Applicant information
What happens after you apply to Bristol?
Music
| Awards available | PhD MPhil MLitt MMus |
|---|---|
| Duration of programme | MPhil:one year full-time; two years part-time MLitt/MMus: two years full-time; four years part-time PhD: three years full-time; six years part-time |
| Number of places | Not fixed |
Page contents
Programme overview
The Department of Music is a centre of research excellence in both Composition and Musicology. Research interests include not only the Western art music tradition, but screen media, non-Western and popular music. We have particular strengths in the early Middle Ages and the long 20th century, including the music of France, Britain and Nazi Germany, Soviet and Russian music, as well as Anglophone vernacular traditions including jazz and hip-hop.
Composition is a key aspect of the Department's research. There is no particular 'house style', but we are well known for a number of areas including:
- acoustic work, ranging from solo to symphonic scale;
- electro-acoustic work, including acousmatic composition and composition that combines
- composition exploring the interface of Western and non-Western traditions.
The Department also provides access to a wide network of opportunities for professional and amateur performance.
Research groups
Research is structured in four interlinked 'clusters':
Composition
Contemporary vocal, instrumental and orchestral music; electroacoustic music and live electronics; music with film and mixed media; cultural transfer through composition; traditional media, such as brass band and choral work.
Group members: Dr Michael Ellison, Dr Neal Farwell, Professor John Pickard.
Music and Society
Music and politics; cultural history of French music; film, musicals and music for television; cultural transfer and diasporas (especially British and Russian music); medieval liturgical chant and orality.
Group members: Professor Katharine Ellis, Dr Michael Ellison, Dr Pauline Fairclough, Dr Guido Heldt, Dr Emma Hornby, Professor John Pickard, Dr Justin Williams.
Intermediality
An emerging cluster exploring the place of music in multi-medial cultural artefacts and practice.
Group members: Dr Michael Ellison, Dr Neal Farwell, Dr Guido Heldt, Dr Emma Hornby, Dr Justin Williams.
Old Hispanic Office Research Group
Old Hispanic chant; liturgy; theology; creative engagement with contemporary composition.
Group members: Dr Emma Hornby, Dr Elsa de Luca (postdoctoral Fellow), Dr Kati Ihnat (postdoctoral Fellow).
Entry requirements
MPhil: An upper second-class degree (or international equivalent). MLitt/MMus/PhD: A pass at MA level (or international equivalent).
For information on international equivalent qualifications, please see our International Office website.
Admissions statement
Read the programme admissions statement for important information on entry requirements, the application process and supporting documents required.
Key research interests
Professor Katharine Ellis, Social and cultural history of music in 19th-century Paris and metropolitan France; music criticism and press history.
Dr Michael Ellison, Composition; contemporary opera; new music; analysis; Turkish music.
Dr Pauline Fairclough, Shostakovich; Soviet and Russian music; music in Eastern Europe; music and politics; Socialist Realism; Cold War cultural exchanges; Soviet performance practice.
Dr Neal Farwell, Composition; electro-acoustic composition; live electronics and interactivity; semiotics.
Dr Guido Heldt, Film music and narratology; musical films; the representation of music in film; music and television; British 20th-century art music.
Dr Emma Hornby, Medieval music, particularly Western Liturgical chant; compositional grammar; orality and transmission; text/music relations.
Professor John Pickard, Composition; editing the music of Elgar; 20th-century British music; the 20th-century symphonic tradition.
Dr Justin Williams, Popular music; hiphop; film music; geography and mobility; the analysis of record production; musical borrowing.
Application deadline: Not fixed
Get in touch
Email: artf-gradschool-admissions@bristol.ac.uk
Web: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/gradschool/
International students
English-language requirements: 6.5 overall with at least 6.5 in each band, in addition to the standard entry requirements.
Find information for international students on eligibility, funding options and studying at Bristol.
Fees and funding
2014/15 fees
Full-time: UK/EU £3,939;
overseas £13,400
Fees quoted are provisional, per annum and subject to annual increase.
Funding options
AHRC funding and scholarships information is available on the Faculty Scholarships page.
Further information on funding for prospective UK, EU and international postgraduate students is available from the Student Funding Office website.
Research Assessment Score
Unit of Assessment 67 applies. See Complete RAE listings for University of Bristol for further details.
Useful further information
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