Course summary

This course offers a foundation in musicological thought and practice, opportunities to develop specialised applied, editorial, archival, critical and theoretical skills, and the chance to produce a significant piece of work in a musicological area of your choice, whatever your musical tastes and preferences. Through core modules, you’ll explore a broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches to musicology, applied research methods, and issues that affect our understanding, reception and interpretation of music. You may also choose (provided you have the necessary prior knowledge and experience) an optional module that will enable you to focus on a specific area of music in depth, such performance, electronic music, or music psychology. Together, the core and optional modules will provide you with the knowledge and skills to develop musicological projects according to your own interests. Your major project will take the form of a dissertation with a specific musicological focus, or a piece of applied or practice-led work such as an editing or transcription project, or an archival or fieldwork study, defining your topic in consultation with one of our expert staff. In addition to this, you may optionally choose to undertake a second, smaller musicological project on a topic of your own choice (a Short Dissertation, an Individual Project or, subject to approval, an International Research Project). The course provides a logical progression from undergraduate music courses and will equip you with a range of skills desired by employers and of value in further research at MPhil/PhD level. We have a variety of excellent facilities to support your learning, including rehearsal, performance and practice spaces, recording and electronic music studios, a music psychology lab, and five libraries that provide access to a wide range of books, periodicals, and online resources. The Special Collections housed in our beautiful Brotherton Library contain significant collections of music manuscripts, rare printed music and letters from composers and critics to help inform your work. We have close working relationships with prestigious arts organisations: we host BBC Radio 3 concerts, Leeds Lieder and the Leeds International Piano Competition, and we engage with the flagship DARE partnership between the University and Opera North. We are also closely associated with Leeds Baroque and we engage with many other performing arts organisations in Leeds, which enjoys a thriving music and cultural scene.