Unit information: Inside Medieval Music in 2010/11

Unit name	Inside Medieval Music
Unit code	MUSI39008
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Hornby
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Music
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This will take a case study every week and we'll get right inside it - analysing it, putting it in historical context, trying to find some way into it aesthetically, culturally and conceptually. The essays will either be an in-depth discussion of a piece of medieval music (not one of the class case studies) or else or a discussion of the challenges of studying and understanding early music, with Leech Wilkinson's The Modern Invention of Medieval Music as a possible starting point.

Aims:

• to give students an opportunity to expand the breadth of their historical knowledge in the field of medieval music

• to expand their knowledge of the associated musical repertoire and to be able to comment accurately and perceptively on matters of style and structure

• to develop their ability to assemble and assimilate information from a wide variety of sources

• to engage in critical evaluation of texts about music

• to develop effective and detailed arguments, both aurally and in writing to display competence in the practices, processes, techniques and methodologies that underpin musicological practice.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this unit will:

• provide a comprehensive framework against which students can explore and gain deeper understanding of many different types of music

• enable students to describe with confidence the techniques and procedures employed

• give students a clear and detailed understanding of the historical contexts in which these repertories came into being

• enable students to assess how political, economic and social situations have influenced various approaches to musical composition

• encourage students to write critically and perceptively about a wide range of musical topics, using appropriate language and terminology

• demonstrate, where relevant, a detailed knowledge of relevant performance practices

• defend and critique arguments orally and in writing

And additionally (specific to Levels H and M) to:

• incorporate a consistently strong grasp of detail with respect to content

• argue effectively and at length (including an ability to cope with complexities and to describe and deploy these effectively)

• display to a high level skills in selecting, applying, interpreting and organising information, including evidence of a high level of bibliographical control

• describe, evaluate and/or challenge current scholarly thinking

• discriminate between different kinds of information, processes, interpretations

• take a critical stance towards scholarly processes involved in arriving at historical knowledge and/or relevant secondary literature

• engage with relevant theoretical, philosophical or social constructs for understanding relevant works or traditions

• demonstrate an understanding of concepts and an ability to conceptualise

• situate material within relevant contexts (invoking interdisciplinary contexts where appropriate)

• apply strategies laterally (perhaps leading to innovative results).

Teaching Information

Ten 2-hour seminars.

Assessment Information

• BA: one 3000-word essay (50%) and 2-hour examination (50%)

• MA: two 3000-word essays (equally weighted)