COMMENCING: Tuesday 27th September, 2016 (10 weeks:  27/9, 4/10, 11/10, 18/10, 1/11, 8/11, 22/11, 29/11, 6/12, 13/12)

COST: £60

COURSE OUTLINE

Despite his very short life (of only 31 years) Schubert has many masterpieces to his name: the Trout Quintet, the Great C major Symphony, the string quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’, over six hundred songs (including Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin) and a wealth of music for piano and other small chamber ensembles. Hailed as the undisputed master of Lieder, in other genres he has been somewhat overshadowed by Beethoven, and left many works incomplete for fear of unfavourable comparison. Using high quality recordings and DVDs, this ten week course will provide the historical background to many of Schubert’s well-known works and an opportunity to explore the unfinished ones.

Who’s the course for? All classical music lovers – no technical knowledge required.

1. An introduction to Schubert’s life and works, including a film ‘The Double Life of Franz Schubert’ with Simon Russel Beale.

2. Schubert and the symphony (finished  works): Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 9 (The Great C major)

3. Schubert and the symphony (unfinished works): No. 7 in E, No. 8 in B minor (The Unfinished), and five others

4. Lieder (songs), including a special study of Goethe’s Erlkönig (The Erl King)

5. Song cycles (Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin)

6. String quartets and other chamber music without piano (including ‘Death and the Maiden’)

7. Chamber music with piano, including a film ‘The Trout’ featuring Daniel Barenboim and Jaqueline du Pré

8. Schubert’s vocal music (sacred and opera)

9. Piano music (sonatas)

10. Piano music (Impromptus, music for piano duet)