Monday, July 10, 2006
The CUNY PhD Music Composition Exam
This summer, in addition to fielding submissions for the S21 concert, two things are keeping me busy. The first is working with the worthy folks at RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. If you don’t know what RILM is, by all means click the link and find out. The second is studying for my PhD exams which occur at the end of the summer. And that’s what I’m ringing in here to talk about.
So. What does CUNY think composers have to know?
In order to officially become a PhD candidate, I need to complete two days of written examination followed by an oral examination two weeks later. The first day of the written part consists of an at-sight analysis of a piece from the standard practice period (or later). I have six hours to analyze and, presumably, write an analytical essay about the piece. Last year it was one of Brahms’s late piano works.
The second day consists of two questions. I think I have two hours for one, and three hours for another. The questions come in two groups; I chose one question from each group. The first question will concern broad developments pertaining to a particular genre. Say, “Trace the origins and development of the string quartet” for example. The second question will pertain to a particular 20th century technique of composition, like, say, serialism or electronic music.
The oral examination (sounds faintly disgusting, right?) shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I chose a composer and inform the faculty who this composer is at least six weeks before the exam. At the exam, I demonstrate the broadest possible knowledge about the composer. As one student put it to me, “You need to know more about your composer than they [the faculty] do.” I’ve chosen Kurtág. (Duh.)
I like this exam, and, while it’s all about the standard a school holds you to, I’m proud CUNY’s PhD examination -- at least in format -- is the most hard core I’ve heard about.
But I wish there were more COMPOSING. What happened to questions like “write a fugue based on this subject” or, “develop this motif in the style of Wagner,” or “write a brief string quartet movement in the style of Ligeti”? Isn’t model composition more important for composers, in the long run, than musicological essay writing?
What do you think?
posted by David Salvage
10:02 PM
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