Course Catalogue

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The course explores the relationship between the different components that interact in the performance of music, including instruments, technologies, spaces and contexts, equipping students with critical tools to probe and understand the variety of styles, conventions and beliefs about performance within music history.

10 x1h lectures and 10 x1h seminars as scheduled on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into Music, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

Notation and Performance Practice (MUSIC4058) 

None

The standard assessments for this course are: 

■ Essay (3,000 words) - 60%

■ Presentation or performance (15 minutes) - 40%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available: 

■ There is no alternative to the essay, but extensions to the deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustment (Students should follow the usual process for extensions). 

■ Asynchronous recorded performance or recorded presentation as alternatives to the performance or presentation.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.  

This course aims to:

■ equip students with a variety of critical tools, based on both scholarship and practice, to understand how instruments, technologies, spaces and contexts interact in the performance of music and the shaping of performance cultures historically and in the present

■ empower students to make informed decisions about their own artistic practice, drawing upon critical insights on performance cultures and adapting these approaches to specific performance contexts

■ support students in developing a nuanced awareness of stylistic differences in performance and interpretation both in historical contexts and in current practices, enabling them to respond to different performance contexts and requirements.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ differentiate and assess a range of performance practices and cultures, both historical and contemporary.

■ evaluate and apply knowledge of historical or contemporary performance practices and cultures to enhance their own creative practice.

■ question and critique beliefs and ideologies concerning music performance within specific cultural and contextual settings

■ criticise debates about historical performance and the ideology of performance