The Objects of Thames Valley U3A Network are to advance the education of members of U3As in the network.

 

Also to encourage the provision of leisure activities for their social welfare by facilitating cooperation between U3As in the network. The name of our organisation is Thames Valley U3A Network and our role is to:

 

(i) organise and run conferences, lectures, seminars, courses;

 

(ii) publish books, pamphlets, reports, leaflets, journals, instructional matter and to produce films and videos;

 

(iii) participate in and assist in the development of neighbourhood and networked groupings of U3As;

 

 

A programme of Study Days will provide the main element of the 2009/10 programme for the Thames Valley U3A Region:

 

 

NETWORK TRAINING DAY

 

THAMES VALLEY NETWORK RIVERSIDE PROJECT

Throughout 2010 and 2011 U3As combine to walk and study the Thames Footpath and its environs.

 

The Initiation Meeting was on Wednesday 21 April 2010 in Goring Village Hall. The end of the project will be a 3 day residential Study School to be held at Wellington College, Crowthorne in October 2011.

 

 

SUMMER SCHOOL 15 September 2010 at Merton College, Oxford

 

We regret that we have not had enough applications to enable us to run the proposed Summer school this year. We have, however, had 13 people who would like to come along so to try and encourage this support and not disappoint these members, we have arrange a study day with Merton College to include lunch and dinner in hall to give the taste of college life that was of great interest to some of us. Flyer and Application Form

 

Music – The development of Classical Music was held 28th June 2010 Rewley House, Oxford

HENLEY ACTIVITIES DAY 18th AUGUST 2010 FLIER HERE       APPLICATION FORM HERE

Riverside Project 2nd Planning Day 17th September 2010 Goring Village Hall

Architecture - the attraction of Gothic Flyer 24th November 2010 Rewley House, Oxford

Flyer for Gothic Study Day

 

 

 

 

Thames Valley Network – Regional Study Day, 28 June 2010

The Development of Classical Music

 

The study day began with a fascinating review by they keynote speaker, Jeremy Siepmann, of the development of classical music from its beginnings in the eighth century when liturgical chant – one-line, unaccompanied melody – was its only form, right up to the music of Schoenberg in the twentieth century with its dissonant 12-tone sound!  His presentation, illustrated with musical excerpts, outlined the major developments in musical style as well as the key composers of each era and the context in which music was played and heard.

Jeremy explained that the first landmark in musical composition was the birth of polyphony in the ninth century (many sounds and voices, singing in harmony) and that up to the 14th century composed music was only heard in church. From the 15th century secular music - dance, violins, etc. – began to appear and also to influence liturgical music, with Palestrina’s Mass, written in the mid-1500s, illustrating this. This early sacred music was all vocal music.  A key figure of Renaissance musical composition was William Byrd (1540-1623) who not only wrote religious masses but also heralded the beginning of chamber music using instruments (viols).  The mercantile class sponsored much of the music of this Renaissance period, with Italians such as Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612), organist and composer at St. Marks in Venice, composing for the full range of instruments and voices.  At the same time, with the rise of an aristocracy who became patrons of musical composition, opera first appeared. Jeremy explained that the first great composer of opera was Monteverdi (1567-1643), whose opera ‘Orfeo’, still performed today, marked the beginning of music as a theatrical experience, with orchestra and solo voices.  Italians dominated early opera composition, with Handel (1685-1759), though German by birth, writing in the Italian style, and for all-male singers (soprano parts being sung by castrati). Handel, who wrote operas, oratorios and concertos, was born in the same year as J.S.Bach (1685-1750), who was unrivalled in his development of the fugue form (a theme followed by variations) and is nowadays considered the greatest composer of the Baroque.

By the time of Bach’s death the fugue form was out of fashion, and Haydn (1732-1809), emerged as a prominent composer of the Classical period, developing the sonata form which dominated classical music from 1770 to 1830.  Haydn is known as the ‘father’ of the symphony and the string quartet, and Jeremy considers that from Haydn’s compositions, right up to the present day, the string quartet is the highest form of music. This period also saw one of the most prolific composers, Mozart (1756-1791), who composed over 600 works covering every form of classical music. Jeremy explained that all his compositions, including his instrumental works, are ‘operatic’ (they involve dialogue and characters) and that his concertos are essentially allegorical dramas reflecting his times. Unlike Haydn and Mozart whose patrons and audiences were the aristocracy, Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote for a wider audience and composed bigger, bolder and more violent music, with emotion at its centre. Jeremy reminded us that the whole of Beethoven’s well-known Fifth Symphony is based on the first four notes, three of which are the same! His work heralded the Romantic era of classical music, which was followed by Chopin, master of the sonata form, Liszt and Wagner. Large orchestras, long allegorical operas and chromaticism (the use of 12-tones per octave) were Wagner’s major contributions to classical music. Jeremy ended his review with the twentieth century composer Schoenberg (1874-1951) who also utilised the 12-tone technique of the chromatic scale, but to give new, discordant sounds. The excerpt confirmed this!

After lunch we were privileged to have four U3A members share with us their expertise on a chosen composer: Beryl Cooper (Faringdon) on Bach, Norman Lambert (Swindon) on Mozart, Ron Hewstone (Wallingford Thameside) on Beethoven, and Brian Humphry (Marlow) on Debussy. Each of the speakers conveyed to us their love of the composer’s work and illustrated the composers’ range of composition with some wonderful excerpts of their work. We enjoyed clips from symphonies, piano concertos, choral works, operas and requiems and, in the case of Debussy, his more modern, ‘ragtime’ compositions. All of the speakers showed how ‘their’ composer’s work was influenced by their contemporaries (for example, Beethoven in his early works was much influenced by Haydn and Mozart) and by their own lives and experiences – it is thought that Mozart composed his Requiem, written just before he died in 1791, for his own funeral.

This was an informative and enjoyable study day, organised by Pam Jones of the Thames Valley Network and held at Rewley House in the centre of Oxford.  As a concert-goer, but definitely not an expert, I learned a lot and would urge all Carterton members to take advantage of these study days. They are tremendous value for money and, if held in the centre of Oxford you can get there, as I did, using your bus pass!

 

 

 

Angela O’farrell

 

 

A little bit about what a Thames Valley Network Study Day is like

 

 

In a way it is unfortunate that these events are called "study days", because it is not about studying as we did in school with essay writing and tests. There is no "group work" involved. In fact, there is no work acquired of you, but just sit and listen to interesting talks. You do not need any knowledge of the subject matter. This is not neccessarily an academic event but more of a social event.

 

A study day is no more different than the talks given at the monthly members meeting.  As members sit and listen to a talk in Carterton Community Hall, so do members do in Rewley House (which has very comfortable seats). The day is divided into sections with different speakers, which can be an academic or a U3A member.

 

The difference is the study days (as in the word) is that it is a whole day (from ten to four) and it is a fee involved usually £12/£15. For lunch you can either bring own or buy for £6 a very nice

baguette. And there are tea and coffee breaks, when you have a chance to meet other U3A.

 

Try a Study Day, you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

 

Charlie

 

Rewley House is run by the University of Oxford, Department of Continuing Education.