Around Sound:
The Evolution Of Classical Music
Choir Of The Earth Events is delighted to present a new six-part collection of online lectures, written and delivered via YouTube by award-winning educator Ben England BEM as part of our Around Sound series.
The lectures will take place from Wednesday 9 October to Wednesday 20 November and will explore the fascinating musical styles and varied genres of Classical Music.
Have you ever wondered why opera singers warble? How did the orchestra get so big? Why did instruments suddenly get much louder and more intricate in the 19th century? Why did so many people buy upright pianos? Wonder no more - we will explain all, and much, much more.
No singing or musical experience is required, though if you have sung or performed before there will be plenty of material for everyone to appreciate. This is a fun and accessible course, aimed at anyone who is interested in the evolution of music, delivered in Ben’s friendly and inclusive style.
Each week, we will explore an era of music, using a wide range of pieces mostly recorded by Choir of the Earth to illustrate and explain the features and characteristics of each style.
Cost: £69 + booking fee*
All profits will go to support Earth Choir Academy and Choir of the Earth.
Session Outlines
Session One
The Medieval Era - featuring examples and explanations of the origins of tonality, plainchant, organum, early polyphony, troubadours, neumes and travelling minstrels!
Wednesday 9 October, 19:00 UK Time
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Session Two
Renaissance Era - featuring music by Palestrina, Weelkes, Byrd, Tallis, Morley and Monteverdi
Wednesday 16 October, 19:00 UK Time
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Session Three
Baroque Era - featuring music by Handel, Bach, Purcell, Allegri, Vivaldi, Pachelbel and more
Wednesday 23 October, 19:00 UK Time
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Session Four
Classical Era - featuring music by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and more
Wednesday 6 November, 19:00 UK Time
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Session Five
Romantic Era - music by Beethoven, Brahms, Faure, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Puccini, Rossini, Bizet, Sullivan, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and more!
Wednesday 13 November, 19:00 UK Time
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Session Six
Modern Era - Music from McCartney, Whitacre, Cage, Rutter, Stanford, Hawes, Ens, Fanshawe, Delius and many more.
Wednesday 20 November, 19:00 UK Time
*COTE members: £59 + booking fee with the code you will receive via email
Each lecture will last around 80 minutes and will be supported by an amazing set of resources including a PDF of scores (only public domain/freely available scores will be included) and a custom YouTube playlist for people to listen to each era's examples in more depth, as many times as you like.
There will also be a special LIVE Zoom session following each online lecture where attendees can ask follow-up questions of Ben and discuss the content of the sessions.
If you can’t attend live, you can still watch at any point after the event has streamed and as many times as you like.
This is a much-requested lecture series and will be full of fascinating insights, humourous musical anecdotes and, of course, stunningly beautiful music.