Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

60% or higher in at least one of the following modules: MUS2006 Composing for Spaces and Places, MUS2016 DJing Skills and Turntablism, MUS2050 Songwriting, MUS2059 Contemporary Music Practice 2. We can also consider students who have taken MUS2068 Orchestration, but in most cases will need to be given examples of students' original compositions in addition.

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

1. To engage in a substantial programme of original composition that sums up the student’s undergraduate learning in composition, exploring a range of creative problems

2. To cultivate a professional attitude to creative practice and its presentation

3. To embark on relevant activities associated with the chosen type of composition, in order to maximise preparedness for further work in the discipline

4. To promote awareness of acoustic and electroacoustic methodologies, modes of expression and artistic outcomes

5. To create an environment where composition for mixed-media acoustic/electroacoustic is seen as a natural choice for the student

6. To promote creative and cultural self-awareness in a contemporary context informed by the past

7. To encourage engagement with and understanding of relevant music

Outline Of Syllabus

You will be expected to apply the expertise you have acquired through your previous compositional studies, to develop critical and technical skills relating to your chosen area of composition and awareness of its wider relationship to contemporary music and culture. Under the guidance of your supervisor and in response to your artistic development you may be required to work in particular ways (e.g. to compose for designated forces to suit workshop opportunities, to work collaboratively, to use creative writing or other divergent strategies). Alongside developing your creative imagination you will be expected to cultivate a professional attitude to your practice and its presentation.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

At the end of the module students should be able to:

1.       Understand issues associated with structuring composition, including organisation of time, idiomatic practice, harmonic process, timbral and textural process, stylistic control etc

2.       Be familiar with contemporary repertoire

3.       Understand appropriate modes of expression (eg notation, idiomatic characteristics, performance instructions, studio technique)

4.       Take a broad and intelligent approach to acoustic and electroacoustic musics

5.       Understand their own practice in a contemporary context informed by the past

Intended Skill Outcomes

At the end of the module students should be able to:

1.       structure new music from an informed perspective, engaging in a creative dialogue with music of the past - incuding the very recent past - the present and plausible scenarios for the future

2.       incorporate previous learning into original material, demonstrating significant development from previous stages of study and over the final year

3.       compose for a selection of forces, be it acoustic, electroacoustic or a combination of both

4.       demonstrate fluency in the use of appropriate modes of expression (eg notation, idiomatic approaches, studio technique)

5.       produce a performance and/or recording as appropriate

6.       work independently on a creative project

7.       Discuss their own practice, both verbally and in writing, in the context of contemporary culture informed by the past

8.       Discuss existing music, both verbally and in writing, demonstrating engagement with and understanding of relevant musical materials

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Seminars outline creative briefs, present models, encourage critical discussion and promotes the sharing of repertoire and student work

Tutorials monitor progress and secure the realisation of creative projects

Private study constitutes the bulk of the work, where students carry out their creative work

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Portfolio demonstrates skills outcomes 1-6.

Supporting written documentation (essay) demonstrates knowledge outcomes 1-6 and skills outcomes 7 & 8.

Formative aural examination demonstrates knowledge outcomes 1 - 6 and skills outcomes 7 & 8.

General Notes

N/A