Music as a Mirror of History

Grasp how Thomas Morley's madrigals engaged with English national self-perception and myth, and how Leon Janáček and Frédéric Chopin responded to political events in key works. Examine how the magnified emotions stirred by human conflicts feed artistic creation, and how artists have managed to convert the most terrible human experiences into transcendent art.

Discover how music and history intersect in the remarkable career of George Frederick Handel. Trace the extraordinary circumstances in which the German prince George Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneberg became King George I of England. Learn about his patronage of Handel, whose phenomenal success as a composer in England led to the creation of numerous musical masterpieces written for the English royals.

Learn how events in Europe shaped Mozart's music and personal circumstances. Investigate the threat posed to Europe by the Ottoman Empire, and observe the paradoxical Turkish vogue in European art and fashion. Study the Turkish elements in Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Harem, and see how the economic fallout from Austria's war with the Ottomans contributed to Mozart's decline and death.

Take stock of how events that began in revolutionary Paris inspired the expressive content of Haydn's Mass in the Time of War. Delve into the drama of the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, and the threat his war machine posed to Vienna. Hear the dramatic, martial character of Haydn's mass within this context - a triumphant musical exhortation to victory against Napoleon's invading army.

In this first look at Beethoven, learn how the composer identified with the figure of Napoleon. Study the clashes after the French Revolution, and witness the military conflicts between Napoleon and the Habsburg empire. Grasp the highly personal meanings in Beethoven's Farewell Sonata, which depicts the departure and absence of the composer's patron in the face of Napoleon's march on Vienna.

Trace Beethoven's increasing animosity toward the French, and observe the unfolding debacle of Napoleon's Peninsular War against Portugal and Spain. Learn how Beethoven came to compose Wellington's Victory, celebrating the British commander's triumph over the French at Vitoria, which was both a phenomenal success for Beethoven and a major aberration in his musical output.