(N.B. This module is core, i.e. compulsory, for BMus students, and is a prerequisite for MU2356 Music Sounded Out)

This module is designed to provide an introductory overview of art music in the Western tradition since the Renaissance, through the examination of works in six key genres of that tradition: mass, concerto, opera, symphony, lied and the genres of chamber music.

 It aims

• to introduce the concept of genre as grounded in social function but also shaping style and form;
• to develop an awareness of changes in musical style over time, both within genres and across generic boundaries, through historical case studies;

• to foster the critical evaluation of music, both in notated form and in live performance.

• distinguish the attributes of different genres and characterize broadly their changes over time;
• date an unfamiliar piece of music within the period from the Renaissance to the 20th century with some degree of accuracy or plausibility;
• position an unfamiliar work credibly in terms of genre, recognizing possibilities of hybridity and cross-fertilization;
• formulate answers to simple analytical questions through score and aural observation;
• articulate an appropriate and coherent critical response to music heard and studied in score;
• show a reflective understanding of processes of learning and research, at both a general and a personal level.

The module is delivered in twenty 50-minute small group seminars (across two semesters), for which students prepare tasksheets that are published in the Repertoire Studies Handbook and posted on Learning Central. Seminars constitute a mix of tutor presentation, student presentation and class discussion.  Students attend once during the year a Concert Review Workshop, for which they attend a pre-concert seminar, a concert and then a post-concert tutorial at which they present a completed concert review for comment and formative feedback. (Students complete a second review independently of this process.)

Students spend additional time in private reading, listening and score study.

The ability to

• offer effective verbal characterisations of music, as encountered in both notated and recorded form, using appropriate vocabulary and terminology;
• generate a critical response to a musical stimulus, citing as evidence observable features of its structure, content and articulation.

Generic skills

The ability to

• absorb concepts, build upon them and communicate the relevant synthesis accurately, convincingly and imaginatively in a coherent and communicable form;
• plan and carry through independent study tasks, and formulate the outcomes in a concise and coherent manner;

• write with clarity and precision.

Type of assessment

%Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Formative assessment

Six Seminar Preparation Tasksheets (SPTs) presented on a regular basis in class (especially learning outcomes 1, 3–5)

Throughout both semesters

Summative assessment

40

Six Independent Study Tasksheets (ISTs) presented on a regular basis in class (especially learning outcomes 1, 3–6)

Throughout both semesters

Summative assessment

20

Two reviews of designated professional concerts (especially learning outcome 5)

Signed off within month by tutor and formally submitted in Guided study week (May)

Summative assessment

40

Written examination (all learning outcomes)

2hrs

Spring semester examination period (June)

The potential for reassessment in this module

Summative assessments can be retaken in the resit period subject to the approval of the Undergraduate Examination Board.

The syllabus covers a selection of musical genres: mass, concerto, opera, symphony, lied and genres of chamber music during the period from the Renaissance to the mid-20th century, defined according to both musical form and social context. Each genre is illustrated by a principal set work, with students encouraged to explore additional case studies through task sheets and short seminar presentations, thus developing an awareness of stylistic mutation within the history of the genre. Students are required to review two live performances in the course of the academic year, demonstrating their awareness of appropriate performance style in the genres concerned. 

Useful reference sources:

Latham, Alison, The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)

Randel, Don Michael, Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003)

Sadie, Stanley, and John Tyrrell, eds., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 29 vols (London: Macmillan, 2001)

Taruskin, Richard, The Oxford History of Western Music, 5 vols (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)

None