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Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

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Module Title
Module Code (ITS: MC515)
Faculty School
NFQ level Credit Rating
Description

This module involves a detailed study of selected works from the repertoire of the medieval and Renaissance eras, with a focus on historical context, notation, formal analysis, historically informed performance, and score preparation, and includes a comparative study of their historical and modern editions. Students will develop a critical awareness of the principles and problems of transcribing and editing music from earlier historical periods, thus enabling them to select and use editions for performance and study with discernment. Students will apply a range of standard Humanities techniques to the selected works, including the historical method and approaches to textual criticism, and specialised subject-specific techniques of enquiry, including score analysis and performance studies.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the key features of neumatic notation and sing plainchant at sight using this notation system, with an awareness of stylistic considerations.
2. Understand the theoretical aspects of Renaissance vocal music and relate these to practical considerations in performance.
3. Appreciate the principles and problems of transcribing and editing music from earlier periods.
4. Apply a deep understanding both of theoretical aspects and editorial principles when selecting or creating an appropriate edition for study or performance.
5. 5. Annotate an edition of polyphonic vocal music with crucial analytical information, including formal structure, a reliable literal translation, stressed syllables, primary and secondary melodic material, dynamic and articulation markings, suspensions, linear cadences, points of imitation, changes of texture, and rhetorical devices.


WorkloadFull time hours per semester
TypeHoursDescription
Lecture22Lectures in Historical Approaches.
Workshop2Performance workshop
Independent Study28Preparation: conducting
Independent Study22Preparation: ensemble singing
Independent Study22Score analysis and annotation
Independent Study80Research and transcription
Independent Study74Music listening/viewing
Total Workload: 250
Assessment Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
ProjectTranscription and Commentary: Transcription of short piece of plainchant or polyphony from its original manuscript presentation into modern notation20%Once per semester
ProjectAnnotation Assignment: Annotated performance edition of a medieval or Renaissance vocal piece with crucial analytical information relevant to both conductor and performer(s)20%Once per semester
Research PaperComparative study of historical and contemporary editions of a medieval or Renaissance vocal piece, critically analysing editorial decisions and evaluating the success of each edition as a performance score (3500 words)60%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

1
Plainchant performance: neumatic notation; staff; clefs; custos; accidentals; the modes; melodic, rhythmic, and dynamic elements; schematic melodies and liturgical chant

2
Considerations in the transcription and editing of vocal music in mensural notation

3
Theoretical aspects of Renaissance music: modality; theory of linear cadences; word stress and micro-rhythms; tempo and proportion; ornamentation

4
Comparative analysis of editions of early choral music and evaluating editorial decisions such as barlines (varia-bar and mensurstiche notations), dynamic markings, tempo indications, phrasing, ficta accidentals (voice-leading and modal harmony), underlay, grouping brackets; discussion of advantages and disadvantages of CPDL

5
Annotating a polyphonic score: formal structure, identification of primary and secondary melodic material, dynamic and articulation markings, suspensions, brackets identifying groupings, identifying linear cadences, identifying points of imitation, identifying devices musical rhetoric

Indicative Reading List

Books:
  • Alwes, Chester Lee: 2015, A History of Western Choral Music (2 vols.), Oxford University Press,
  • Boorman, Stanley, ‘The Musical Text’, in Nicholas Cook and Mark Everist (eds.): 1999, Rethinking Music, Oxford University Press,
  • Bradley, Catherine A.: 2018, Polyphony in Medieval Paris: The Art of Composing with Plainchant, Cambridge University Press,
  • Brand, Benjamin, and David J. Rothenberg (eds): 2016, Music and Culture in the Middle Ages and Beyond: Liturgy, Sources, Symbolism, Cambridge University Press,
  • Brett, Philip: 1988, 'Text, Context and the Early Music Editor', in Authenticity and Early Music (Nicholas Kenyon, ed.), Oxford University Press,
  • Butt, John: 2002, Playing with History: The Historical Approach to Musical Performance, Cambridge University Press,
  • Caldwell, John: 1995, Editing Early Music, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press,
  • De Quadros, André: 2012, The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music, Cambridge University Press,
  • Grier, James: 1996, The Critical Editing of Music: History, Method and Practice, Cambridge University Press,
  • Johansson, Karin, and Ursula Geisler (eds.): 2014, Choral Singing: Histories and Practices, Cambridge Scholars,
  • Owens, Jessie Ann: 1997, Composers at Work: The Craft of Musical Composition 1450–1600, Oxford University Press,
  • Rink, John (ed.): 2002, Musical Performance: A Guide to Understanding, Cambridge University Press,
  • Sharp, Avery T.: 2002, Choral Music: A Research and Information Guide, Routledge,
  • Sherman, Bernard D. (ed.): 1997, Inside Early Music: Conversations with Performers, Oxford University Press,
  • Shrock, Dennis: 2009, Choral Repertoire, Oxford University Press,
  • Shrock, Dennis: 2017, Choral Monuments: Studies of Eleven Choral Masterworks, Oxford University Press,
  • Summer, Robert J.: 2013, Renaissance Music for the Choral Conductor: A Practical Guide, Scarecrow,
  • Taruskin, Richard: 1995, Text and Act: Essays on Music and Performance, Oxford University Press,
  • Unger, Melvin P: 2010, Historical Dictionary of Choral Music, Scarecrow,


Articles:
  • Margaret Bent: 1994, Editing Early Music: The Dilemma of Translation’, Early Music, 22,
Other Resources

  • Online Resource: Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, http://www.rism.info/home
  • Online Resource: Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale, https://www.rilm.org
  • Online Resource: Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, https://www.diamm.ac.uk
  • Online Resource: CPDL: Choral Public Domain Library, www.cpdl.org
  • Online Resource: IMSLP: International Music Score Library Project/Petrucci Library, https://imslp.org

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