Music PhD

University of Bristol

Programme overview

PhD: a research project undertaken across three years (full-time, plus a writing up period), culminating in an 80,000 word thesis. As well as having the option to audit taught units, there may be the potential for PhD students to teach units themselves from their second year of study onwards.

The Department of Music is a centre of research excellence in both composition and musicology.

In composition, there is no particular house style, but we are well known for a number of areas, including:

acoustic music, ranging from solo to symphonic scale;
electro-acoustic, including acousmatic composition;
composition exploring the interface of Western and non-Western traditions.

The department also provides access to a wide network of opportunities for professional and amateur performance.

In musicology, research strengths include not only the Western art music tradition, but also screen media, non-Western and popular music. We have particular depth of expertise in the early Middle Ages (especially Spain), and in the 19th and 20th centuries (including the music of France, Britain, Germany and Soviet Russia). We also have expertise in Anglophone vernacular traditions, including jazz and hip hop; in opera, film, music and the history and philosophy of technology, music and migration; and cultural and reception history more generally.

Several musicology students are co-supervised between the Department of Music and a related department, such as Russian, French, English or History.

This research degree is also available via distance learning.

Careers

A significant number of graduates from this programme develop careers in higher education or work on high-level research projects in the field of music; some graduates take up careers as composers and musicians.