William Sterling

An introduction to the music section

The Royal Citole or Gittern was probably originally made for King Edward I or King Edward II around 1300 and is elaborately carved with the sort of scenes of everyday life found in Books of Hours. There is a Centaur hunting, a peasant chopping wood, another thrashing acorns from the trees for his pigs and the original rabbit with the caught in headlights look as an arrow hurtles towards it. The end is carved as a magnificent dragon. There is also the coat of arms on it of Queen Elizabeth I and her favourite Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, suggesting that its conversion to a violin was done for Elizabeth to use as a gift when she visited the earl at his castle in Warwickshire. Image © Trustees of the British Museum
My earliest memory of music making was conducting the school band mostly consisting of percussion instruments with our teacher, Mrs Distin, filling in the melody and harmony on the piano. I had to announce to the audience of parents and friends that we were about to play "Minuet in G by John Sebastian Bach". My proud mother took a photo of me conducting which I believe my sister has in the family album. I was five years old. Read more »

SPOTLIGHT: Music

Serge Prokofiev

Prokofiev and Shostakovich The course examined how two Russian composers came to terms with the constraints of living and working under the Soviet regime. Unlike their contemporaries, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, both Prokofiev and Shostakovich found ways to express their artistic integrity within the strict confines of Soviet Russia. They were both censored at times but… Read more »

Clara Schumann

Schumann and Schumann This course was on the music and careers of Robert and Clara Schumann, how they were entwined and the influence on each other. The course was run thematically with the first week being an overall chronology and then each week concentrating on one type of music such as Piano Muisc, Songs, Choral,… Read more »

Piotr Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky Whilst his contemporaries were torn between the traditionalists and the nationalists, Tchaikovsky tried to find a Third Way and succeeded in becoming the most popular composer Russia has ever produced. This course not only listened to his music but used videos of his ballets and operas to examine the dramatic genius of his ideas.… Read more »

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