Musicology

There are eight full-time musicologists on the staff at Bristol:

Musicology broadly means the study of music in the same way as biology means the study of living things. But what a musicologist does has changed radically in the last few decades. Typically, it used to involve the study of older classical music, usually composed by men, usually white, usually from the Global North. Their music would be analysed, their lives captured in biographies, and the sum of their labours written up in history books with titles like The Oxford History of Western Music (this last a real, and in fact rather brilliant, 6-volume tome by the late Richard Taruskin).

What we do at Bristol reflects the seismic changes that have transformed musicology in recent years. How, for instance, might music reflect the way a community or a nation sees itself, comes to terms with a difficult history such as invasion, enslavement or even its own oppression of others? How has music been used as propaganda, or as a form of education? What was the role of music a thousand years ago in tiny beleaguered communities trying to resist sweeping reforms of Christian worship? What did music mean in nations reeling from war and revolution? And who are the lost voices of music history? The music of Black and female composers – lost or sidelined for decades, even centuries – is changing the way we see that ‘history of Western music’ for good.

Music research at Bristol addresses these questions, and more. We believe passionately in an inclusive music history that celebrates all kinds of music practice, from the earliest attempts to capture oral traditions using notation, to the living practice of hip-hop, film and other popular musics.

First and second years (mandatory units)

In Year One (Music and Society I & II) we give Music students a foundation for reading about, listening to, and critically evaluating a wide range of musical practice nased around the notions of Music and Place, and Music and People. In these units, we train students to write university level essays.

In Year Two (Approaches to Music History I) we explore the repertoires and musical practices of past centuries in relation to broader social, political, technological and cultural trends. We interrogate key works, composers, performers and genres in different contexts, to encourage you to learn both about music history and about the ways of thinking, researching and writing about music history.

Second and final years (optional units)

We offer a varying list of optional units to second and final years, often in smaller groups, and reflecting the current research interests of our teaching staff. Indicative optional units include:

Music and Migration in the 20th century
Music and Sex
Music and the Holocaust
Composers as Film Figures
Inside Medieval Music
Medieval Music Palaeography
Music and Comedy in Film and TV Music
The Romantic Imagination
Opera & Politics
Music in Times of War
The Film Musical
Music in Asia
African-American Music in the 20th Century
Hip-hop Music and Culture
Music and Sex
Music, Technology and Cultural Change, 1900 - present day
Twentieth-century opera
Intertextuality in Music
Aesthetics and Criticism

Final year (optional units)

Final year students with an interest in musicology can elect to write a 20-credit (5,000) word project, or a 40-credit (10,000 word) dissertation. Students are guided through a combination of seminars, lectures and individual supervision.

Our regular research seminar series, where staff members, PhD students and distinguished guest speakers present their latest work, is open to all our undergraduates. We also host occasional study days and conferences.

Department of Music

Musicology

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