Course description
Applications
Complete and submit the MMus Music Application Form citing two referees.
One of these should have knowledge of your compositional skills. You should also enclose:
Critical analytical writing on contemporary music topics.
Shortlisted applicants will be called for an interview to assess their potential to benefit from the course.
Introduction
An opportunity for students who have studied contemporary music at undergraduate level to explore selected areas of new music in more detail and in greater depth. In discussion with your tutor, you will devise a programme of study which enables you to pursue a focused investigation in a specific area of contemporary music.
Our large Music Library possesses an extensive stock of contemporary scores, recordings, books and journals. Inter-library loans are also available and the Department has close contact with the promotion offices of the main international music publishers. The University aims to provide a stimulating and well-resourced environment for these specialist studies. We achieve this through the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, our vigorous research profile, an emphasis on contemporary music and new composition in concerts throughout the year.
Course Structure
The course consists of three main elements:
-Contemporary Music Studies Tutorials initially, consideration will be given to a single work or group of works, to an individual oeuvre, to a genre or to an aesthetic position explored and documented through three or four case studies. This is followed by a more focused investigation of a single work or group of interlinked works. The resulting single critical investigation should employ analytical and critical thinking developed in the supporting areas of the course.
-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 prepare three or four case studies comprising 13,000 - 15,000 words in total, and write a critical investigation of around 15,000 words.
As part of the supporting lecture and seminar programme students 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 to take Contemporary Music Studies as a joint course with Music MMus/PgDip (Composition). 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.
