Rachmaninov: Wandering Ghost
This day of music and discovery charts the life and legacy of Sergei Rachmaninov, whose sweeping melodies and heart-stopping harmonies capture a world lost to time. From the grandeur of his piano concertos to the aching nostalgia of his symphonies … More details …
Modernism: The Bauhaus 1919-1933
In the wake of the Great War, the Bauhaus strove to create a design ethos for a brave new socialist world. Design needed to reflect the demands of modern industrial society rather than hark back to outmoded historical styles. The … More details …
Reading Paintings: The Tudors
This day-school introduces the visual vocabulary and attributes used by painters in the 16th Century. The first illustration will be Bronzino’s “Allegory with Venus and Cupid” (c.1550). We will then consider other examples of allegory, particularly Hans Eworth’s strange portrait … More details …
Laurie Lee: A Cotswold Countryman
Most of us have heard of Cider with Rosie, the first of Laurie Lee’s autobiographical novels about his early life in the lush beauty of the Gloucestershire countryside. Lee is rightly famous for this engaging work but his passion was … More details …
Swing, Syncopation and Soul: A Journey Through Jazz.
Step into the vibrant world of jazz in this immersive day course, perfect for music lovers of all backgrounds. We’ll trace jazz from its roots in New Orleans to its evolution through swing, bebop, and beyond, uncovering the rhythms, harmonies, … More details …
Discussing Chekhov: Three short stories from the greatest writer of short stories
We’ll be using three stories to think about why Chekhov has been revered by so many western short story writers for such a long period of time. How do descriptions of late nineteenth century Russia fit into the twenty-first century? … More details …
Tite Street – Whistler, Wilde and Sargent
When Oscar Wilde saw Ellen Terry step out of a carriage in Tite Street dressed as Lady Macbeth (she was sitting for John Singer Sargent), he called it a street “full of wonderful possibilities.” Whistler, who lived just down the … More details …
Tchaikovsky: Passion, Power and Pathos
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on a waiting list for any cancellations. Today, we’ll explore the enduring appeal and significance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music. Few composers have managed … More details …
An Introduction to Katherine Mansfield: Three short stories and background
This is a chance to look more closely at three well-known stories by an author who has had a significant impact on the shaping of the British short story. We’ll discuss each of them in turn, as well as thinking … More details …
The Art of Cornwall – St Ives
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations. This day-school will examine how the evolution of modern painting gained momentum during the middle of the … More details …
The Art of Cornwall – Newlyn and Lamorna
This course is now fully booked. Please contact us if you would like to be placed on the waiting list for any cancellations. This day-school will examine how the foundations of modern painting developed in Cornwall in the late 1880s … More details …
Pools, Piers and Pleasure: Architecture at the Seaside
This day school explores the distinctive architectural heritage of Britain’s seaside resorts. Starting in the Georgian era, it will cover the evolving range of building types that provided first for health tourists, then for pleasure seekers. Cast iron was the … More details …
Fierce Tears: A Day with Dylan Thomas
Original, intuitive and imaginative, Dylan Thomas brought his obsession with words and imagery into all his work: his poetry, stories, plays and radio broadcasts. But he also fostered a scandalous reputation as a hard-living, drunken, doomed poet who compromised his … More details …
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and the Fin de Siècle
This course will unfortunately not be running on the date advertised. It is being postponed to a later date, which will be confirmed in due course. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula provides a fascinating look at late nineteenth-century concerns. This … More details …
Florence and the Dawn of the Renaissance
Why did the renaissance start in Florence? Florentine art and history at the time of Fra Angelico, Uccello, Botticelli and others. What was it about 15th century Florence that provided the ingredients for an apparent explosion of art and culture? … More details …