About the course

The MPhil is designed for students wishing to attain a thorough grounding in musical performance studies at an advanced level, either as a preparation for doctoral research or an autonomous qualification. In the first year you will follow the MSt in Music (Performance), proceeding in the second year to individual supervision leading to the completion of a recital and a dissertation.

The Master of Philosophy in Music (Performance) introduces a broad range of current methodologies and approaches in music scholarship.

Assessment

As the first year of this course is identical to the MSt in Music (Performance), assessment will be through an examined lecture-recital at the beginning of Hilary term, an essay in musicology at the end of Hilary term and a second essay in musicology and a longer recital at the end of Trinity term.

In order to proceed to the second year of the MPhil, you will normally need to obtain an average of 65% for your first year work overall, and a mark of over 70 in your final recital.

The second year is then spent producing coursework, comprising both a recital of 45 minutes duration of at least two contrasted pieces, and a dissertation of between 17,000 and 19,000 words in musicology or ethnomusicology or a substantial edition with prefatory matter of comparable length.

Graduate destinations

Typical graduate destinations include doctoral research in music and other music-related or broadly cultural professions.