Educational goals
Students completing required courses for the second level Academic Diploma in Composition will have acquired the technical ability and specific competences that will allow them to express their interpretative personality. To meet this goal, students will study closely the main compositional techniques and idioms that are most representative of various historical periods and specific professional expertise in instrumentation, orchestration, transcription and arrangement, while developing perceptual abilities in aural training and memorization. In addition, students will learn about the various models of music analysis and their evolution. Upon completion of the two-year degree, students will have attained in-depth knowledge of the general stylistic, historical and aesthetic aspects related to their specific area of composition. In addition, they will be able to carry out improvisation and will possess adequate skills in the use of computer technology for music. The ability to use a second European Union language will also be obtained.
Employment prospects
The skills developed in the chosen course of education enable students to gain access to the world of work on the basis of an education in line with European standards, offering employment prospects in various fields such as:
– Composer
– Music consultant in various contexts
– Employee at recording companies and music publishers
– Teacher
– Employee and organizer in the music context
Entrance Examination Program
I
FOR CANDIDATES ALREADY HOLDING A BACHELOR’S DEGREE (THREE-YEAR COURSE) IN COMPOSITION OR A DIPLOMA/INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATE IN COMPOSITION FROM THE OLD CURRICULUM
Single Test – oral:
a) Examination and evaluation of the qualifications, compositions, and works submitted by the candidate;
b) Interview with the candidate to highlight their interests, skills, and educational and artistic projects.
– – – – – – – – –
II
FOR ALL OTHER CANDIDATES
A) – WRITTEN TESTS
I Written Test:
Composition of a 3- or 4-voice fugue on a theme assigned by the examination board, to be completed in a maximum of 11 hours in a classroom equipped with a piano
II Written Test:
Composition of a piece for a chamber ensemble consisting of at least 4 instruments chosen by the candidate, based on a theme assigned by the examination board. The composition must be completed within a maximum of 96 hours and may be carried out at a location chosen by the candidate. The test will be delivered in a sealed envelope at the end of the first written exam, and the 96-hour period will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the following day. The completed composition must be submitted to the conservatoire’s administration office by 10:30 a.m. on the fifth day, starting from the day after the assignment is delivered
B) ORALS
1) Modulation to distant keys on the piano
2) Interview on the theoretical foundations of the musical composition
3) Presentation of at least one original composition for a vocal or instrumental ensemble chosen by the candidate
4) General and motivational interview
C) – PRACTICAL TEST OF PIANO PERFORMANCE
1) Performance of a Prelude and Fugue from “The Well-Tempered Clavier” by J. S. Bach.
2) Performance of a Sonata chosen by the candidate, either from those by BEETHOVEN (excluding op. 49) or from the post-Beethoven period.
3) Sight-reading at the piano of a four-voice madrigal or motet, written in the clefs of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
4) Piano reading of an Italian aria, chosen by the examination board, while singing the vocal part (N. B. = The candidate will have 45 minutes in a piano-equipped room to prepare for this test).
N. B. Candidates holding qualifications certifying the completion of equivalent piano tests will only take tests no. 3 and 4.
Candidates holding qualifications certifying the completion of tests no. 3 and 4 will also be exempted from them.
D) – GENERAL MUSICAL CULTURE TESTS
1 – HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY OF MUSIC
a) Institutional Part – Oral examination on the history of music.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Musica e società. Vol. 2 Dal 1640 al 1830, a cura di Paolo Fabbri, Alessandro Roccatagliati e Paolo Russo, Milano, McGraw-Hill Italia, 2013;
Musica e società (dal 1830 al 2000), a cura di Virgilio Bernardoni e Paolo Fabbri, Lucca, LIM, 2016
Elvidio Surian, Storia della musica, Milano, Rugginenti, 1992-1993, voll. 2-4
Storia della musica, Torino, EDT, 1991-19932, voll. 6-10
N.B. Candidates holding one or more of the following qualifications, obtained no more than seven years prior, are exempt from this test: a pre-reform Diploma, a first- or second-level Academic Diploma in any discipline, or a three-year or two-year degree in Musicology and History of Music.
B) Monographic Part
Candidates are required to have a general understanding of the structures and forms of at least three pieces from the list below, as well as a musicological analysis of the specified sections. From the texts in the bibliography, it is necessary to study the introductory and contextual parts, along with the pages dedicated to analytical work.
SCORES
Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata n. 140 Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Concerto for Piano KV 491 (in particular the I movement)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Sinfonia n. 3 (in particular the IV movement)
Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique. Épisode de la vie d’un artiste, en cinq parties (in particular the V movement)
Gustav Mahler, Sinfonia n. 1 (in particular the I movement)
Maurice Ravel, Gaspar de la nuit (in particular “Le Gibet”)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paul Bekker, Gustav Mahlers Sinfonien (1921), English translation by Kelly Dean Hansen, PhD Dissertation, University of Colorado, 2012 (https://scholar.colorado.edu/downloads/hd76s029t)
Renato Calza, I prestigi della notte. Gaspard de la Nuit tra Aloysius Bertrand e Maurice Ravel, Treviso, Diastema, 1994
Fabrizio Della Seta, Beethoven: Sinfonia Eroica. Una guida, Roma, Carocci, 2004
Raffaele Mellace, Johann Sebastian Bach. Le cantate, Palermo, L’Epos, 2012
Giorgio Pagannone, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto for piano and orchestra K 491, Roma, Carocci, 2006
Paolo Russo, Berlioz: Sinfonia fantastica. Una guida, Roma, Carocci, 2008
2 – MUSICAL DRAMATURGY
Candidates are required to have knowledge of the Prelude and the first act of the orchestral score of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi, along with the related libretto by Francesco Maria Piave.
The oral examination aims to assess the candidate’s ability to recognize the fundamental mechanisms of musical dramaturgy and the basic elements of versification.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto, orchestral score, Milan, Ricordi. The score is also available online: (https://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page).
• Francesco Maria Piave, Rigoletto, libretto, edited by E. Rescigno, Milan, Ricordi, 1990. The libretto is also available online: (http://www.librettidopera.it/)
• Paolo Gallarati, Lettura del Rigoletto, Turin, Edizioni Libreria Stampatori, 2003 (it is also recommended to read the introduction regarding the concept of musical dramaturgy).
• Pietro G. Beltrami, Gli strumenti della poesia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2012.
Candidates who have already passed an exam in Musical Dramaturgy during a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree at a Conservatoire or in a similar subject in other university programmes are exempt from this test.
N.B.: failure to pass the tests outlined in sections C and D will result in the assignment of academic debts to the student.
Look at the other Second Cycle Academic Programmes (Master Level, EQF Level: 7) courses
