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Florida State / College of Music / Areas of Study / Music Theory & Composition / Departmental Exams / Graduate Music Theory and Composition Majors / D.M. Composition Diagnostic Exam
D.M. Composition Diagnostic Exam
Entering doctoral students in composition must register for the Doctoral Diagnostic Exam in Composition for the fall term when beginning your degree: MUS 8960 for zero credit. It is comprised of five questions. The take-home questions on the exam, outlined below, will be given out the Wednesday prior to Veterans Day in the Fall semester, and the Wednesday prior to spring break in the Spring semester. Students should return four (4) bound copies of the exam and keep a copy for themselves. An oral follow up examination with the composition faculty will be scheduled on Wednesday two weeks after the exams have been turned in. In preparation, reread and critique your exam and bring a copy of the exam with you to the oral examination. Course recommendations will be made on the basis of the exam, which also serves as the final step in admittance to the doctoral program.
The exam will consist of the following questions:
Questions 1 and 2: Analysis of one tonal and one post-tonal composition, relatively short, using appropriate analytical methods and terminology. Your analyses may incorporate score annotations, graphs, diagrams, tables, and/or other analytical notations. As time permits, you are encouraged to approach at least one of the pieces from multiple analytical perspectives. Provide prose commentary to clarify your analyses, to speak to your choices of methodology, and to cite published precedent where relevant. The question is closed book. You may allot up to 4 hours to complete each of the analyses, total of 8 hours.
Question 3. Melody Harmonization: Harmonize a given melody in four-part chorale style; include a Roman-numeral analysis. You may allot up to two hours to complete this question. A keyboard may be used.
Question 4. Counterpoint: Complete counterpoint exercises as indicated. You may allot up to 2 hours to complete this question. The short exercises, in two-voices (apart from the fugue), will include: 1) first species tonal exercise; 2) first species modal exercise; and 3) 5th species tonal exercise.
Question 5. Twentieth-Century Composers: Write 2-3 paragraphs on five (5) composers from each of the groups listed—10 composers in all. You should include reference to their dates, major compositions, salient features of their style, and their significance as a composer. This question will be answered in the music library on Monday when you turn your exams in (after Veterans Day or after spring break) in the music library from 1-5 p.m.
