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MU451N: GLOBAL MUSICAL MODERNISMS (2022-2023)

Last modified: 27 Oct 2022 18:30


Course Overview

From its inception in the late 19th/early 20th century, Western musical modernity has contained within itself elements of geographically diverse cultures. Paying close attention to decisive political shifts and the facts of colonialism, post-colonialism and decolonialism, students will study a range of modern music showing the importance of various Asian, African and Latin American music for Western musical modernity and how the traditions and practices of Western music have been embraced in turn in innovative ways in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 4
Term Second Term Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Edward Campbell

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Programme Level 4
  • Any Undergraduate Programme
  • Music (MU)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

None.

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

The course will be taught in a series of ten lecture/seminars each of which will have a distinctive topic involving students listen to a range of music and to engage with texts and scores. While the global situation (in North America and elsewhere in Europe) will be considered, the course will be focused (at least in year 1) particularly on France (French music and culture) as a significant location for the meeting of East and West, North and South. We will study the transition from the exotic and largely decorative references to other music in the 19th century to the ever-greater engagement with other cultures that can be dated to the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889. We will study (i) the engagement by French composers, ethnomusicologists, writers from Debussy to the present with other non-Western music and cultures; (ii) the work of a number of Asian composers (e.g. from China, Japan and Vietnam) who studied and/or worked in France; (iii) the attraction of certain currents of French music and aesthetics for a number of Asian composers who did not study or live in France. We will also consider the kinds of political engagements and cultural institutions which have made this rich exchange possible: opportunities for musical study and performance in France; shared bi-national celebrations featuring music by French and Asian composers (e.g. China-France) and a generous radio broadcasting network (France Musique) which celebrates a rich global, post-colonial aesthetic and culture. All of this will be studied in the light of France’s ongoing struggles with racism and engagement with postcolonialism and decolonialism. 


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Essay

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks 36 Feedback Weeks 39

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Feedback

Assessment consists of: 1x 2,000-word Essay, and 1x 4,000-word Essay.

Feedback provided via Turnitin.

Word Count 6000
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandStudents should have knowledge and understanding of: the links between European (particularly French) and various Asian and African musics from 1889 to the early 21st century.
ProceduralAnalyseBy the end of the course students should be able to: identify, analyse and research aspects of Western and Asian and/or African influence in selected musical works of the period.
ProceduralEvaluateBy the end of the course students should be able to: think, speak and write cogently about the relationship between musical cultures in relation to global cultural forces
ReflectionCreateBy the end of the course students should be able to: discuss complex issues with clarity and cogency, both orally and in writing.

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Resit Assessments

Resit all components

Assessment Type Summative Weighting 100
Assessment Weeks Feedback Weeks

Look up Week Numbers

Feedback

Feedback provided via Turnitin.

Learning Outcomes
Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
Sorry, we don't have this information available just now. Please check the course guide on MyAberdeen or with the Course Coordinator

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
ConceptualUnderstandStudents should have knowledge and understanding of: the links between European (particularly French) and various Asian and African musics from 1889 to the early 21st century.
ProceduralAnalyseBy the end of the course students should be able to: identify, analyse and research aspects of Western and Asian and/or African influence in selected musical works of the period.
ProceduralEvaluateBy the end of the course students should be able to: think, speak and write cogently about the relationship between musical cultures in relation to global cultural forces
ReflectionCreateBy the end of the course students should be able to: discuss complex issues with clarity and cogency, both orally and in writing.

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