PhD in Music

The departmental environment is distinguished by methodological innovation and intellectual pluralism, with an emphasis on hermeneutics. We accord equal weight to activities in musicology, composition, performance and production, while interdisciplinary approaches are fundamental to our endeavour. The Department is highly collegiate and research students have ready access to staff with a wide range of expertise. Our work achieves wide international circulation, both through established scholarly channels and broadcast media.

Research

Members of staff are currently active in the following research areas, in which we will accept proposals, but we also have supervised students on topics as diverse as church music and Renaissance music:
• Analysis
• Twentieth-century concert music, especially Poulenc, Szymanowski, Bartok, Stravinsky, Mahler, Elgar, Britten, Tippett, Roger Smalley
• Popular musics, particularly rock, jazz and other African-American musics, electronic dance music
• Contemporary music and its composition and performance
• Aesthetics
• Critical musicology
• Music and nationalism, music and eroticism
• Music for screen
• Folk music studies
• Electroacoustic composition
• Composition for amateurs
• Performance studies and techniques
• Improvisation

Research environment

Researchers meet fortnightly during term for debate and discussion; our environment is sustained by open discussion and the regular airing of work-in-progress (by both staff and research students). Students make annual formal presentations of their work, while we have a regular programme of research seminars given by visiting academics. Composers and performers make use of the high-quality recording facilities. We run a programme of conferences and colloquia, while members of staff have a range of professional links outside academia.