MUSIC

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Mr I Milne

Pre-requisites

Entry is by successful audition. As a guide to the expected standard, candidates should normally

• have achieved at least ABRSM Grade IV or equivalent on piano;


• Be working at no lower than ABRSM Grade V standard or equivalent on additional study instrument or voice (where applicable);


• Have achieved at least ABRSM Grade VIII or equivalent on main study instrument or voice.

Co-requisites

Students who have not achieved ABRSM Grave IV on additional study, or ABRSM Grade VI on main study on entrance to this course will be required to acquire this qualification, or reach the equivalent level before the end of this course. This is a pre-requisite for entry to Performance Studies 1:2.

Overview

In Main Study or Main and Additional Study, students work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor and participate in workshops and masterclasses. Vocal Ensemble provides opportunities to develop vocal skills and rehearsing and directing skills. Keyboard Studies includes exercises in chords and keyboard textures, harmonisation, sight and score-reading, transportation and improvisation. Ensemble requires attendance at University Music ensembles.

Structure

10 hours individual tuition, vocal ensemble (1 hour per week), keyboard skills (1 hour per week), ensembles.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Keyboard skills (30%), tutor report (70%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s). Resit for failed vocal/instrumental tutor report shall be a performence recital (100%) comprising performance of one or more places on the instrument/voice on which the candidate has failed. The programme should last approximately 10 minutes.

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This course combines the study of two chronologically disparate periods of music history. The Music in Contemporary Contexts component comprises a series of lectures examining various aspects of how music is experienced today, the content of which varies from year to year. Students also study music from 900 to about 1700, looking at the main musical developments of the period and placing music in its social context.

Structure

1 two-hour lecture per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (50%) and in-course assessment (50%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment (examination and/or essay).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

A high level of musical literacy is required for this course.

Overview

Students will gain experience in arranging music for a range of ensembles, including the orchestra, in a variety of styles and will learn how to transcribe orchestral scores for piano, as well as learning how to arrange instrumental textures idiomatically for piano.

Structure

1 two-hour seminar, 1 one-hour theory lecture and 1 one-hour aural class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Assignment 1 (30%); assignment 2 (70%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Mr I Milne

Pre-requisites

MU 1031 (or equivalent).

Overview

In Main Study or Main and Additional Study, students will work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Keyboard Skills may include exercises in chords and keyboard texture, harmonisation, sight- and score-reading, transposition and improvisation. Ensemble requires participation in one departmental ensemble.

Structure

10 hours individual tuition, keyboard skills, ensembles.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Keyboard skills (25%); Performance examination (70%); concert diary (5%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

This course offers a chronological survey of music created and experienced in Scotland from the Roman occupation to the present, and its relationship to a wider world.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (75%) and oral presentation (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

MU 1050 or equivalent.

Overview

Composition will consist of six week projects, with students working in whole group, small group and individual contexts. Projects will cover working with percussion instruments, developing melodic lines, setting words to music and working with ensemble. Students compose pieces based on the work covered in the four projects and present them, fully notated and recorded on CD at the end of the half session. Aural, Rudiments and Theory will cover basic skills in all three areas, concentrating on developing acute listening skills through focused listening and developing fundamental theoretical skills which provide the foundation stone for compositional work.

Structure

1 two-hour seminar and 1 one-hour theory class and 1 one-hour aural class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Aural and theory (25%); composition portfolio (75%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Mr I Milne

Pre-requisites

MU 1524 or equivalent.

Overview

In Main Study or Main and Additional Study, students will work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Rehearsing and Directing develops rehearsal techniques and introduces students to basic conducting techniques. Keyboard skills will include exercises in figured bass and harmonisation, sight- and score-reading, and jazz walking bass. Ensemble 2 requires participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

Structure

10 hours tuition, 1 hour per week (rehearsing and directing), (keyboard skills, ensembles).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Keyboard skills (30%); tutor reports (50%); and concert diary (20%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s). Resit for failed vocal/instrumental tutor report shall be a performance recital (100%) comprising performance of one or more pieces on the instrument/voice on which the candidate has failed. The programme should last approximately 15 minutes.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

At the heart of this course are weekly exercises in pastiche composition in which students complete extracts of music by Clementi, Mozart, Haydn, Bach and Handel. Students gain experience in writing for piano and string quartet in Classical style, and in composing exercises in two- and three-part Baroque counterpoint. This course is designed to show how these different genres might be applied to particular compositional contexts, as well as offering an invaluable insight into the styles and techniques of eighteenth-century composition, as studied in MU2046.

