Music history - Online

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.

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  1. Musical analysis for audiences 1
    Course start date:  Fri 26 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Pauline Greene
    Exploring beneath the surface of a musical work can help us decipher programme notes, understand the work’s context and a composer’s intentions, and greatly enhance our enjoyment of a performance.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  2. Musical analysis for audiences 2
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Pauline Greene
    Exploring further beneath the surface of a musical work can help us decipher programme notes, understand the work’s context and a composer’s intentions, and greatly enhance our enjoyment of a performance.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00
  3. Vibrato: a short study
    Course start date:  Thu 18 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    What is vibrato and how is it used? Learn about the history of vocal vibrato and arguments surrounding its use.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00
  4. Music history book club
    Course start date:  Fri 19 Jul 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    The music history book club meets towards the end of each term to discuss novels and biography with musical themes and references relevant to the music history programme. This term’s book is The Jewels of Paradise: Donna Leon.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00
  5. Exploring classical music: module 1
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 19 Sep 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    Do 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. NB: Break week: 31 Oct 2024.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £139.00
    Rating:
    98% of 100
  6. A history of piano music
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 19 Sep 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Maria Razumovskaya
    Trace the development of keyboard instruments and their repertoire from Bach’s Goldberg Variations to the late works of Brahms. Explore the composers and makers who shaped the keyboard into one of the most versatile and popular instruments of all time, and learn about history, style, genre and function through guided listening and score reading. Break week: 31 October 2024.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £249.00
    Rating:
    80% of 100
  7. Exploring classical music: module 3
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 25 Apr 2024 (and 4 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Neil Luck
    Do you want to know more about classical music history? Explore selected topics and key works in Romantic and modern music on this highly informative 10 week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. Please note this evening course has a mid-term break: 30 May 2024.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
    100% of 100
  8. Nine lessons and carols
    Course start date:  Mon 9 Dec 2024

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    What is a Service of nine lessons and carols? Where did it begin and how has it become associated with the chapel and choir of King’s College, Cambridge? Explore the cultural and musical history of this service in this short online course.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00
  9. Exploring classical music: module 2
    Course start date:  Thu 25 Apr 2024 (and 2 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    Do you want to know more about classical music history? Explore selected topics and key works in Baroque to Classical music on this highly informative 10 week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. Please note this course has a scheduled mid-term break: 30 May 2024.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £135.00 Concession £110.00
    Rating:
    93% of 100
  10. Great works: Allegri's Miserere
    Course start date:  Wed 9 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Online

    Tutors:  Edward Breen
    Explore the history of this most famous choral work and trace the story of the famous high C from the castrati of the 18th century to today’s professional early music vocal ensembles.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00
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