Music History 3: 20th & 21st Centuries (MUSI30249)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 12.5On Campus (Southbank) and On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Summer Term - On Campus
Semester 1 - On Campus
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This subject examines music-making in the European art music tradition during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in its social, cultural and historical contexts. By examining musical works, historical documents, and modern scholarship, students explore both the development of new musical styles as well as the reimagination of older styles.

In-class discussions, quizzes, and exercises support students as they examine how post-WWI institutions, discourses and technologies have reshaped the lives of musicians and listeners, with a particular focus on the overlapping political-economic contexts of capitalism, liberalism and globalisation.

Students use primary and secondary sources to complete an original research essay on a topic related to music-making in post-Federation Australia, reflexively situating their own creative practice within the discipline.

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students should be able to:

  • interpret twentieth- and twenty-first-century music in relation to social, cultural and political contexts;
  • distinguish both aurally and conceptually between major music genres and styles from the 20th and 21st centuries;
  • integrate primary and secondary sources to critically analyse and interpret musical styles or practices from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries;
  • undertake independent academic research on a musical topic using a range of appropriate historiographical methods;
  • discuss music convincingly using technical vocabulary appropriate to the subject level.

Generic skills

On completion of this subject, students will have developed:

  • a capacity for independent critical thought;
  • an openness to new ideas;
  • knowledge, skills and practices which provide a basis for independent critical inquiry and research-based writing.

Last updated: 9 April 2025