Course Introduction: Music

General Education Courses | Group II Humanities, Social Sciences, Music

Most of the General Education Courses offered at the Hiyoshi Campus, including the "Music" course I teach, are open to students from all faculties of the university. Students from the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), which is geographically distant from Hiyoshi, also actively participate. This is one of the major characteristics of General Education Courses. (By the way, in foreign language courses or specialized courses, there are fewer opportunities to interact with students from other faculties.) General Education Courses also offer a large number and variety of classes, each with its own unique characteristics, to allow you to experience a wide range of subjects.

The "Music" courses offered at the Hiyoshi Campus are organized by the Department of Musicology, which includes faculty members not only from the Faculty of Economics but also from other faculties. To accommodate the academic direction or interests of each student, we provide a diverse program ranging from introductory lectures to small-group seminar-style classes that cover quite in-depth content. The subjects covered are also varied, including not only classical Western music but also folk music and contemporary music.

Furthermore, we offer music classes that include practical training, performance, and exercises, which are rarely seen at other general universities. These classes range from learning music theory practically to mastering the history of choral music by actually using your voice. Among the "Music" courses I teach, there is such a class. It is titled "18th Century Orchestra and Performance Practice." In this class, about 30 students with experience in orchestral performance gather with their own instruments. By considering and practically implementing the performance practices of the time—rather than modern conventional methods—to 18th-century orchestral music, such as the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, we aim to gain a deep understanding of 18th-century music.

I hope that you will make good use of not only the "Music" courses but also the many other General Education Courses to explore all the possibilities you possess.

(Professor Akira Ishii)