EdX

A musical journey through 17th Century France (edX)

A musical journey through 17th Century France (edX)

This MOOC will introduce you to the richness and beauty of the French 17th century music by carrying you to the places where it resounded. In French with English subtitles, You will discover how this repertoire has been built and enhanced with regards to its compositions and perceptions throughout history; sociological, economic and political evolutions; and the cultural splendour of the Grand Siècle. You will be amazed by the sensitive work of great composers who expanded the musical influence of France in all Europe.

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The MOOC is hosted by Sébastien Daucé, musical director of Correspondances and Saskia Deville, who hosts the Saturday morning show on France Musique public radio channel. The shooting took place mainly in the Louvre Museum rooms, and also places where the music resounded like the Palace of Versailles or Port-Royal Abbey!

Drafting of the scientifical content has been entrusted to two musicologists of Sorbonne University: Achille Davy-Rigaux (Senior Researcher CNRS, IReMus) et Theodora Psychoyou (Senior Lecturer at Sorbonne University Faculty of Arts and Humanities, IReMus) in collaboration with pedagogical engineers of the Faculté des Lettres de Sorbonne-Université: Christèle Goulevant and Guillaume Prost.
The shooting took place mainly in the Louvre Museum rooms, and also places where music resounded: the Palace of Versailles, Port-Royal Abbey…
This is a seven-stage journey, with no pre-requisite - one episode a week for seven weeks beginning (date)
In addition to the course videos, a corpus of resources including interactive exercises, a lexicon, musical extracts, concert recordings, archive images, interviews with specialists, a pedagogical infographic, a discussion forum with a moderator who answers questions, are available to the learner.

What you'll learn

  • Immerge yourself in one of the most flourishing artistic periods of French History, spanning especially the reign of Louis XIV.
  • Better understand French Baroque music and its specificities (styles, instruments, works, composers, institutions, etc).
  • Define the social and geographical background of 17th Century French music.
  • In a precisely defined context, show the diverse and changing aspects of the 17th Century French music.
  • Understand how music spread.
  • Get tips and advice on how to better listen and appreciate 17th Century French music.
  • Get to understand places according to what we know about their configuration at the time and not according to our actual perception (especially regarding acoustics).
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