Nine students sit in a semicircle in the advanced music course at the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gymnasium in Berlin.

The music teacher shows a short excerpt from the film Amadeus: the emperor discusses with his advisors whether Mozart should be allowed to write an opera called "Figaro" or not.

The play of the same name by Beaumarchais had caused unrest in Paris.

"I am a vulgar person, but I assure you, my music is not," says the strident Amadeus in the film.

In a first step, music teacher Jens Renger clarifies in a joint discussion with the students what the argument is about.

The short film excerpt served only as an introduction to the lesson.

Spending an entire lesson on a film is reluctant for most students here.

They are demanding and must be stingy with their time,

because they invest so much energy in their daily practice.

Renger, who trains music trainees all over Berlin, practices what educational researchers call cognitively activating lessons.

Heike Schmoll

Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for “Bildungswelten”.

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After the first introductory discussion, the students enter information about the social background, the contemporary context and the new genre of opera buffa on worksheets at the learning stations using the information sheets provided there.

The lesson is part of the large thematic complex “Music in the Age of Enlightenment”.

Ten minutes are allotted for each learning station.

It's dead quiet, everyone is concentrated.

In the short break between the double lessons, the lovers in the course go off to cuddle, while others continue to work on the tasks or have a drink.

In the next double lesson, the difficult step follows, to turn the information into real arguments.

Sometimes it stays too superficial.

That's quite good, but still a bit too superficial, the teacher lets a student know.

Some argumentative clues for Mozart's defense or that of the emperor are developed in the class discussion.

But that's not enough.

As homework, the students should write a report for one or the other side.

There are clear language requirements

A student moans clearly and asks how long this is supposed to be.

"Stop moaning, you know perfectly well that we need this training.

The next exam will definitely come,” warns the teacher, who clearly expresses his expectations.

If you only formulate bullet points, you will get 8 or 9 points.

"That's enough," says one of the students, but he doesn't mean it that seriously.

The advanced music course is compulsory for all students at the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gymnasium.

German, mathematics and English are then still available as advanced subjects.

More can not be organized due to the limited number of students.