At some point, however, I had an epiphany of what I was pursuing. It was a new challenge; a new experience and exploration. The fact that I did not know what to expect excited me. I registered in the class as if I bought an opera ticket for a show about which I knew nothing. It was an adventure. But a risk usually gives a high return, and fortunately the music class adventure was not an exception.

 Music has been my favorite class throughout the semester, in which I have had such a great time. I was always glad to go to a music class, and had never felt sleepy even when I was tired. Besides, I learned much more than I had ever expected to learn from music. From this fact, I have found my first lesson from the class. “Do not be afraid of uncertainty or a new challenge especially when it comes to choosing classes.” As long as I am willing to work with a good attitude, the chances are I will find something great and different.

The second lesson was the realization of the existence of myriad beautiful music that I had never heard. Just like I had countless books to read and many other countries and places to travel, there was this huge world of music to explore. In other words, there were many great composers, brilliant chamber music or crossover performances that were waiting for me to discover them. In the class, I learned my world of music was only a tip of an iceberg, and won curiosity and confidence to try other music as well.     

However, the main message that I constantly caught from the music class was not music itself. It was the power of stories. I learned throughout the semester how much difference a story could make, especially over music. A piece of music I used to listen to without much thinking became special and meaningful when the professor told us about the composer, the background or the music. Despite the fact that it was still the same music, I could understand the music better, and the music felt more attractive after hearing its stories. Also, when a singer or a performer had an interesting story, I tended to like them more.   

After some orientation and introduction, the class started by revealing the 9th century, the virtual start of classical music. It was called “Monophony,” one line of melody. At mass, people used the music for talking with God. Then it evolved into “Gregorian Chant,” which was spread by mouth to mouth. In the 13th century polyphony appeared, and finally in 15 to 16th century’s Renaissance revived a great deal of music. Subsequently it led us to the Baroque period in the 17th century; represented by Handel and Bach. We listened to Lascia Ch’o Pianga and Messiah by Handel, and St. Matthew’s Passion, Mass in B minor, Toccata and Fugue and Italian concerto by Bach. Borrowing the professor’s words, the music in this period had an intellectual depth and amazing romance within strict forms and technical commands. Yet, I would not have even imagined that there were strict rules or commands in the beautiful music. Although the music was still the same, I appreciated it more once I learned about the rules. Also, it tells me that sometimes we do not have to go outside to be great. It is also a special ability to stand out within rules and commands. Today, everyone emphasizes creative mind or thinking outside the box. This is important, but Baroque music taught me to be aware that it is not always the answer.

 The Classical period followed in the same class. We listened to Four Seasons by Vivaldi, which gave us vivid images of Italy all around a year. Vivaldi believed that music should be for everyone. So he wrote relatively light and easy pieces. As a result, even those who do not enjoy classical music would recognize Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. We also covered Haydn’s Farewell symphony, Cello concerto, Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Clarinet concerto, Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony, Moonlight, Choral symphony and so on. It was interesting to learn that even in the same period, Mozart and Beethoven had such different styles. Mozart’s music had brilliant melody and entertaining feelings whereas Beethoven’s had instinctive flow and deep dynamics and dramas. In Baduk, too, top players often have their distinctive styles. I wonder whether they became top because of their styles or their styles became distinctive because they reached the top.

Aaron Copland was an American composer who wrote music for common people. His music had a great sense of American pastoral atmosphere, and invited nationalism into American people’s minds. Likewise, Rimsky Korsakov was a Russian composer whose music was very Russian. These composers are all from the 19th century. For impressionism, Debussy and Ravel are the best known composers. Their music was very colorful, abstract and dreamy like Monet’s paintings. We listened to La Mer by Debussy and Pavane by Ravel. On the other hand, Bela Bartok and Dmitri Shostakovich were expressionists. Especially Dmitri Shostakovich was good at depicting the dark and gloomy side of politics and society. And yet, he knew how to make it sarcastic or touching. Having learned about the different purposes and styles of music, I certainly could appreciate them more than the time that I was rather ignorant.

