Musicology at NWU School of Music comprises two areas of investigation:
'New' Musicology
In the two second-year modules in each of the diploma and degree programmes, the traditional Western classical music survey has been discarded in favour of a theme-based approach. This is the result of an effort to decolonize the curriculum, address gender imbalances, and include a wider variety of musical styles and genres. These modules now investigate more closely the role and function of music within certain social, political, economic, and cultural environments,
BMus students can continue on third and fourth year level with themed modules on musicians (MUSX311) and genres (MUSX421), either as part of a musicology major or as an elective. These modules allow for student input regarding the specific topic of study. Previous topics have included:
- American Mavericks of 20th Century Music
- The Concept Album in Popular Music
- Progressive Rock
- Radiohead
For further information about 'New' Musicology at the School of Music, please contact Mr Jaco van der Merwe.
Social Musicology
Modules in social musicology treat the musics of the world as their area of investigation. In practice they focus on selected styles of historical and contemporary local African, popular and Western classical music. Class meetings revolve around audio-visual presentations of musics and musical practices.
The first module (MUSX111) serves to introduce social musicology. It requires students to formulate and discuss their definitions of music. They are then guided to write a short philosophy of their life, i.e. what they believe in and what their ideal world looks like. This philosophy is then integrated with their definition of music, and this results in a statement of their philosophy of music. The second part of this module offers an overview of musicology as science. It identifies various ways in which we gather and interpret knowledge about music.
The second module (MUSX122) studies music as culture, i.e. as a way and view of life. It starts with an overview of what culture is, and then applies its findings to music. This is followed by an investigation into the most common methods used to study music as culture.
Social musicology comprises three modules on third and fourth-year level. The theme of MUSX321 is the cultural analysis of music. This approach traces the connections between our social networks and the ideas we have about life, and how we express this in musical structures. The topics explored by this module include the biological and social roots of time in music, the social roots of cyclic, circular music and linear music, Baroque music and Christian ethics, the political and philosophical foundation of sonata form, and the nature and function of interactive musical techniques like antiphony.
MUSX322 studies dance as a cultural form. It explores the inborn human capacity for dance, how this capacity emerges in dance styles and how these styles shape our social behaviour. Its themes include dance as education, age stratification in dance, individual and community in dance, dance as a ritual of rebellion, dance as a marker of class identity, dance as a factor of social change, and dance and religion.
MUSX411 investigates the relationship between musical practices and patterns of conflict. Contrary to popular belief, music not only creates cohesion between people — it also divides them. This module explores perspectives on conflict and then apply them in a number of case studies that deal with the role of music (especially heavy metal) in warfare and the forms of power that feature in our social life.
For further information about Social Musicology at the School of Music, please contact Prof Jaco Kruger.
