Dates: 28 January to 18 March 2025   

Time: 7pm - 9pm

Venue: Western Gateway Building, Room G09, UCC 

Fee: €250

Closing date for registrations: 20 January 2025.

Course Overview: 

This course is the first in a series of short courses which will take the participant on an entertaining and instructive journey through the different periods of classical music, from the medieval period to the present day. Each course highlights the music of key composers in their cultural context by reference to the art, literature, history, science, etc. of each period.  

This first course covers the Medieval to the Baroque period. Medieval music is varied and full of surprises and features such composers as the polymath Hildegard of Bingen (abbess, mystic, philosopher, poet, etc.) and Machaut. The Renaissance in turn brings new developments in instrumental music and a plethora of stunning composers such as Dufay de Pres, Palestrina, Monteverdi, Tallis and Byrd. The turbulent world of Elizabethan England will be explored by considering the music of William Byrd. The ensuing Baroque period features such well known composers as Vivaldi, Albinoni and the English composer Henry Purcell. The late Baroque includes the dramatic musical world of Handel and the sublime, visionary masterpieces of J S Bach.  

Participants will gain an overview of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music and their respective cultural backgrounds. He/she will come to appreciate (and be entertained by) key works by some of music’s greatest composers. 

Apart from the music, course participants will encounter artists such as Giotto, Breughel, Titian, Caravaggio and Rembrandt; literary figures such as Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Defoe and Dean Swift and personalities from history such as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Martin Luther, Ann Boleyn, Louis XIV, Isaac Newton, Samuel Pepys etc. 

 Past participant reviews:  

Very impressive indeed….linking music with history, literature and art. 

Excellent content and superb delivery. 

I found the classes very informative, entertaining and very well structured….the literary, cultural and political context of the time was also fascinating. 

Course Content: 

Lecture 1    From Plainchant to Polyphony. We move from the medieval world of Gregorian chant to the later glorious music of the Notre Dame School of Paris. We encounter the visionary music of Hildeberg of Bingen and colourful, original composers such as Machaut. As well as considering the vibrant secular music of the time we move towards the Renaissance and the musical worlds of Dufay and Josquin de Prez. 

Lecture 2   Madrigals, Motets and Masses. With the coming of Reformation and Renaissance we experience a variety of musical worlds, from the serene masses of Palestrina to the glorious music of Gabrieli’s Venice. We encounter the madrigals of the tempestuous composer Gesualdo and the revolution of Monteverdi’s operas. 

Lecture 3    The Violin Concerto and Vivaldi. We delve into the Baroque world of the dazzling concerti grossi of the virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli before turning to the dramatic violin concertos of Vivaldi and Albinoni and the world of Renaissance Venice.  

Lecture 4    From Reformation to Restoration: from William Byrd to Henry Purcell Byrd was a Catholic composer in the reign of Elizabeth I yet managed to survive and write glorious music. The Elizabethan Renaissance produced a range of outstanding composers such as Tallis, Dowland and Morley as well as dramatic geniuses such as Shakespeare and Marlowe. A few decades later Isaac Newton, Samuel Pepys and Restoration England form the background to the sublime music of England’s Henry Purcell. 

Lecture 5    Handel and Hanoverian England: Handel’s move to England coincided with the arrival of the Hanoverian dynasty. Here we consider Handel’s adventures in Italy and his subsequent successes with masterpieces such as The Water Music and operas such as Rinaldo. Contemporary composers such as Telemann and Boyce are also considered.  

Lecture 6    Music for the Royal Fireworks: G F Handel. Handel’s colourful works extend from oratorios like Messiah to instrumental classics as the Water Music and his Concerti Grossi. To Beethoven Handel ‘was the master of us all’. 

Lecture 7    J S Bach:  Dance to the Music of Time. Despite his Lutheran upbringing Bach’s music is full of dance rhythms and exuberance as seen in his Brandenburg Concertos, Sonatas for Solo Violin, Violin and Keyboard Concertos and the Cantatas. 

Lecture 8    The Glory of God: J S Bach’s Leipzig’s years. To Bach the point of music was to glorify God - his sublime St Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor reflect a visionary splendour unsurpassed in music. 

Course Lecturer : 

Tony Hartnett 

Requirements: 

Applicants must be at least 18 years old at course commencement. 

Contact Details for Further Information: 

Email: shortcourses@ucc.ie  

Please note our refund policy as follows: 

100% refund if student cancels 1 week prior to course commencement, less €50 processing fee.

100% refund if student's course is cancelled due to insufficient numbers.