Mission and Goals
Mission Statement:
Duke’s undergraduate music curriculum is designed to cultivate the wide-ranging interests and abilities of its students while providing them with a coherent approach to understanding the techniques and history of music. Its offerings encompass the many ways that we perform, create and comprehend music. The music major is flexible and may be shaped to emphasize any of the various subspecialties of the field in preparation for graduate work. It aims to develop a depth of analytical, historical, and aesthetic understanding, as well as the specific aural and physical capacities necessary for good musicianship. These skills will provide the music graduate with a foundation for future learning in a variety of fields.
Goals for Undergraduate Education in Music:
- Undergraduate music majors should learn to engage knowledgeably with the many contemporary and historical strands that exist in music.
- Music majors should develop the analytic ability to describe and critique a variety of musical texts or experiences, to locate them in a cultural and historical context, and to grasp the technique behind their creation.
- Music majors should gain competence in one area of performance and in simple composition; in most cases they will be able to practice one of these skills at an advanced level, where artistic issues become the primary focus.
The distinct disciplines of theory, history, ethnomusicology, composition, and performance each require multiple semesters of effort to achieve fluency. Music majors are encouraged to excel in as many of these areas as they can. Every music major will complete a sequence of courses encompassing Western music history and theory as well as applied study of an instrument or voice. By the time of graduation, the typical music major will have accomplished the goals outlined above through:
- Appearing in both solo and in ensemble performances.
- Composing original music in different historical styles.
- Producing detailed theoretical analyses of musical scores.
- Producing critical essays on music of various periods and styles.
As one of the most ancient of the liberal arts, music has long been seen as an essential component of culture. It has provided meaning and consolation to humanity through the ages, and it is the source of some of its greatest artistic and intellectual achievements. A thorough study of music reaches beyond the concrete skills of the discipline toward an understanding of the deep significance of the art to human life. The Duke Department of Music wishes every music graduate to gain this understanding, and to grasp clearly the human capabilities that create the universal language of music.