Autumn Music talks 2026

There’s a lot in the pipeline this summer: I’m preparing talks on composers from Orlando Gibbons to Ralph Vaughan Williams, but my ‘Mornings with a Masterpiece’ this term will centre on a topic which certainly brings delight and richly rewards investigation: Mozart’s Piano Concertos. The details have not yet appeared on the MANCENT website, but I’m already receiving enquiries, so here are the essential details. Returning to these works after a number of years, I am still taken aback by their inventiveness, and there are laugh-out-loud references to them in his letters. Do join us.

Mozart’s Piano Concertos span his entire life, from childhood to the year of his death. Through them we can glimpse his early tours as a prodigy, his close relationship with his sister, his public success in Vienna, and his dedication to developing the form even when his public had left him to seek a new sensation.

The subject is enlivened by the flood of invention which poured from his pen in both his music and his entertaining and revealing letters. The concertos reflect every mood from pure high spirits to deep reflection and sadness.

Part One will examine the early works culminating in his move to Vienna; Part Two will examine some of the fourteen masterpieces composed between 1784 and 1791: an astonishing achievement in such a brief period.

The course will run twice, on Thursday mornings and on Monday mornings. Dates can be mixed and matched if more convenient.

Thursday October 15th         10am – 12.30pm        Part One – Making a Name

                                                                                              

Thursday October 22nd        10am – 12.30pm         Part Two – A Form for the Future

                                                                                          

                                                                                               

Monday November 2nd         10am – 12.30pm        Part One – Making a Name

 

Monday November 9th         10am – 12.30pm         Part Two – A Form for the Future

 

Each morning will consist of two one-hour lecture/discussions delivered via Zoom. There will be a break for coffee, during which the meeting will remain open for informal conversation.

Price Minimum No. Maximum No.
£16 5 24

Price for two sessions: 

Price Minimum No. Maximum No.
£30 5 24

Please send bookings and enquiries to:
rosemary.broadbent@st-hughs.oxon.org         or phone 07801-491031

Details for payment will be supplied on request. Bookings close one week before each event.

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