FAS - Music
The Department of Music offers a stimulating environment in which to make music through composition, improvisation, and performance, to explore music's meaning in the structure of individual works and in the relations between them, and to study the function and meaning of music within its social, cultural, and historical contexts. Toward that end, the department offers the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Music with programs in three fields of study: composition and theory, ethnomusicology, and historical musicology. Although the curriculum in each field is specialized, the faculty and students work closely together, and the programs are closely interconnected through a series of interdisciplinary proseminars.
Contact Information
- Department Chair: David Brodbeck
- Main Office: 110 Music Building
- Phone: (412) 624-4126
- Fax: (412) 624-4186
- Web site: http://www.pitt.edu/~musicdpt/
Program in Composition and Theory
The program of study in composition and theory is based upon the premise that the invention and analysis of music are related activities. The curriculum stresses training in the craft of composition (individual instruction forms a large part of the course work) while developing in the student a broad knowledge of the contemporary repertory and an ability to formulate abstractions from existing music.
The department's resources include an electroacoustic music studio. Digital recording equipment and computer notation programs and facilities are available.
The department actively promotes the performance of new music through its concert series "Music on the Edge," which has featured such professional musicians and ensembles as the Pro Arte Quartet, the Lion's Gate Trio, violinist Rolf Schulte, and the California E.A.R. Unit. All degree candidates in composition and theory are assured of the public performance of at least one work in each academic year.
Program in Ethnomusicology
The program of study in ethnomusicology prepares scholars for research and teaching. The training includes a thorough study of the history and theory of the discipline, methods and techniques of research, cultural theory, a general exposure to world music, a specialized study of one or more particular repertories and/or the musical behavior of one particular cultural entity, and faculty guidance in original research. The program is especially strong in African music, African-American music, American music, Chinese music, global popular music, jazz, and the music of Southeast Asia. The program maintains a balance between the humanistic and social sciences perspectives.
The ethnomusicology program is supported by a computer-assisted musical analysis laboratory. The department owns the Cunningham Collection of world musical instruments; a large Javanese gamelan consisting of about 40 instruments, mostly gongs and gong chimes; Chinese string and wind instruments; and a large collection of West African percussion instruments.
Students have an opportunity to participate in a variety of performing groups, including the African Drumming Ensemble and the Javanese Gamelan Ensemble. The Jazz Ensemble offers composing, performing, and arranging experience for students studying jazz. The annual Jazz Seminar brings internationally noted performers to the University for a week of conferences and performances.
Students in ethnomusicology benefit also from the University's strong Area Studies programs, particularly Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, and Russian and East European Studies. Moreover, in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relationships, the department brings leading musicians from India to campus each year for concerts, lectures, and workshops.
Program in Historical Musicology
The program of study in historical musicology reflects the wide-ranging interest and diverse methodological approaches of the faculty. The curriculum combines training in the primary tools of the discipline including criticism and analysis, codicology and source study, and historical performance practices with the study of music in its larger cultural and societal contexts. Accordingly, the program is not bound solely to the study of music from the Western art-music tradition; students may choose to work on topics in American, popular, and traditional musics as well.
The primary resources for the program include the Theodore M. Finney Music Library, located in the Music Building, and the Art and Music Division of the nearby Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Both libraries contain a general music research collection. They also have several collections of important primary materials, including early American hymnals and tunebooks, binder's volumes of sheet music with regional significance, 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts and prints of English sacred and secular works, and many printed editions dating from 1550 to 1800. The Music Library contains the music from the estates of Ethelbert Nevin, Adolf Forster, Fidelis Zitterbart, and William Steinberg. In addition, the Foster Hall Collection in the Stephen Foster Memorial contains one of the most significant repositories of 19th- and early 20th-century American music in the country.
Admissions
An application to the MA or PhD program must contain each of the following components:
The application form (two copies).
Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work (two copies).
At least three letters of recommendation.
Certified scores on the Graduate Record Examination, including the verbal, quantitative, and analytical section scores, as well as those of the music subject examination. (The GRE must be taken in October or December; scores for examinations taken in April will not arrive in time to be considered.)
At least two papers on an analytical, historical, or theoretical topic; applicants in composition and theory should submit at least two scores and (if possible) tapes of recent compositions, together with one paper on an analytical or theoretical topic.
