Bulletin No. 1, 2010

10  Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2010  More Than Words Department of Music P eople associate sound with emotion. Why do major chords sound bright and happy while minor chords sound sad or sinister to ears accustomed to Western music? Music conveys to listeners and expresses for composers and performers what it means to be human; and does so even more directly than words, at least for those who are musical and, for lack of a better term, musically literate. Mendelssohn himself resisting attempts to interpret his ‘Songs without Words’ too literally, wrote, ‘What the music I love expresses to me, is not thought too indefinite to put into words, but on the contrary, too definite.’ Founded in 1965, the CUHK Department of Music is the oldest institution in Hong Kong to offer a BA in music. Its graduates have assumed important roles at overseas universities and in the local community, such as in the government, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, RTHK, the Hong Kong Arts Festival. ‘The blend of arts and humanities is most evident in the Department of Music because of our emphasis on performance and also on music as a contemplative experience,’ observed Prof. Michael McClellan, chairman of the department. ‘Unlike a school of music which teaches performance, we broaden our students’ perceptions through the teaching of music theory, music history, world music, etc. What sets us apart from other music