Topics in Music Scholarship

Module description

This module provides an in-depth critical introduction to a current topic in music scholarship, examining the theories, practices and repertories associated with it, and locating them in the broader field. Topics vary, in line with current staff research and intellectual shifts in the discipline.

In 2025-26, this unit this notes-based and softly analytical module explores the solo keyboard music of Fr. Couperin, D. Scarlatti, J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and John Field. The aim is to develop a refined, historically informed understanding of the musical materials used in keyboard music and the ability to connect notes to intellectual history. Composer's biographies, social contexts of performance, performance practices, and issues of instrument technology are touched upon but not central. Thus the unit aims to awaken an eloquent sensitivity to musical materials, something that cannot be acquired either from text books nor from piano lessons alone. The premise is that eighteenth-century keyboard music is an acoustic mirror, reflecting -- but also reflecting upon -- contemporary musical soundscapes. We will develop this premise through the theory of 'musical topics' proposed by Leonard Ratner (1980), and the research it has stimulated on the notion of music as rhetoric (oratory). However, we will also consider the limits of such approaches, noting, and seeking to ameliorate their over-investment in (notions of) representation, labelling, and fixity of meaning.

 

Assessment details

• 2000 word essay (60%)
• Take-away examination (40%)

Educational aims & objectives

To provide a detailed understanding of a current topic in music scholarship, and the theories, practices and repertories associated with it.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practical skills appropriate to a Level 5 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:

• A thorough understanding of a current topic in music scholarship
• A good understanding of and ability to appraise the theories, practices and repertories associated with the topic
• An ability to discuss a range of relevant scholarly texts and to make use of them in a coherent, persuasive argument.

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.