Modiwl WMP-4108:
Investigating Music
Investigating Music 2023-24
WMP-4108
2023-24
School Of Arts, Culture And Language
Module - Semester 1
30 credits
Module Organiser:
John Cunningham
Overview
This module develops high-level skills of thinking about music that are crucial to Masters-level study in musicology, composition and performance. Through the prism of a range of musical repertoire, the module explores a selection of issues and debates of key relevance to advanced musical activity today, both within academia and beyond. It encourages each student – whether musicologist, composer or performer – to consider how their field of activity is directly informed by other fields, and to produce work in their specialised areas which reflects this interdependence. Indicative topics for discussion might include (in alphabetical order):
- adaptation;
- analysis;
- audiences and institutions;
- authorship, individuality, and intellectual property;
- editions;
- high brow vs. low brow;
- music and the digital world;
- music for children;
- music in theatre and film;
- musicologically-informed performance;
- nationalism and politics;
- questions of style;
- word-text relations.
Assessment Strategy
Threshold (C– to C+, 50-59%) Work which demonstrates an understanding of the module content and the ability to think in an informed and logical manner, and which is expressed coherently.
Good (B– to B+, 60-69%) Work which demonstrates mastery of the module content and the ability to think in a considered manner, and which is expressed with clarity and acuity.
Excellent (A– to A*, 70-100%) Work which demonstrates new insight into the module content and the ability to think in an original and conceptual manner, and which is expressed persuasively.
Relevant Masters-level Explicit Marking Criteria (for Musicology, Composition, and/or Music Performance) will also be used when assessing student work on this module. These may be found on the Blackboard page for this module.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop informed ideas about music, built constructively on the ideas of others.
- Express advanced ideas about music, and argue from their position.
- Identify and profit from links between musicological enquiry and the practices of composition and performance.
Assessment method
Individual Presentation
Assessment type
Summative
Description
Presentation to be delivered in class in week 7. Task for musicologists: Identify a piece of music that has been re-evaluated, re-interpreted, understood more profoundly, or corrected as a result of musicological research. Give a presentation introducing the work and its context(s), the musicological research that led to our deeper understanding of it, and how this has affected the work’s subsequent performance, dissemination and/or reception. Task for composers: Identify a piece of music that was created wholly or partially using a research process, or using the outcomes of research carried out by a third party. Give a presentation introducing the work and its context(s), the research questions and findings which led to its creation, and how this research affects or informs the final work. Task for performers: Identify a piece of music the performance of which may be directly informed by musicological and/or practice-based research. Give a presentation introducing the work and its context(s), the research work that informs the way(s) in which it is performed, and the practical effects of this research on its performance. (This may be demonstrated through your own performance, or using recordings of other performers.)
Weighting
40%
Due date
16/11/2023
Assessment method
Coursework
Assessment type
Summative
Description
Final submission: see module handbook for detailed description. To be submitted on the first day of the Semester 1 assessment period. A final submission, demonstrating an understanding of multiple modes of musical enquiry and practice. This may take one of the following formats: – an essay of around 4500 words; – a lecture-recital or illustrated talk of around 45 minutes’ duration; – an original composition of around 4 minutes’ duration, accompanied by a contextual commentary of 2000 words; – a performance of around 11 minutes’ duration, accompanied by a contextual commentary of 2000 words. The work submitted for the final submission must be different from that submitted for other modules.
Weighting
60%
Due date
08/01/2024