THIS GROUP HAS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE CONTACT ADRIAN BOYNTON DIRECT AT boyntonmusic@googlemail.com 07961 348697 IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND ANY OF HIS FUTURE MUSIC LECTURES.
Our Music Lecture Series, led by Adrian Boynton, Director of Music at Milton Keynes City Church, is comprised of ‘blocks' of three or four lectures, each lecture lasting for two hours. We explore different eras of music and the composers that innovated during each of those times.
In order to cover our fixed costs, the price that members pay for each ‘block’ will depend on the numbers that are interested in attending. The more people attend, the cheaper the lectures become. Typical costs have been approximately £3.50 - £4 per per two hour lecture. Refreshments are included in the price.
The lectures commence at 1.45 and end at just after 3.45 (depending on how leisurely our coffee break becomes).
The venue is the Oak Tree Centre on Shenley Brook End (easy, free and plentiful parking).
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Tina Gerard-Two at t2laughs@gmail.com
Our Spring 2023 Programme (8 March, 12 April, 10 May and 14 June)
In this series we have followed the development of the Concerto.
- The Italian word concerto, meaning accord or gathering, derives from the Latin verb concertare, which indicates a competition or battle.
- In the 17th century, sacred works for voices and orchestra typically used instruments to accompany voices. As the works developed, composers began to introduce parts for instruments in their own right.
- Today we find virtuoso soloists playing extended passages with the orchestra providing accompaniment, vocal soloists, also with orchestral accompaniment, and the Concerto Grosso, which highlights different sections of the ensemble rather than one soloist.
- We continue to explore the development of the concerto through the works of many superb composers expertly guided by Adrian Boynton.
Our playlists of the composers and their works are avilable on request.
PREVIOUS PROGRAMMES
Autumn 2019
MASTERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
A series of talks illustrated with fine CD recordings by Adrian Boynton
11 September: English Renewal: Vaughan Williams, Delius and Holst
2 October: Giants of Russia and Eastern Europe: Bartok, Prokofiev, Shostakovich
6 November: English Greats: Finzi, Walton and Britten
4 December: American Mainstream: Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein
Spring 2019 Lecture Programme
Music At The Crossroads: In this course we explore some of the exciting developments in music at the turn of the Nineteenth to Twentieth Century.
Session One: FRANCE
Faure, Saint Saens, Debussy, Ravel
Session Two: CENTRAL AND NORTHERN EUROPE
Strauss, Mahler, Sibelius
Session Three: RUSSIA
Rimsky Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky.
Autumn 2018 Programme:
Ever heard the one about the king and the flea? Nor had I. But that was where our Autumn Programme began as we learned that Glinka, who became known as the father of Russian music, was the first to create a body of music that moved from indigenous Russian folk music to the stirring music of the Russian Nationalist style. He was followed by 'the five' that sought, successfully, to reflect the character, history and tradition of their country through their orchestration and compositions.
We walked through an imaginary gallery with Mussouresky as he took inspiration for his 'Pictures at an Exhibition' from the drawings of Peter Hartman and learned of his collaboration with Rimsky Korsikoff to create 'Night on a Bare Mountain'. Glinka and the 'five' composers became known as the 'Sunday afternoon composers'. Music composition was not lucrative in Russia at that time and their wonderful portofios were built in their spare time - Alexander Borodin, for example, was a dentist during the week.
The second and third sessions were equally packed with anecdotes: we discovered that within Dvorjak's Cello Concerto is hidden a Czech melody, a coded declaration of his secret love for his sister in law; we were reminded of how English composition had suffered a lull after the golden musical period of the Elizabethan era - think of the development of musical structures and forms by Thomas Thallis, Henry Purcell and Orlando Gibbon. Then, in the third session, we gloried in the music of Stanford and Parry, and later Elgar, as the great English revival began...
A playlist from the Autumn 2018 series is available by contacting Tina Two at vicechairmku3a@gmail.com
Summer 2018 Programme:
This summer we undertook an exploration of the early and middle romantic composers, with their increasing freedom of musical form and design, their song-like melodies and their experimentation with brass instruments in the orchestra.
From Mozart and Schumann we moved to Chopin who remained true to his Polish heritage by including mazourkas from the Tatra mountains and the polonaise in his compositions. Chopin also became fascinated by the flexibility of the operatic human voice and so created a technique for the piano where the left hand provided the foundation whilst the right hand created voice-like music.
Expertly guided by Adrian, we moved on to the mature romantics and heard some exquisite music from Brahms, who spoke the popular language of his day, composing scherzos, minuettes and concertos. He became one of the first to compose just for the pleasure of listening. Then on to Paris with Cesar Franck, Bizet, and finally to Verdi.
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