Module MUSI3531: PROGRAMME MUSIC, 1700 TO THE PRESENT

Department: MUSIC

MUSI3531: PROGRAMME MUSIC, 1700 TO THE PRESENT

Prerequisites

• Historical Trends and Issues in the 19th and 20th Centuries (MUSI2591) OR Theory and Musicology (MUSI2561).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To build on Level 1 and Level 2 work in areas of musicology and analysis and extend this into areas of particular musical repertoire, in this case programme music.
• The course focuses on embedding and enhancing musicological and analytical skills within examination of this repertoire, and developing methodological techniques with application across other repertoires in music.

Content

• An exploration of programme music from 1700 to the present, engaging with musicological and analytical issues discussed in relevant modules of Preliminary Honours, and designed to complement work undertaken across year 2 of Final Honours.
• Terms 1 and 2 will be divided into five-or-four-week blocks (depending upon the number of weeks in a term).
• Each block will investigate a work or works of a particular composer or set of composers who serve to illustrate key aspects of programme music.
• Each block will do the following: cover composer's or composers' historical background.
• discuss philosophical, literary and/or aesthetic issues pertaining to their use of programme.
• provide an analytical exploration of their compositions relating to programme music.
• and present musicological literature which pertains to the composer or composers.
• Term 3 will involve student-led and assessed presentations in which key elements of the module are further explored and embedded.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will gain a broad-based knowledge of the particular repertoire of programme music from 1700 to the present.

• They will be able to interpret the underlying philosophical, literary and aesthetic issues which influence the development of this genre, and they will achieve an understanding of its place within the spectrum of recognized musical genres.

• They will acquire key interpretational skills based on a survey of methodological techniques, and will develop an historical awareness of repertoire unique to this genre.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module consists of 19 lectures, 3 seminars and 3 tutorials.
• The teaching takes place through weekly lectures with accompanying directed reading and formative exercises/essays.
• The reading may take the form of seminar texts to be discussed in tutorials, culminating in papers given in larger seminars.
• This format is designed to ensure the active participation of students in the learning process, offering opportunities for discussion and the development of critical thinking.
• Formative exercises embed key concepts taught in lectures, and may form the basis of discussion in seminars and tutorials.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Presentations, regular exercises and essays, plus preparation for and participation within tutorials and seminars.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University