Composition 2a

www.rhoadley.net/comp2a

MUD1024

Indicative Schedule

• Before beginning, you should read the module reference sheet, assessments and resources you might need.

Outline of week    1-2   3-4   5-6   7-8   9-10   11-12

Course Outline

Summary and Outcomes

Summary

Outcomes

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General Resources

As in all my courses, you will be expected to have an active email account to which you have access at least every couple of days, access to the internet, and the ability to print out from the internet. For registered students these facilities are available free of charge from a variety of sources.

Beyond this, no resources are necessary except manuscript paper, pencils, erasers, rulers, etc. However, you will certainly find it helpful to have access to a piano (ideally), or some other keyboard instrument. Some people find electronic keyboards used in conjunction with sequencing soft or hardware helpful when they compose, and this is acceptable. However, there are a number of caveats in their use. You are not recommended to actually compose on the notation editor of a sequencing programme. Although many are now available and many are quite flexible and user-friendly, none allow for the freedom allowed by hand-writing, especially when it comes to annotating scores, (dynamics, articulation, phrasing, etc.). You may, however, find the programmes useful for improvisation and some forms of editing. Always be aware that to some extent you are at the hands of those who wrote the software. Don't allow them to dictate to you what you can or can't do. Because of these problems, I usually impose restrictions on how much of any composition portfolio can be submitted using such software.

Moreover, not least because a number of music A-Level examining boards now accept MIDI-generated recordings of music as a 'performance' of a piece, there is a growing feeling that such 'performances' are, indeed, acceptable. While, if a 'live' recording is not possible and if enough effort and care is devoted to its preparation, such an unnatural performance can provide a useful preview of pieces, I do not agree that such performances are acceptable if an alternative can be provided. So, it is one of the requirements of this course that students submit a recording of a live performance of each of their submissions. For most composers, this recording is made during the workshops. However, if, for whatever reason, you unable to make use of this, you must arrange such a recording or recordings yourself. In this latter case a sequenced performance is not acceptable.

In spite of the above, I am prepared to make exceptions to this rule under particular circumstances, especially where the project undertaken is considered desirable, but where a workshop performance may be impractical - an example of this may be the composition of an orchestral piece. Even in these cases, a composer will be expected to make every effort to get the piece performed or at least rehearsed, if not immediately, then at some point in the future.

As you may gather, I consider live performance to be an essential part of composition, not only so that a composer can hear the results of their labours, but also because of the practical complexities of arranging such a performance, feelings of self-consciousness concerning their own work that composers so often experience and in order to get a feeling for the complex social interactions that comprise a live performance.

• There are three projects, weighted at 25%, 25% and 50% respectively. The first two projects will vary in content; the final project is almost invariably an own=choice composition (within certain bounds).
• The assessments will not generally be awarded marks before the end of the course.
• Composers are encouraged to use their experience of the workshops to edit their scores as they feel appropriate.
• If your score is not performed in a workshop, you are required to submit a cassette recording of a live performance of the score(s) with your submission.
• All scores, with accompanying tapes if necessary, should be submitted in week 12.
• You should only submit copies of your scores and you should keep the originals in a safe place.
• See Preparing for Submission for more details.