- UCAS course code
- WW34
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Music and Drama
Explore your passion for performance through the interdisciplinary study of music, theatre and film.
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: WW34 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Scholarships available
- Typical A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,6,5 at HL including Music
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £28,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Tonality: Form and Harmony
| Unit code | MUSC10011 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 1 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This is an analytical course principally concerned with the fundamental elements of tonal music and the musical language of the Viennese classics (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven). The course is divided into three broad areas: harmonic analysis, thematic analysis and analysis of form. It principally draws on the theories of Arnold Schoenberg, with supporting material by more recent scholars including William Caplin, James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy. It also explores Beethoven’s own approach to these three areas, by studying his musical sketches and how he set about composing.
Pre/co-requisites
This course unit is available as free choice, but please note pre-requisite of A Level Music or Grade VIII Theory or equivalent.
Aims
- To equip students with basic skills in musical literacy and aural comprehension.
- To establish a firm understanding of the musical language, harmony, structure and expressive content of common-practice era music.
Teaching and learning methods
- Lectures and workshops
- Seminars in three streams (A, B, C)
- Online aural skills training
Knowledge and understanding
- Understand core concepts in tonal theory and apply these to common-practice era music.
- Demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of classical repertoire.
Intellectual skills
- Identify aspects of harmonic, thematic and formal structure in specific pieces of music through listening and score reading.
- Comprehend theoretical nomenclature, assess its relevance and apply it to a specific musical extract.
- Evaluate a composer’s sketches in relation to their finished compositions
Practical skills
- Annotate musical scores with relevant analytical symbols and terminology.
- Describe features of tonal harmony and form in prose.
- Create tables and other diagrams to communicate an analytical reading of musical form.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Demonstrate enhanced analytical and listening skills
- Demonstrate aesthetic awareness
- Use technical vocabulary for descriptive purposes
- Exhibit an attention to detail
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- Analysing repertoire, texts and other materials
- Project management
- Time management skills (preparing for exam throughout the semester)
- Problem solving
- Creative problem solving
- Other
- Attention to detail; Assimilation of information
Assessment methods
Assessment Task | Formative or Summative | Weighting |
Exam | Summative | 100% |
Feedback methods
Written feedback on examination
Online feedback from interactive aural skills exercises
Verbal feedback in workshops and seminars
Additional one-to-one feedback (during the consultation hour or by making an appointment)
Recommended reading
- Beethoven, Ludwig van, The 35 Piano Sonatas, ed. Barry Cooper, vol. I (London: ABRSM, 2007).
- Caplin, William, Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for the Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven (New York: OUP, 1990).
- Cooper, Barry, The Creation of Beethoven’s 35 Piano Sonatas (Abingdon, 2017).
- Rosen, Charles, The Classical Style: Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart (London: Faber, 1971); Sonata Forms (New York: Norton, 1980).
- Schoenberg, Arnold, Fundamentals of Musical Composition, ed. Gerald Strang and Leonard Stein (London: Faber, 1961); Structural Foundations of Harmony, ed. Leonard Stein (London: Norgate, 1954).
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 11 |
| Practical classes & workshops | 5 |
| Seminars | 11 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 168 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Sarah Moynihan | Unit coordinator |