MUM5650

Topics in composition

Thomas Reiner

8 or 12 points 2 hours per week First semester Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this unit, students should have acquired a sound understanding of contemporary approaches to music making, learned to examine and assess the aesthetic and conceptual basis of a range of contemporary musical styles and be able to assess critically the social and cultural significance and potential impact of their own work as musicians.

Synopsis The subject will introduce music students to physical, cognitive and phenomenological definitions of sound and investigate different conceptualisations of music. It will examine how these different conceptualisations are reflected in the music and in the writings of contemporary composers. Different compositional approaches are examined on the basis of composers' writings and their music in order to provide students with an understanding of the broader context of their own work. Students will investigate the idea that musical composition can be a form of research by investigating the extent to which leading contemporary composers have contributed to the general pursuit of knowledge. The subject will also focus on a range of compositional aesthetics and provide students with an understanding of the stylistic scope of the music in the second half of the 20th century. Finally students will learn to assess the social and cultural significance and potential impact of their own work as musicians through the investigation of performance contexts and the distribution of contemporary music.

Assessment (8 points): Essay (3000 words): 50% Two classroom assignments: 20% 20-minute oral presentation: 30%
Assessment (12 points): Essay (4500 words): 50% Two classroom assignments: 20% 30-minute oral presentation : 30%

Back to the 1999 Arts Handbook