Principal Study Historically Informed Performance Practice

This module aims to develop insight into, and practical experience of, the application of historical knowledge in the context of musical rehearsal and performance at a professional level. Working alongside professional performers, students will be introduced to sources, principles and debates surrounding the practice of historical performance. In developing professional rehearsal and performance skills, students will learn to critique and refine their own practice, and demonstrate its transformation by historical knowledge.

You will receive twenty-two one-hour lessons with an individual tutor in your instrument or voice, leading to an assessed musical performance, in collaboration with others if desired. The performance will demonstrate the application of historical knowledge and musical techniques to your overall musicianship, and provide experience in the selection, preparation and presentation of repertoire relating to the course of historical study undertaken. It aims to encourage a level of technical and stylistic acuity appropriate for professional concert situations involving musical performers of world-class standing.

The individual lessons will be supported by a series of seminars that will introduce you to the intellectual and scholarly fields in musicology that inform and support historical performance practice. These range from broad issues of culture and hermeneutics to details of source study and historical evidence for performance practice. The knowledge and understanding gained through the seminars will be demonstrated by means of a scholarly presentation and a seminar recital.

Module aims

This module is designed to:

• Foster technical and expressive mastery in the Principal Study
• Develop a mature musical personality and provide opportunities for its projection in-and-through practice
• Develop a knowledge base that supports understanding and facilitates the solving of complex musical problems
• Enable students to acquire the skills to pursue and sustain fulfilling, lifelong learning leading to informed performance at a professional level

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module you will be able to:

• LO1 Demonstrate technical and expressive mastery in your principal study
• LO2 Project a mature musical personality in-and-through your principal study
• LO3 Employ a range of knowledge and understanding in-and-through the process of making music

Assessment

Assessment 1: Performance B (25% + 25%)

Assessed LOs: 1, 2, 3.

Assessment 2: Performance A (50%)

Assessed LOs: 1, 2, 3.

The Assessment Specifications associated with this module outline give further information on the requirements for Performance A and B.

Assessment criteria

Assessors will look for:

LO1 – Demonstrate technical and expressive mastery in your Principal Study

• perceptive listening
• expressive qualities
• agility/fluency
• range and quality of production/projection of sound/tone/timbre
• exploitation of the capabilities of the instrument
• melodic shaping, line and texture
• dynamic range and shaping
• rhythmic structure and control
• intonation
• accuracy, technical and textual
• pronunciation/accent (voice - languages)

LO2 – Project a mature musical personality in-and-through your principal study

• committed, communicative and engaging response to the music
• performances which can challenge both the artist and audience
• creativity in performance
• stage presence
• give and take in ensemble partnerships
• musicality in relation to technique (technical freedom and mastery to realise musical intent)

LO3 – Employ a range of knowledge and understanding in-and-through the process of making music

• engagement with current debates in musicology relating to performance, historiography and interpretation
• analysis and critique of musical sources
• understanding of musical notation in a period context
• application of scholarly and historical knowledge to selected repertoire
• practical application of historical information and research
• applied knowledge of current conventions of period performance

Feedback

You will recieve regular formative feedback from your tutor in your lessons, and a written report twice a year. In some departments the tutor report will take the form of a mutually constructed feedback session.

You will receive a written feedback report on each A and B assessment.

Resources

Essential

Library reading lists:

MMus HIPP : Performance Practice : Baroque and Classical Music:

MMus HIPP : Performance Practice : 19th-20th Century Music:

Summary details

Module title	Principal Study Historically Informed Performance Practice 1
SCQF level	11
Credit rating	80 SCQF (40 ECTS)
Total notional student effort hours	800
Status	Core
Module coordinator	Head of Department
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	Supporting Studies 1
Anti-requisites	None
Next steps	HIPP Dissertation
Learning modes	Indicative hours
Individual lessons	22
Seminars	20
Independent study	756
Total notional student effort	800