Structure

1 two-hour class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Assignment (30%) and Examination (70%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

The Music in the Eighteenth Century course presents a history of major composers of the Baroque and Classical periods of music. Works by J S Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven will be studied. Development of musical style against the changing pattern of society in the Age of Enlightenment and patronage will be considered. The ability to recognise and discuss musical extracts will be developed.

Structure

2 two-hour lecture and 2 two-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (75%) and oral presentation (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

MU 2044 (or equivalent).

Overview

In Main Study or Mainand Additional Study, students will work on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses as appropriate. Ensemble requires participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

Structure

10 hours individual tuition, ensemble.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Performance examination (75%) and in-course assessment (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

The Music in the Nineteenth Century course will examine style of major composers of the period, from including Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Bruckner and Mahler, and place their music in a broader cultural context. The genres of symphony, lieder, chamber music and opera will be studied.

Structure

2 two-hour lectures and 2 two-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (75%) and oral presentation (10 minutes) (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

• level 1 of BMus (Hons) or equivalent;


• entry to this course is by interview and audition and a Keyboard Skills assessment, which must be passed. Students gaining a CAS mark of 15 or higher in the Keyboard Skills component of MU 2044 may be granted exemption from this test.

Notes

Available only to students who are intending to following the BMus (Education) programme. The course consists of the following components:

• Education Studies


• School and Community Experience

Overview

The four Education Studies lectures introduce students to:

• educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music;


• links between primary and secondary phases of education;


• links between formal and non-formal educational contexts prior to the School and Community Experience.

Structure

4 two-hour lectures/seminars
4 four days (16 days) school and community experience
4 one-hour group tutorials

Assessment

1st Attempt: School and Community Experience Report (80%), (40% university tutor assessed visit - 40% school report from secondary school), 1,000 word reflective report on the community aspects of the school experience (20%).

Resit: School and Community Experience Report (80%), (40% university tutor assessed visit - 40% school report from secondary school), 1,000 word reflective report on the community aspects of the school experience (20%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Level 1 of BMus (Hons) or equivalent; pre-requisites for MU 2510.

Overview

The course consists of two six week projects, with students working on aleatoric techniques, extended vocal and instrumental techniques, extended tonalities and composing for a professional ensemble.

Structure

12 two-hour lectures/seminars.

Assessment

1st Attemt: Composition Assignment (100%).

Resit: Composition Assignment (100%).

Credit Points

10

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

This elective offers students the choice between two or more courses in music history and/or composition. Such courses include Wagner's Das Rheingold and a study of minimalism.

Structure

1 one-hour class per week in weeks 30-37, 41-44.

Assessment

1st Attempt: One piece of submitted work (100%).

Resit: One piece of submitted work (100%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

MU 2045 or equivalent.

Notes

May not be taken with MU 2508.

Overview

This course examines the musical style of major composers of the period, such as Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Bruckner and Mahler, and places their music in a broader cultural context. The genres of symphony, lieder, chamber music and opera will be studied. Students gain insights into the music being studied by completing harmony exercises in pastiche composition, which may also contribute to their development as composers.

Structure

2 two-hour lectures and 2 two-hour tutorials per week in weeks 30-35; 1 one-hour class per week in weeks 30-37, 41-44.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (50%); oral presentation (10 minutes) (25%); harmony assignments (25%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 of the BMus with Honours (Education) programme who wish to transfer over to the BMus (Single Honours) programme.

Co-requisites

Students will need to have withdrawn from CR 3044 and registered for all second half-session courses required for BMus (Single Honours).

Overview

Sessions cover an introduction to educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music, and linkages between primary and secondary phases of education. Further content is designed to aid students to prepare for School Experience, comprising Practical Skills which develops student keyboard skills and other practical skills relevant to classroom experience.

Structure

24 two-hour lectures.
12 two-hour seminars/workshops.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 Keyboard Skills assessment (40%); 1 essay (60%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

MU 2506 or equivalent.

