will listen to, explore and enjoy a wide range of classical music from its earliest eras through to the present day by well-known and more marginal composers. In doing so you will engage with several individual works in different forms in each session thinking about the circumstances of and reasons behind their creation, and the particulars of the sonic landscape they offer through ideas such as genre, style, technique and arrangement, this will set the musical piece in context and also dive into the way the piece was constructed. To complement this we will also pay attention to the life and background of each different composer and how their approach to composition contributes to a distinctive oeuvre. You will also listen to examples of music from other genres such as jazz, film music, contemporary/neo/post-classical, ambient and electronic music in a supportive atmosphere and with a knowledgeable tutor who has presented courses around this subject many times. It is hoped that you will take the learning and analysis you have gained in this course back to your community to do some work there with others or that it may foster some further learning. No experience is necessary, just bring yourself and your love of music!