Variations on a Theme - Modernism in Art and Music

Overview

What you will study

The Variations on a Theme - Modernism in Art and Music course offered by The Courtauld Institute of Art looks outward at the plurality of ways in which artists and composers responded to and reflected this shared context of artistic and socio-political upheaval. 

Over the course of five pre-recorded lectures and three live seminars, we shall encounter exciting and challenging images and sounds from this dynamic period. Our live discussions will address the relationships between creator and audience, the role of the artist in a post-patronage society, and the perceived austerity and elitism of modern art and music. The course will feature contributions from The Facade Ensemble – a group founded to perform the repertoire of musical modernism, challenge its reputation as ‘difficult’, delight in its thrilling sound worlds, and promote it to a wider audience.