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Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title Topics in Musicology 3
Module Code MPA1025 (ITS: MC203)
Faculty Humanities & Social Sciences School Theology, Philosophy & Music
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 7.5
Description

This module introduces students to three aspects of musicology (1) the study of music as text in the characteristics of chamber and orchestral music in the long 18th century (2) ethnomusicological approaches to traditional and classical music across cultures and (3) sociological and psychological perspectives on human engagement with music. Through engaging with these topics students develop knowledge and skills in analytical, critical, interpretative, cultural and contextual engagement with music sources and contexts. They deepen their understanding through reading key texts, extensive listening and analysis of music in a variety of media including music scores and through preparation for and participation in guided discussion. On completion of the module students will be able to apply their musical and theoretical knowledge and understanding in well-constructed written argument, supported by musical evidence.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify musical characteristics, forms, styles and compositional techniques of the classical and early romantic style and recognise these in listening and examination of scores.
2. Critically comment on and discuss a range of chamber and orchestral music from the long 18th century with an awareness of its context and its significance in compositional and aesthetic development in this era.
3. Compare music across cultures with an understanding of inherent forms and practices and an awareness of its social and cultural context.
4. Initiate and lead a convincing, informed discussion on human engagement with music, relating personal experience to theoretical perspectives gained from key texts on music reception, aspects of performance, and creativity in music.
5. Draw on a critical and reflective understanding of the above areas to construct a persuasive written argument supported by musical evidence in response to a chosen essay topic and based on personal research.


WorkloadFull time hours per semester
TypeHoursDescription
Lecture36Lectures (3 weekly)
Workshop6Workshops (1 Fortnightly)
Tutorial3Essay preparation tutorial
Independent Study142.5Independent work
Total Workload: 187.5
Section Breakdown
CRN11145Part of TermSemester 1
Coursework60%Examination Weight40%
Grade Scale40PASSPass Both ElementsN
Resit CategoryRC1Best MarkN
Module Co-ordinatorBláithin DugganModule TeacherLinda Adams, Patricia Flynn, Robert Harvey
Assessment Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
EssayEssay40%n/a
In Class TestIn class discussion10%n/a
Formal Examination3hr exam paper50%End-of-Semester
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories;
RC1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module.
RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element.

* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite None
Co-requisite None
Compatibles None
Incompatibles None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Topic One: Chamber Music in the Long 18th Century
• Chamber music and the Classical Style • A tension of opposites: the Sonata principle • Three English Piano Sonatas: Haydn writing for a virtuoso performer • Travel broadens the composer: Mozart and the piano sonata • Beethoven • Poet of the Keyboard: Schubert • The Development of the String Quartet in the Classical era • Haydn innovations opus 20 and opus 33 • Chromatic links and viola melodies: Mozart and the string quartet • Late Haydn quartets: sparse and unusual • Beethoven: ‘the imagination must have its part’ • Schubert ‘It must be’

Topic Two: Orchestral Music of Haydn, Mozart , Beethoven and Schubert
• The significance of orchestral music in the classical era • the role of the slow introduction • Haydn at Esterhaza: Beginning Forms • The London Haydn • Mozart: Travels and influences • Mozart: two G minor symphonies • Concerto: Mozart Clarinet Concerto • Beethoven Symphonies • Eroica and 5th • Schubert Unfinished

Topic three: Traditional and classical music across cultures
• Music and practices of Javanese Gamelan • North Indian Classical Music • Ethnomusicological practices • Case study 1-4 insider/outsider

Workshop Discussion topics in Music and Human engagement
• Music and the Mind: Listening processes • Thinking Music: Mental Representations of Music • Emotion and meaning in music • Memorising Music • Music and Movement • Theories of Creativity in Music

Indicative Reading List

Books:
  • Clark, C.: 2005, The Cambridge Companion to Haydn, CUP, Cambridge,
  • Cook, N.: 1987, A guide to Musical Analysis, OUP, Oxford,
  • Grout, D.J.: 2006, A History of Western Music, Norton, New York,
  • Horton, J.: 2013, The Cambridge Guide to the Symphony, CUP, Cambridge,
  • Keefe, S.P.(Ed.): 2006, Mozart Studies, CUP, Cambridge,
  • Landon, H.C.R.: 1978, Haydn Chronicle and Works Vols 1-5, Thames and Hudson, London,
  • Rosen, C.: 1976, Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Faber, London,
  • Stowell, R. (Ed): 2003, The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet, CUP, Cambridge,
  • Tovey, D.F: 0, (1935-44) Essays in Musical Analysis, 7 volumes, OUP, London,
  • Taruskin: 2005, The Oxford History of Western Music, Vol 2, The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, OUP, New York,
  • Watson, A.: 2010, Beethoven’s Chamber Music in Context, Boydell Press,
  • Cook, N: 1990, Music, Imagination and Culture, Clarendon, Oxford,
  • Meyer, L.B: 1956, Emotion and Meaning in Music, UCP, Chicago,
  • Meill, D., McDonald, R. and Hargreaves, D.: 2005, Musical Communication, OUP, Oxford,
  • Hargreaves, D. and North, A.: 1997, The Social Psychology of Music, OUP, Oxford,
  • Juslin, P.N. (Ed): 2001, Music and Emotion, OUP, Oxford,
  • Merriam, Alan P.: 1964, An Anthropology of Music, Northwestern University Press, Illinois,
  • Seeger, A.: 2004, Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People, • Seeger, A. (2004 )(2nd ed.). Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People, 2nd ed., University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago,
  • Blacking, J.: 1973, ‘Humanly Organised Sound’ In How Musical is Man?, University of Washington Press, Seattle,


Articles:
None
Other Resources

  • 1: Scores and recordings of the music of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert,

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