Introduction to German Opera (Coursera)

Offered by Dartmouth College,
Introduction to German Opera (Coursera)

This course gives us an introduction to German Opera and the evolution of opera as well. It explores the concept of how music conveys the drama throughout the course. You will understand how Wagner conveys the meaning of the opera through motives. It further explores musical gestures and how it helped various composers develop their style in opera as well. You will understand in detail the importance of orchestra in German Opera.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

Unit 1: Das Rheingold
This module introduces you to how Das Rheingold uses motives as an essential factor in conveying the drama. You will also learn the importance of the orchestra in German opera.

Unit 2: Mozart, Beethoven, Weber
This module explores the role of orchestra in German opera. It also focuses on some of the most prominent works of Carl Maria Von Weber.

Unit 3: Wagner
This module explores Wagner’s contribution to German opera and his distinctiveness in style and conveying the drama.

Unit 4: Twentieth-century German opera
This module explores Richard Strauss’ development and influences as a composer. You will also understand how music unfolds the drama in his work reiterating the importance of orchestra in German opera.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Guitar for Beginners (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Guitar for Beginners (Coursera)

Grasp the essentials needed to begin playing acoustic or electric guitar. You'll learn an easy approach to get you playing quickly, through a combination of exploring the instrument, performance technique, and basic music theory. For students who have long thought about picking up the acoustic or electric guitar, this course will provide an easy-access foundation that will get you playing.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introducción a la guitarra (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Introducción a la guitarra (Coursera)

Aprende los elementos esenciales necesarios para empezar a tocar la guitarra acústica o eléctrica. Aprenderás un enfoque fácil que te hará tocar rápidamente a través de una combinación de la exploración del instrumento, la técnica de ejecución y la teoría básica de la música.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Piano Techniques for Modern Music (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Piano Techniques for Modern Music (Coursera)

If you have always dreamed of playing the piano or keyboard but did not know where to start, this is the course for you. This course will take you through the fundamental skills necessary to build your playing capability quickly and healthily. In addition to the fundamentals, you will learn from exercises and examples from popular music so that you can start playing in multiple styles. You will start by focusing on posture, breathing, movement, and sound production that will help you strengthen your finger independence and control over dynamics, phrasing, articulation, tempo, and pulse.

Oct 19th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Composição: Escrevendo a letra (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Composição: Escrevendo a letra (Coursera)

Existe um compositor dentro de você, rondando, indagando se é o momento certo de se revelar. Agora é. Este curso é um convite para deixar que o compositor que existe dentro de você saia ao sol. Tudo que você precisa é de um "sim" e você estará subindo aquela montanha com ventania e se maravilhando com a vista.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom (Coursera)

Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom explores approaches to teaching popular music from culturally rich communities in the United States. Students in the course will learn teaching methods that engage youth with the basics of improvisation, technology, songwriting, arranging film score, and writing to the strengths of small bands. The course models how to integrate principles of authentic cultural relevance and positive youth development with contemporary music instruction, while providing tools for assessing and documenting learning and program progress.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks
Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas (Coursera) Coursera
Curtis Institute of Music

Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas (Coursera)

Our relationship to Beethoven is a deep and paradoxical one. For many musicians, he represents a kind of holy grail: His music has an intensity, rigor, and profundity which keep us in its thrall, and it is perhaps unequalled in the interpretive, technical, and even spiritual challenges it poses to performers. At the same time, Beethoven’s music is casually familiar to millions of people who do not attend concerts or consider themselves musically inclined. Two hundred years after his death, he is everywhere in the culture, yet still represents its summit. This course takes an inside-out look at the 32 piano sonatas from the point of view of a performer.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
So You Think You Know Tango? (Coursera) Coursera
Emory University

So You Think You Know Tango? (Coursera)

How well do you think you know tango? This two-week mini-course is designed for music lovers, musicians, and dancers who are interested in learning more about the Argentine Tango. It will explore the many dimensions of the Argentine Tango music, including its origins, popularization during the Golden Age, dissemination abroad, evolution into an artistic music-dance form, and adoption by Argentine and international art-music composers to date.

Oct 26th 2026
2 Weeks
History of Rock, Part Two (Coursera) Coursera
University of Rochester

History of Rock, Part Two (Coursera)

This course, part 2 of a 2-course sequence, examines the history of rock, primarily as it unfolded in the United States, from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. This course covers the music of Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, Carole King, Bob Marley, the Sex Pistols, Donna Summer, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Metallica, Run-DMC, and Nirvana, and many more artists, with an emphasis both on cultural context and on the music itself. We will also explore how developments in the music business and in technology helped shape the ways in which styles developed.

Oct 26th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Music Business Foundations (Coursera) Coursera
Berklee College of Music

Music Business Foundations (Coursera)

This course has been developed to provide students with the latest instruction on the best way for creators, consumers, and facilitators to navigate the resurgence of one of the world’s most exciting industries: the music business. Three things are clear about today’s music industry: The consumption of music is expanding at the greatest rate in history and from the most portals ever imagined, the cost of producing music is decreasing, and the number of artists creating and seeking to expose their work and develop careers through the Internet has increased dramatically.

Oct 19th 2026
4 Weeks