Overview

In Main Study and Additional Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble involves participation in one of the departmental ensembles.

Structure

3 hours per week plus 4 hours workshops.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Performance recital.

Resit: Performance recital (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Normally available only to students in Programme Year 3 on the BMusEd programme.

Overview

This Music in the Twentieth Century course presents a history of major composers of the twentieth century. Lectures will cover Bartok, Debussy, Stravinsky, the Second Viennese School, neoclassicism, the British symphonic tradition, Darmstadt in 1952, electroacoustic music, minimalism and the crossover between art music and popular music.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (75%) and presentation (25%).

Resit: Students resit the field assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Available to students in Programme Year 3 of the BMusEd or MA with Music.

Notes

This course runs throughout the whole session.

Overview

Composition will consist of three four week projects, with students working increasingly in small group as well as individual contexts. The three projects are a work for piano, and a work for solo instrument (with or without accompaniment). Students compose pieces based on the work covered in the three projects and present them, fully notated and recorded on CD at the end of the session.

Structure

1 hour per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Portfolio of 3 compositions (100%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

MU 2510. Available only to students in Programme Year 3 of the BMusEd programme.

Overview

The Education Studies lectures cover an introduction to educational principles and practice, with particular regard for music, and linkages between primary and secondary phases of education prior to the pre-placement visit in week 27. The remainder of the content will be designed to aid students to prepare for the six-week School Experience, to engage in de-briefing activities following placement, and to prepare for further School Experience in year 4. School Experience takes place during wks 27, 29-31 and 33-35. The Research Skills component introduces students to different kinds of research (qualitative and quantitative; historical and sociological). Generic research skills such as information gathering, storage, interpretation and presentation will be considered alongside aspects of research unique to music and music education.

Structure

96 hours lectures/seminars and 8 weeks school experience.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (20%); professional studies project (15%); keyboard skills (15%); school experience (50%).

Resit: If coursework is failed: New Essay (50%). If school experience is failed: Repeat school experience (50%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr M Young & Dr A Marcus

Pre-requisites

Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA)

Overview

This course will allow students to engage in sound and music production work with special emphasis on the relationship between sound and image, putting into practice methodologies they have studied through a series of screenings, workshops and seminar discussions. Working with students on the partnered Film and Visual Culture course, music students will research a topic and consider the appropriate use of the moving image, generate the musical materials in conjunction with the image, and complete the project through post-production in collaboration with the film students.

Structure

1 three-hour seminar per week plus 1 three-hour film screening per week.

Assessment

1st attempt: 1st project assessment (20%), 2nd project assessment (30%), reflective logbook (40%), seminar work (10%)
Resit: Students are required to resit only failed components of assessment.

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus Hons or MA with Music (programmes).

Overview

This course will link two highly innovative periods of music history, the early Baroque and the early twentieth century. It will seek to establish the extent to which accepted traditions and compositional techniques were challenged. Parallels will be drawn between musical developments in the two eras. Aspects of contemporary culture, as well as contextual and comparative analysis will be included.

Structure

1 one-hour lecture and 2 one-hour tutorials (per week).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Examination (30%); composition (30%); essay (40%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Notes

This course is open to students studying music either on BMus or MA Minor Honours programmes.

Overview

Weeks 1-2 Introduction; requirements of conducting voices with material from Chorales.
Weeks 3-4 requirements of conducting instruments with material from Minutes of the Classical era for piano duet and for small ensemble formed from group;
Weeks 5-6 new music and its preparation, materials drawn from range of sources.
Tuition to be through experience of directing and associated discussion.
The history and scope of conducting to be discussed in student-led seminars based on Bowen, J A (ed.) The Art of Conducting, Cambridge University Press, 2003 (reprinted 2005).

Structure

6 two-hour workshop sessions of conducting experience. 3 two-hour seminar sessions of students' presentations, each one of which will be of 15 minutes duration.

Assessment

1st Attempt: A performance of a small ensemble (either voice, or instruments or a mix of both) conducted by each individual student of between 6 and 12 minutes in duration, repertoire to be approved by Course Co-ordinator (80%). Tutorial presentation (20%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R B Williams

Pre-requisites

Entry to Junior honours or equivalent.
Grade VIII Piano, or equivalent, at least CAS 14 in Piano at level 2.

