The hammerblow introduction to Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony and the iconic four-note opening motif of the 5th Symphony, the unresolved start of Wagner’s Tristan & Isolde, the sensuously meandering melody that begins Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and the identical fanfare that opens both Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo and his 1610 Vespers.

This lecture looks at how composers of all periods have risen to the challenge of how to write a memorable musical opening sentence.

A lecture by Jeremy Summerly, Visiting Professor of Music History 19 September 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:

https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/musical-openings

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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