Where were you around 4 p.m. last Sunday? If you were cracking open a textbook, then you missed out on one of Dartmouth's great cultural opportunities: the Vaughan Recital Series. Made possible by the Alden G. Vaughan '17 Fund, these recitals are a great way to become acquainted with classical music. Furthermore, they are open to the public and free of charge.
The April 9th recital showcased the accomplished pianist Arthur Houle. A graduate of the University of Lowell, New England Conservatory and the University of Iowa, he teaches at Albertson College of Idaho. Houle is an expert on the subject of his performance: Chopin's nocturnes.
For those who are not classical music buffs, Frederic Chopin was a nineteenth century Polish composer and pianist. Influenced by opera, he wrote melancholic nocturnes characterized by improvisation. In between opuses, Houle explained: "If he [Chopin] had lived long enough, he could've been an incredible jazzer."
According to the pianist, Sunday's dreary weather set the perfect atmosphere for a recital of Chopin's nocturnes. Often described as "sinister, morbid [and] downright pathological", they evoke dark, dreary images. Kleczynski gave a concrete example of what Opus 27 meant to him: "a calm night at Venice, where, after the scene of a murder, the sea closes over a corpse and continues to mirror the moonlight."
Despite their scary reputation, Chopin's nocturnes embody the beauty of classical music -- its variety. Fluctuating between dreamy and pensive, they demand that the pianist delicately caress the ivory keys at one moment and pound them with fury at another. They certainly kept Houle "on his fingers."
Perhaps the best part of the Vaughan Recital Series is its intimacy. Faulkner Recital Hall allows the audience to watch the artist from close proximity, and the series is geared towards exposing the public to classical music. Whether you're a student of music or just looking for some cultural enrichment, check out the next recital on Wednesday, April 12th. Three Swiss virtuosos, Urs Egli, Thomas Bachli, and Martin Christ will play contemporary piano music.
