Assistant professor of piano Johan Botes lectured Monday at the Cellar Door on the prelude as a piece of music and the diverse stylistic ideas surrounding it during the Marshall University School of Music’s MUsic Mondays lecture series.

Titled “Prelude to What?,” the lecture explored specific works by various composers spanning 400 years. The works began with 1500s Monteverdi, and ended with Debussy in the early 1900s. During his lecture, Botes said that the prelude has a complex history.

“The prelude is a piece of music which has fascinated me for a long time,” Botes said in a press release.

Cello performance major Ryan Phipps said he really enjoys going to the lectures because he loves music history and the heart of his degree has an emphasis in music history.

“All of our professors here have specialties in these different areas historically, so it’s cool that we get to come see these things for free as students,” Phipps said.

The atmosphere at MUsic Mondays is very relaxed, Phipps said, and he enjoys having lectures outside of the classroom by history professors that he currently has or has previously had.

“It’s a step outside of what we learn in history academically and we get to take a closer look at certain subjects that we maybe touch on in the class but don’t necessarily get to delve into,” Phipps said.

The MUsic Mondays series allows an opportunity for students, faculty and community members to discuss and experience lectures on various music topics.

The final MUsic Monday lecture of the fall series will be led by Vicki Stroeher, professor of music history, on “Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Quintessential Englishness.” It will take place Dec. 11 and is free to MU students with a Marshall ID. The event is also open to the public with a $10 donation that goes to the music program.

Danite Belay can be contacted at [email protected].