BMus (Hons) Music

All BMus Music students take the following modules:

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the styles you will encounter, the debates you will need to consider and the critical skills you will require in studying western musics of the period 1900 to the present.

While exploring musical repertoires of various kinds, from classical to popular (and beyond), the module will:

• investigate the ways this music has been thought and written about
• explore historical cultural contexts
• develop your skills in critical reasoning, conducting research and presenting written argument

You will be encouraged to think about relationships between musicians, their works, and their contexts, and to engage as they do with appropriate ideas from such disciplines as historical studies, sociology, cultural studies, ethnomusicology and musical analysis.

15 credits. Composition Composition 30 credits

This module allows you to develop your understanding of 20th /21st-century compositional techniques, and to apply them in your own original creative work. Following a series of introductory exercises, a number of creative strategies are actively explored, including experimental notation, visualisation and improvisation.

The module introduces you to a number of techniques with respect to pitch (linear/harmonic), rhythm, texture, instrumentation and scoring and then goes on to consider a range of structural methods as evidenced in music from the early 20th century onwards (such as serialism, isorhythm, block form, process-based form). You are expected to implement a selected number of techniques in your own work, and evaluate the effectiveness of your approach.

30 credits. Creative Music Technology Creative Music Technology 15 credits

This module provides an opportunity for you to become familiar with a range of music technology applications, including score processing, analog and digital recording, computer- based production and sequencing.

You will develop a basic working knowledge of software packages, acquiring core skills in computer music and furthering your understanding of its potential practical applications. You will also have opportunity to work in a recording studio, developing a knowledge of good practice in this environment, including an ability to collaborate effectively.

Term 1 focuses on Recording Techniques with tuition and practical experience in music technology theory and studio practice. This also acts as an induction to both the Electronic Music Studio (EMS) and Goldsmiths Music Studios (GMS) Term 2 include three options, focused around specific software packages & music technology practices – Notation & Music Theory (Sibelius notation software), Live Audio Processing (Ableton & Max For Live software), Digital Audio Editing (ProTools & Logic).

Skills and understanding developed in this module provide a foundation for a number of Level 2 modules available across the programmes, in studio composition, media composition and commercial recording. You work both individually and collaboratively, as appropriate.

15 credits. Western Art Music: 900-1900 Western Art Music: 900-1900 30 credits

This course provides essential training in two areas. First, it introduces you to Western Art Music from the Middle Ages through to the late nineteenth century and builds a foundation for expanding your knowledge of this vast repertory. Second, the course introduces you to critical thinking about this and other repertory. Throughout the lectures, you will be asked to consider how 'great works' have been products of their time and how they have been shaped by, and helped shape, the societies in which they were created.

30 credits. Performance Techniques and Repertoire Performance Techniques and Repertoire 30 credits

This module helps students to develop confident and convincing musical performances in both solo and ensemble situations across a range of styles (from western art music, to jazz, musical theatre and more).

Content is delivered through lectures, seminars and coaching sessions that discuss topics such as effective individual practice, memorisation, body work, rehearsal techniques, and critical listening. The module is supported by one-to-one tuition with a specialist on your chosen instrument, and includes weekly practical musicianship sessions that develop aural skills.

30 credits. Year 2 (credit level 5)

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

You select modules to the value of 120 credits across the year, containing at least two from List A:

List A Module title Credits. Aesthetics, Meaning and Culture Aesthetics, Meaning and Culture 15 credits

This module examines in a structured and self-critical manner the ideas and assumptions that govern the ways in which we 1) define, 2) explain 3) evaluate and 4) justify music and music making in various cultures and subcultures. Its methods draw upon philosophy (concept analysis, hermeneutics, ethics, etc.), sociological and anthropological theory (the social relation of values and meanings), and recent forms of critical theory (with their destabilizing effect on traditions, meanings and the notion of ‘truth’). These contrasting interpretations are not simply paraded, rather their conflicting claims and ideologies are tested against each other. The issues involved are not ones that are imposed on musicians but arise naturally from their attempts to find meaning and value in what they do. The aim of the module is not to give ‘answers’ but to provide standards of argumentation, to reveal exactly why these profound problems cannot easily yield to makeshift ‘solutions’, and to encourage musicians with different interests and backgrounds to appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of their own ideological positions and those of others.

