About this course

With this BA German and Music degree, you’ll become fluent in German and you'll spend a year living and working abroad. This course is a particularly suitable combination, given the rich musical tradition linked to the German-speaking world.

You’ll start at a level that matches your ability in spoken and written German, which will help you to progress quickly. You’ll have excellent resources to support you. The Centre for Language Study at Southampton has everything you need.

As well as developing your practical language skills in German, you can choose options according to your interests in both subjects. A module in year 2 prepares you for the following year abroad.

Music options embrace a wide range of styles and traditions and allow you to develop your studies in performance, composition and musicology. In addition to technical, historical and critical music studies, there are opportunities to engage with a varied programme of practical music activities both on and off campus.

To explore your passion for music you can:

attend the most extensive series of professional concerts and workshops of any UK university, in our acclaimed Turner Sims concert hall
join a band, orchestra or choir and take part in a thriving local music scene

Our partner universities in the Erasmus programme are in Germany and Austria.

You’ll write a final year dissertation with guidance from a supervisor.

Course location

This course is based at Avenue.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Download the Course Description Document

The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.

Changes due to COVID-19

Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2022 to 2023. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.

Find out more on our COVID advice page.

ODT

Download 2021-22 Course Description Document

Entry requirements

Other requirements

UK students

International students

Other ways to qualify

Got a question?

Please contact our enquiries team if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.

Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000

Course structure

Each year combines compulsory modules to build your mastery of German with a wide range of Music options. This allows you to tailor your learning to suit your interests and ambitions.

You can also take courses from different subject areas or learn a different language.

To give you the best possible start, we use our system of 7 language levels to work out your proficiency in German. We can then make sure our teaching develops your skills as effectively as possible.

Year 1 overview

You’ll improve your German and choose from a range of optional subjects such as:

German history, politics and society
modern German culture
elements of linguistics - sound, structure and meaning
composition fundamentals

music technology
transformations in twentieth-century music
fundamentals of analysis, counterpoint and harmony

You'll also have the opportunity to get performance tuition with a combination of individual tuition and a variety of workshop, public performance and ensemble opportunities.

Year 2 overview

You’ll develop your listening, reading, writing in German. You’ll also take a module preparing you to study and work abroad in year 3.

You can choose from a wide range of optional modules in both German, linguistics and music including topics such as:

globalisation: culture, language and the nation state
psycholinguistics
language and society in the German-speaking world
multilingualism
composition
jazz theory
music therapy
film music composition

There is also the opportunity to take more performance tuition either solo, accompanied or with an ensemble or rhythm section.

Year 3 overview

You can spend this year abroad in a German-speaking country:

as an English language assistant in a school
studying on a university course
on an approved work placement

Find out more about the year abroad.

You’ll also do an independent study project.

Year 4 overview

We will support you in your return to university from your year abroad and we’ll help you to talk about your experiences in a way that enhances your employability.

You can choose to write a Modern Languages dissertation, or a Research Project in music, exploring a topic of particular interest to you in greater depth.

You’ll take modules focusing on areas of interest that you have developed during your studies.

Choices include:

language and the city
translation
language teaching
second language acquisition
public service interpreting
jazz and popular music: theory, practice and improvisation
songwriting
commercial composition
ensemble performance

Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.

Modules

Changes due to COVID-19

Find out more on our COVID advice page.

For entry in Academic Year 2021-22

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

You must study the following modules in year 1:

Academic Skills for ML students

This module is designed to ease the transition from A-level to the first year of a single or combined honours degree programme by setting out clearly what we expect of you at undergraduate level and equipping you with the resources to be able to operate a...

Exploring Music 1

Offering a broad overview of European music in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, this module will also allow you to develop your academic writing skills. Lectures introduce styles and genres of the period, including the polyphonic Mass, the sonata, the...

German History, Politics and Society

The course offers an outline of German history that begins in the post-unification era and takes successive backward views that track developments into the 19th century.

German Language Stage 4

The aim of every language course at the University is to enable you to communicate in your target language (TL) at that particular level and in your particular area of interest. We use the word ‘communicate’ in its widest sense, meaning that you will not ...

Performance Skills A

This module introduces music performance skills. You undertake individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (8 hours of lessons) along with a variety of workshops exploring topics from across the performance spectrum. With the help of y...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 1:

Applications of Linguistics

This unit will introduce you to the main areas relevant to applied language studies.

Composition Fundamentals

Composition Fundamentals will introduce you to a range of compositional techniques and principles. We will consider different ways of creating musical ideas and different approaches to structuring, varying and developing musical ideas. In particular, we w...

Elements of Linguistics - Sound, Structure and Meaning

This module is intended to provide an outline for some of the main aspects of Linguistics.

