Mozart in London

Module description

N.B. Students must be able to read music fluently

This module examines in detail the Mozart family's 15 months in London from April 1764 to July 1765 and reconsiders – chiefly through a study of primary sources – not only the Mozarts' experience of London but also the ways in which Mozart biography has represented the family's time there, as an object lesson in the relationship among biography, reception and music history. In addition to the musical life of the city, its impact on Mozart at the time and its later legacy, the module also considers broader cultural issues based primarily on material culture as a means to understand and develop new ways of thinking about not only a specific biographical problem – the Mozart family's travels – but also the ways in which we write meaningful biographies of composers more generally.

Assessment details

4000 word essay [100%]

Educational aims & objectives

• To introduce students to the history of music in the major commercial music centre of the late eighteenth century
• To address the problem of the relationship among music history, reception and biography with particular reference to Mozart
• To broaden students' methodological approach to critical-biographical studies generally
• To foster interdisciplinary approaches to music history and biography, with a particular emphasis on evidence from material culture

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practical skills appropriate to a Level 7 module and will in particular have:

• gained expertise working with a range of primary and secondary materials, specifically with respect to Mozart but more generally with respect to later eighteenth-century London music history
• learned transferable skills for the analysis and interpretation of primary and secondary sources and developed skills to integrate and synthesize different kinds of evidence
• developed a vocabulary and analytical skills enabling them to write critically about biography and its relationship to the ways we write music histories
• learned to think in original and new ways about music history generally by way of the independent application of skills acquired throughout the semester through written work and carefully supervised individual and group assignments and presentations

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.