Duration

A post-graduate taught course lasting for one full academic year from the beginning of October until the following September.

Introduction/Summary

Starting in the academic year 2011-12, the music department will be offering a one-year MPhil in Music Composition to cater for the growing demand for graduate studies of international standing in the area.  Apart from one-on-one mentorship in composition itself, students will take courses in among others, experimental music theatre and opera, film music aesthetics, advanced instrumentation (using technology as an assistant), and composition for mixed media.  This proposed M.Phil. course will provide a backbone of activity for the new centre of Composition and Contemporary music, part of Trinity’s  new initiative in Creative Arts, Technology and Culture.  The course directors are the composers Donnacha Dennehy and Evangelia Rigaki.

Admissions

Intending students must already have an honours undergraduate degree, preferably in music.  Consideration will also be given to applicants with a primary degree not in music if they are judged sufficiently strong musically and creatively.  All applicants must submit a portfolio of three compositions, an example of an academic paper, and a letter explaining why they would like to study composition at Trinity College. 

All enquiries should be addressed to musicsec@tcd.ie or trinity.composition@gmail.com

COURSE STRUCTURE (90 ECTS) Semester One Composition for Mixed Media (DD) * (10 ECTS) Music Cognition (DF) * (10 ECTS) Instrumentation (ER) (10 ECTS) Semester Two Advanced Instrumentation (DD) (10 ECTS) Experimental Music Theatre/ Opera (ER) (10 ECTS) Theory, Aesthetics and Analysis (MT/ST) (10 ECTS) Individual one-on-one meetings take place with an assigned supervisor once a fortnight through the year to prepare the Final Portfolio (30 ECTS) * Courses shared with the MPhil in Music & Media Technologies

 

SEMESTER ONE

 

COMPOSITION FOR MIXED MEDIA (DONNACHA DENNEHY)

Duration: Semester 1

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: 2 graded projects

ECTS: 10

This module concentrates on original composition that combines writing for traditional instruments with other media of some description. It is helpful, but not mandatory, that students will have had some training at an undergraduate level in composition techniques and music technology in advance of taking this module.

The module examines in detail advanced techniques in instrumental composition, and composition that combines traditional and newer media. Emphasis is placed on the critical analysis of harmonic, timbral, rhythmic and notational techniques current today, to enable the student to write critically informed original music of a high standard. Topics covered in class include harmonic and rhythmic analysis of post-minimalist music, timbral-harmonic analyses of spectral music, and notational analyses of recent seminal pieces for instruments and electronics.

The module is intended to enable students to evaluate critically both the theories and practice of contemporary music composition and to use this knowledge and awareness to create original music of a high standard for mixed media.

INSTRUMENTATION (EVANGELIA RIGAKI)

 

Duration: Semester 1

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: 2 graded projects

ECTS: 10

Although this module will pre-suppose a grounding in the basics of instrumentation/orchestration as delivered in a standard undergraduate course, the first half of the semester will concentrate on a comprehensive revision of basic principles of instrumentation and orchestration. Texts used will include Samuel Adler’s Study of Orchestration, and Alfred Blatter’s Instrumentation. The second half of the module will concentrate on extended techniques in instrumental performance and composition. Emphasis throughout is on a thorough examination of individual instrumental technique, both traditional and extended.

MUSIC COGNITION (DERMOT FURLONG)

Duration: Semester 1

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: 2 papers

ECTS: 10

The goal of this module is to examine aspects relating to the philosophy of music, and the current thrust of psychoacoustics and cognitive science as they relate to music. A number of seminal texts relating to music, mind and meaning are analysed and a critical survey of current music cognition contributions is provided. Aesthetic theory as evidenced in the visual arts–– paint, film and photographic––is examined and comparisons are drawn with musical aesthetic contributions in the context of the goals of cognitive science.

 

SEMESTER TWO

 

ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION (DONNACHA DENNEHY)

Duration: Semester 2

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: 2 graded projects

ECTS: 10

Following on from the examination of basic and extended techniques in instrumentation in the first semester’s course, this module concentrates on the skilful, aurally aware and creative use of instrumental combinations, especially in large ensemble situations.  It involves a  very close reading of two substantial texts in the subject: Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov, and Treatise on Instrumentation by Berlioz/Strauss. The latter part of the course will concentrate on detailed analysis of the instrumentation of a set group of works in the 20^th and early 21^st century.  Attention will be given to highly unconventional instrumental approaches as well as more conventional settings. 

THEORY, AESTHETICS AND ANALYSIS (SIMON TREZISE & MICHAEL TAYLOR)

Duration: Semester 2

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: 2 papers

ECTS: 10

This module will comprise any two of the following subjects: Film Music Theory and Aesthetics, Sketch to Score, Set Works. Film Music Theory and Aesthetics (five weeks) will examine various theories of film music from the earliest to the present. These theories will be discussed in the context of examples of the use of music in films and television shows from the earliest days of sound on film to the present. Sketch to Score (five weeks) examines composers’ sketches & drafts as evidence of the creative process. Set Works (five weeks) analyses key works of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In the academic year 2011-12, the two subjects offered will be Film Music Theory and Aesthetics and Sketch to Score.

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC THEATRE/ CONTEMPORARY OPERA (EVANGELIA RIGAKI)

 

Duration: Semester 2

Contact Hours per week: 2 hour lecture

Assessment: one composition (about 15 minutes) and an accompanying essay (about 2000 words) reflecting on the compositional process.

ECTS: 10

 This module will examine and explore theories, practices and processes of devising

experimental music theatre and contemporary opera. It will introduce the students to a wide range of seminal practitioners and reflect on works that challenge creation/compositional processes. It will look at the implications of these practices and use them as stimuli for original compositions.

Assessment will be made by one composition (about 15 minutes) and an accompanying essay (about 2000 words) reflecting on the compositional process.

Please direct enquiries to Graiine Redican at musicsec@tcd.ie