Exploring Music 2

This module aims to introduce you to some of the major musical forms, techniques and styles cultivated between 1750 and 1900. During the module you will develop your knowledge and understanding of ‘Classical’ and ‘Romantic’ musical styles and genres while...

First Year Ensemble Performance

Ensemble performance is a crucial skill in any musician's portfolio, in addition to being one of the most rewarding aspects of musical life. In this module you will prepare a 15-18 minute programme of instrumental, vocal or mixed ensemble music of your...

Global Transformations in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music

This module explores the history of key twentieth and twenty-first musical styles and practices including jazz, popular and art music’s. Its scope is global, with the aim of "provincialising" European and North American experiences. In addition the module...

Performance in Practice B

This module allows you to develop your music performance skills to a new level. A combination of individual tuition in your chosen performance specialism* (12 hours of lessons) and a variety of workshop and public performance opportunities provide you ...

Reading Culture

This introductory course will give you an overview of the history of literary and cultural studies, and to make you aware of a range of different approaches to cultural texts.

Reading the City

This module will introduce you to studying questions of history, society and culture through the prism of Southampton in order that you can apply those approaches to the study of cities in the French-, Spanish- and German-speaking world.

You must study the following modules in year 2:

German Language Stage 5

Managing Research and Learning

The module will clarify the links between the Year Abroad project and modules in years two and four.

You must also choose from the following modules in year 2:

Adventures in Musical Research

This module is based on a selection of recent and innovative scholarly writings on music, which challenge the reader to examine their assumptions about the nature of both scholarship and music as cultural practices. It is taught together with MUSI6022 Adv...

Autopsying European Art Music

This module focuses on the detailed 'hands-on' analysis of works of European art music, guided by a selection of classic and contemporary theoretical and analytical writings that challenge assumptions about the inner structure of musical works. Extramusic...

Composition Workshop

This module explores important historical and contemporary techniques and approaches to composition to give you a range of ways of thinking about creating, varying, transforming and organising musical materials. We will look at examples of compositional i...

Conducting

This module covers basic gestures used in duple, triple, compound, mixed and asymmetric metres; cueing of players and singers, and introducing expressive gestures for dynamics, phrasing etc.; basic approaches to rehearsal and score-marking technique.

Discourse Analysis

This course highlights and analyses the link between language structure and its situation of occurrence.

Ensemble Performance 1

In this module students prepare one programme of instrumental, vocal, or mixed-ensemble music of their own choice, which is coached regularly by members of staff. There is an expectation that students, not staff, will independently organise an ensemble ...

Film Music Composition

Composing music for films has a rich, 100+ year history, and technological advances and inspired and innovative teams continue to evolve this dynamic sector of the creative industries. You will be introduced to this history and a series of contemporar...

Global Hip Hop

The module aims to develop your critical awareness of hip-hop as a social phenomenon and the ways that scholars have approached hip hop. The main focus of this course will be rap music, and we will also touch on other elements of hip-hop including DJing (...

Globalisation: Culture, Language and The Nation State

This module will problematize the concept of globalisation and explore and develop an understanding of its meaning in economic, political and cultural terms.

How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics

How are the arts getting back to work again after Covid-19? This is a critically important question for everyone who cares about them, artists and audiences alike. If you’re a student considering a career in the arts you’ll want to know where fresh opport...

Interactive! Music in Video Games and Media

Interactive music and sound can be found in diverse forms, from video games and interactive installations through to data driven sonic art and works with audience/performer interventions. Such situations provide composers and sound artists with both exci...

Language and Society in German-Speaking World

The first part of the course considers the position of German in the world: the importance of the geo-political position of the German-speaking countries in the centre of Europe and the status of German as an international language.

Learning about Culture: Introduction to Ethnography

Multilingualism

This module will introduce you to the notion of ‘Multilingualism’, how this is understood and represented in different ways, and why it matters to you. You will explore how people become multilingual, and whether it makes a difference if multilinguals are...

Music Therapy 1: Fundamentals

This module explores how music therapy uses music very differently to the entertainment industry, introducing you to the unique use of music as a powerful clinical tool in health and education settings. Using clinical music therapy techniques, music can b...

Music and Sound Production 1

This module allows you to explore basic multi-track recording and production techniques. The module is based in the University’s recording studios and music computing facilities where you will explore a range of techniques and equipment from both theoreti...

Performance Tuition (Single Study)

This module allows you to continue to develop your music performance skills. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improve your...

Psycholinguistics

This course examines three areas of psycholinguistics which help to understand what the relationship between language and the human mind might be.

