Course programme
What you'll study Core modules You take the following core modules: Module title Credits. Sources and Resources in the Digital Age Sources and Resources in the Digital Age 30 credits In the twenty-first century, scholars and performers of music no longer have to rely on published scores, but can work directly from digitized originals or create their own editions. This module delivers the expertise to do both, and illuminates the processes, both historical and contemporary, through which scores are prepared. Students are trained to work with scholarly resources and all manner of music sources, from manuscripts to digitized autographs to early recordings. Skills are absorbed in lectures and workshops that explore different editorial methods, and the rationales and biases that undergird them. Private tours to London collections, and seminars on cutting-edge editorial projects, complement lectures and workshops. Students learn to command specialist terminology, to assess an edition’s quality, and to use and critique sources of all kinds. 30 credits. Strategies for Performance Strategies for Performance 30 credits What do we perform and how do we perform it effectively and engagingly? Apart from developing a solid instrumental or vocal technique and applying ‘good musical instincts’, how do we go further and make reasoned and ultimately convincing choices in performance based on a composer’s instructions? What do we need to perform a musical work other than thorough knowledge of the score and ‘musical ability’? This module seeks to answer such questions through student performance seminars, analytical discussions of musical works, and lectures that draw on critical writings and recordings to illustrate various approaches to classical performance. 30 credits. Option modules You choose two modules from a selection that currently includes: Module title Credits. Advanced Music Studies Advanced Music Studies 30 credits 30 credits. Contemporary Music: Practices and Debates Contemporary Music: Practices and Debates 30 credits This module traces just a few of the paths, among many that might be identified, tracked and evaluated, through late twentieth- and early twenty first-century musical cultures, focusing on some key repertoires and the debates which surround them. The Modernisms of this period, however much their creators may have insisted on an aesthetic of rejection and beginning again from first principles, have their aesthetic, and even some of their technical, origins in early twentieth-century Modernisms, whether musical or emerging from other art forms and cultural practices. While the Postmodernisms that overlapped with, as well as succeeded, them are frequently associated with the blurring and even breakdown of previously-erected barriers between "High Art" and "Low Art", this module will attempt to assess the significance of such movements and musical phenomena as part of a continuing tradition of "serious", even "classical" musical endeavour: a tradition whose validity and success will receive consideration here. "Modernism" and "Postmodernism" will be considered not only as they can be applied to cultural practice generally, but also as they may be held up as useful tools to understand the specific musical practices involved, and their influence on subsequent developments. The methodologies examined and tested in this module include history (cultural as well as musical), cultural theory and musical analysis, and the extent to which at least certain of these might be combined. To take this module you should have: some knowledge of the main currents of development in Western composed art music during the 20th century. It is possible to benefit from this module if your main musical experience lies outside the Western "classical" tradition; but in this case, in particular, it would be much easier to get a grasp of the module content if you had already read at least something by, if not necessarily the really "hard" theorists such as Adorno and Lyotard, then by, say, Bradbury or Jencks. By no means all such writers refer to music at all, but the application of some of their ideas to a wide range of music will form an important part of this module. Convenor: Keith Potter 30 credits. Critical Musicology and Popular Music Critical Musicology and Popular Music 30 credits This module will provide historical context by tracing the way in which popular music has posed problems for and also made a significant contributions to the development of musicology as a discipline. It will introduce students to key debates and issues, conceptual terms and methodological approaches and highlight the various intellectual legacies that feed into the study of popular music (such as the ‘discovery’, valorisation and study of the ‘folk’ and folk song; and the ‘critical theory’ of Adorno and the Frankfurt School seen as a response to commodification, the introduction of recorded sound and anxiety about ‘mass culture’; the cultural politics associated with the ‘counter-culture’ and ‘new social movements’). The module will highlight how the development of scholarly debates about popular music has been informed by interdisciplinary dialogues, an embracement of ‘the popular’ as a political project and the gradual institutionalization of popular music studies within the academy. To take this module you should have: Prerequisite skills: a general awareness of theoretical debates about popular music; a familiarity with various styles of popular music and musicians; an ability to write in a critical and analytical manner. Coordinator: Professor Keith Negus 30 credits. Interactive and Generative Music Interactive and Generative Music 30 credits This course explores creative and technical approaches to the design of computer music systems for interactive performance, composition and/or installations in audio