Composition and musicianship

Course Description:
This module aims to lay a firm foundation for further study of music through a range of specific musical skills, beginning with a focus on common-practice harmony and moving to the study of salient techniques and aesthetics of early twentieth-century music in the second half of the module. It enables the student to develop: (1) A thorough knowledge of common- practice harmony and the styles and techniques of early twentieth-century music, an awareness of the fundamental musical elements and their inter-relationships, through processes of analysis and pastiche composition (2) Musicianship and aural skills (3) Aesthetic knowledge and understanding, especially of eighteenth-century Western repertoire and early twentieth-century styles. (4) Analytical skills [Middlesex University handbook: BMus in performance/composition].