Teaching materials for the paper are drawn primarily from the international Western art music tradition of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Other traditions and genres are included as well. Gaining an increased familiarity with key repertoire works is an essential element of the course.

The paper has three components:

1. Historical, philosophical and aesthetic considerations

An examination of the historical forces and key idea which have shaped developments in music since the late nineteenth century, including social and technological change.

2. Composition studies

A series of studies investigating techniques in composition used in Western art music, popular music and multimedia music written since 1900. Selected influential musical works will be analysed and discussed, with technical and philosophical implications debated.

3. Creating our own music

Students are required to hand in short exercises approximately once per fortnight. These exercises will be based on compositional techniques being studied in lectures. Students may choose which exercises to do, but at least five are required (totalling 20% of the course mark). If more than five exercises are submitted, the best five marks will be used to produce the aggregate mark.

In addition to short exercises, students are required to complete two larger works as Composition Projects. These pieces will develop over a period of time and each will be assessed in two parts: (i) a detailed plan, and (ii) the completed composition in full score. This process permits discussion of the developing work with the lecturer, and maybe other class members, prior to submission. The final composition for assessment may be a conjoint project with another student and/or may involve digital technology. Such a project must be approved by the lecturer before it is undertaken.

The paper is taught mainly through seminar-style lectures.

Preparatory readings are set for each lecture.

A playlist of required listenings where each work relates to a lecture topic, has been created in the Naxos Music Library naxosmusiclibrary.com. All enrolled Music students have free access to this service through the University Library subscription.

All students are encouraged to become responsible for their own learning. Only some of the learning experience can be expected to take place in the limited time available for lectures and tutorials.

It is imperative that students read, listen, think, discuss and explore ideas and materials relevant to the course beyond the lecture times. It is recommended that for every contact hour (lectures, seminars, etc) at least an equivalent time should be spent by the student in self-directed learning.Therefore it is expected that a minimum of four hours per week of independent reading, listening and composing should be done for this paper. Information pertaining to this course will be posted onto the Moodle website which all enrolled students in MUSI315 automatically have access to. A total of about 150 hours work is recommended to get the most benefit from this paper.

Most of the prescribed and recommended listening can be done online using the Naxos Music Library, available through the University’s subscription to this service. As an enrolled student you have access to this. Go to <naxosmusiclibrary.com> and login with username <WaikatoMM>. The password will be advised in class. Go to ‘Playlists’ and enter ‘Waikato University Playlists’. You will see the folder for MUSI315 Composition 3 there, with items named for the appropriate lectures arranged in lecture order. Listen to the set works before the lecture, ideally with a score.

Most of the readings are from the online music encyclopaedia Grove Music Online. Access Grove Music Online through the website <oxfordmusiconline.com> to which the University holds a paid subscription. Some additional readings will be uploaded to the Moodle page for this course, as noted in the lecture schedule below.