Overview

Weeks 1-2. Introduction. Technical accomplishment and how to achieve it. Basic strategies for accompanying instruments. Some specific piece to be used as set works which might include Schubert: Sonatina for violin and piano in D, Weber Concertino for clarinet and piano.
Weeks 3-4. Requirements for vocal and choral accompaniment - the demands of different languages - English (Vaughan Williams), German (Schubert), French (Debussy); standard choral repertoire.
Weeks 5-6. Concertos playing - how to manage pretending to be an orchestra. Work at specific pieces with a partner with a view to presentation. Works might include the Clarinet Concert (Mozart).
Consideration of the broader picture through discussion of Moore, G., The Unashamed Accompanist.

Structure

6 two-hour workshop sessions of accompanying experience. These will be plenary sessions in which students prepare specific pieces to be performed in front of the whole class and then discussed.
6 one-hour seminars discussing the approach of Moore and follow-up to practical workshops.
These will take the form of student presentations on particular sections of the book which will then be discussed. (Each student to present one presentation which contributes to the overall assessment of the course).

Assessment

1st Attempt: A performance of an accompaniment offered in a Performance examination at levels 3 or 4 as approved by Course Co-ordinator (80%). A tutorial presentation - coursework (20%).

Resit: A performance of an accompaniment offered at resit at level 3.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor P Stollery

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Overview

The course will consist of a mixture of seminars, workshops and a paired field placement which will allow the students to understand and engage with theoretical work, that will then be put into practice in peer-group contexts before working in situations on the ground.

Seminars will be based on topics such as: the role of the arts in communities; cultural policy at local, regional and national level; music and disability; music from other cultures; and music therapy practices.

Workshops will bring some of these areas in practice and will allow students to try out ideas within peer-group, undergoing peer-assessment activities as well as formal assessment themselves, as well as looking at how to evaluate their own practice.

The Field Placement (done in pairs) will allow students to undertake activities with a variety of local agencies (including Scottish Ensemble, Woodend Barn, Aberdeen Performing Arts, Peacock Gallery, Transition Extreme, Aberdeen College and various City and Shire council supported activities, as well as community activities managed by university staff away from the university) under the guidance of an expert. The duration of 8 hours is meant to be seen as a minimum requirement. Students may arrange a placement that comprises a weekly 2 hour meeting with their group throughout the course while others may arrange one or more full day activities. The flexibility of these arrangements mean that students are in charge of their own learning thus preparing them for the realities of working with communities.

Structure

4 two-hour seminars, 8 two-hour workshops and a minimum of 8 hours of Field Placement activities. From week 12 to week 44.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 Field Placement report (from agency/university staff) (100%).

Resit: 1 Field Placement report (from agency/university staff) (100%).

Field Placement can be retaken only once.

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to Honours Music - BMus or MA with Music (Minor Honours).

Overview

European music 1945-2000 presents a complex and confused picture with radical, conventional and traditional composers working simultaneously. This course will identify 'seminal' composers, compositions and theories to bring focus to the many different musics of the period.

Structure

6 one-hour lectures and 6 one-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Resit: New essay (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

MU 3041 (or equivalent).

Overview

In Main Study and Additional Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble groups consist of University Music organised activities such as Cantores ad Portam, String Emsemble, Contemporary Ensemble, University Symphony Orchestra, University Choral Society, University Concert Band, University String Ensemble and Chapel Choir.

Structure

Tutorials of one hour per week on main study; 5 hours to private study; attendance at 1 two-hour masterclass or workshop on each; attendance at a University Ensemble.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Performance examination (either main or main and additional) (100%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Overview

This course will comprise two elements:

1. A survey of musical developments in the Renaissance from Dunstable to Palestina, focusing especially on sacred music of the period. Students will study isorythmic motets, and different types of Mass settting (cantul firmiu, imitatio, paraphrase and free). They will look at music in a social and cultural context, including the role of the musician in society, and the impact of the Reformation upon music.


2. A special topic which will vary from year to year. Topics include (but are not limited to): William Byrd Early Keyboard Music, Music in Scotland, Instrumental Ensemble Music.

Structure

1 two-hour seminars per week (10 weeks).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Notes

Requires some degree of keyboard skills.

