By Jovita McCleod
Staff Writer
Last Thursday Pepperdine students traveled back through time to visit the cultural peaks of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. Musical group Collegium Musicum filled Raitt Recital Hall with classical notes of Johann Sebastian Bach during their only concert of the semester.
“This is definitely not stuffy classical music,” Director Lincoln Hanks said. “It’s very rhythmic and new to the ear. The music is virtuosic and the students play some very difficult pieces.”
As director of the group and a professor of music theory and composition, Hanks explained that the tradition of the Collegium Musicum comes from the Baroque amateur music society. Baroque music evolved during the 17th century, after the cultural height of the Renaissance. Composers during this era, like Bach and Vivaldi, used music to express the order of the universe.
“They were just kind of get-togethers where people would come and try out different compositions,” Hanks said. “Now a lot of colleges continue that tradition with some kind of music group.”
Hanks said some groups have actual baroque instruments, while Pepperdine’s ensemble only has a couple of harpsichords. The group also uses the flute and violin, which are also typical of the Baroque period.
Pianists Adelaide Leung and Anne Cho played the harpsichord, a stringed instrument similar to the piano, but smaller with strings that are plucked and not struck.
Maura Mahler, a junior math major who played the flute in the performance, called the style “a new flavor.” She said Baroque music isn’t performed as often as other styles.
Hanks said his favorite piece is Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.” The group opened the performance with the first part of the concerto and ended with the third part. They also performed Bach’s “The Coffee Cantata,” a mini-opera piece about a rebellious young girl who drinks coffee against her father’s wishes.
In the future Hanks said he wants to work on acquiring more early musical instruments, such as a baroque organ. He also said he wants to try to be more historical in the performance.
“One thing that I emphasize is historically informed performance practice,” he said. He said he chooses the pieces so that there are enough research sources available to figure out some of the stylistic practices within the particular time period.
The Collegium Musicum program has performed off and on at Pepperdine for four years. Next year the group will only meet during the spring semester.
Many of the students who participate in Collegium Musicum gained insight from the program. Mahler said the students who perform benefit from the experience of playing with a group. She also said students who watched the show learned about other students’ hidden talents that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Akil Thompson, a freshmen majoring in both music performance and television/theater, played the violin in the program. Performing in the concert gave him a realization of the power of music.
“To be able to express my emotion and feeling through each bow stroke made me realize that my passion for music is indefinable,” he said.
April 03, 2003