Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the 19th Century Orchestra
3-5 hours a week • Start today
Individual Course
Handel’s Messiah and Baroque Oratorio
Course Length
2 weeks
3-5 hours per week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
Discover Handel’s Messiah and explore five other masterpieces of western music in the Baroque era.
While Italian opera set the standard in the Baroque era, German composer George Frederic Handel quickly gained popularity for his oratorios, which put operatic techniques to work in the service of sacred music. Handel’s Messiah premiered in Dublin on April 13, 1742, and remains popular to this day. Harvard’s Thomas Forrest Kelly (Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music) guides learners through Messiah’s musical highlights while detailing Handel’s composition process, the preparations and rehearsals, and the premiere performance.
Learners in this module of First Nights need not have any prior musical experience. In this unit, you will learn the basics of musical form and analysis, the genres and styles used in Messiah, the circumstances of its first performance, and its subsequent history. The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world.
Self-Guided
edX
- Learning Outcome
Identify genres and subgenres of 18th-century opera and oratorio.
- Learning Outcome
Understand text-music relationships in the Baroque period.
- Learning Outcome
Appreciate cultural context and performance circumstances of Handel’s Messiah.
- Learn from Harvard faculty
- Do it on your own time
- Get a certificate, add it to your resume
- Be part of the Harvard Community
Faculty
Your Instructor
Thomas Forrest Kelly
Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music, Harvard University
Thomas is the Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music at Harvard University. He received his B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill, and his Ph.D. from Harvard. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary citizen of the city of Benvento, and a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Artes et Lettres of the French Republic.
Complete your journey with this XSeries
These courses can be bundled together to receive a certificate at a discounted price.
Learn More- 5 Courses
- 4 Months
- Earn Your Certificate
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Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and the Birth of Opera
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Ways to take this course
Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.
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