Search | Gresham College

Prokofiev's War and Peace

Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace (1953) was an adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel begun during WWII. He saw it as a personal interpretation of the novel.

Musorgsky's Boris Godunov

Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov (1872) is set in the ‘Time of Troubles’, using Pushkin’s incisive verse tragedy on the chaotic period preceding the establishment of the Romanovs.

Glinka's A Life for the Tsar

The rousing finale of Mikhail Glinka's patriotic A Life for the Tsar (1836) guaranteed it a place as the traditional season opener in Russian opera houses.

Do we know the character and appearance of King Henry III?

Dr Benjamin Wild explains the difference between how King Henry...

King Henry III and the Communication of Power

This lecture considers how Henry III of England used art to justify monarchy at the dawn of what is commonly termed the ‘parliamentary state’.

The Age of Tyrants: Sappho via Gounod's Opera

This lecture uncovers what we know about the ‘real Sappho’, an aristocrat who lived between 630 and 570 BCE on the island of Lesbos and socialised in the lavish courts of upstart tyrants.

Queen Elizabeth II

The reign of Elizabeth II has been the longest in British history. The Crown has grown stronger both at home as a symbol of the nation.

King George VI

George VI was the unexpected king. His human qualities reinforced the spirit of social solidarity which helped Britain to victory in war and recovery in peace.

Edward VIII reigned for just 325 days. The history of his reign is in large part the history of the abdication. However, as Prince of Wales, Edward had been the first heir to the throne to find a genuine role for himself, as a spokesmen for the ex-service generation.

King George V

George V’s reign coincided with the fall from power of five emperors, eight kings and eighteen other dynasties. But in Britain the monarchy gained in popular esteem and this helped to preserve parliamentary government in the difficult years between the wars.

Suggested searches:

For the Love of Learning since 1597

Popular topics:

Search results