GRMUS H686 — First Nights

2 credits
Spring
Thomas Forrest Kelly

A study of the first performances of five iconic pieces: Monteverdis Orfeo, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. For each piece we will consider the cultural context, the musical background (what were people used to listening to?), and give very close attention to the score, the performers, the audience, and the details that can turn monumental pieces of the past into what they were then: cutting-edge pieces of contemporary music.