Music History Courses in London and Online
City Lit offers an extensive programme of online music history and music appreciation courses with a focus on Western classical music, Folk, Jazz, Rock and Pop. There are new topics each year across a growing range of music styles and traditions.
To find out more about music history classes and to read our year-long selection of courses, please see the blog post Music history: your guide to our programme which lists our full programme of classes ordered by term, and by day of the week. You may then click on each title to read the full course outline.
Our staff are all professional musicians who teach, write, broadcast, lecture and perform widely. In recent years they have worked with BBC Radio 3, Gramophone magazine, Birkbeck (University of London), The Open University, Oxford and Cambridge University Press, Early Music, The Orchestra of the age of Enlightenment, The Wigmore Hall and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Many of our students learn for pleasure but some also come to enhance their careers: recent examples include board members of music charities, marketing and administration professionals from orchestras and gap-year students considering university entrance.
Feel free to browse our programme and do email us at music@citylit.ac.uk with any questions.
- Great artists: David Bowie
Course start date: Wed 22 Jul 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Toby ManningExplore the music and artistry of David Bowie in its historical context, with a focus on his iconic songs.
Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £55.00 - Great works: Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth Course start date: Thu 23 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steven RobinsonCome and discover the fascinating story within and around one of Shostakovich’s most famous works, Lady Macbeth. What made this opera so controversial for much of its history, and how do we appreciate and interpret it today?
Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Miles Davis: from bebop to hip-hopCourse start date: Mon 21 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Albi GravenerAn in-depth exploration of the music, life and times of this frequently innovative, often controversial but always influential artist. There is more to discover alongside Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain!
Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Exploring the music of Henry Purcell Course start date: Mon 21 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenExplore the remarkable achievements of England’s great Baroque composer. Break week: 29 Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - String Quartets: Beethoven and BartókCourse start date: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonA rare opportunity to take a deep-dive into the music of two profoundly important quartet composers side by side, this course leads students through the string quartets of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and Béla Bartók (1881-1945) to compare and contrast their approaches to the genre around 100 years apart from each other. Break week: 27 Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Chamber music in productionCourse start date: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Explore key works from the rich variety of chamber music performances that take place in and around London during 2027. Break Week: 27th Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Opera history for absolute beginnersCourse start date: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HomdenDiscover the story of opera from its origins to today and get to grips with the terminology on this course-no prior knowledge required or expected. Break Week: 27th Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - The essential history of jazz in 20 cuts Course start date: Tue 22 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Albi GravenerThrough a selection of 20 iconic albums, we will study the key figures, the innovators and the star soloists of 20th century jazz, as well as some important artists you might be less familiar with. Break week: 26 Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £299.00 Concession £209.00 - Barber, Copland, Ives and Gershwin Course start date: Wed 23 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Katy HamiltonAlthough they’re not exact contemporaries, these four American composers were all composing in the early decades of the twentieth century, in four fascinatingly different, highly distinctive ways. This course is a chance to meet them all, and get a sense of what American music meant to them over their idiosyncratic, and often wildly successful, careers. Break week: 28 Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Exploring classical music 3 Course start date: Thu 24 Sep 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckDo you want to know more about Western classical music? Explore selected topics and key works in Romantic and early 20th century music on this informative 10-week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. Break weeks: 03, 31 May 2026
Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Exploring classical music 4Course start date: Thu 24 Sep 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckThis course explores key ideas in art music during the twentieth century. Each week’s topic is introduced through study of a seminal musical work. Break Week: 29th Oct 2026 or Break week: 1st Jun 2027
Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Exploring classical music 1 Course start date: Thu 24 Sep 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steven RobinsonDo you want to know more about Western classical music? Explore selected topics and key works in Medieval to (early) Baroque music on this informative 10-week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. Break week: 26th Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Exploring ShostakovichCourse start date: Thu 24 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steven RobinsonDiscover the revolutionary ideas, evolving styles, and enduring impact of one of the 20th century’s most transformative composers. Break week: 29 Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Exploring opera 1 Course start date: Fri 25 Sep 2026
Location on this date: Online
Join us to explore the history of opera over three enjoyable terms. In this first term we’ll explore the ideas that fuelled origins of opera and the wonderful world of Baroque opera seria. Break Week: 30th Oct 2026
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £209.00 - Great jazz artists: Weather Report Course start date: Mon 2 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Albi GravenerExplore the groundbreaking music, ideas, and legacy of one of the most influential jazz‑fusion groups of the 20th century.
Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £69.00
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