The arts were vital to nations occupied by foreign powers as they struggled to gain independence in the 19th century. This day of lectures explores the phenomenal role in that process played by the music of Chopin, Grieg and Sibelius. Using excerpts from their works, as well as paintings from the period, their lives and careers will be discussed in the context of Polish, Norwegian and Finnish cultural history.

Chopin and the Polish Soul At the end of the 17th century Poland was the largest state in Europe, but within a hundred years it had been partitioned by its powerful neighbours and partly absorbed into the Russian empire.  The Poles reacted to Russia’s brutal suppression of their 1830 Uprising by developing a strong cultural identity in which artists played a key role.  This lecture shows how Chopin and his revolutionary Polonaises and Mazurkas came to be seen as an indispensable symbol of the Polish nation, both during his lifetime, and in the years before Poland regained its independence in 1918. 

Born of the Landscape: Grieg and the Music of Norway From the elaborate carvings on ancient wooden churches to the ultra-modern design of Oslo-based architectural practice Snøhetta, the Norwegian arts have always had a close relationship with nature.  This lecture explores how Norway's dramatic scenery has inspired its music, focusing in particular on the music of Edvard Grieg, which will be discussed in the context of contemporary art and poetry.

Sibelius and the Birth of Finland This lecture explores the crucial role played by the music of Sibelius in forging Finnish cultural identity prior to the country's independence in 1917.  As with so many Finnish artists, including the painters Eero Järnefelt  and Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Sibelius found inspiration in the ancient runes of the Kalevala, the national epic. Iconic works such as Finlandia will be discussed in the context of the emergence of a National Romantic style in Helsinki's architecture.

Lecturer  Dr Rosamund Bartlett is a writer, lecturer and translator.  Her work ranges across the arts, from painting to music, and across cultures, from Italy, France and Germany to the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe. She began her career as an academic in Slavic studies after completing her doctorate at Oxford, and has held fellowships both in the UK and at the European University Institute in Florence. She is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Faculty of Modern Languages in Oxford, and in 2024 became a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Brasenose College.

The author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia, she is also well known as a translator - her publications include acclaimed editions of Anna Karenina and Chekhov's stories for Oxford World’s Classics. 

Over the years she has written on music, literature and drama for institutions including the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and the Salzburg Festival, and about art for Apollo and The Burlington Magazine. She is currently writing a book about the revolution in the arts which took place in early 20th-century Russia, and its connection to modernist developments in Western Europe.

She has led art, architecture, design and music tours throughout Europe, and contributes regularly to Proms events and opera broadcasts on the BBC. Her lecturing work has taken her from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where she lives, to the Harriman Institute in New York, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.