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Florida State / College of Music / Areas of Study / Music Theory & Composition / Departmental Exams / Graduate Music Theory and Composition Majors / M.M. Composition Comprehensive Exam
M.M. Composition Comprehensive Exam
The Master’s Comprehensive Exam in Composition is normally taken after completing course work or during the final semester of course work. It is comprised of five questions. The take-home questions on the exam, outlined below, will be distributed on the Wednesday in the same week as Veterans Day and the Wednesday before Spring Break. Completed exams will be due 12 days later (Monday). 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.
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 from 1-5 p.m. on the Monday when you turn in your other exam questions.