Overview

My Lady Nevells Booke is an anthology of keyboard music by William Byrd compiled under the supervision of the composer by John Baldwin in 1591. It provides a rare and fascinating insight into keyboard music composed in England before the turn of the century.

The course involves a practical engagement with the music in masterclasses during which students will be introduced to the kinds of instruments on which it would have been played; there will be an optional visit to the Russell Collection in Edinburgh. Students will be introduced to the manuscript, the genres of music contained within it, as well as to the evidence it provides about performance practice (especially fingering and ornamentation).

Students will be expected to participate actively in performance activities, but assessment will be through written work.

Structure

10 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Continuous assessment (100%).

Resit: Continuous assessment (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Overview

This course explores music from a philosophical viewpoint. What is music? How may it be understood in relation to the other arts? Is music purely an aural phenomenon? What is the relationship between composer, performer and audience? These and other questions will be discussed in the context of writers from Plato to the twenty-first century.

Structure

6 weekly one-hour lectures and 6 weekly one-hour seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Presentation (100%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor P Stollery

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Overview

This course features a practical induction to Scottish traditional music by one of its acknowledged experts. The music and its provance will be placed within an overall cultural and broader musical context, and will consider the ethics of collecting such music.

Structure

10 one-hour tutorials (transmission and cultural background), 4 two-hour tutorials (contexts) and 1 two-hour seminar for oral presentation.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Resit: New essay (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Professor P Stollery

Pre-requisites

Entry to year 3 of BMus or MA with Music programmes.

Overview

Students will attend a sound diffusion workshop for which they will be required prepare a piece of acousmatic music for performance, which they will subsequently perform in a concert. Following this experience, they will then compose their own pieces of acousmatic music which will be performed at a concert, where their sound diffusion will be assessed alongside the piece itself.

Structure

1 three-hour workshop, 2 two-hour seminars, 10 one-hour tutorials.

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 performance (40%), 1 composition submission (60%).

Resit: 1 composition submission (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr M Young

Pre-requisites

Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA).

Overview

Practical, studio-based classes will provide a technical overview of software applications ProTools, Audiosculpt and Max/MSP, and of sound recording techniques and the microphone. Running concurrently, seminar-based classes will provide an historical overview of electroacoustic music that utilizes the voice as sound object. The theme of each seminar, focused each week around a different aspect of the voice and technology, will provide the theoretical, philosophical, and aesthetic basis for practical applications. Drawing from readings, close analysis and listening of key electro-vocal works from the twentieth-century and beyond, we will assess particular cultural and aesthetic issues that concern the mediated voice in recorded sound. The course will probe the role and influence of technology in compositions that involve the voice and technology, particluarly looking at the way the voice is rendered, represented or transposed through the electronic medium.

Topics include the microphone and recording technology, sound recording technology and its implications for voice recording, early vocal immortalizations onto the phonograph, the theremin, musique concréte, the looped voice, the mechanical voice, the synthesized voice, the fictional robotic voice, human beat-boxes, the interactive voice, sampling the voice and plunderphonics, the electroacoustic voice, and lastly the spoken narrative in contemporary music composition.

Structure

1 two-hour seminar per week; 1 two-hour studio class per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Written journal (25%); in-class participation (15%); mid-term composition project (20%); final compositional project (40%).

Resit: Written journal (25%); composition project (75%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jurgensen

Pre-requisites

Entry to Honours Music (BMus or MA).

Overview

This course is intended both for those interested in Renaissance music and for composition students who wish to explore the many possibilities of musical invention within a very controlled compositional environment. To acquire the basic tools of Renaissance composition, students progress through species counterpoint exercises in two and three voices. Through more advanced exercises in motivic placement, canon (with and without cantus firmus), invertible counterpoint, and the fundamentals of improvised counterpoint, students learn to structure a complete composition, culminating in a motet for three voices.

Structure

2 hour sessions per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Portfolio of compositions and exercises (100%).

Resit: Portfolio of compositions and exercises (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Entry to honours Music (BMus or MA)

Overview

In the mid-twentieth century, it seemed that opera was a moribund art form, surviving at best on the back of a canon of great historical works. While its future prospects looked bleak, the composition of over 150 new operas in the period between 1978 and 2003 marked a perhaps unexpected renaissance of the genre in a number of new forms.