Application Deadlines
Applicants who wish to be considered for financial assistance must ensure that their application and all supporting materials have arrived at the Department of Music no later than February 1. Candidates who do not wish to be considered for financial assistance may apply for admission in the Fall Term no later than March 15.
Mid-year Applications: The department discourages admission in the Spring Term but will consider it under special circumstances. Financial assistance is not generally available for students entering the program in the Spring Term. Prospective applicants who wish to be admitted in mid-year should discuss their circumstances with the Director of Graduate Studies. The closing date for applications for admission in the Spring Term is November 1.
Financial Assistance
The department makes every effort to offer financial assistance to all worthy applicants. Some awards are made by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on the basis of interdepartmental competition among all applicants. Teaching fellowships and teaching assistantships fall under the jurisdiction of the department. Most fellowships and assistantships are renewable on a year-to-year basis. In recent years, students in good standing have continued to receive support through the third year of study.
Degree Requirements
The minimal requirements established by the Graduate Faculty of the University, as described under General Academic Regulations beginning, and any additional requirements of FAS Graduate Studies described under FAS Degree Requirements, should be read in conjunction with program-specific degree requirements described in the following sections.
Requirements for the Master's Degree
At the master's level, students in all three programs enroll in a common series of proseminars. These are basic courses that deal largely with methods in scholarly research and provide the student with an introduction to the various disciplines represented within the department. The series comprises:
- Music 2111 Principles of Research and Bibliography
- Music 2121 Introduction to Ethnomusicology
- Music 2131 Introduction to Historical Musicology
- Music 2141 Musical Analysis
Much of the remainder of the curriculum at the master's level consists of more specialized courses. Students in Composition and Theory select private tutorials in composition and analysis and practical courses in orchestration and electroacoustic music; students in Ethnomusicology select from both area courses and seminars and topical courses and seminars; students in Historical Musicology select from topical seminars.
Composition and Theory Requirements
The following requirements are for students in composition and theory:
Completion of 30 credits of course work (including a thesis), distributed as follows:
- Four proseminars (12 credits)
- Three terms of Composition and Analysis Tutorial (Music 2631) (9 credits)
- Two additional courses, selected from Instrumentation and Orchestration (Music 1431), Electronic and Computer Music (Music 1441/1442), or any graduate courses either within or outside the Department of Music (6 credits)
- Three credits in preparation of the MA thesis (Music 2000). Candidates for the MA submit a composition with an accompanying essay as their thesis. Doctoral students permitted to bypass the MA must substitute an elective for this course.
Ethnomusicology Requirements
The following requirements are for students in ethnomusicology:
Completion of 30 credits of course work (including a thesis), distributed as follows:
- Four proseminars (12 credits)
- Two area courses and seminars (6 credits)
- One topical course or seminar (3 credits)
- One term of Ethnomusicology Seminar (3 credits)
- One course (numbered 1000 or higher) in anthropology or other related discipline (3 credits)
- Three credits in preparation of the MA thesis (Music 2000). Candidates for the MA degree submit a master's thesis, equivalent in size and scope to a publishable scholarly article. Doctoral students permitted to bypass the MA must substitute an elective for this course.
Historical Musicology Requirements
The following requirements are for students in Historical Musicology:
Completion of 30 credits of course work (including a thesis), distributed as follows:
- Four proseminars (12 credits)
- Three topical seminars in historical musicology (9 credits)
- Two other graduate courses either within or outside the Department of Music (6 credits)
- Three credits in preparation of the MA thesis (Music 2000). Doctoral students permitted to bypass the MA must substitute an elective for this course.
Completion of a Language Requirement. For the MA degree, a reading knowledge of German, French, Italian, or Latin is required. In special circumstances, another language may be substituted.
Requirements for the PhD Degree
Forty-two additional credits are required beyond the 30 required for the MA degree, of which a maximum number of six credits may be in guided reading in preparation for the comprehensive examination (Music 2990) and a maximum number of 18 credits may be in preparation of the doctoral dissertation (Music 3000). The 42 credits may consist of any graduate courses or any courses of individually directed study within or outside the Department of Music, chosen in consultation with the major advisor.
PhD candidates must also satisfy the following requirements (distinctions between the various program requirements are detailed):
Language Requirement
Composition and Theory: For the PhD degree, a reading knowledge of one language besides English, chosen in consultation with the major advisor, is required.
