Have you ever wanted to know more about classical music but felt too intimidated to ask? Have you ever been at a concert and enjoyed it, but felt like you didn't totally know what was going on?
Or, are you a classical music enthusiast who wants to know more about your favourite works, or explore some pieces you haven't heard before?
Each session is independent so why not try one out?
Music Appreciation (Friday @Semitone)
Advanced Music Appreciation (Wednesday online)
Semitone's music appreciation classes might be for you. It's informed, but informal; complete but casual. If you want to develop a better appreciation of classical music, then you have to listen to it. Peter introduces each piece by saying something about the composer's place in the development of music, how the piece came to be written and what to listen out for before we listen to it. We listen together, and share our own reactions to each piece.
For any questions about music appreciation classes, please email info@semitonestudios.com or ring 07715 643110.
Music Appreciation
This course is for everyone - you needn't have any prior knowledge of classical music in order to fully enjoy this course.
Current Session
Day/Time/Location:
Friday/10:30am-12pm/@Semitone Studios
Cost: £84 for all twelve sessions or £8 for each individual session.
(If the cost is a hardship, please let us know and you may pay what you can afford.)
Friday 20 June: Arnold Bax, Symphony No 2 in E minor and C major, first performed in 1929 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky for whom it was written
Friday 27 June: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Symphony No 9 in E minor, his last symphony written when he was 84, inspired by Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Third Quarter Session
Day/Time/Location:
Friday/10:30am-12pm/@Semitone Studios
Cost: £84 for all twelve sessions or £8 for each individual session.
(If the cost is a hardship, please let us know and you may pay what you can afford.)
Friday 4 July: Jan Dismas Zelenka, Simphonie à 8 Concertanti in A minor, ZWV189, one of the few orchestral pieces by this Bohemian contemporary of JS Bach who mainly lived in Dresden, written in 1723 during an extended visit to Prague when he wrote most of his instrumental pieces.
Friday 11 July: no session
Friday 18 July: Joseph Haydn, Symphony No 86 in D major, one of the six symphonies commissioned for Paris in 1784, first performed in 1787. This one has trumpets and drums.
Friday 25 July: no session
Friday 1 August: Franz Schubert, Piano trio No 2 in E flat major, D.929, completed a year before Schubert’s death and one of the few late compositions that the composer heard performed.
Friday 8 August: no session
Friday 15 August: Franz Liszt, Piano concerto No 1 in E flat major, the themes date from 1830 but not completed until 1853 and first performed in 1855 by Liszt with Hector Berlioz conducting.
Friday 22 August: no session
Friday 29 August: Karl Goldmark, Rustic Wedding Symphony, Opus 26, written in 1875, used to be an orchestral favourite but seems now to have disappeared from the repertoire.
Friday 5 September: Ethel Smyth, Serenade in D major, written in 1889 shortly after her return to Britain from studying in Leipzig, first performed in 1890 at the popular Crystal Palace concerts.
Friday 12 September: Jean Sibelius, Symphony No 3 in C major, Opus 52, a more classical piece after the highly romantic first two symphonies, marking the transition to his mature style.
Friday 19 September: Florence Price, Symphony No 3 in C minor, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project for unemployed musicians during the Great Depression and first performed in Detroit in 1940 when it was well received.
Friday 26 September: William Walton, Symphony No 2, commissioned by the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960.
Fourth Quarter Session
Day/Time/Location:
Friday/10:30am-12pm/@Semitone Studios
Cost: £84 for all twelve sessions or £8 for each individual session.
(If the cost is a hardship, please let us know and you may pay what you can afford.)
Friday 03 October: Johann Sebastian Bach, Magnificat in D major, BWV243, the first large choral work that Bach composed after his appointment in Leipzig in the spring of 1723.
Friday 10 October: Joseph Haydn, Symphony No 87 in A major, the last of the Paris symphonies commissioned in 1784 and the least well known, first performed in 1787.
Friday 17 October: Berlioz, Harold in Italy, symphony with viola obligato, Opus 16, written at the request of Paganini but not played by him as the solo part had too many rests!
Friday 24 October: Augusta Holmès, Roland Furieux, a symphony written in 1875-6, inspired by a sixteenth century Italian poem, the composer born in Paris, an English mother and an Irish father.
Friday 31 October: Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 5 in E minor, Opus 64, first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1888, opens with a motto theme which appears in all four movements.
Friday 07 November: Bohuslav Martinů, Symphony No 4, written by this Czech composer living in New York in 1945 and first performed the same year in Philadelphia.
Friday 14 November: Antonio Vivaldi, Magnificat in G minor, RV610 and Credo in E minor, RV591, two liturgical pieces by this prolific composer who taught at a famous Venetian orphanage.
Friday 21 November: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Serenade No 11 in E flat major, K.375, written in 1781 for wind octet: two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and two horns.
Friday 28 November: Emilie Mayer, Symphony No 3 in C major Military, first performed in Berlin in 1850 at a successful concert organised by the composer herself to present her compositions.
Friday 05 December: Richard Strauss, Don Juan, Opus 20 and Til Eulenspiegel’s Marry Pranks, Opus 28, two early symphonic poems by Strauss, amongst his most popular works.
Friday 12 December: Maurice Ravel, Piano concerto for the left hand in D major, written in response to a commission from Paul Wittgenstein who had lost his right arm in the first world war.
Friday 19 December: Ralph Vaughan Williams, Job: a masque for dancing, music for a one act ballet which was first performed (as a concert piece) at the 1930 Norwich Festival.
Advanced Music Appreciation
This course is for listeners who have at least basic knowledge of classical music - terminology, form, etc. Please enquire if you are unsure.
These Classes will resume in September
Day/Time/Location: Wednesday/2:00pm-4:00pm/Online via Zoom
Cost: £130 for all eight sessions or £13 for an individual session.
(If the cost is a hardship, please let us know and you may pay what you can afford.)
These online sessions set out to explore a range of classical music composed over the past three hundred years or so, including music in a variety of genres: orchestral, instrumental, choral and songs. The aim to is to include some well-known pieces but also to explore less familiar repertoire; there is such a wealth of music that we do not normally hear. The theme for each course is chosen to provide a framework for this. Pieces will be introduced and then we will listen to them and share reactions.
Many composers, from the baroque period to the present day, have been inspired by aspects of the natural world.
This course of twelve sessions will explore some of the music which has resulted.
Wednesday 10 September: Dawn & Sunrise
Wednesday 17 September: The Sea
Wednesday 24 September: The Countryside
Wednesday 24 September: The Countryside
Wednesday 1 October: Rivers
Wednesday 8 October: Birds and insects
Wednesday 15 October: Flowers and gardens
Wednesday 22 October: Mountains
Wednesday 29 October: mid-term break
Wednesday 5 November: Stars and planets
Wednesday 12 November: The sun and the moon
Wednesday 19 November: The weather
Wednesday 26 November: The seasons
Wednesday 3 December: Sunset and night