The big hit of the fifteenth century wasa song entitled L’Homme Armé, or TheArmed Man. It was appropriated by manygreat Renaissance composers such asJosquin des Préz, Dufay and Palestrina,all using the melody as a basis forcomplex polyphony, a wonderful mix ofthe artless and the artful.

This course,led by Roy Stratford, examines theinfluence of folk music on ‘classical’music through the centuries, and inparticular examines the spectacular riseof nationalism in music in the nineteenthand twentieth centuries with composersfrom Dvořák and Bartók influenced by folkmusic in fascinatingly different ways.