Graduate Admission Requirements

The requirements listed below are special to this department and must be read in conjunction with the general requirements of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Prospective applicants should be sure to read the Prospective Students page and the Admissions Page, as well as the Department of Music Bulletin.

 

There are two separate graduate programs in the Department of Music: the program in Musicology, offering the degree of M.A., M.Phil, and Ph.D. (for students intending to specialize in the broad areas of ethnomusicology, historical musicology and music theory); and the programin Composition, offering the degrees of M.A. and D.M.A.

The two programs are interrelated sharing several faculty members, and students in either program may take courses in the other program, subject to approval.

FOR ADMISSION TO EITHER PROGRAM, an applicant must have:

  1. A strong foundation in the history and theory of Western music.
  2. At least some of the following skills:
    • The ability to read scores of considerable complexity.
    • The ability to play the piano.
    • The ability to notate music as heard.
    • Background in fields ooutside music relevant to the applicant's proposed program of study (such as cultural anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, critical theory, computer science, logic, mathematics).
  3. For musicology, at least two essays, each of 1,000 words or more, on different topics, one or both on music (except applicants in ethnomusicology, who should submit at least one substantial scholarly paper or thesis chapter); for composition, one essay on music and several original compositions, with tapes if available; these submissions to be sent to the Graduate School's Office of Admissions and Financial Aid with the completed application.
  4. If possible, a personal interview arranged by the applicant.
  5. A reading knowledge of at least one foreign language, preferably French or German.
  6. Students who hold a master's degree or equivalent in a comparable field from other institutions may be admitted to advanced standing. They are normally exempted from the M.A. course requirements and enter directly into the M.Phil or D.M.A. program as appropriate, but must satisfy the M.A. language requirement, and in the case of the Musicology program may be required to submit the equivalent of two M.A. essays or a thesis.