Ethnomusicology: For the PhD degree, a reading knowledge of one language besides English relevant to the field of specialization, chosen in consultation with the major advisor, is required.
Historical Musicology: For the PhD degree, a reading knowledge of two languages besides English is required; one of the two languages must be German.
Preliminary Evaluation
A formal evaluation of each student, intended to identify those students who may be expected to complete the PhD degree as well as to reveal areas of weakness in the student's preparation that need to be remedied, is made at the end of the first year in residence.
Comprehensive Examination
Composition and Theory: A written comprehensive examination in analysis, 20th-century musical language, and instrumentation and orchestration, normally taken during the third year in residence, serves as the examination for admission to doctoral study.
Ethnomusicology: A written comprehensive examination in the history, theory, and methodology of ethnomusicology, world music, and analysis, normally taken during the third year in residence, serves as the examination for admission to doctoral study.
Historical Musicology: A written comprehensive examination in the history of Western music and in musical analysis, normally taken during the third year in residence, serves as the examination for admission to doctoral study.
Admission to Candidacy for the PhD degree
After passing the comprehensive examination, each student seeking admission to candidacy for the PhD degree prepares a written prospectus of the dissertation for presentation to the doctoral committee at a formal prospectus or dissertation overview meeting.
Dissertation
Composition and Theory: Candidates for the doctorate submit a dissertation in two parts, comprising a major work of original scholarship in music theory and a large-scale composition.
Ethnomusicology or Historical Musicology: Candidates for the doctorate submit a dissertation, a major work of original scholarship.
Final Oral Examination
A public defense of the dissertation is required.
NOTE: A more detailed description of the graduate program is available upon request. Interested students should contact the Department of Music at the address and phone number given at the beginning of this entry.
Course Listings
- MUSIC 1320 Music in North America
- MUSIC 1326 African-American Music in the United States
- MUSIC 1332 Music in Latin America
- MUSIC 1340 Music in Africa
- MUSIC 1352 Music in Southeast Asia
- MUSIC 1354 Music in East Asia
- MUSIC 1396 Music in Society
- MUSIC 1431 Instrumentation and Orchestration
- MUSIC 1441 Electroacoustic Music 1
- MUSIC 1442 Electroacoustic Music 2
- MUSIC 1731 Jazz Arranging 1
- MUSIC 1732 Jazz Arranging 2
- MUSIC 1741 Jazz Improvisation 1
- MUSIC 1742 Jazz Improvisation 2
- MUSIC 2000 Research and Thesis for the Master's Degree
- MUSIC 2111 Bibliography and Research Techniques
- MUSIC 2121 Introduction to Ethnomusicology
- MUSIC 2131 Introduction to Historical Musicology
- MUSIC 2141 Music Analysis
- MUSIC 2222 Seminar in Medieval Music
- MUSIC 2223 Seminar in Renaissance Music
- MUSIC 2224 Seminar in Baroque Music
- MUSIC 2226 Seminar in Classical Music
- MUSIC 2228 Seminar in Romantic Music
- MUSIC 2230 Seminar in 20th-century Music
- MUSIC 2240 Seminar in Jazz History and Criticism
- MUSIC 2320 Seminar in North American Music
- MUSIC 2326 Seminar in African-American Music
- MUSIC 2340 Seminar in African Music
- MUSIC 2352 Seminar in Southeast Asian Music
- MUSIC 2354 Seminar in Chinese Music
- MUSIC 2441 Transcription and Analysis
- MUSIC 2442 Field and Lab Methods
- MUSIC 2471 Tonal Analysis
- MUSIC 2484 Problems in Theory
- MUSIC 2512 Seminar in Historiography
- MUSIC 2513 Seminar in Source Studies
- MUSIC 2515 Seminar in Performance Practice
- MUSIC 2517 Major Composer
- MUSIC 2611 Musicology Seminar
- MUSIC 2621 Ethnomusicology Seminar
- MUSIC 2631 Composition and Analysis Tutorial
- MUSIC 2632 Composition Seminar
- MUSIC 2990 Independent Study
- MUSIC 3000 Research and Dissertation for the PhD Degree
- MUSIC 3902 Directed Study
| 
