Outline

Overview

Principal Study Composition supports the sustained development of compositional craft and creative voice through the preparation of composition(s) to be submitted at the end of each semester. Via one to one (individual) lessons, attendance at the weekly Composition Seminar and Supplementary Classes, students are expected to progressively advance through Composition 3 to 8. By the conclusion of this degree, students will have demonstrated a very high level of compositional ability, research capacity and notation/production skills. Weekly Composition Seminars provide a forum for expert guests to present specialised knowledge. In Composition 4, weekly Supplementary Classes cover a range of topics relevant to craft, creativity, repertoire and aesthetic decision making. Small homework tasks are set to consolidate the topics covered. One semester of individual lessons will be focussed on instrumental composition and the other on electroacoustic composition.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Composition and Music Technology
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	CMPN2603
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Daniel Rojas, daniel.rojas@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Daniel Rojas, daniel.rojas@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Peggy Polias, peggy.polias@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Composition portfolio 9x45min one-to-one lessons focused on creativity, craft, and presentation	50%	Formal exam period Due date: 15 Nov 2022 at 23:59	Portfolio of ca. 6+min of original music
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Student Presentations (Weeks 11-12) Presentation and peer/teacher feedback on of current composition portfolio	5%	Multiple weeks	10 min.: 5 presentation + 5 Q&A
Outcomes assessed:
Participation	Application and engagement Active engagement and contribution in lessons and composition community.	10%	Ongoing	Ongoing
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Task 1 – Composing with the consonance-dissonance spectrums Compose two brief musical excerpts using gradual levels of dissonance	5%	Week 03 Due date: 19 Aug 2022 at 23:59	Two brief musical excerpts
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Task 2 - Modes of the Major Scale Compositions using modes of the major scale and polymodality/polytonality	10%	Week 06 Due date: 09 Sep 2022 at 23:59	2 excerpts x 8 bars
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Task 3 – Composing with Synthetic Modes Compose a melody that uses 3 - 5 synthetic modes, create an accompaniment	10%	Week 09 Due date: 04 Oct 2022 at 23:59	8 bars
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Task 4 – Creating a Transitional Passage Write a transition passage between two melodic themes that are given	10%	Week 11 Due date: 21 Oct 2022 at 23:59	8-12 bars of music for solo piano
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ?

Assessment summary

Detailed for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

Composition Portfolio 50%

Criteria/Rubric

A portfolio of ca. 6+ minutes of original music with regular individual supervision by an allocated tutor. All notated compositions must include a score with front matter, including a program note. Students who take the electro-acoustic option are required to include a preface, the scope and contents of which are subject to discussions with the tutor.

Composition portfolios are assessed according to three criteria with the following weightings adding up to 80, and account for 50% of Composition 4:

Creativity: 40/80
Craft: 30/80
Presentation: 10/80

The following guide provides a reference with regards marking expectations. However, it should be noted that staff may interpret the criteria as deemed appropriate to the creative form and media of the portfolio.

Creativity (40)

Unacceptable (F): Generic, hackneyed, pastiche.
Acceptable (20-25): Engaged with contemporary music culture and ideas but may parrot rather than seek to extend the ideas of other composers.
Competent (26-29): Influences of other composers are evident, and display steps towards taking such influences into a new, personal direction.
Superior (30-33): Convincing musical logic and direction. Engagement with repertory goes beyond imitation.
Exceptional (34-40): An original contribution to musical thinking. Convincing, confident, imaginative, personal, bold, risk-taking, engaging.

Craft (30)

Unacceptable (F): Fundamental technical errors evident in notation, digital production, understanding of instruments, musical form, etc.
Acceptable (15-19): Capacity to express musical ideas with appropriate instrumental and/or digital media.
Competent (20-22): Displays coherent structure and convincing clarity in orchestration/standard of production.
Superior (23-25): Musical structure is fluent and lucid throughout. Displays sophisticated ability to develop and manipulate material. Advanced use of colour.
Exceptional (26-30): Obvious and unequivocal command of resources. Technique is matched to creative intentions.

Presentation (10)

Unacceptable (F): Illegible scores. Audio format errors.
Acceptable (5-6): Notation legible but may still include unnecessary ambiguity. Electroacoustic and non score-based work supported with appropriate documentation. Front matter is sketchy or excluded.
Competent (7): Attractive scores presented with clarity and supported with recordings and adequate front matter. Non score-based work informed by concise and compelling supporting documentation.
Superior (8): Presentation of work demonstrates awareness of user-friendliness and attention to consistent and individual visual style. Front matter is compelling and detailed.
Exceptional (9-10): The standard of a professional commercial publication or recording with coherent visual identity. Front matter or supporting documentation is of professional quality.

Application, Contribution and Engagement (10)

This mark applies to the engagement given collaboratively by the individual composition tutor and classroom teachers. This mark considers individual composition sessions, lectures, tutorials and the final concert.

