| Unit name | Contemporary Compositional Ideas and Techniques |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSIM0006 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Ellison |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit is intended to build awareness of the musical questions, issues, concepts, techniques, contexts, notation and more, that have driven and been explored by composers through the 20th Century and leading especially to the present day. We will avoid any claim of a single linear narrative: multiplicity is a feature of our time. We will also avoid general claims of one approach being "better" than another, though the repertoire we will study belongs in the now-broad spectrum of Western "art music". You will make work responding to a series of themes, studied in relation to multiple examples by other composers.
This module measures general learning outcomes for the MA in Composition as follows:
1. Comprehensive technical skills for professional score writing, including instrumental and other resources, instrumentation, orchestration, score layout and presentation.
2. Up to date knowledge of and critical understanding of contemporary musical repertoire and related cultural ideas based on listening, score study and reading
3. Acquisition of technical foundations of contemporary composition, supplemented by analysis of relevant scores
4. As a Composer, to demonstrate a high level of technical assurance, the ability to select and generate appropriate constructional tools to bring about the articulation of a musical concept, to use form and argument effectively and clearly, to assess creative ideas objectively in relation to emotional and cultural context, and to develop a reflective and self-critical attitude.
5. clarity and objectivity in expressing musical ideas
6. capacity for creative and lateral thinking
Additionally students on this module will be able to:
7. compose suitable contemporary works for a variety of forces
8. display technical competence and imaginative quality within an emerging individual and imaginative musical voice
Weekly seminars, supported by tutorials and workshops with visiting musicians
A portfolio of four equally-weighted projects, each comprising an original score accompanied by a critical commentary, and submitted at the end of TB2. Successful attainment of outcome (4) will enable the student to demonstrate (1) - (3) and (5). A successful Project submission will also embody (6), as shown through (7) and (8)
