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MUSI2026 Fundamentals of Music Composition
Course Type: disciplinary elective for music majors/minors, free elective for others
Prerequisite: MUSI1023, or instructor’s consent
Instructor: Dr. Daniel LO
Semester: First Semester 2023/24
Time: 10:30am-12:20pm, Thursday
Venue: CRT-11.01 Seminar Room
Conducted in the form of lectures, seminars, and one-to-one supervision, this course presents theoretical and practical bases of music composition with a view to expand students’ knowledge about styles, structures, notation, and score presentation. The emphasis is on the applications of these knowledge via both composition and analysis of repertoire. The course culminates in a workshop showcasing student compositions.
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Course Learning Outcomes
Assessment Methods
Topics
Text & Resource Materials
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
  • identify the key technical aspects of music composition;
  • demonstrate an appreciation of the aesthetic diversity of different compositional approaches;
  • employ critical judgement on the effectiveness of compositional techniques in context;
  • create original compositions of instrumental music with competent notation and effective instructions for performers.
Attendance and Participation 5%
8 Composition Assignments 30%
Journal 10% (in point form, summarising the techniques learnt in the course)
A 4-min Composition 25% (for a string/wind instrument)
A 4-min Composition 30% (for a small ensemble)
  • melodic contour
  • modes and intervals as structural units
  • rhythmic proportion, interpretation and notation
  • basic harmony, counterpoint and coherence in song writing
  • writing for solo woodwind
  • writing for solo string
  • brevity, concentration and small form
  • atonality and pitch organization
  • textural variety in ensemble music
  • macro rhythm and structural organization
  • selected works by master composers such as Varèse, Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartok, Berio, Penderecki, Hosokawa, Boulez, Webern, Takemitsu, W. Rihm, M. Reger, Mozart, E. Carter, Messiaen, Lachenmann, C. Vine, Fauré, Ligeti, S. Barber, etc.
  • Aldwell, Edward, and Carl Schachter. Harmony and Voice Leading. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Schirmer/Cengage Learning, 2011.
  • Adler, Samuel. The Study of Orchestration. 4th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2016.
  • Cope, David. Techniques of the Contemporary Composer. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
  • Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973.
  • Kostka, Stefan. Materials and Techniques of Twentieth-Century Music. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 2006.
  • Kramer, Jonathan D. The Time of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening. New York: Schirmer Books, 1988.
  • Persichetti, Vincent. Twentieth Century Harmony: Creative Aspects and Practice. London: Faber & Faber, 1962.
  • Read, Gardner. Music Notation: a Manual of Modern Practice. London: Victor Gollancz, 1985.
  • Salzer, Felix, and Carl Schachter. Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading. Morningside ed. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1989.
  • Schoenberg, Arnold. Fundamentals of Musical Composition. Edited by Gerald Strang & Leonard Stein. London: Faber & Faber, 1967.
  • Straus, Joseph Nathan. Introduction to Post-tonal Theory. New York: W. W. Norton, 2016.