Also, we watched the Walt Disney movie “Fantasia.” The movie was comprised of several animations that were made based on classical music. The Philadelphia Orchestra played all the music for the movie. It was a very nice movie, first because it visualized the selected classical music very well, and second it made listening to classical music more interesting. On top of that, the stories of each piece of music gave a new birth to the music inside the movie. With the stories, the music was much more colorful and friendly.      

In the following class we learned about different instruments. I was glad to learn about the topic, because I could recognize few specific instruments despite the fact that I listened to classical music many times. Frankly speaking, I am still a bit confused by similar looking instruments. Yet, now I know when composers use a timpani or marimba, how horns can make tension, how two instruments match well like the harp and flute and so forth.

Sharing classes were good opportunities to learn about the classmates. Some students had very different feeling from mine over the same music and some had interesting new pieces of music to share. Through the exchanges, I realized once again that music with personal stories become special to us. Also, I could feel that music was a universal language, but an individual language at the same time.

Crossover music class was one of the more memorable classes in the whole course. The story of Andrea Bocelli made me sad, and I even teared up while listening to one of his songs. It was not because I thought he was the greatest singer. But when he sang, his voice had such deep feelings and emotions that somehow touched me. Probably it was half sympathy and half admiration. This class again taught me the power of having a story. Being great at something is good, but if you have a story on top of that, you get the power to speak to the world. Also I learned that something amazing happens when you have the best things get together. The concert of Andrea Bocelli in Tuscany was a good example, because it had all the best elements, the fantastic outdoor concert hall, the best musicians and artists and a beautiful sunset. All together, it was so touching and fascinating.

Another new great discovery in the class was “Cirque du Soleil.” Though I had heard of the performance a few times before, I had no idea what it was like. I did not like circuses since I was young. Consequently when they came to Korea for the first time some years ago, their Korean name ‘the circus of the sun,’ did not interest me either. Yet, it turned out to be very far from the circus I used to know. Rather, it was total stage art. The level of acrobats and musicians, music, choreography, costumes and stage organization were all harmonizing greatly over one story. It was fascinating to see how having a story and a theme changed a circus dramatically. Anyway, I really liked both Quidam and Varekai, and hope to have a chance to see a live performance of Cirque du Soleil in the future.

A class on operas was very interesting as well, partly because I liked operas before. In fact, I have seen three operas in Seoul; La Traviata, Don Giovanni and A Mask Ball. So, I was glad that the professor brought the topic. In the class, we watched a part of Carmen by Bizet, Samson and Delilah bySaint-Saëns, a modern version of La Traviata, and a movie version of La Boheme. Those were all great, but the last two modernized operas were especially impressive. They broke the notion that operas should be performed in fancy classical costumes or with a full live orchestra. Yet, I think they could experiment because La Traviata and La Boheme had such powerful stories that captivate people anyway.   

One gloomy day with dark clouds and wind, we listened to one entire symphony Pathetique by Tchaikovsky. Letting the symphony float around the classroom, the professor gave us some explanations and stories on the composer and the music. Some parts were the things that I already knew, but most of them were new stories. The background information allowed me to get the big picture of the composer and the music, and it had me get into the music even more. Thanks to the music, however, I felt blue all day.   

The most valuable treasures I found in the music class were all the stories of music, musicians and the music industry that I would not find elsewhere. Looking back, I had very good intuition when I said I wanted to be able to talk about music, since I have so many things to say about music now. Besides, the music class has opened my eyes to see the entire music world instead of the small pool of music I built for myself.

This class has many applications for my future. Personally, I might win a good friend over a conversation on music or use different kinds of music to stabilize my emotions when they swing. Professionally, on the other hand, I might impress an interviewer by telling interesting stories about music or myself or find an inspiration for a new idea from listening great music. Overall, the music class experience was very special and meaningful, and I will remember the class for a long time.