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MUSI1211: Historical Composition Techniques

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Type Tied
Level 1
Credits 20
Availability Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap
Location Durham
Department Music

Prerequisites

  • A-Level Music or equivalent.

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • The main aim of the module is to give students insight into musical structure and style through first-hand experience of creating short pieces using musical languages of the past. To be specific, students will learn aboutand learn how to usecontrapuntal and harmonic principles of Western art music from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

Content

  • The range of topics covered in any one year may include (but will not necessarily be restricted to) the following: (a) strict counterpoint; (b) sixteenth-century imitative counterpoint; (c) figured bass and the Baroque trio sonata; (d) eighteenth-century keyboard genres.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • Students will acquire a basic theoretical and practical knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, as well as the ways in which composers employed these resources during the historical period specified.

Subject-specific Skills:

  • Students will develop, through practical experience of pastiche composition, a deeper understanding of musical styles and an insight into the craft of composition during the historical period in question.

Key Skills:

  • Students will experience a rigorous approach to composition that can help them to develop their logical and problem-solving skills. At the same time, they learn how to reconcile imagination and expressivity with given stylistic constraints.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Teaching will be by weekly lectures, typically incorporating individual or group work, and tutorials distributed throughout the year. Students will be asked to do formative exercises to develop their fluency in composing and to deepen their stylistic understanding. Summative assessment will take the form of a portfolio of composition tasks.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Lectures20Weekly during terms 1 and 290 minutes30Yes
Group tutorials/seminars3Throughout the year 30 minutes1.5Yes
Reading and preparation168.5 
TOTAL200 

Summative Assessment

Component: Portfolio of composition tasksComponent Weighting: 100%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Portfolio approx 3-4 mins100Yes

Formative Assessment

Formative assignments will be set regularly.

More information

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