15 credits. Mapping 20th-Century Music Mapping 20th-Century Music 15 credits

Through an examination of key works, concepts and stylistic trends this module maps the development of musical style and culture across the 20th Century, with a particular focus on repertoires and works related to art, and experimental popular, musical practices. Areas of study include the inception of Modernism and the breakdown of tonality, the resultant reaction and nationalism, the Experimental movements in Europe and America and the post-war avant-garde to Minimalism, the rise of Postmodernism and the development of hybrids and crossovers. Through listening and research the course introduces a variety of conceptual approaches and developments of musical style and technique, along with a consideration of the process of musicological research and criticism. The module builds on work done at Level 1 in Approaches to Contemporary Music, but focuses more closely on particular repertoires and works.

15 credits. Music of Africa and Asia Music of Africa and Asia 15 credits

The module introduces the diverse musical traditions of Africa and Asia. It concentrates on traditional musical practices, although some attention also will be given to newly created styles. Geographical areas covered will include Southern Africa, West Africa, North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia (mainland and island), Oceania and East Asia. You are expected to become familiar with the sounds of the music of these areas, and to understand something of their underlying structural principles and the social and cultural contexts in which they are performed.

15 credits. Romanticism and its Legacy Romanticism and its Legacy 15 credits

Though a notoriously difficult concept to define, Romanticism had a powerful impact throughout the nineteenth century, and continues to shape music and musical culture today. It generated new conceptualisations of the composer and performer, encouraged composers to explore new musical forms and styles, shifted analytical procedures, played a part in the formation of musical canons and altered listening habits.

This course investigates the legacy of Romanticism in these areas with reference to musical genres from the Lied and the symphony to Blues and film music. It begins with an introduction to Romanticism, before historicising concepts such as genius, the work, nationalism, celebrity, the canon, self-expression, organicism and originality.

Students will be encouraged to consider how these concepts were (and still are) reflected in compositional, listening, performing and critical practices. This will involve developing an understanding not only of a range of musicological arguments about Romanticism, but also those found in reception, performance, gender, film and cultural studies.

15 credits. What is Jazz? What is Jazz? 15 credits

The 1956 Columbia album What is Jazz?, on which Leonard Bernstein – by that time one of America’s most famous musicians and public educators – delivers a lecture on that music’s technical and stylistic features, is where this module takes its cue. Blue notes, vocalised instrumental tones, the transformation of song material through improvisation, all these things are illustrated by Bernstein’s guests across a variety of styles, and the programme ends with Miles Davis and John Coltrane pitching an old pop tune into a supermodern vortex of altered chords and right-angle phrasing.

This, then, was jazz, or at least that part of it that Bernstein called ‘the music itself’. But what would become of jazz later, when many of its musicians discarded those supposedly fundamental techniques, indeed refused the J-word altogether? And what is jazz when considered as a set of both musical and social practices? After all, the music has been taken by its players and listeners as sounding certain worldviews, whether hedonistic or abstruse; it has been imagined as a mode of political action, whether that meant opting out or acting up; it has provided ways of thinking about the individual and the collective, whether in critical metaphor or musical practice.

So in asking Bernstein’s question anew, this module uses musical analysis and readings to examine jazz’s developing cultural situation, from its beginnings to the present day. Central considerations are the music’s changing learning, performance and institutional contexts and prestige; its understanding as both an American and a global phenomenon; its functioning as a lens though which to envisage (and distort) ideas of race, gender and sexuality; its visual, verbal and sonic representations of attitude and style.

This thematic approach will be complimented by listening and reading tasks which, focusing on specific moments or practices and progressing chronologically, will enrich our understanding of jazz’s historical development.

This part of the module pays homage to jazz’s hallowed names and recordings, but it also encourages students to think critically about the music’s canons. That means extending them stylistically, geographically and longitudinally: arriving at the present, we will think about how some enduring jazz impulse has been seen to animate the music of artists as different as Amy Winehouse and Kendrick Lamar, Esperanza Spalding and Jamie Cullum.

15 credits. Music in Film Music in Film 15 credits

This module introduces a number of perspectives on the use and function of music in narrative film. This includes an overview of practices from the so-called 'silent era' through to contemporary mainstream Hollywood cinema, and to those in world cinemas; a discussion of technological developments and how these influenced film music practice; distinctions between the deployment of dramatic scoring and pre-existing musics/songs/recordings; the position of music in film’s narrative apparatus; and the interaction between music and other elements of the ‘soundtrack’. Key concepts and theorists in film music and film sound scholarship are introduced, and case studies are drawn from a number of prescribed films, taken from across the history of cinema.

