Module MUSI2571: ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING AND PERFORMING EARLY MUSIC

Department: Music

MUSI2571: ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING AND PERFORMING EARLY MUSIC

Prerequisites

• Issues and Methods in Musicology (MUSI1141) OR Readings in Musicology (MUSI1181)

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To build and expand on some of the concepts introduced in the 1H Musicology course, students should: Foster critical awareness of the methodologies underlying the study and performance of musical repertories of the Middles Ages and the Early Modern periods.
• Foster in students practical skills pertaining to the study of these repertories, for example the ability to read early notations, and basic editorial skills.
• Listen critically to performances.
• Enable students to reflect on issues of musical style, and to foster sensitivity to contextual analysis in the study of these repertories.

Content

• Transcription of music into modern score from original sources.
• aspects of performance practice of different periods.
• critical listening and writing reviews of recordings and/or concerts.
• contextual approaches to the study of key works.
• The course will focus on different repertories drawn from the period ca. 1300-1650.
• Composers will be drawn from the following: Machaut, Dufay, Binchois, Ockeghem, Busnoys, Obrecht, Josquin, Agricola, Gombert, Palestrina, Lassus, de Rore, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Frescobaldi.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be expected to: Become familiar with methodologies pertaining to the study and performance of early musical repertories.

• Demonstrate a practical working knowledge of transcription from musical sources.
• Acquire a sensitivity to questions of style and of broader contextual issues.

• To demonstrate proficiency in these issues through aural, verbal and musical means.
• To expound and elucidate ideas in a seminar format.

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

• The mixture of lectures, and seminars and tutorials ensure that students are able both to learn and to demonstrate their ability to do so in a variety of contexts and emphases.
• In addition, the variety of set tasks and acquired skills (embodied in both summative and formative assessment) will foster a deeper awareness of the multidisciplinary nature of sound musicianship, e.g. , through listening to and commenting on music, through written work and presentations in seminar, and through transcription (into modern score) of music from early periods from original sources.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Transcription collection (first term), Written reviews of concert or group of recordings as specified by course tutor.

■ 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