Unit information: Readings In Musicology in 2020/21

Unit name	Readings In Musicology
Unit code	MUSIM0036
Credit points	40
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Fairclough
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	none
Co-requisites	none
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Readings in Musicology identifies areas of musicological research which demonstrate the chances and challenges of disciplinary self-awareness: key categories of thinking about music, such as autonomy, context, and modernity; the thorny relationship between history and aesthetics; the appropriation of ideas from other disciplines (philosophy, critical theory, literary theory); the discussion of musics or aspects of music ignored or suppressed by traditional musicology (gender, non-Western music, popular and functional music). Such investigations help to understand how and why musicology developed the way it did, the reasons behind and the nature of current debates, and crucially for postgraduate students perspectives on the future of the discipline.

Aims:

Readings in Musicology identifies areas of musicological research which demonstrate the chances and challenges of disciplinary self-awareness: key categories of thinking about music, such as autonomy, context, and modernity; the thorny relationship between history and aesthetics; the appropriation of ideas from other disciplines (philosophy, critical theory, literary theory); the discussion of musics or aspects of music ignored or suppressed by traditional musicology (gender, non-Western music, popular and functional music). Such investigations help to understand how and why musicology developed the way it did, the reasons behind and the nature of current debates, and – crucially for postgraduate students – perspectives on the future of the discipline.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit a successful student will:

(1) demonstrate knowledge and understanding of older as well as recent musicological literature

(2) be able critically to synthesise important recent and current debates in musicology, orally and in writing

(3) be able to apply the critical tools, concepts and vocabularies acquired in the unit independently to topics and questions identified in consultation with the tutors.

Teaching Information

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including seminars, tutorials, and self-directed exercises.

Assessment Information

Two essays, each 3000 words, on topics explored in class (2x50%, summative) Individual 10-min presentation on a musicological topic (formative).

Reading and References

• C. Dahlhaus: Foundations of Music History (Cambridge, 1982)

• I. Bent: Source materials and the interpretation of music (London, 1981)

• R. Weiss and R. Taruskin: Music in the Western World – a history in documents (New York and London, 1984)

• N. Cook and M. Everist (eds.): Rethinking Music (Oxford, 1996)

• Theodor W. Adorno: Introduction to the Sociology of Music (New York, 1976)

• Richard Leppert and Susan McClary: Music and Society: the politics of composition, performance and reception (Cambridge, 1987)