and audiovisual practice. The principal software used is Max (Max/MSP/Jitter), however students are welcome to use other environments for generative and interactive processes in addition to or in the place of Max. A number of fundamental methods for real-time computer music are investigated, including digital signal processing, synthesis, gesture-following and machine learning. Various paradigms of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and audiovisual interaction are explored using a range of performer interfaces, within software environments and using external devices. Music Information Retrieval (MIR) and gestural control of electronics are introduced, while the paradigm of 'computer-as-creator' is explored as well using algorithmic and generative methods, including stochastic and artificial intelligence (AI) -related approaches. Students develop a creative project that explores the compositional and musical possibilities of working with real-time systems, leading to live workshop presentation or performance. To take this module you should be able to : 1) apply good IT skills and knowledge of the Mac OS; 2) demonstrate understanding of the fundamentals of digital audio; 3) demonstrate knowledge of studio or notated composition, and/or improvised music and/ or contemporary music performance; 4) use and edit basic Max/MSP patches.(students are recommended to familiarise themselves with Max prior to the course; Max is installed in all Music computer labs and the EMS studios, and a free 30-day demo is available at cycling74.com/) Coordinator: Dr Patricia Alessandrini 30 credits. Performance as Research (Ethnomusicology) Performance as Research (Ethnomusicology) 30 credits The course develops your knowledge and understanding of musical performance as a research technique, particularly in relation to the music of other cultures. It addresses practical, theoretical and conceptual issues concerning music performance, including the nature of musicality, processes of learning, theories of improvisation, modal theory, and the body in music performance. Theoretical understanding is developed in conjunction with practical, experiential learning. You develop a research-centred performance project by learning to perform from a repertory outside their primary music culture, or by developing expertise in a new area of performance practice. This may include learning to perform a new instrument and/or genre; developing improvisation skills; or the arrangement and performance of pieces from a particular music tradition. You present a short performance that demonstrates your developing skills. 30 credits. Research through Musical Performance Research through Musical Performance 30 credits The module combines investigation of theoretical perspectives towards musical performance (as) research with practical exploration through individual projects. It explores the diverse ways in which such practice can be informed by research and (the more challenging question) can constitute research in and of itself. A wide range of repertoires and approaches will be considered, ranging from historical performance practice issues and the challenges presented by contemporary notated scores to creative practice in the most diverse performance contexts, both physical and electronic. A central concern will be the extent to which the processes of performance should be documented, and ways in which technology can be harnessed to aid such documentation. The module will culminate in individually negotiated projects, in which elements of practice will be demonstrably related to the theoretical foundations established during the course. The module will consist of (i) lecture/workshops with specialists across a variety of different fields (some of which may take place outside the regular timetable) and (ii) practical sessions drawing on students’ experience as performers and researchers. Each student will have the opportunity to present their project in progress at one workshop and to discuss both its practical and written elements in a one-to-one tutorial. In addition, students will be encouraged to attend relevant research seminars, including interaction with practice-researchers from other departments in order to broaden their experience of different disciplines and approaches towards practice research. To take this module you should have experience as a performer (not necessarily at Masters level); an ability to write about performance issues in a critical and analytical manner; an ability to carry out independent research. Though the module is not restricted to any specific musical traditions, some knowledge of Western art-music repertoires and notations will be expected. 30 credits. Recital Module title Credits. MMus Recital MMus Recital 60 credits This one-year module is supported through intensive one-to-one lessons with your specialist instrumental or vocal tutor (27 hours teaching per year for a full-time student, pro rata for part-time students), and performance work done elsewhere in the MMus Performance Pathway, including the Strategies in Performance module and visiting artist masterclasses organised by the Department during Term 2. Students on the MMus Performance Pathway are strongly encouraged to present a lunchtime and/or rush hour recital in Deptford Town Hall’s Council Chamber in order to refine and develop their performances prior to formal assessment. MMus Performance students are also expected to play an active and exemplary role in the wide range of Departmental Ensembles available, such as Sinfonia, Chamber Choir, Opera, Contemporary Music Ensemble, etc) to strengthen their musical knowledge and ensemble skills. 60 credits. Download the programme specification for the 2018-19 intake. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office. Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.
