41 - 50 of 336 results for: MUSIC

Preference to Freshman. Since 1992 generations of Stanford students have heard, seen, and felt the power of taiko, big Japanese drums, at Admit Weekend, NSO, or at Baccalaureate. This seminar provides students with the opportunity to get behind the big drums, literally and academically. In fact, taiko is a relative newcomer to the American music scene. The contemporary ensemble drumming form, or kumidaiko, developed in Japan in the 1950s. The first North American taiko groups emerged from the Japanese American community shortly after and coincided with increased Asian American activism. In the intervening years, taiko has spread rapidly into other communities, most surprisingly to the UK, Europe, Australia, and South America. What drives the power of these drums? In this course, we explore the musical, cultural, historical, and political perspectives of taiko through readings and discussion, by playing the drums, workshopping with taiko masters, and meeting members of the taiko community. With North American taiko as the focal point, we learn about Japanese music and Japanese American history, and explore relations between performance, cultural expression, community, and identity.

Throughout history and from East to West, cultures abound in multimedia forms. Whether in Coldplay's Music Video or Fantasia, Pepsi TV adds or Wagner's opera, Miyazaki anime or traditional Noh Theater of Japan, the three modes of expression (sounds, images, and word) are interwoven in distinctive ways. What are their individual and combined powers? How can one harness them in an online context? Can Web be a stage for multimedia theater? What is unique about the poetry of intermodal metaphor? The course will be an opportunity to face these questions in creative web-based projects as well as through in-class viewing of multimedia works, analysis and debates, readings, and student presentations. The seminar will be taught at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics where students will have access to new media technologies. Prior experience in music, literature, art practice or computer programming is welcome but not required.

This seminar is designed as an in-depth introduction to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In addition to exploring the composer's principal works in a variety of genres (symphonies, piano sonatas, string quartets, opera, etc.), we will consider broader questions of biography and reception history. How have images of the composer and the fortunes of his music changed over time? How did his compositions come to define the paradigm of Western classical music? What impact has he had on popular culture? The class is open to all levels of musical expertise; the ability to read music is not a requirement. Come prepared to discover -- or rediscover -- some great music!

Musical theater as a site for the construction of American identity in the twentieth century to the present. Issues of class, race, gender, and sexuality; intersections with jazz, rock, and pop; roles of lyricist, composer, director, choreographer, producer, performers. Individual shows (Showboat, Oklahoma, West Side Story, Funny Girl, Company, Les Misérables, Wicked, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, A Strange Loop); musical theater "song types" across eras; show tunes in jazz, cabaret, and recital contexts; musicals on film, television, and social media. Opportunities for performance and attending local productions.

Ideas matter. Concepts such as race, progress, and equality have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like gender identity, universal basic income, and historical memory play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these dangerous ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space. Some weeks will have short reading assignments, but you are not required to purchase any materials.

Preference to freshman. Developed in the Hawaiian Islands during the 1830s, ki ho'alu, or Hawaiian slack key guitar, is an art form experiencing newfound popularity coinciding with the growth of political activism in Hawaiian culture. The musical, cultural, historical, and political perspectives of Hawaiian music and ki ho'alu, through hands-on experience, readings, discussion, and workshops. Hawaiian music and history and relationships among performance, cultural expression, community, and identity.

Pre- or corequisite: 21.

Pre- or corequisite: 22.

Pre- or corequisite: 23.