| Unit name | Compositional Strategy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI20047 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Pickard |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
MUSI10059 Composition |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This unit, which is suitable both for composers and for non-composers with an interest in analysing music, builds on first-year composition and provides an essential technical and conceptual platform for further studies in composition and musical analysis. In weekly sessions, we will explore major developments in music through listening and close study of works by major composers, with a particular focus on twentieth and twenty-first century repertoire wide range of compositional techniques will be illustrated and followed up in technical and analytical exercises covering different compositional strategies, such as motivic thinking, tonal planning, polytonal/atonal harmony, serialism modes, rhythmic techniques.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Composition is offered at all levels of the programme. This unit enables you to develop the skills you have already acquired, either as a composer, through the emulation of technical models, or as a musicologist or performer, through the close analysis of techniques drawn from existing repertoire.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
A detailed and practical understanding of the techniques and the aesthetic debates around a range of musical styles will help to give you the tools you need to pursue with confidence any of the Extended Study options of which you will choose one in your Final Year. The compositional skills you will study inform all aspects of compositional practice, while the analytical tools provide a solid foundation for musicological study and for successful performance.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, you will be able to
Teaching will be delivered through seminars, supported by tutorials and self-directed exercises. Composition is both a creative and an analytical act. You will study compositional models drawn from the significant pieces of repertoire. Your study of the techniques and compositional strategies will therefore link to real-world repertoire with an associated performance history. Analysts will therefore study technique in context and composers will see techniques applied in existing compositions, which they can use to stimulate their own creativity. The formative exercises offer a ‘safe space’ in which to try out ideas for potential use in the summative pieces.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative, required for credit)
Four formative compositional/analytical exercises (0%, required for credit) [ILOs 2, 4 and 5].
These short, clearly directed tasks, and the feedback you receive, will give you the practical and conceptual tools you require to carry out the summative submissions successfully. The tasks are timed so that you can implement your learning in the summative assessments. Normally, two formative tasks will prepare you for each summative task.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative)
Two summative compositions/pieces of analysis (50% each) [ILOs 1-5].
The tasks will always give you a choice of approaches and you will always be able to choose to do either a composition or a piece of analysis. The first summative assessment is submitted mid-unit; the second at the end.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete assessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form of number of reassessment required.
Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MUSI20047).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
