MUSI1271: Composition 1: 20th-Century Innovations

• A-Level Music or equivalent.

• This module introduces the fundamentals of contemporary compositional thinking at Level 1, with an emphasis on practical experimentation. Compositional skills will be developed in the context of a broad historical / style study of key repertory of 20th- and 21st-century Western art music. It is also a practically-based introduction to contemporary music for students wishing to study performance musicology. The strong performance element of this course will enable students to achieve a greater technical and aesthetic understanding of contemporary classical music. It will also enable composers to gain a greater appreciation of the issues pertaining to the performance of new music. Students will acquire a broad range of techniques through the examination of a range of contemporary compositional approaches, with the aim of producing creative work, to be rehearsed, discussed and performed during practical composition workshops as an integral part of the course. A number of set works will provide technical and aesthetic models, as points of departure for the development of individual compositional interests.

• The composition part of the course is intended to stimulate and develop creative potential through the study and practical use of innovative contemporary compositional and performance techniques, via a structured historical overview of music from the early 20th century to the present day. During any one year, compositional areas to be covered may include the following approaches and techniques: (a) Melody and Fixed Fields (b) Theatre and Gesture (c) Noise, Sound and Texture (d) Gradual Processes and Repetitive Structures Directed compositional exercises will be undertaken, using specific technical models and approaches from the western avant-garde, experimentalist, modernist and post-modern traditions of new music (often somewhat misleadingly termed contemporary classical music in the UK), in order to help students explore sonic possibilities through the dialectics of constraint and freedom. Students will write compositional exercises for each other to perform, as an integral part of the course. The main areas of compositional thinking will be covered in the first two terms based around more formal lecture/seminar-based teaching methods and practical workshops. The performing element of the course is intended to give students first-hand experience of devising, rehearsing and performing contemporary music in workshops and concerts as appropriate, encountering a range of different performance contexts, from solo performance, to larger ensembles. In addition, they may be introduced to elementary conducting skills pertinent to new music. As a practice-based introduction to contemporary music, it is as relevant for performers and students wishing to study musicology and analysis, and is not only aimed at those students primarily interested in composition (i.e. those students who may already think of themselves as composers). The course will enable performance students to gain a greater appreciation of the technical and aesthetic aspects of contemporary music, just as it will also enable composers to gain a greater appreciation of the issues pertaining to the performance of new music. The wider contextual issues around contemporary composition will also frame the debates and discussions.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Students will gain a technical and critical understanding of contemporary western composition, embracing a range of technical approaches, aesthetics, concepts and forms.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will have first-hand experience of composing and performing music using compositional and performance techniques developed in the 20th / 21st centuries.

Key Skills:

• Students will achieve a greater competence and experience in playing contemporary classical music and in performing in small and large ensembles.

• Teaching will be by a combination of lectures, tutorials and practical composition workshops.
• The practical study of contemporary music demands the acquisition of subject-specific technical knowledge and aesthetic understanding (compositional models), and performance skills (rehearsal participation, creative interpretation, practical competence) and core skills (computer notation).
• Students will be assessed in TWO different ways on the course: 1. composition portfolio; 2. 48-hour takeaway paper.

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