Music

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of the world’s national music, with specific focus on the relationship between music and culture. It focuses less on traditional music analysis, and starts from the cultural perspective and spirit of different nations' music. Topics include world ethnic music, cultural characteristics of music, and music appreciation through culture.

This course instructs students on the history and understanding of choral music and vocalization through appreciation of choral music masterpieces. 

This course examines the cultural, industrial and technological history of commercial rock and popular music from the 1950s onwards.

This course exposes students to the challenges of listening critically to music in all styles and media, and expressing a considered argument about its cultural significance, aesthetic quality, and ideological implications using non-specialist, accessible language. By indicating and exemplifying an appropriate scholarly recourse to today's multi-media resources for musical study and research, it lays the groundwork for on-going investigations of music, both as a distinct discipline and an integral component of diverse cultural practices.

Through this course the students will be learning the connotation knowledge of Beijing Opera and learning how to appreciate the beauty of Beijing opera art. From the aesthetic experience, we can appreciate the beauty of drama.The so-called "how can we know the spring scenery without going to the garden" has gradually expanded from the introduction of Beijign Opera to its love of opera art and even Chinese traditional culture, so as to cultivate the temperament and beautify the soul.

This course explores the relationship between aesthetic trends and technological developments with the focus on the cultural and economic conditions in Berlin. Particular emphasis is made on the past and present of techno, (experimental) electronica, and electronic dance music. What makes Berlin a magnet not only for thrill-seeking club-goers, but also for DJs, musicians, producers, and developers? How does this relate to the recent past of Berlin since the fall of the Berlin Wall, especially given the gentrification processes? To what extent is Berlin's creative scene at the same time internationally networked and can its conditions only be understood in a global context? Beyond the Berlin perspective, the course examines the current conditions of production and consumption as well as the performance and distribution of music. How do legal/illegal file sharing and streaming services affect listening to music? What is changing in music culture through sampling, remixing, mashup, and approaches to interactive music in video games? What opposing trends are out there? And last but not least: To what extent has the time of the pandemic in 2020/21 changed the conditions of production, distribution, and consumption of music – in Berlin and globally? In addition to the joint discussion of texts and film excerpts, excursions also provide an opportunity for an exchange with proven experts in the course subject areas. At the end of the course, the participants can elaborate on and present a topic (either alone or in a group) of their choice in the context of the general list of topics on the course.

This is a second-stage seminar on music-related materials in the Japanese language. The main purpose is to read some of the latest publications in musicology in Japan and thereby to grapple with thematic issues and concerns that are currently under debate in Japanese academia. A special reference is given to writings in music history, popular music studies, and sound studies. Students are expected to become confident in using Japanese as a research instrument.

This course examines selected topics on the music of West and Central Africa. The course includes historical background of music in West and central Africa, interaction of musical traditions in the pre-colonial period, a survey of the musical practices with particular reference to musical forms/styles, instruments and aesthetics and the relationship of music to its culture, as well as contemporary trends in West and Central African Music.