TOKYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Course description and aims

＞Opera＜ is a unique genre of composite art, in which music and text, visual and audible elements are combined to describe human emotions and social aspects with themes such as love and death. The instructor picks up several representative works, explains ①their cultural, social and historical backgrounds, ②how the words and music relate in each work, ③history of the genre from the aspects of formal developments, shows ④how the impression of the same work can vary through the difference of the musical and dramatic interpretation with visual and audio examples (DVDs and CDs). Through getting to know each work from various aspects students can feel that the theme, message and emotions that are handled in the opera are closely related to us who are living in this modern complicated society.

Student learning outcomes

By the end of the semester students will
1)realize the charm of this composite art genre that can express human emotion and social situation with a unique combination of words, music and visual elements.
2)see another aspect of European culture and history through the genre that was born in the aristocratic society in the 17th century, adapted to civil society (bourgeoisie) in the nineteenth century and still has appealing actuality for those who are living in this modern and global society.

Keywords

composite art, music, word, drama, culture and history of Eurpope

Competencies that will be developed

Class flow

Only several masterpieces are chosen as main subjects, so that one can feel the expanse and richness of the genre through knowing and appreciating few works deeply from many aspects (for this quarter, the emphasis is put on Mozart's "The Magic Flute", Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman", Bizet's "Carmen" and Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" ).
Of each work １)text and music are analyzed, 2)social background and message are viewed, 3)different musical interpretations and stage directions are compared. Besides 4) the history of the genre as a formal development is overlooked with audio and visual materials.
The class will be conducted mainly through lecturer’s explanations and viewing of DVDs, but students are encouraged to participate actively by speaking up, asking questions, and submitting assignments. Students are also expected to take certain time for self-study in order to watch video materials distributed on YouTube for preparation.

Course schedule/Required learning

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing and reviewing afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to the course material and watching videos.

Textbook(s)

All texts are given in classes by the instructor.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Instructions or handouts at the beginning of each class

Assessment criteria and methods

The scores are based on assignments during and after classes (60%) and the final report(40%) .

Related courses

• LAH.H309 ： Special Lecture: Music
• LAH.H211 ： World Literature 1
• LAH.H212 ： World Literature 2
• LAH.H210 ： Intercultural Studies: Europe and Latin America
• LAH.H110 ： Introduction to Foreign Languages 1
• LAH.H111 ： Introduction to Foreign Languages 2
• LAH.C101 ： Tokyo Tech Visionary Project

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Students must attend the first class as the number of participants needs to be limited.

Other

Those who don’t have any knowledge about opera are as welcome as great fans of opera, as long as they can follow basic attendance manner (which overlaps with that for seeing operas in a theater) and show enthusiasm and interests to participate in classes through reading reference books and prints, watching and listening to visual and audio materials, and writing assignments. It is also highly recommended that you attend an opera performance staged in the Tokyo area during or after the class period.