Our MA in Music (by research) is ideal for those individuals who would prefer to study independently through a research project, with guided supervision from an expert within their chosen field of research.

Your research

This course is aimed at both high-level creators interested in composition, production and musical analysis, and those wishing to develop tools for other content, including composers, performers and analysts.

Guided by your supervisor, you'll work through a series of structured elements, with your final submission being either:

a dissertation between 30,000 and 40,000 words on your registered topic, alongside a comprehensive resource list (including scores, analyses, articles, books and concert ephemera, internet and audio-visual resources). Candidates in musicology, ethnomusicology or analysis will normally follow this route, but it is not exclusively limited to these subjects; or

a portfolio of compositions for any instrument, voice, ensemble, audio media or multimedia, with an accompanying critical commentary. The commentary will draw out the research embedded in the practice, discussing aspects of the compositional processes and situating the work in a research context; or

a portfolio of performance projects, fully documented through video/audio recordings, and submitted alongside a critical commentary. The commentary will draw out the research embedded in the practice, discussing aspects of the performance processes and situating the work in a research context.

Musical Analysis research area

Using analysis to uncover and evidence the workings of a given repertoire, you'll focus on the musically intuitive process of rationalisation rather than studying the theory of analytical techniques in isolation. Discovering the compositional grounds that have engendered an emotional response to music, or considering how and why a composer has created particular effects ensure that analysis is kept relevant.

You should have a research proposal that sets out to apply analytical investigations within a wider context. Some indication of how analytical evidence may be used to support a larger thesis should also be outlined. Examples may include the study of a particular composer, period, style or genre.