Singing Together: Working with Voices

This module offers a practical introduction to organising, arranging for, rehearsing and performing with groups of singers of any level, from beginners to professionals. It is particularly aimed at students who are interested in community music or music e...

Sound and Voice

This course builds on the basic concepts of phonetics introduced in the first year, with an introduction to acoustic science for the study of speech sounds.

Syntax: Studying Language Structure

This course will provide you with an introduction to syntax within current linguistic theory.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

This unit will introduce you to key issues, concepts and methods in teaching English as a second/foreign language.

The American Musical

This module introduces you to the history of the American Musical and examines some of the issues connected with race, exoticism, gender and national identity as they were articulated in this multimedia entertainment between the late nineteenth century an...

The EU and European Identity

The course seeks to provide an overview of the evolution of the European Union (EU) from its early stages to the present. In so doing, it examines the ideas and history of the EU, the institutions of the EU, examples of specific issue areas and the presen...

The Operas Of Benjamin Britten

In this module you will explore the operas by Benjamin Britten, one of Britain’s most influential composers. Britten’s operas are among the few 20th-century works that hold a central position in today’s operatic canon. They are produced regularly by world...

Them Changes: Composing and arranging for jazz and jazz influenced genres.

This module gives students a chance to compose for jazz and jazz influenced ensembles. This module will embrace the rich tradition of jazz writing and its conventions as heard in the works of the great jazz composers, such as Duke Ellington, Herbie Han...

Variation and Change in English

This module takes an empirical approach to questions such as: - Are there patterns of speech and language associated with males and females in varieties of English? - What is the role of teenagers in the propagation of change in English? - After a...

Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present

This module will introduce you to German metropolitan culture and politics in the 20th century with particular reference to Vienna and Berlin, using a wide range of sources which will include literature, film and architecture.

You must study the following module in year 4:

German Language Stage 7

The aim of every language course at the University is to enable you to communicate in your target language at that particular level and in your particular area of interest. We use the word ‘communicate’ in its widest sense, meaning that you will not only ...

You must also choose from the following modules in year 4:

Adventures in Musical Research

Audiovisual Translation

This module will introduce you to the different types of audiovisual translation and the various kinds of subtitles produced nowadays. You will learn about the interaction between text and image and the technical issues and constraints involved in creatin...

Autopsying European Art Music

Commercial Composition

You will be introduced to a series of techniques and processes that can be applied to a wide range of commercial musics in the first semester; in the second semester you will work closely with course tutors in one-to-one tutorials to develop a portfolio o...

Composition Portfolio

With a mixture of lectures and individual supervision, Composition Portfolio is the final stage of the undergraduate pathway in concert-music based composition. Building upon the skills gained in first and second year creative music based modules, the lec...

Composition Workshop

Conducting

English as a Global Language

This module explores the rise of English as a global language focusing on the factors that have led to, and the issues that have arisen from, its dominant status. You will learn about the interrelation between globalisation, standardisation and variabilit...

Ensemble Performance 2

Film Music Composition

German-Jewish Writing Across the Twentieth Century

The turbulent history of Austrian and German Jews during the twentieth century was accompanied by the production of a diverse and influential body of German-language literature by Jewish authors. Prior to World War Two, Jews played a crucial role in the c...

Global Hip Hop

How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics

Interactive! Music in Video Games and Media

Language Teaching Theory and Practice

This unit examines the theory and practice of language teaching and explores 'reflective practice' as a set of skills that can be applied to your future working life.

Language Testing and Assessment in Society

This module develops awareness of how language testing and assessment have developed in educational and wider social contexts. It focusses on both purposes and processes of language testing and assessment, and critically examines applications in policy ar...

Language and the City

One of the socially and culturally most significant consequences of transnational mobility is that urban populations in particular are increasingly multilingual: in global cities such as London, New York and Berlin there are speakers of hundreds of differ...

Minorities and Migrants: Exploring Multicultural Germany

Germany has had a long tradition of immigration and is one of the most multi-cultural countries in Europe today. We will examine the impact of diverse immigration movements on recent German history and notions of German identity. This includes examining b...

Modern Languages Dissertation

This unit will allow students to undertake independent research to produce an in-depth study of a specific topic located in one of the fields within Modern Languages.

Music Therapy 1: Fundamentals

Music Therapy 2: Beneath the Surface

The aim of this module is to look beneath the surface - challenging assumptions made about music being therapeutic and exploring how to prove music is effective as therapy. Drawing on the knowledge gleaned in the second year module, the module aims to dev...

Music and Sound Production 1

Performance Tuition (Single Study)

This module allows you to expand your music performance skills to a high standard. A combination of individual tuition (10 1hr lessons) and a variety workshop and public performance opportunities provide you with the chance to study new repertoire, improv...

