Academic Divisions
Musicology and Music Studies Division
Who are we?
Musicology and Music Studies introduce students to diverse music (sub)cultures and creators, such as Madosini, Hildegard of Bingen, Beethoven, Wagner, vaporwave, hyperpop, Hugh Masekela, twentieth-century musicals and Afrofuturist musics. These modules position music and sound as contextually and conceptually embedded in who we are, in the past, the present and future.
Musicology/Music Studies is compulsory in the BMus and BA Mus degree programmes. Music Studies is available as an elective module for students doing a Bachelor of Arts (BA Humanities and BA Language and Culture).
Modules:
- Music Studies: Offered at first, second and third year. This module will begin in 2027 with its first intake of first-year students.
- Musicology: Offered in first, second, third and fourth year, but will be gradually phased out from 2027.
- Musicological Criticism: A specialization/elective module offered from third year onwards in the BMus programme.
Its focus is on music and critical theory that includes feminism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, post-capitalism, decolonial and black radical thought, and on a range of music texts, from books or articles to films, performances or audiovisual recordings. Classes are typically smaller and an ideal opportunity to belong to a community where we value writing in a range of genres including reviews, experimental diaries/fiction and conventional academic essays, close reading skills and the opportunity to talk about music and thought with sonic and critical awareness. Musicological Criticism offers excellent preparation for postgraduate studies in music.
Lecturers
What can I study?
Musicology/Music Studies is compulsory in the BMus and BA Mus degree programmes. Music Studies is available as an elective module for students doing a Bachelor of Arts (BA Humanities and BA Language and Culture).
See the section above for modules.
What students say:
"Musicology has helped shape my critical thinking skills through an exploration of ear-catching developments over several centuries of history.”
Christiaan Carelse (former BMus student, guitarist and MMus Candidate in Choral Conducting)
"Musicology is like a sewing kit with a cookie tin inside. So much better than I had expected!”
Lian Bell (BMus candidate, Voice specialisation)
“As I’ve said in the past to students in the Crit community, these modules have taught me to debate, argue, talk and think about music, skills I have applied inside and outside of the classroom. (I often quip that Crit has even helped me with dating!) My experience after taking musicological criticism for about two years has changed my personal relationships, a genuine example of how academic work is transformative at every level. I have learned to formulate my positions, voice criticisms respectfully and uncompromisingly, and I have discovered a great deal about myself and about music in the process. Truly, crit has changed me for the better and continues to educate me with priceless perspectives and discussions.”
Emile Mostert former BMus student, singer and MMus Candidate in Musicology)
“By specialising in musicology, I gained a rich and rigorous foundation in music’s many histories, that has been invaluable to my research career. The musicological criticism modules in particular became spaces which expanded both my thinking and my research interests.”
Lindsay Friday (former BMus student, Doctoral Candidate at Cambridge University)
