'First Nights' Sounds Sway Students

Thomas F. Kelly strides up and down the stage of Paine Hall. The hall is crowded with attentive listeners and Kelly's voice fills the perfect acoustics. Suddenly he bursts into song: "Bum bum BUM bum bum bum bum BUM!"

But he's not auditioning for a part in a musical. He's teaching Literature and Arts B-51, "First Nights."

A dynamic lecturer, Kelly not only sings, he also plays the piano, draws diagrams, brings in live performers and plays CDs and videos to make his points and keep his students alert at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"It's not so much like going to class," says Suzanne Goh '97. "It's like going to a show every time."

"It's so much fun, it's just a really good time," she says.

The popular course showcases five pieces of music--Beethoven's ninth symphony, Handel's "Messiah," Stravinsky's "Le sacre du printemps," Monteverdi's "Orfeo" and Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique"--and examines the cultural context of their first performances.

Kelly, who is professor of music, says he has a dual purpose in teaching the class. While he hopes to teach the students how to enjoy music, he also wants them to see the pieces as "a result of a society at work, a function of time and place."

"We try to put ourselves into the heads of the people who lived at that time, when these pieces were the cutting edge of contemporary music," Kelly says.

To help his students "make for themselves a cultural picture of the time," Kelly reads aloud diary entries, newspaper reviews and other descriptions of the first performances that the class studies.

"What I hope this course adds for students is a dimension of enjoyment," Kelly says.

And students say they definitely enjoy both Kelly's class and his energetic style.

"Professor Kelly is really engaging," Goh says. "He's really trying to do things to keep us interested. A lot of professors don't go to that trouble."

Other students agree that Kelly's class made them look forward to getting out of bed.

"It's a nice way to start out the day," says Serena K. Mayeri '97, who says she took the course because she loves the pieces of music being studied but doesn't know much about the technical aspects of classical music.

Mayeri says she never would have taken the course if it weren't a Core.

"The idea is to be as inclusive as possible," Kelly says. "It's designed to be a Core course. It's designed for people who may not know anything whatsoever about music."

Even students who have some background in music say they find the course fascinating.

"It's great. Professor Kelly is incredibly amusing," says Janna J. Hansen '97, who says she used to sing and play the piano and flute. "He's enthused about the class and enthused about the material."

"It's really an ideal introduction for people who want to learn about music but don't know much about it," she says. "It's a way to make classical music accessible."

Kelly's lectures include stories about the original performances of a musical work: the quirks of the conductor, the possible number of singers, the smaller size of the violins used at the time.

In addition to telling amusing anecdotes about the first performances of the pieces discussed, Kelly reviews some of the more technical aspects of the music, trying to make sure the students understand the music as they listen to it in the language lab after class.

Whether because of Kelly's engaging methods or the sheer attraction of the famous works of music, "First Nights" has been immensely popular.

When it was first offered last spring, 250 people showed up for the course, well above the 75 the Core Office estimated would register.

This year, enrollment jumped to around 600 and the course was lotteried to limit it to the number of seats available in Paine Hall.

"It makes me think music is alive and well in American culture," says Kelly. "I'm sorry I had to drop people out."

Kelly says he hopes that as students study the cultural background of music from the past, they will be better able to understand the place of music in our own culture.

The final lecture of the class is the first performance of a new piece of music commissioned for the course, according to Kelly. The next-to-last lecture includes a rehearsal of the same piece, at which the students can interview the composer and performers in preparation for a paper.

"They write about the performance in a way that would be useful for a sourcebook of this course in 100 years," he says.

"I want them to come out the other end thinking music can be an important part of their lives, a whole other way of thinking and feeling, using your ears as a way to get aesthetic information that can then make your life richer.

"It's great. Professor Kelly is incredibly amusing," says Janna J. Hansen '97, who says she used to sing and play the piano and flute. "He's enthused about the class and enthused about the material."

"It's really an ideal introduction for people who want to learn about music but don't know much about it," she says. "It's a way to make classical music accessible."

Kelly's lectures include stories about the original performances of a musical work: the quirks of the conductor, the possible number of singers, the smaller size of the violins used at the time.

In addition to telling amusing anecdotes about the first performances of the pieces discussed, Kelly reviews some of the more technical aspects of the music, trying to make sure the students understand the music as they listen to it in the language lab after class.

Whether because of Kelly's engaging methods or the sheer attraction of the famous works of music, "First Nights" has been immensely popular.

When it was first offered last spring, 250 people showed up for the course, well above the 75 the Core Office estimated would register.

This year, enrollment jumped to around 600 and the course was lotteried to limit it to the number of seats available in Paine Hall.

"It makes me think music is alive and well in American culture," says Kelly. "I'm sorry I had to drop people out."

Kelly says he hopes that as students study the cultural background of music from the past, they will be better able to understand the place of music in our own culture.

The final lecture of the class is the first performance of a new piece of music commissioned for the course, according to Kelly. The next-to-last lecture includes a rehearsal of the same piece, at which the students can interview the composer and performers in preparation for a paper.

"They write about the performance in a way that would be useful for a sourcebook of this course in 100 years," he says.

"I want them to come out the other end thinking music can be an important part of their lives, a whole other way of thinking and feeling, using your ears as a way to get aesthetic information that can then make your life richer.