Research Project

This module is based on a topic chosen by the student, completed under the supervision of a member of staff and culminating in a detailed dissertation. The topic may be musical (historical, analytical, critical) or it may relate music to another art or di...

Second Language Acquisition

Singing Together: Working with Voices

Sociophonetic Project Module

This final year module builds on the theoretical grounding students gained in LING 2011 Variation and Change in English and the instrumental analysis techniques from LING 2008 Sound and Voice. In Sociophonetic Project Module, students will put the theory ...

The American Musical

The Operas Of Benjamin Britten

Them Changes: Composing and arranging for jazz and jazz influenced genres.

Translation: Theory and Practice

Translation plays a major role in the exchange and circulation of practical information and culture production. This means that even if they do not enter the translation profession, in a society that is increasingly global, Modern Linguists are frequently...

Writing in a Second Language

The unit will take you through the process, the product and the place of writing. Process will deal primarily with modelling cognitive operations, analysis of composing strategies, and individual differences and changes in processes over time. Product wil...

Learning and assessment

The learning activities for this course include the following:

lectures
classes and tutorials
coursework
individual and group projects
independent learning (studying on your own)

How you'll spend your course time:

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Study time

Your scheduled learning, teaching and independent study for year 1:

16%

Scheduled learning & teaching

84%

Independent learning

How we'll assess you

assessed performances
compositions
creative projects
dissertations
essays
individual and group projects
oral presentations
written and practical exams

Your assessment breakdown

Year 1:

23%

Written exam

46%

Coursework

31%

Practical exam

Academic support

You’ll be supported by a personal academic tutor and have access to a senior tutor.

Course leader

Michael Kranert is the course leader.

Fees, costs and funding

Tuition fees

Fees for a year's study:

UK students pay £9,250.
EU and international students pay £19,300.

What your fees pay for

Your tuition fees pay for the full cost of tuition and all examinations.

Find out how to:

Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:

Bursaries, scholarships and other funding

If you're a UK or EU student and your household income is under £25,000 a year, you may be able to get a University of Southampton bursary to help with your living costs. Find out about bursaries and other funding we offer at Southampton.

If you're a care leaver or estranged from your parents, you may be able to get a specific bursary.

Get in touch for advice about student money matters.

Scholarships and grants

You may be able to get a scholarship or grant to help fund your studies.

We award scholarships and grants for travel, academic excellence, or to students from under-represented backgrounds.

Support during your course

The Student Services Centre offers support and advice on money to students. You may be able to access our Student Support fund and other sources of financial support during your course.

Funding for EU and international students

Find out about funding you could get as an international student.

German and Music (BA)

About this course

Course location

Awarding body

Download the Course Description Document

Changes due to COVID-19

Entry requirements

For Academic year

Scottish Qualification

Other requirements

Got a question?

Course structure

Year 1 overview

Year 2 overview

Year 3 overview

Year 4 overview

Modules

Changes due to COVID-19

For entry in Academic Year 2021-22

Year 1 modules

Academic Skills for ML students

Exploring Music 1

German History, Politics and Society

German Language Stage 4

Performance Skills A

Applications of Linguistics

Composition Fundamentals

Elements of Linguistics - Sound, Structure and Meaning

Exploring Music 2

First Year Ensemble Performance

Global Transformations in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music

Performance in Practice B

Reading Culture

Reading the City

Year 2 modules

German Language Stage 5

Managing Research and Learning

Adventures in Musical Research

Autopsying European Art Music

Composition Workshop

Conducting

Discourse Analysis

Ensemble Performance 1

Film Music Composition

Global Hip Hop

Globalisation: Culture, Language and The Nation State

How the Arts Work: A Practical Introduction to Cultural Economics

Interactive! Music in Video Games and Media

Language and Society in German-Speaking World

Learning about Culture: Introduction to Ethnography

Multilingualism

Music Therapy 1: Fundamentals

Music and Sound Production 1

Performance Tuition (Single Study)

Psycholinguistics

Singing Together: Working with Voices

Sound and Voice

Syntax: Studying Language Structure

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

The American Musical

The EU and European Identity

The Operas Of Benjamin Britten

Them Changes: Composing and arranging for jazz and jazz influenced genres.

Variation and Change in English

Vienna and Berlin: Society, Politics and Culture from 1890 to the Present

Year 3 modules

Year Abroad Research Project YARP

Year 4 modules

German Language Stage 7

Adventures in Musical Research

Audiovisual Translation

Autopsying European Art Music

Commercial Composition

Composition Portfolio

Composition Workshop

Conducting

English as a Global Language

Ensemble Performance 2

Film Music Composition

German-Jewish Writing Across the Twentieth Century