This course will engage students in studying the factors which led to the resurgence of operatic/music theatre composition in Europe. A number of works by composers from France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom will be studied from a number of points of view (analysis of musical scores, libretti, vocal style, stage design, recordings etc.)

Students will be expected to view and listen to a number of operas/music theatre pieces, to analyse aspects of scores and libretti and to think critically about the cultural significance of this late flowering of these important genres. Students will give a number of short presentations throughout the course.

Structure

10 two-hour seminars

Assessment

1st attempt: Continuous assessment (100%)

Resit: Continuous assessment (100%)

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R B Williams

Pre-requisites

Entry to Honours Music - BMus or MA with Music (Minor Honours). Available only to students in Programme Year 3.

Overview

Students will be introduced to several different analytical approaches, drawing on the work of, for example, Tovey, Schenker, Reti, Forte and Schaeffer. They will be introduced to a range of musical forms, such as sonata structures and variation forms.

Structure

6 weekly one-hour lectures and 6 one-hour weekly seminars (to be arranged).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Resit: Students resit the failed assessment(s).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the BMusEd programme.

Overview

This course aims to replicate the process of presenting a research paper for peer presentation. Students pursue independent study on a topic selected in consultation with lecturing staff, presenting their findings in a peer presentation and extended essay.

Structure

Individual tutorial 20 minutes per week (tba).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Seminar presentation (100%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the BMusEd programme.

Overview

The exploratory, improvisional and compositional work undertaken in various courses during the first three years of the programme provides a useful foundation for the study of composition at this stage. Sessions will cover analysis of works, improvisation sessions and individual consultations. Students will be required to produce a composition folio. The exact nature of the folio is the result of negotation between the composition tutor and the student. The folio might consist of a single large-scale work or a number of smaller pieces.

Structure

20 minutes/1 hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Portfolio of compositions (100%).

Credit Points

80

Course Coordinator

Dr E Campbell

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the Music Education BMus honours degree.

Overview

Education Studies continues work begun in year 3 on a wide range of aspects of music education. School Experience takes place during weeks 11 and 17-23. A further 10 days of School Experience are negoiated between student, lecturing staff and school staff. For the Extended Essay, students will negotiate a focus for their project prior to the commencement of research. The extended essay will complement the work contained within the students' professional file, as well as the viva voce.

Structure

24 hours lectures in education studies, 6 hours essay preparation, 8 weeks school experience.

Assessment

1st Attempt: School experience reports (50%) and dissertation (50%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 4 of the BMusEd programme.

Overview

In Main Study, students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental/vocal instructor, as well as participating in and attending workshops and masterclasses. Ensemble groups consist of University Music organised activities such as Cantores ad Portam, String Quartets, Contemporary Ensemble, University Symphony Orchestra, University Choral Society, University Concert Band, University String Ensemble and Chapel Choir. The Supporting Coursework element covers preparation of programme notes and other supporting materials for recitals as well as visits from established members of the music profession lecturing on performance and practice techniques.

Structure

3 or 4 hours per week plus 8 hours workshops.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Recital (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

MA with Minor Honours in Music third year curriculum or third year B Mus Hons curriculum. Approval of topic by programme management.

Co-requisites

MU 4090

Notes

MU 4049 may not be taken in combination with MU 4093.

Overview

Dissertation of 10,000 words on an approved musicological topic.

Structure

Supervision throughout year.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Dissertation (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

MA Music with Minor Honours third year curriculum or third year B Mus Hons curriculum. Evidence of satisfactory competence in composition and the approval of the programme management.

Co-requisites

MU 4088.

Notes

MU 4080 may not be taken in combination with MU 4092.

Overview

Submission of portfolio of compositions to last c20 minutes in performance. Candidates should be able to show competence in a variety of styles and genres.

Structure

Supervision throughout year.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Submission of portfolio of compositions (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

Entry to year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

Co-requisites

MU 4089.

Notes

MU 4081 may not be taken in combination with MU 4094. Vocal or instrumental recital of 25-30 minutes duration, the programme to be approved in advance by the Director of Music.

Overview

Individual tuition throughout year.

Structure

Recital (100%).

Assessment

1st Attempt: Recital (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Level 4 BMus Hons or MA curriculum. Approval of Programme Director.