This module is a co-requisite for MEDIA COMPOSITION (TERM 2).

15 credits. Classical Versus Common Music: London's Celebrity Culture (1700-1800) Classical Versus Common Music: London's Celebrity Culture (1700-1800) 15 credits

This module explores the music of eighteenth-century London, and major compositions within this context. As Europe’s richest and most socially advanced capital, London was home to a uniquely pioneering musical culture. Literacy, shared wealth and public access to venues made music a quasi-democratized entertainment. Within London’s entertainment industry, composers relied on the music celebrity to gain public favour. Two strands of musical taste became entwined: that of the privileged classes, whose connoisseurship was displayed particularly in their taste for Italian opera and virtuosi, and that of playhouse and public concert audiences, who identified with ‘native’ star musicians. At once both agents and product, music celebrities facilitated the cultivation of new genres, such as English oratorio, and helped to shape the ‘polite and commercial’ music that, thanks to print, emanated out from London across Europe.





15 credits. Musicians, Commerce and Commodification Musicians, Commerce and Commodification 15 credits

Since the emergence of the printing press, the performance, dissemination and reception of music has been integrally linked to various media and industries. From the late twentieth century the internet and digital technologies have been dramatically reshaping the production, circulation and consumption of music due to the increasing shift from physical artefact (CDs, cassettes, LPs) to non-material digital distribution, with streamed access challenging the idea of owned musical artefacts.

This module examines the role of various media and industries in the music making process. It considers the historical significance of printing, recording, radio, the moving image media, digital technology and the internet. It also considers the range of different companies that have a vested interest in music making, and explores how music has become ever more significant for corporate promotion and branding. The module reflects on how these industries have provided opportunities and imposed constraints on music making. The module links a detailed focused study of how various industries and media operate to key conceptual frameworks and explanatory models drawn from cultural and social theory.

15 credits. Russian Music in Context: Glinka to Stravinsky Russian Music in Context: Glinka to Stravinsky 15 credits

Western audiences have long been drawn to Russian music for its supposed unique qualities. With the arrival of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in the early twentieth century, this reached fever pitch, with audiences, critics and composers across Europe and the United States thoroughly besotted with the elusive ‘Russian soul’. This module explores how (and why) music was used to create powerful images of Russian nationhood, focusing on the years between the premieres of Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar (1836) and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (1913). During this period, Russian nationalist composers and critics developed a complex dynamic with the West, seeking to prove that Russian culture was distinct from, but able to compete with existing art music traditions.

In order to investigate how certain Russian composers sought to beat the West at its own game, this module will centre on the genres of programme music, symphony, opera, art song, piano music and ballet. But it was not only in Russia that the ‘Russian soul’ was constructed. This module also looks at some of the earliest reactions to Russian music abroad, and shows how composers towards the end of the century were strongly influenced by musical forms, harmonies and genres developed in Russia. As well as gaining an overview of Russian music in this period, therefore, students will be encouraged to consider Russian music in its Western context – not just as a passive observer and absorber of Western art music traditions, but as an increasingly active player and influence on the world’s stage.

15 credits. List B Module title Credits. Performance: Styles and Contexts Performance: Styles and Contexts 30 credits

(PRE-REQUISITE: L1 Performance: Techniques & Repertoire)

This module closely examines particular repertoire areas and shows how to approach particular music with reference not only to performance techniques, but also musicological research, demonstrating how we can enrich and deepen musical performance by drawing on musicology, knowledge of aesthetic, style, period conventions, and historical context. The lectures, seminars, workshops and coachings are closely linked to individual specialist tuition on your chosen instrument, thus encouraging you to approach any music you perform in a holistic and informed manner.

The module begins with lectures on a variety of performance-related issues. You are given the opportunity for several (unassessed) short solo performances in tutor-led seminars when you will receive feedback both from the tutor and your peers. A mid-module assessment takes place at the beginning of term 2, comprising a 15 minute programme prepared in consultation with your specialist teacher. The choice of programme is largely free, but must include one technical element (a study, for example).

The second assessment comprises a performance of a short chamber music recital at the end of Term2. Students will be placed in chamber music groups, given repertoire, and will receive rehearsal coaching.

A more substantial solo performance is assessed at the end of the year, by means of an accompanied (where