Overview

A fairly late addition to the concert of academic disciplines, musicology is defined as ‘the study of music’ broadly understood. Simple though this specification sounds, music as an object of study has elicited a variety of different methodological approaches, both intrinsic to the musicology (analysis) and imported from other disciplines (philology, literary criticism, aesthetics, sociology, anthropology, and acoustics etc.). The course intends to make students familiar with a range of methodologies and methodological debates which have a vital impact on current research undertaken in the field (e.g. historiography, analysis, ‘new musicology’, gender, structuralism and post-structuralism, authenticity).

Selected readings of scholarly writing serve a dual purpose: Firstly, they are used to establish the key concepts and approaches characteristic of the individual approaches and thus pave the way for an understanding even of jargon-ridden texts. Secondly, they form the basis of a critical assessment, which recognises the historical conditioning of methodologies and seeks to evaluate their benefits and limitations. This look behind the scenes of musicological discourse will prepare students for a reflective use of methodologies in their own research. The practice of critical discourse will be developed by discussion sessions on seminal and controversial methodological approaches, in which students take the lead. Additionally, students will be exposed to the very latest trends in musicology through the regular School of Music research seminars, which provide a forum for cutting-edge research by scholars from Bangor and elsewhere.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Threshold (50-59)Work which displays a good grasp of factual knowledge, with simple ability at conceptual thought, and some awareness of methodological issues (albeit limited), and showing sufficient evidence of a generally intellectual approach, with fair expression.

-good -Good (60-69)Work which displays a sound grasp of the subject, a good level of conceptual thought, awareness of methodological and other issues, with evidence of intellectual acumen and good expression.

-excellent -Excellent (70+)Work which displays a thorough grasp of the subject, with evidence of extended study, profound conceptual thought, originality of approach and excellent presentational skills.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to collate, assimilate, and synopsize relevant musicological literature (bibliographical exercise).

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to critically evaluate and synthesize a range of current research methodologies in music.

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to demonstrate advanced skills in communication (written essay and oral presentation).

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to review, synthesize and critique a range of concepts and terminology use in current musicological scholarship, research, and discourse.