The Master of Music in composition program offers students one-on-one instruction with DePaul’s distinguished faculty of active composers, as well as seminars with guest composers and performers from Chicago and across the country. Graduate composition majors have their compositions performed at DePaul Composers Forum, a quarterly student composition concert, and second-year students may have a composition read through and recorded by the DePaul Chamber Orchestra. Graduate student compositions may also be performed by other DePaul ensembles, including Ensemble 20+, the Contemporary Music Ensemble. DePaul also offers two assistantships to graduate composition students. The Master of Music in composition is a two-year program.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| Degree Requirements | 48 |
| Total hours required | 48 |
Learning Outcomes
Core Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Demonstrate basic music research techniques and apply knowledge of standard reference tools and bibliographic sources to the writing of a variety of professional and academic music texts.
- Develop an expanded global, historical, and cultural understanding of music through the in-depth study of musical elements, compositional processes, and aesthetic properties.
Program Specific Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Compose consistently throughout the two years of the degree program, and successfully produce performances of works.
- Develop an individual compositional voice or style that reflects an awareness of prevalent musical styles and techniques of the 20th and 21st centuries and have a knowledge of works of the last 100 years that are an important part of the development of new sonorities and techniques.
- Analyze music of the common practice period as well as music of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Degree Requirements
Course Requirements
A minimum of 48 quarter hours of graduate credit is required for the Master of Music degree. This total is divided between the basic studies required of all master’s degree students and courses in the specialization.
Music Core Requirements (16 Credits)
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| COM 405 | ANALYTICAL STUDIES | 4 |
| MUS 400 | MUSIC RESEARCH | 4 |
| Music History: Select two of the following: | 8 | |
| JAZZ HISTORY | ||
| HISTORY OF THE ORATORIO | ||
| 18th & 19th WIND HISTORY AND LITERATURE | ||
| 20th CENTURY WIND HISTORY AND LITERATURE | ||
| MEDIEVAL MUSIC | ||
| RENAISSANCE MUSIC | ||
| BAROQUE MUSIC | ||
| HISTORY OF OPERA | ||
| WORLD MUSIC CULTURES | ||
| CLASSICAL MUSIC | ||
| ROMANTIC MUSIC | ||
| MUSIC SINCE WORLD WAR II | ||
| 20TH CENTURY MUSIC BEFORE WWII | ||
Composition Specialization Requirements (28 Credits)
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| COM 415 | COMPOSITION | 2 |
| 12 credits of composition lessons (2 credits in each quarter): | 12 | |
| COM 447 | NON-WESTERN SOUND AND CONCEPT IN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC | 4 |
| COM 445 | TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC TOPICS | 4 |
| COM 416 | COMPUTER ASSISTED COMPOSITION | 4 |
| COM 446 | NEW MUSIC COMPOSITION SEMINAR | 4 |
Music Electives (4 Credits)
- Students may choose from any 400 level course offered by the School of Music, except for additional applied lessons.
Terminal Requirements
Two terminal requirements are required of all students:
- A written comprehensive examination, in which the students must demonstrate a satisfactory knowledge of their major field of study. The comprehensive examination may be taken at any time after 32 quarter hours of graduate credit have been earned.
- The completion of an original work.
While preparation of the terminal requirement in the major may take place within some course or activity for which a student is registered for credit, additional academic credit is not granted for the project itself.
Residency Requirements
All courses for the master’s degree must be taken at DePaul University. Graduate credit for courses completed at other institutions may not be applied toward the degree.
A full-time graduate student must be registered for a minimum of six quarter hours in any term. All requirements for the degree must be completed within six calendar years from the time a student is first enrolled. For students removing deficiencies, this period will begin when all deficiencies are removed and admission to the master’s degree program has been granted.