Travel back to the concert halls, coffee houses and music venues of eighteenth-century Europe and experience some of the era's most remarkable musical events. Through recorded music, historical context and guided discussion, this course recreates celebrated performances associated with Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach and members of the Bach family. Participants will explore Handel's Dublin concerts that introduced Messiah, the vibrant music-making of Leipzig, the influential concerts of C. P. E. Bach in Hamburg and the cosmopolitan musical world of J. C. Bach. In addition to the music itself, the course examines the audiences, venues and cultural environments that helped shape these performances and their lasting influence on European musical life.

No prior musical training is required, only an interest in music and cultural history.

DELIVERY MODE

Face to face

COURSE OUTLINE

• Become a virtual member of the audience at these recreations of several outstanding and colourful concerts held during the 18th century, namely:
• Handel's extraordinarily successful concert series given in Dublin in 1741 and 1742, at which Messiah was premiered 
• Leipzig and some of the beautiful concerts of secular music given by J S Bach at Zimmermann's coffee house and coffee garden 
• Hamburg and several important concerts given by C P E Bach, Bach's second son, including the momentous charity concert given in 1786, at which the Credo of his father's Mass in B minor was premiered together with his own Magnificat and other works by him, as well as extracts from Handel's Messiah 
• The cosmopolitan and fashionable figure of J C Bach, Bach's youngest and only well-travelled son, in London and elsewhere, where he was busily composing and producing operas and concert repertoire

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Distinguish and describe the varied repertoire heard at these concerts
• Note the major features of each concert and account for their success
• Appreciate the social milieu in which they took place
• Compare the different vocal and instrumental forces involved in each concert