Last modified: 20 Jun 2025 15:13
This course is designed for master’s level composers to encounter key repertoire of contemporary music and relate new ideas to their own practice. The works studied will largely be from the Western classical tradition, but students will also have the opportunity to explore different and hybrid genres to obtain a fuller picture of today’s music making. Students will be required to regularly critique existing works as part of their formative assessment. The summative assessment will require students to show how they have assimilated new ideas and worked them into their own music.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Second Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Composition Playlist is a course for master’s composers to encounter and understand key repertoire of contemporary music, to listen and read widely and be able to assimilate the ideas and techniques espoused by this repertoire into their own work. The repertoire will be updated year on year to reflect the changes in contemporary music making but will have at its core a selection of works providing core knowledge and skills for emerging composers. The course will largely feature works from the past 50 years but will occasionally reach further back to support the development of particular skills, techniques or understanding. The works studied will largely be by composers working in the Western classical tradition, but students will also have the opportunity to explore different and hybrid genres to obtain a fuller picture of the today’s music making. Students will be required to listen and read to various sources before each lecture/seminar and to develop a critical awareness of it’s the social, political and cultural resonances of the repertoire studied. The course will culminate in a composition assessment where students will use some of the techniques and ideas encountered in the classes in their own work. Students taking this class will finish the course with a greater understanding of contemporary music repertoire, how their own work relates to the practices found in this repertoire and will have a greater set of tools and resources to aid their future composing.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 70 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 41 | Feedback Weeks | 44 | |
| Feedback |
The course will culminate in a composition assessment where students will use some of the techniques and ideas encountered in the classes in their own work. The assessed composition will be 8 minutes long. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | Demonstrate a degree of individuality in composition. |
| Factual | Remember | Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of various compositional approaches and methods, particularly contemporary practices and idioms. |
| Procedural | Apply | Be able to use notation effectively (where appropriate) with performer and demonstrate communication skills by translating the music from composer to performer if required. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 34 | Feedback Weeks | 37 | |
| Feedback |
Extensive written feedback and immediate oral feedback |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Remember | Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of various compositional approaches and methods, particularly contemporary practices and idioms. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Apply methods of aural and written analysis to the process of composition |
| Procedural | Apply | Communicate an applied knowledge and understanding of the techniques and aesthetic processes involved in creating music. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
The course will culminate in a composition assessment where students will use some of the techniques and ideas encountered in the classes in their own work. The assessed composition will be 8 minutes long. For this resit students must also submit a 1000 word commentary to highlight fully the repertoire encountered in the course and how this has influenced their final submission. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Remember | Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of various compositional approaches and methods, particularly contemporary practices and idioms. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Apply methods of aural and written analysis to the process of composition |
| Procedural | Apply | Be able to use notation effectively (where appropriate) with performer and demonstrate communication skills by translating the music from composer to performer if required. |
| Conceptual | Create | Demonstrate a degree of individuality in composition. |
| Procedural | Apply | Communicate an applied knowledge and understanding of the techniques and aesthetic processes involved in creating music. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Demonstrate ability to take on board advice& suggestions from peer group composers through discussion & sharing of work & demonstrate critical thinking & be aware of their place in contemporary music |
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