Spanish Music: Society, Tradition and Avant-garde

Description
The main aim of this course is to promote recognition and appreciation of the cultural values inherent in Spanish music through listening, debate and critical analysis of bibliographic and audiovisual documents.

Aims:
- To develop the students’ knowledge of Spanish musical art, flamenco and other forms of musical expression, including those of popular tradition, all in relation to their social and cultural context.
- To recognize and interpret musical phenomena as socio-cultural products, studied in relation to cultural events and social processes.
- To distinguish the functions performed by different musical elements in the generation of intra-cultural meanings.

Content
BLOCK 1: HISTORY OF MUSIC
1.1. Spanish musical heritage
1.2. Main musical genres: evolution and development
1.3. Composers and their most relevant works

BLOCK 2: TRADITIONAL MUSIC
2.1. Flamenco
- A brief history of flamenco.
- The dance, voice and musical instruments used in flamenco.
- Present-day Flamenco: new tendencies.
2.2. Popular music
- Popular festivities with music.
- Music and popular religiousness.
- Dance, costumes and folk musical instruments.

BLOCK 3: MODERN MUSIC
3.1. The Spanish record industry.
3.2. The musical in Spain.
3.3. The soundtrack in Spanish films.
3.4. Urban music: pop and rock.
- Recent history.
- Leading solo singers and bands. 
3.5. Other types of music.

Assessment
Assessment criteria and tools
- Attendance, active participation and individual research work: 40% (Since the nature of this course is both theoretical and practical, attendance will be considered a key element in the assessment process. Students must attend a minimum of 80% of the programmed classes in order to be assessed.)
- Mid-course exam: 30 %
- Final exam: 30 %