Mozart: the early operas
- Course Code: MD504
- Dates: 16/09/24 - 25/11/24
- Time: 10:30 - 12:30
- Taught: Mon, Daytime
- Duration: 10 sessions (over 11 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Edward Breen
Course Code: MD504
Duration: 10 sessions (over 11 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
Mozart’s early operas have often been dismissed as unimportant by his biographers, such opinions swayed by the old-fashioned storylines of the libretti. They contain many wonderful musical passages, the more florid of which were unfairly characterised by the phrase "too many notes" in Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus.
What will we cover?
- Selected operas for study will include: Bastien und Bastienne, Mitridate, re di Ponto, Ascanio in Alba, La finta giardiniera, Zaide and Idomeneo, re di Creta
- The traditional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera buffa
- German Singspiel form
- An outline of Mozart’s biography before 1780
- Selected source readings relevant to the chosen repertoire (newspapers, letters etc…)
- Developments in Mozart’s musical / dramatic style
- Some comparison with other contemporary works that Mozart may have known
- Social, political and religious context of Mozart’s early operatic compositions.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Understand the elements and key forms of several early Mozart operas
- Relate the operas to key developments in social culture
- Make a more informed assessment of Mozart’s musical achievements
- Display an enhanced knowledge of the scholarship and literature covering Mozart’s early years.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
No previous knowledge is required. We will look at some music manuscripts, but you do not need to be able read music.
You need to be able to follow written and verbal instructions and engage in class discussion in English, and to take your own notes.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Tutor presentation, guided listening, class discussion and debate, video and score study.
Course materials will be shared via Google Classroom: handouts, scores, links to online audio and video, recommendations to encourage and support further reading and listening outside class.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Please have a pen and notebook to make your own notes during class. You may wish to purchase some of the music books or recordings discussed in class; links to these materials will be available after each session. You may also wish to attend live performances.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offers a wide range of Music history courses. For more information, visit our Guide to the Music history programme.
You may also be interested in our Music theory and musicianship offer, or one of our many practical music courses.
Edward teaches music history and music theory at City lit where he is Head of Programme: Advanced Studies in the School of Performing Arts. His specialism is early music (medieval, renaissance and baroque periods) and he completed his PhD in historical musicology at King's College London (2013) on the performance of medieval music. Outside of teaching, Edward is a regular contributor to Gramophone magazine and has lectured for Dartington International Summer School, London's Southbank Centre and The British Library. He has also worked as a researcher for BBC Proms and written for the journal Early Music (OUP). His recent essays are published in: The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Historical Performance in Music, (Cambridge University Press); The Montpellier Codex: Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 16 (Boydell Press); Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen (Ashgate 2018); and 30-Second Classical Music (Ivy Press).
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
