Composition Portfolio

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• reading skills, and the ability to analyse music aurally and visually
• show evidence of clear musical thinking both in terms of invention of strong musical materials and their elaboration in time
• make musical ‘arguments’ that are clear as to their intended structure and expressive content
• efficient use of library resources to access musical and textual materials appropriate to your study

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• a range of techniques for the production of contemporary music pertinent to your developing compositional practice.
• aesthetic, technical and critical issues relating to contemporary compositional practice
• 20th- and 21st-century musical developments
• your own personal aesthetic through your chosen compositional genres, materials, techniques and forms
• current trends in composition

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• presenting your work, including notated music examples, to the highest standards of academic presentation
• present your work to professional standard in the format most suited to its idiom
• develop your own technical skills with technologies and studios (for applied composition pathways)
• oversee and bring to conclusion an extended portfolio of original compositions of your own, and present your music in the most appropriate way
• use methods of note production which provide for a good degree of fluency in your chosen aesthetic

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• enhanced skills of time-management and self-directed study
• the ability to integrate different media (musical, visual, literary) into a compositional project
• enhanced powers of concentration and focus
• analyse materials of others with the goal of drawing out technical devices pertinent to the development of personal creative work
• think through extended structures and execute them, with a clear understanding of the relationship between materials and form

There is no prescribed syllabus content for this module. Rather, over the year you will work cumulatively towards the production of a major portfolio of compositions, and have the opportunity to submit drafts of works to your tutor for comment and feedback. Following a plan made with your tutor, you will complete the portfolio over the summer period, when your work will be necessarily self-directed. When appropriate, your tutor will set specific tasks that relate to your work, such as analysing pieces and reading articles.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• Individual tutorials (24 sessions)

Learning activities include

• analysis/listening to contemporary scores
• close critical reading of texts
• preparation of scores (mostly self-directed)
• Self-directed learning of technologies/ studio skills

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Modern Music and After. Griffiths, Paul, 2011

Electronic and experimental music : pioneers in technology and composition. Holmes, Thom, 2002

Music after the fall : modern composition and culture since 1989. Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, 2017

Formalized music : thought and mathematics in composition. Xenakis, Iannis, 1992

Assessment strategy

Assessment Method

Portfolio of Compositions. Portfolios are typically 35 minutes in duration and accompanied by a 3000-word commentary that provides insight into the technical and aesthetic concerns of the work. Alternatively you may choose to produce a larger portfolio of 40 minutes and a 1000 word commentary.

Applied composition portfolios (film music, video games music) are likely to consist of a showreel of clips that have been scored/re-scored; a songwriting portfolio is likely to consist of an album; and a concert-music portfolio is likely to consist of a collection of pieces with recordings where possible.

The Portfolio and commentary are marked as a whole and the commentary bears no individual weight.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External