The MPhil in Music is a nine-month freestanding programme offering advanced training in key areas of musical studies, while at the same time providing preparation for doctoral research. Its main aims are to give students with relevant experience at the first-degree level:

• critical awareness of issues and trends, informed by current research, across a broad spectrum of music studies;
• the opportunity to acquire or develop research skills and expertise relevant to a specified area of musical scholarship;
• the opportunity for composers to acquire or develop the technical skills required to bridge the gap between undergraduate work and composition at a professional level; and
• experience in carrying out focused research under close supervision.

By the end of the programme students will have acquired or further developed:

• knowledge of and the ability to critically evaluate research techniques and methods relevant to the study of music;
• familiarity with current debates across a broad range of musical scholarship;
• a range of relevant research skills;
• the ability to compose for a variety of vocal/instrumental media (whether acoustic or electroacoustic) with stylistic consistency and a genuine and individual artistic voice; and
• the ability to utilise established techniques of enquiry in the context of original research.