MA in Music: Music theory pathway

This unit introduces students to different categories of musicological sources and discusses issues arising from these, including recent authenticity debates surrounding the use of these materials in performance. It acquaints students with the nature of historical source materials for different repertoires and with the ways in which these may inform an understanding of compositional process. It also introduces typical problems involved in the preparation of critical editions to the highest standards of modern scholarship by means of particular case studies. It is intended that this unit will stimulate an awareness of the sensitivity required in handling primary and other musical source materials and that it will help students to acquire a critically informed approach to musical texts.

This unit will focus on research skills that are particularly relevant to musicians, focusing on the construction of a detailed bibliography as assessed work and how to give a successful oral presentation.

Optional units

This unit will introduce students to the compositional techniques of the classical and early romantic periods, both through the analysis of representative movements and the composition of short pastiche exercises in these styles. It will deal, in the main, with song accompaniments in the style of Schubert, though some attention will also be given to classical string quartet writing in the style of Haydn and Mozart.

The unit is designed as a forum for the close study of the constructional techniques to be observed in the scores and recordings of music that can be of major interest, and value as exemplar, to the contemporary composer. This discipline will acknowledge the requirements of the Analytical profession but is more focused on the acquisition of tools and manners of perception and their potential transferability to practice-based research. A variety of musical sources and related readings will be studied in preparation for writing the assessed self-directed written project.

These units offer an opportunity for detailed study of a particular area of interest in the field of historical This unit offers you an opportunity for detailed study of particular areas of interest in the field of historical musicology. Each Special Study (one or two chosen, in consultation with available staff each year) will be taught as supervised independent study in tutors' postgraduate office hour. You and your tutor(s) will cover topics and repertoires methodically in regular meetings by way of discussing bibliographies, outlines, critical approaches and methodological strategies and by reading out short essays. Additionally, the weekly departmental research seminars will encourage you to refine your critical responses and discussion skills. Overall, the tutorials should demonstrate an ability to research aspects of a topic effectively and sufficiently, leading naturally to the MA dissertation in terms of approach (though not necessarily topic). Three 2000-word essays will be researched per 20-credit unit, presented, discussed and graded on the spot at regular intervals through the semester. The best two grades of three carry forward, with the marks confirmed or adjusted when all the essays are handed in and second-marked at the end of the semester.

Selected topics in current musicology, including theories of historiography, concert practice, orality and the work concept, gender and critical theory.

Application information