CPM Online Lectures

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Welcome to the Center for Public Musicology's online lectures! Below is list of online video lectures, each with corresponding music examples, brief readings, and a fun quiz. Click on a lecture title to access lectures and related materials. 

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Claudio to the Rescue: The Birth of Opera

 

Although scholars agree that the birth of opera took place around 1600, many have claimed there were predecessors of staged music drama that extend much further back in time. Whether you are new to opera or an avid fan, come explore this fascinating genre as we take a musical journey from centuries past to the first operatic masterpiece.

60 minutes | $25

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UPCOMING LECTURES

 

A Composer's Plea: Music in the Age of a Pandemic: 

 

Although pandemics have ravaged many parts of the world, there was probably none worse than the plagues that hit the European continent in the 14th century.  In many cases, composers have responded to such pestilence with musical works that were not only inspiring, but also acted as a plea to rid the plague from society. 

40 minutes | $20

 

Music as Color: Impressionism & Claude Debussy

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Throughout music history, music and art have been often intertwined in ways that have created some of the greatest masterpieces in Western Music. How did such composers transform musical language in order to musically replicate artistic styles? Come explore the works of the impressionist painters, their musical counterparts, and changing attitudes of art and music at the end of the nineteenth century.

60 minutes | $25

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Giuseppe who?: The Origins of the Symphony

 

Have you ever wondered who wrote symphonies before Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven?  What brought about its popularity? And who is Giuseppe? Come enjoy the works of the earliest symphonic composers as we examine the development of the classical symphony and the influences earlier composer had on Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

60 min | $25

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The year - 1962. Four teenage boys from Liverpool. And the rest is history. Yet who could have imagined that a band from a relatively poor northwest port city of England would export their homegrown success to a world eagerly opening up to burgeoning phenomenon known as rock n' roll. Come explore the sensation of the Beatles as Dr. Tom Cimarusti, Professor of Music History at Florida Gulf Coast University, takes you on a musical journey from the band's formation to their rise to superstardom. And who knows . . . Paul McCartney may pay us a special visit!

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Come enjoy an evening of tango music as Dr. Tom Cimarusti and guest artists celebrate the legendary tango composer Astor Piazzolla as well as traditional tangos. The program will feature songs, solo pieces and chamber works that include bandoneon, accordion, violin, piano, and a special surprise direct from Argentina. The night promises to transport you to the dance halls of Buenos Aires and the sensual sounds that so characterize tango.

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"Camptown Races," "Oh, Susanna," and "Swannee River" -- all classics of American song and all composed by a young man from Pennsylvania, Stephen Foster, who eventual earned the nickname, the Father of American Music. Join Dr. Tom Cimarusti, Professor of Music History at Florida Gulf Coast University, as we explore the life and songs of one of the most famous songwriters in American history. Oh, and be sure to bring your singing voice as we join together in singing some of Foster's greatest hits.