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neadodsI love this class! When I first saw Great American Music: Broadway Musicals, I figured it would be a somewhat academic retread of that PBS thing on the history of Broadway with Julie Andrews.
It is so! Much! More! Yes, he talks about the history of the art form, starting with the minstrel shows. But he also goes into the social movements & technological improvements that made each form rise, adapt, and change. (For instance, the minstrel shows fading to vaudeville as other immigrants flooded in with their entertainment, and the reduction of the number of verses in a song so that they could fit onto the original phonograph albums.)
But he also talks about the music. All about the music; its forms and evolution and evocations. Professor Bill Messenger works for the Peabody Institute of Music, with an MA out of Johns Hopkins, and he not only knows his stuff cold, he can transmit it interestingly and clearly. Unlike the other classes I've listened to, there doesn't appear to be a live audience. However, there is a piano, which Prof. Messenger uses to strip down the music he discusses into its separate phrases and embellishments. (Turns out he can't sing, though, so he does that chant-on-pitch thing when he's playing. Actual singing is provided by many original recordings and recreations.)
I'm not sure that I've ever heard lectures on A-B-A-B vs A-B-A-C song forms. He not only does that, with listening practice of simple and complex variations, but at times he disassembles songs into their component parts so you can hear the adaptations. (In a section that reminds me of the brilliant Pachelbel Rant, he dissects "Yes, We Have No Bananas" into its stolen parts... and then sings it with the "original lyrics." Since the first four notes are a direct lift from Handel, "Hal-le-lu-ja, bananas!" is worth the price of the class right there.)
The class is composed of 16 lectures, each 45 minutes long. It's a relatively recent one, as he's making references to both Wicked and Avenue Q. Currently on sale for $35 to $70 depending on media, (down from $150-250) this is a must-own for theater buffs.
And in a different-but-related subject, I still dream of someday taking the University of Central Lancashire's 3-module Contemporary Shakespeare Studies e-learning class.
It is so! Much! More! Yes, he talks about the history of the art form, starting with the minstrel shows. But he also goes into the social movements & technological improvements that made each form rise, adapt, and change. (For instance, the minstrel shows fading to vaudeville as other immigrants flooded in with their entertainment, and the reduction of the number of verses in a song so that they could fit onto the original phonograph albums.)
But he also talks about the music. All about the music; its forms and evolution and evocations. Professor Bill Messenger works for the Peabody Institute of Music, with an MA out of Johns Hopkins, and he not only knows his stuff cold, he can transmit it interestingly and clearly. Unlike the other classes I've listened to, there doesn't appear to be a live audience. However, there is a piano, which Prof. Messenger uses to strip down the music he discusses into its separate phrases and embellishments. (Turns out he can't sing, though, so he does that chant-on-pitch thing when he's playing. Actual singing is provided by many original recordings and recreations.)
I'm not sure that I've ever heard lectures on A-B-A-B vs A-B-A-C song forms. He not only does that, with listening practice of simple and complex variations, but at times he disassembles songs into their component parts so you can hear the adaptations. (In a section that reminds me of the brilliant Pachelbel Rant, he dissects "Yes, We Have No Bananas" into its stolen parts... and then sings it with the "original lyrics." Since the first four notes are a direct lift from Handel, "Hal-le-lu-ja, bananas!" is worth the price of the class right there.)
The class is composed of 16 lectures, each 45 minutes long. It's a relatively recent one, as he's making references to both Wicked and Avenue Q. Currently on sale for $35 to $70 depending on media, (down from $150-250) this is a must-own for theater buffs.
And in a different-but-related subject, I still dream of someday taking the University of Central Lancashire's 3-module Contemporary Shakespeare Studies e-learning class.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-05 03:59 pm (UTC)