For the Application, Contribution and Engagement, the following criteria serves as a guide:

Unacceptable (F): Unmotivated, fails to work in a consistent fashion.
Acceptable (5-6): Attends lessons, seminars, workshop opportunities and demonstrates openness to learn from tutors although somewhat inconsistently. Only somewhat engaged with the composition community.
Competent (6-7): Demonstrates independent motivation and works consistently throughout the semester. Engaged in generating opportunities for public dissemination of work.
Superior (7-8): Is highly committed to composition as evidenced via engagement with the repertory, attendance at concerts, etc. Generally seizes opportunities to extend learning as they arise.
Exceptional (8-10): Is consumed by his or her artform and actively contributes to the music community at large.

Composition Craft Tasks 40%

Detailed rubrics for each Craft Homework Task can be found in the assignment description in the Canvas site for this UoS.

Please note that Task 5 – Student Presentations (5%) will take place in Weeks 11 and 12 during lecture and tutorial hours.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

A penalty of 5% per day applies to assignments submitted late without prior written permission or agreement with the UoS Coordinator or Tutor. Please see the Conservatorium Handbook for further information on the late penalties.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Multiple weeks	Individual composition lesson 9x45minute sessions	One-to-one tuition (6 hr)
	Composition Seminar in Weeks 1, 8, 13	Seminar (3 hr)
	Student Presentations/Discussion on Current Portfolio Compositions including Q&A from peers; Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Week 11-12	Presentation (1 hr)
Week 01	Composers and Performers: How performers respond to and interpret our scores	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	The spectrum between dissonance and consonance in intervals and chords	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 02	Interactive Group Work: composing intervals and chords with consonance-dissonance spectrums	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 03	Modal borrowing	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 03	Interactive Group Work: analysis and composing with concepts of modal borrowing	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 04	Composing with modes of the major scale: modal modulation, polymodality and polytonality	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 04	Interactive Group Work: engaging with melody and harmony with modes of the major scale	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 05	Composing with modes: pentatonic, hexatonic and octatonic scales	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 05	Interactive Group Work: improvising melody and harmony with pentatonic, hexatonic and octatonic scales	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 06	Synthetic modes and their usage in repertoire	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 06	Interactive Group Work: Inventing melody and harmony with synthetic modes	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 07	Structural Points and Transitional Passages: connecting your ideas. Mozart, Piano Sonata in C K. 545 (1788); Gabriela Lena Frank, Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (2008); Ginastera Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 (1952)	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 07	Discussion: identify thematic and transitional material and describe how transitional material serves the character and structure of the composition	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 08	Writing for piano, examples and discussion	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 09	Rhythm, meter, structural timing and movement Jimmy Lopez, Peru Negro (2012)	Lecture (1 hr)
Week 09	Interactive Group Work: creating rhythmic motifs and multi-layered rhythms	Tutorial (1 hr)
Week 13	End of Semester Composers' Concert Week 13, Friday 4 November	Performance (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: Students are expected to attend a minimum of 90 per cent of timetabled activities for a unit of study, unless granted exemption by the Associate Dean (Education) or relevent delegated authority. The Associate Dean (Education) may determine that a student fails a unit of study because of inadequate attendance. Alternatively, at their discretion, they may set additional assessment items where attendance is lower than 90 per cent.

In addition to the rule above, full (100 per cent) and punctual attendance is a requirement in all activities where students have a role as active participants in the class or activity. Active participation includes situations where the student's contribution is to perform, rehearse or direct rehearsals in a small or large ensemble, or to give seminar and tutorial papers or presentations or undertake assessment tasks. Active participation also includes all one-to-one studio teaching and supervision. Except in cases of specal consideration, failure to attend activities or classes where a student is an active participant will be seen as failure to meet the requirements of the unit of study.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

The following are not mandatory but very useful:

Behind Bars by Elaine Gould (Faber Music) is recommended as a reference for notation-based work. The presentation component of these units of study may be marked according to guidelines in this text.

The Study of Orchestration by Samuel Adler (W. W. Norton & Co.) is recommended as a reference for instrumentation and orchestration.

The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross (Fourth Estate) is recommended as a general reference for the development of compositional trends and developments throughout the 20th Century. This is an important guide to the century that preceded ours and hence provides helpful context to the musical milieu in which you are currently working.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate a very high level of compositional craft, research capacity, and notation and production skills
LO2. demonstrate good discernment in compositional decisions
LO3. demonstrate an appreciation of, and engagement with, a broad range of compositional traditions, genres, perspectives and practices
LO4. demonstrate confidence and independence in your creative practice
LO5. develop strategies to compose regularly and proactively
LO6. liaise with the performers of your compositions, emphasising clear communication and meet submission deadlines.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

After last year's feedback, we have added a tutorial hour to complement the lecture, and have expanded the amount of time allotted to student presentations.

Additional information

Extensive information can be found on the Canvas Hubsite for Composition, Digital Music and Creative Industries. This includes information regarding subsequent principal study units and their assessment criteria, broader degree details, and other content, such as composition/career opportunities.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

CMPN2604: Composition 4

Semester 2, 2022 [Normal day] - Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect