MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM - 2027/8

Module Overview

This module enables you to deepen your knowledge and understanding of some of the major currents of 20th- and 21st-century music through the exploration of key composers, artists and repertories as well as key documents in the critical reception of the repertoire. It consolidates your experience of 20th- and 21st -century music encountered elsewhere on the programme. Intersections with global cultural developments form a significant strand in developing an understanding of composers¿ and artists' decision-making. The module facilitates further development of your writing skills, oral and visual presentations skills and your ability to assess the significance of scholarly work, including that in the digital domain.

Module provider

Music & Media

Module Leader

ARMSTRONG Thomas (Music & Med)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Topics in modernist and postmodernist music will be introduced in lectures, focusing on issues of technique and style, ideology and reception. Discussion may focus on broad themes such as the avant-garde, the influence of science and technology on modernity/modernism, the context of global conflicts, Eastern culture/aesthetics as viewed from the West and vice versa, and responses to broad intellectual movements such as Marxism, structuralism, poststructuralism, capitalism, and so on. Composers and artists to be studied will straddle art and popular musics. 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the central issues pertaining to the aesthetics and techniques of modernism and postmodernism in a variety of ways.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A poster presentation delivered to your peers within a dedicated class session in week 10 (LOs 2, 5)
• An essay of not more than 2500 words (LOs 1-4).

The formative assessment for this module consists of:

• A group presentation on an assigned piece and reading delivered in week 5 

Feedback

You will receive verbal feedback in lecture discussions and in response to the group presentation. Poster presentations will receive oral feedback on the day and a tutorial the following week (11) will provide oral feedforward on how you plan to expand on your poster topic in your essay. Formal written feedback will be given on your essay. 
 

Module aims

• Develop acquaintance with 20th- and 21st-century musical repertoires through the study of key figures and compositional and critical responses to them.
• Develop knowledge of the history and global historical context of 20th and 21st century music
• Foster an understanding of 20th and 21st century musical and more broadly artistic aesthetics, so that you can relate compositional developments to global cultural developments.
• Develop and understanding of the motivation behind developments in 20th and 21st century musical styles and techniques.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the central issues pertaining to the aesthetics and techniques of modernism and postmodernism. This is accomplished through lectures, student presentations and tutorials that offer both feedback and feedforward on your work. 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MUS3083

Other information

The Department of Music and Media is committed to developing graduates with attributes encompassing employability, digital skills, global and cultural awareness, and sustainability as it relates to music and the wider arts and, finally, resourcefulness and resilience. This module offers you the opportunity to explore the cultural context in which musical modernism and postmodernism has been created. The electronic and digital creation of music is a crucial aspect of this repertoire as is the ability to view modernism and postmodernism in a global context from different cultural perspectives. 

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2027/8 academic year.