John Gibbons holds a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Chicago. He teaches music appreciation classes at the Universality of Chicago’s Graham School and at Newberry Library. He also offers private piano lessons in the Chicago area.
Bonnie Gibbons is a web site developer and SEO with a background in classical music. She might be persuaded to teach a few cello lessons in the Chicago area.
6/11/2009 - 7/30/2009 ~ Thursday 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
This course will give Tchaikovsky his due as a Russian nationalist and reveal how gracefully he navigated between the sometimes rough-hewn Slavocentrism of his contemporaries, “The Five,” and the technical demands of Western cosmopolitanism. With his profound melodic gift, Tchaikovsky also entranced audience after audience and provided us with a living soundtrack for 19th century Russia. Works studied: Swan Lake, the magnificent Pushkin operas Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin, the supposedly autobiographical fourth and sixth symphonies, and more.
Printable Syllabus:
From the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Beyond the Score to Michael Tilson Thomas Keeping Score program, these resources combine musical performance with biography to put Tchaikovsky’s music in historical context.