(Note that this module is a prerequisite for MU1208 Composition Ib, which is required for the study of composition and studio techniques in following years. It is also a prerequisite for MU3164 20th-Century Contrapuntal Practice)

This module is designed to introduce and employ a fundamental set of compositional tools (techniques, materials, structures and skills) to allow students to establish a confident basic compositional technique

 It also aims to

• encourage musical creativity and imagination;
• teach students how to notate ideas effectively and correctly by hand and using Sibelius software;
• introduce students to a number of important early 20th-century composers, their musical languages, techniques and styles;
• introduce students to a range of instruments and their technical capabilities;
• encourage a habit of active, analytical listening.

• compose short works for solo instruments using a range of materials and developmental techniques, particularly those found in music written of the period 1900–45;
• compose effectively for a range of solo instruments;
• notate musical ideas correctly and effectively.

The following teaching and learning activities will be used in this module:

• seven 50-minute lectures and six 30-minute small-group tutorials
• attendance at (at least) two of the School’s contemporary music chamber concerts
• a listening log worth 10% of the marks in each assignment, detailing works that have been explored in relation to the project and commenting reflectively on how these pieces have influenced the composer’s practice
• an informal workshop/performance opportunity at the end of the first semester

 Discipline-specific (including practical) skills

An ability to

• apply compositional/technical skills and knowledge in composing short pieces;
• think analytically and reflectively about one’s own music and the music of others;
• notate both conventional musical ideas correctly and neatly.

 Generic skills

An ability to

• pursue independent creative work whilst building upon established methods;
• understand and explore how creativity and practicality intersect in the creation of new work;
• present creative work neatly, correctly, appropriately and attractively.

The potential for reassessment in this module

All summative assessments with the exception of the attendance component can be retaken in the resit period subject to the approval of the Undergraduate Examination Board.

Three assignments are completed across the semester, with two lectures and two small group tutorials (5-6 students) supporting each assignment.The assignments are divided across the semester as follows:

Week 1: Introduction – Key concepts and issues

Weeks 2–4: A piece for solo percussion

Weeks 5–8: A piece for solo wind instrument

Weeks 9–11: A piece for solo piano, guitar or marimba

Adler, Samuel, The Study of Orchestration, 3rd edn (New York: Norton, 2002)

Cooper, Grosvenor W.  and Meyer, Leonard, The Rhythmic Structure of Music (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960/1963)

Dallin, Leon, Techniques of Twentieth Century Composition, 3rd edn(Dubuque, IA: W. C. Brown, 1975)

Gould, Elaine, Behind Bars (London: Faber, 2011)

Kennan, Kent and Grantham, Donald, The Technique of Orchestration, 5th edn(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1997)

Persichetti, Vincent, Twentieth-Century Harmony (New York: Norton, 1961)

Read, Gardner, Music Notation, 2nd edn(Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1969)

Schoenberg, Arnold, Fundamentals of Musical Composition (London: Faber, 1967)