Module: Topics in Musicology 6

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Topics in Musicology 6
Module Code	MPA1045 (ITS: MC304)
Faculty	Theology, Philosophy & Music	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

The purpose of this module is to engage students with two further subjects within the discipline of musicology: Modern and Contemporary Art Music and Irish Traditional Music and Culture. Students undertake general topics in addition to detailed analytical studies of prescribed works or featured genres, as appropriate; they are introduced to relevant analytical, critical, cross-cultural and historical information, and to a range of skills and competencies enabling them to understand musicological concepts as they relate to 20th and 21st century art music. Irish Traditional Music and Culture presents critical, analytic, and ethnomusicological perspectives on aspects of revival, continuity, innovation, and lived experience within the tradition in addition to practical aspects of the genre. This course will span areas which are relevant to developing an understanding of Irish traditional music performance and practice from the early twentieth-century to the present day.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand musical characteristics, forms, styles and compositional techniques of art music from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century
2. Analyse and appraise representative works and compositional approaches from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century
3. Listen and engage with music with greater awareness, illustrate its inherent patterns, and read and critique relevant texts relating to its study, practice and reception
4. Apply musicological information and analytical skills in researching and communicating informed assessments of music across a range of stylistic and socio-historical contexts
5. Understand and interpret various stylistic and socio-musical movements within the field of Irish traditional music, and apply critical, analytic, and ethnomusicological perspectives on specific musical examples from these movements

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	24	Lectures
Independent Study	101	Independent Learning
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	20768	Part of Term	Semester 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Barbara Dignam	Module Teacher

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Portfolio	Portfolio for continuous assessment tasks in Art Music and Irish Traditional Music and Culture	50%	n/a
Project	Summative Project covering 1 topic in Art Music and 1 topic in Irish Traditional Music and Culture	50%	n/a

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

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Indicative Reading List

Books:

Timothy Rommen,Bruno Nettl: 2020, Excursions in World Music, 8, Routledge, eBook on library website, 484, 0429782934
Tes Slominski: 2020, Trad Nation, Wesleyan University Press, eBook on library website, 256, 0819579270
Nick Collins,Julio d'Escrivan: 2017, The Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music, Cambridge University Press, eBook on library website, 358, 1107590027
Burkholder, J. Peter and Palisca, Claude V. ed.: 2014, Norton Anthology of Western Music; Volume Three: The Twentieth Century and After, W.W Norton & Co, New York,
Brown, A. Peter: 2003, The Second Golden Age of the Viennese Symphony, Indiana University Press, Indiana,
Dowling, Martin: 2014, Traditional Music and Irish Society: Historical Perspectives, Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey,
Fitzgerald, Mark and O’Flynn, John (eds): 2014, Music and Identity in Ireland and Beyond, Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey,
McCarthy, M.: 1999, Passing It On: The Transmission of Music in Irish Culture, Cork University Press, Cork,
Morgan, Robert P.: 1991, Twentieth Century Music, Norton & Co, New York,
O’ Flynn, J.: 2009, The Irishness of Irish Music, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Farnham,
Morgan, Robert P.: 1992, Anthology of Twentieth Century Music, W.W Norton & Co, New York,
Ó’ Canainn, T.: 1978, Traditional Music in Ireland, Routledge, London,
O’ Shea, H.: 2008, The Making of Irish Traditional Music, Cork University Press, Cork,
Potter, Keith: 2002, Four Musical Minimalists, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Rosen, Charles: 1988, Sonata Forms, W. W. Norton, New York,
Ross, Alex: 2009, The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Harper Perrenial, New York,
Taruskin, Richard: 2009, Music in the Early Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Taruskin, Richard: 2010, Music in the Late Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
Turino, T.: 2008, Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London,
Vallely, F., ed.: 2011, The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, 2nd ed., Cork University Press, Cork:,
Whittall, Arnold: 2003, Exploring twentieth-century music: tradition and innovation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
Jessica Cawley: 2020, Becoming an Irish Traditional Musician, Routledge, eBook on library website, 250, 0367429993

Articles:

Keegan, N.: 2011, ‘The linguistic turn at the turn of the tune: the language of ‘contemporary ensemble’ in Irish traditional music’, Ethnomusicology Ireland, 1 (1), 37-48,

Other Resources

None