Entry requirementsEntry Requirements -Admission is available to honours graduates in Music and holders of graduate diplomas in Music. -We will also consider applicants without formal admission qualifications if they are able to demonstrate an equivalent level of achievement.
Academic titleMusic MMus/PgDip (Composition)
Course descriptionApplications
Complete and submit the MMus Music Application Form. Please note that at least one of your referees should have a knowledge of your analytical and critical skills.
You should also enclose:
-a portfolio of compositions with tapes if available.
-an example of a completed piece of written work on a musical topic.
Shortlisted applicants will be called for interview where your potential will be assessed.
Introduction
Postgraduates join an active community of composers. We foster a creative environment by the provision of performance opportunities, a music library well stocked with contemporary music scores, recordings, books and four well-equipped electronic music studios containing a range of analogue and digital instruments.
Postgraduate composers receive regular individual tuition from staff composers, all of them with national and international reputations. This is complemented by group seminars, which examine ideas and trends in significant modern works and electroacoustic music under the general heading contemporary musical language.
In addition, the annual Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival provides an unparalleled opportunity to experience the most recent developments in new music.
You may work exclusively in acoustic music, or in a combination of both acoustic and electronic musics. Opportunities exist to work in the area of concert music, stage and video music as well as other functional music. The course aims to encourage postgraduates to develop their compositional techniques and to achieve a degree of aesthetic maturity.
Course Structure
The course consists of three strands:
-Composition Tutorials - individual lessons (weekly for full-time, or fortnightly for part-time).
You will prepare a portfolio of compositions of approximately 30 minutes duration. At least one work must be performed. You may call upon the considerable performing resources of the Department and will also be given the opportunity to write for a small professional ensemble.
-Contemporary Music Language - a series of seminars consisting of a mixture of formal teaching and the presentation of seminar papers. Topics may include:
The study of recent developments on the contemporary scene.
The philosophical poses adopted by the various European avant-gardists.
In-depth analysis of works demonstrating a variety of aesthetic, technical and stylistic issues.
Academic Study - all students are required to take two lecture/seminar based modules:
Postgraduate Study Skills
Issues in Musical Thought and Practice Today
Teaching and Assessment
You will present a portfolio of compositions, approximately 30 minutes in length. One work must be for a prescribed professional ensemble, with or without live electronics. This work is performed in a public concert.
As part of the supporting lecture and seminar programme you will prepare three folios of specified coursework, two of around 3,500 words, and a third of around 6,000 words.
Other Information
It is possible for composition to be taken as a joint course with Music MMus/PgDip (Contemporary Music Studies). Please contact the course leader for further details.
Research Environment
The Music Department offers an outstanding research environment for both music and music technology. The Department scored a 5 in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, and all full-time staff are active researchers, as performers, composers or musicologists. The Creative Arts Building (newly completed in 2008) comprises purpose-built facilities, including concert hall, extensive studio facilities and sound-proofed rehearsal spaces. The University Library has an impressive range of research materials and multimedia resources, and houses special archival collections (including that of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival).
The School offers bursaries towards the cost of taught MA and MMus courses, which serve as ideal preparation for research degrees (MPhil and PhD), which are offered in all disciplines. A number of our postgraduates are employed as teaching assistants, providing a useful stepping-stone towards an academic career. In addition to subject-specific skills students will develop their intellectual self-confidence and capacity for independent study and a portfolio of key skills that distinguishes all disciplines in Higher Education.