BATES IN BRIEF SPRING 20I2
Academics
“ Stimulus from association with a superior mind” is the founding mission of Bates honors program.
Rare Book Department, Free Library of Philadelphia
Resurrecting Fanny
As English professor Lillian Nayder continues researching the Dickens family, she’s finding that Fanny’s got talent.
James Parakilas settles at the piano. He begins to play. The notes, composed about 180 years ago, not been played — or heard — by anyone since. Hearing the music, too, is English professor Lillian Nayder. She rediscovered the music in the archives of Britain’s Royal Academy of Music while researching the life of the composer, Fanny Dickens, elder sister of Charles. Parakilas, the Moody Family Professor of Performing Arts, transcribed the music for piano and brought it back to life. Parakilas plays on: an anthem for four voices in F major, a single chant in D minor and a canon in F major. None takes longer than one minute to perform. “Fanny’s
Seniors didn’t “hand in” their honors theses this year — they uploaded digital versions.
timing and use of intervals in these pieces is quite sophisticated, and she handles multiple voices in different ranges quite well,” Parakilas tells Nayder. Today, the pieces are as forgotten as their composer. Nayder is the author of The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth, a look at Charles’ poor treatment of his estranged wife (Fall 2011 Bates Magazine). She is now turning to other women in Dickens’ life, as she drafts a historical novel that examines the complex relations among his sisters and sisters-in-law. As Nayder listens to Parakilas play, she envisions a young woman with considerable musical talent, with her own strong power of expression. She is getting to know her a little better. —mbk
Five former John Kelsey students flash their Bates pedigree — in the form of their Bates student IDs — at a May 19 event honoring Kelsey’s retirement as psychology professor and chair of the neuroscience program. The 2010 grads honoring Kelsey are, from left, Rebecca Lange, Lauren Shapiro, Tom Berry, Alexia Zhang and John Bladon. 10 Spring 2012