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.
- Music, sound, and the moving image
Course start date: Thu 17 Jul 2025Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckThis course explores key ideas about music for the screen, covering a broad range of examples, techniques, and ideas.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Great composers: Louise Farrenc Course start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Trish ShawDiscover the musical life and work of Louise Farrenc (1804–1875), the celebrated French pianist, composer, teacher and scholar. Learn about her delightful chamber music, her important piano etudes, and her impact on French music and culture in the 19th century.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Opera appreciation: an introductionCourse start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneWhat is opera? And how do you approach watching and listening to it? Explore the ostentatious, sometimes overwhelming, world of opera through study of two major works and styles.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £69.00 - Exploring classical music 1Course start date: Thu 15 Jan 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Edward BreenDo 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: 19 Feb 2026.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £153.00 - Exploring classical music 2Course start date: Thu 25 Sep 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckDo you want to know more about classical music history? Explore selected topics and key works in Baroque, Classical and early Romantic music on this highly informative 10-week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. Break week: 30 Oct 2025.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £153.00 - Writing about musicCourse start date: Thu 25 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward Breen, Katy HamiltonExperience the enjoyment of writing about music. Share your musical opinions in several formats and be inspired to develop your own longer-term writing project. Break week: 30 Oct 2025.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Exploring classical music 4Course start date: Thu 25 Sep 2025 (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: 30th Oct 2025.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £153.00 - Great artists: David Munrow Course start date: Thu 11 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenExplore the life and works of David Munrow, one of the key performers of early music in the 1960s and 1970s.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00 - Exploring classical music 3Course start date: Thu 15 Jan 2026 (and 2 other dates)
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 modern music on this informative 10-week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. NB: Break week 19 Feb 2026.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £153.00 - Exploring Bach's cantatasCourse start date: Thu 15 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenExperience the enjoyment of Bach’s church cantatas through study of selected examples and exploration of both music and biography. Break week : 19 Feb 2026.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Exploring opera 3 Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneJoin us to explore the history of opera over three enjoyable terms. In this third term we’ll explore Verdi, Wagner and the early 20th century. NB Brreak week: 29 May 2025.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £174.00 - Madrigals: a brief historyCourse start date: Thu 23 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenDive into the charismatic world of madrigals and discover a world of nuance and reflection. Break week: 28 May 2026.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00 - Exploring classical music: module 3 Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Edward BreenDo you want to know more about Western classical music? Explore selected topics and key works in Romantic and modern music on this informative 10-week course. Ideal for people with no specialist knowledge. NB: Break week 29 May 2025.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £139.00 - Exploring classical music: module 1 Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckDo 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: 20 Feb 2025. - Operas in production Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneLooking at operas coming up in this season, we will discuss their composition, context, controversies and style, and then hear the story of the opera through musical examples. Break week: 29 May 2025
NB Break week: 29 May 2025.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £167.00
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