Classical Music: Late Beethoven

Course Title: Classical Music: Late Beethoven

Type of Course: Adult Education

Credit: Not credit bearing

Taught Hours: 20

Session Titles

1. ‘Lateness’ and its Limits

2. Reception

3. New Interests

4. Continuities

5. Piano Works

6. Missa Solemnis

7. The Ninth

8. String Quartets

9. Scholarship

10. Critical Approaches

Course Overview

Beethoven is one of Western classical music’s titans, looming over whole swathes of musical activity even up to the present day.

The set of pieces he produced in the last fifteen years of his life in particular have cast long shadows over subsequent generations of composers: complex, weird, but often startlingly beautiful, the late works are still some of the most challenging pieces for performers to execute and for audiences to hear even two centuries after they were written.

On this course we will explore this repertoire from a non-musician’s perspective, diving into the different layers of understanding these pieces, from Beethoven’s own biography to the social and cultural contexts of Vienna around the early 1800s.

We will also see the ways in which the world began to make sense of these pieces, often ignoring them until long after Beethoven’s death.

The multifarious social, cultural, and political afterlives of these pieces form some of the key reasons that Beethoven remains so central to our musical thinking even in the present day.

Required Previous Experience (if any)

No previous experience is necessary.

Required Reading Material or Special Equipment Needed (if any)

None specified

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this course you will be better prepared to:

• Understand aspects of the social and cultural history of Beethoven's day.
• Contextualise the reception of Beethoven's music at the time of its composition and later.
• Recognise how Beethoven’s work and reception coincides with the emergence of musicology (the academic discipline of music), which was heavily shaped by the ideas around Beethoven's late works.

Teaching and Learning Approach

The teaching and learning approach for this course combines tutor-led instruction, group activities, and independent study supported by individual guidance from the tutor. Classes are conducted face-to-face online and utilise diverse teaching methods, including presentations, multimedia resources, class discussions, and interactive activities.

These methods are selected to engage students, accommodate varied learning styles, and support effective understanding of the subject matter. The approach is also designed to recognise and be responsive to the diverse experiences, backgrounds, identities, and cultural perspectives represented within the student cohort, fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students.

Additional Information

This course descriptor may be subject to change during the delivery of the course, depending on the specific direction and nature of the learner cohort, and is intended to be responsive to the group dynamics as they emerge during the delivery of the course.