Co-requisites

MU 4092 or MU 4080.

Overview

Programming one's own music;

Composer's working practices;

Composers working with performers;

Programme notes, commentaries and extended documentation.

Structure

10 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr R B Williams

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

Co-requisites

MU 4081 or MA 4094 or MU 4080.

Overview

Study of international performer(s) - repertoire and interpretation. Programming concerts - how to construct a coherent recital programme. Interpretation and how to approach a performance of a composition. Explanation of recital programme through written and oral communication.

Structure

10 two-hour seminars.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Essay (100%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

Co-requisites

MU 4049 or MU 4093.

Overview

This course will introduce students to basic research methods and to editorial methods. It will cover bibliographic tools, research planning and organization, research presentation, the history of notation and the principles of editing.

Structure

4 two-hour seminars in total and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Research proposal (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr D J Smith

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music).

Overview

This course will examine historical and contemporary performance practice. The practice of conducting and directing musical ensembles will take further the concept of application of musical knowledge into the situation of performance. Musical analysis and its influence on performance techniques will form an important component part of the course.

Structure

Weekly one-hour lecture (to be arranged) and a fortnightly seminar of two hours (to be arranged) and a weekly tutorial. Attendance at a minimum of one major ensemble of the University.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Seminar presentation analysis (50%) and essay performance practice (50%).

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Dr P Mealor

Pre-requisites

Third year BMus Honours. Approval of BMus Honours Programme Director.

Co-requisites

MU 4088.

Notes

MU 4092 may not be taken in combination with MU 4080.

Overview

Submission of portfolio of compositions to last c 30 minutes in performance. Candidates should be able to show competence in a variety of genres, subject to the approval of the Programme Directors.

Structure

Supervision throughout the year.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Oral presentation (25%) and portfolio (75%).

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

Third year BMus Honours curriculum. Approval of topic by Programme Director.

Co-requisites

Introduction to Research.

Notes

MU 4093 may not be taken in combination with MU 4089.

Overview

Dissertation of around 16,000 words on an approved musicological topic, and/or a scholarly edition of one or more musical works.

Structure

Supervision throughout year.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Dissertation (75%) and Oral presentation of work in progress (25%).

Credit Points

60

Course Coordinator

Dr F Jürgensen

Pre-requisites

Entry to Year 4 honours programme (BMus or MA with Music). Approval of BMus Honours Programme Director. Students should achieve at least a CAS 18 (or equivalent) in MU 3801.

Notes

MU 4094 may not be taken in combination with MU 4081.

Overview

Vocal or instrumental recital of around 45 minutes duration, the programme to be approved in advance by the Programme Directors. Students will work throughout the year on a one-to-one basis with a specialist instrumental or vocal tutor.

Participation in Masterclasses/Workshops with visiting musicians will be an important part of the requirements. A diary of work at hand and suitable programme notes for the Recital will also be required.

Structure

Weekly tutorials throughout year. Attendance at no fewer than 4 Masterclasses/Workshops throughout the year.

Assessment

1st Attempt: Mid year recital (25%) and end of year recital (75%).

Credit Points

15

Course Coordinator

Dr J Cameron

Pre-requisites

Completion of first two years of B Mus or MA with Music.

Overview

Starting point: Vivaldi Gloria RV 589 (already introduced to BMus as part of Vocal Ensemble, and briefly in Cultural and Historical Studies)

Introduction to Vivaldi- and Gloria settings.
Introduction to principles of baroque editing (1)
Exercise: excerpt from Vivaldi Gloria RV 589

Introduction to Ruggieri - and Gloria settings.
Introduction to principles of baroque editing (2)
Exercise: excerpt from one of the Ruggieri Glorias

An issue of plagiarism? Vivaldi's borrowings from Ruggieri
Comparative analysis: Cum Sancto Spiritu (Vivaldi and Ruggieri)

Word painting (and musical rhetoric).
Exercise - musical ideas for word painting.

More advanced principles of editing: critical commentaries
The editor's role: problematic sources.

Speculation: is plagiarism in music in any way justified?
Why did Vivaldi borrow from Ruggieri?
Stylistic aspects.

Structure

Tutorial/Seminars - 4 two-hours followed by 8, weekly one-hour tutorial

Assessment

1st Attempt: 1 essay (100%).