Music History

Music History is ideal if you are preparing for the one of the following careers:

• Teaching music history, theory, or musicology in colleges or universities
• Music criticism or journalism
• Arts administration
• Music librarian
• Music publishing

In most cases, BMus graduates with a Music History major will go on to study graduate-level Musicology or Music Theory. If you wish to teach in colleges or universities, you will need to complete a PhD.

Courses

The undergraduate Music History program begins with a two-year course sequence that explores music and musical values in Western society through humanistic, cultural, historical, and musical-analytical perspectives.

All music students take several specialized upper-level courses in music history. Recent upper-level courses include examinations of:

• Mozart’s Operas
• Fin-de-siècle Vienna
• Chamber Music Literature
• Claudio Monteverdi

This program allows students to pursue topics of special interest through Directed Studies courses.

Course Calendar

For information about the specific course requirements of our undergraduate program, please see the UVic Calendar for required courses for the Major in History and Literature.

Seminars

The core seminar for history majors, Graduating Project in Music History, is a substantial research project which prepares fourth-year students for future training through the study of current approaches and research methodologies in musicology and related disciplines and the completion of a senior thesis.

Language Requirements

There are no language courses specifically required in this program, but students who intend to go on to graduate study should take elective courses in German, Italian, or French.