Although instrumental or vocal studies are not part of the formal
Music curriculum, a wide range of musical activities takes place on
COURSE CODES: TR002 TR001 (TSM)
PLACES 2011: 20 10
POINTS 2010: 470* 555-570
DEGREE AWARDED: B.A.
TSM points: See note on page 28
These are restricted entry courses.
Applications must be submitted by 1 February of the
proposed year of entry. Applicants will be required to
attend an entrance examination, provisionally scheduled
for Saturday 24 March 2012.
Specimen examination papers are available for download
from the Music Department website:
www.tcd.ie/Music/undergraduate/music/index.php
Special Entry Requirements:
Formal musical training is not a prerequisite for entry,
but candidates should have a good ear and the ability to
read and notate music to a rudimentary level. The most
important musical qualification is a good ear.
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
On the basis of the entrance examination results,
applicants may be called to attend an interview at the end
of April/beginning of May, before final selections are made.
You are not required to perform at interview.
TR002 – Music is a single honor course where music is
read almost exclusively for four years.
TR001 – Music (TSM) is a joint honors programme. Music
can be combined with one other subject. Both subjects are
studied for three years and one subject only is studied in
the fourth and final year. An honors degree is awarded in
both subjects.
For subjects that combine with Music see page 92.
Single honor and TSM students follow the same courses.
While TSM students cover all the principal areas of music
studied by single honor students, the workload is less than
that of the single honor programme. TSM students have
the same range of options as single honor students.
See also:
TR009 – Music education page 78
Course overview
The single honor and two-subject courses provide a thorough
grounding in the basic skills of musicianship and academic
study (see below for details). From the second year onwards,
and especially in the third and fourth years, both courses offer a
wide range of options. Students specialise in one of the following
areas: composition, music technology, and musicology (the
historical and analytical study of music); and in their final year
they undertake a major project in that area. However, the course
is designed so that students may also take subjects outside their
specialisation.
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the campus. Practical courses in aural training and/or keyboard
skills are available in each year; and the Music Department
supports several performance groups that work under the
supervision of experts in their fields (these are in addition to the
many performance opportunities offered by student societies).
The recently established Ensemble Avalon (APT) Residency
offers students an unmatched opportunity to work with
professional players of international standing, on their
compositions and on projects in music technology, musicology
and performance.
The majority of subjects are based on the traditions and
practice of classical (or art) music, from the medieval period to
the present day. However, the department regularly presents
lectures in other musical traditions, including jazz, popular
music and Irish traditional music. Many students currently in
the department come, primarily from one of those non-classical
traditions.
One of the strengths of the Music courses in Trinity College
is the commitment to small-group teaching. While some
subjects, such as History of music, are delivered as lectures to a
large group, many subjects are taught in groups of ten students
or fewer.
Is this the right course for you?
If you love music and want to understand it – for example, to
know how it works, its history and development, how to write
music, how to become a more informed performer – this is the
course for you. Whether your interests are primarily academic
or practical, your experience of this vast and rich subject will be
greatly improved in depth and breadth.
As an academic discipline, music fosters independence of
thought, creativity, critical and analytical skills, and intellectual
awareness. You will also have plenty of opportunity to perform,
conduct ensembles, and gain experience of arts administration.
Because the course includes a wide range of options, you will be
able to emphasise the areas that interest you most.
The facilities in the Music Department include a recital room,
practice rooms with pianos, an excellent and up-to-date suite
of computer workstations that are used for teaching and study,
a small music studio (plus more extensive, shared facilities
elsewhere), excellent listening equipment, and a substantial
lending collection of CDs and videos.
The staff of the Music Department have a wide range of
expertise in composition, music technology and musicology.
They are here to help you in your exploration of a subject that
they chose because they, like you, love it.
As a student at Trinity College you will have access to the
largest research library in Ireland. It is also by far the largest
and best-equipped library for music. In addition to its general
holdings of books and music, it houses an extensive listening
collection of CDs.

Visit the Department of Music
n If you are considering studying Music at Trinity College
but want to be sure, you are most welcome to attend
lectures at the department at any time during teaching
terms. You will also be invited to discuss your options
with a member of the teaching staff. Contact us by
e-mail or phone (see below).
Course content
The Freshman years
The Junior Freshman (first) year is designed to ensure that
you are fully competent in basic musical skills and provides
an introduction to historical and analytical musicology,
compositional techniques and music technology.
Subjects include:
n Aural training – using moveable Doh (Solfège or Solfa).
The course will improve your basic musical skills in areas
such as musical dictation, sight-reading, and score-reading.
n Keyboard skills – (taught in conjunction with aural training)
will enable you to create harmony over a given figured bass,
to play four-part harmony, and to transpose up or down a
tone or semitone.
n Introduction to harmony – an introduction to the writing
of four-part harmony.
n History of music – an introduction to the music of Baroque
and early Classical periods in a broad cultural context (this
forms part of a four-year programme of general music
history), plus an introduction to research methodologies,
and to presentation and style in writing essays.
n Introduction to music analysis – includes re-assessment
of the elements of a musical text and the ways in which
they come together to form increasingly large units.
n Music technology – includes computer orientation,
and introduction to MIDI protocol, audio signals and
computer-based notation and sequencing.
n Introduction to counterpoint – the conventions of music
notation and rudiments, leading to the study of Fuxian
species counterpoint, which will enable you to acquire
a command of basic polyphonic composition.
In the Senior Freshman (second) year you will continue with
the above subjects from the first year while beginning to explore
your specialist area – either composition, musicology, or music
technology. Single Honor students will also select a Broad
Curriculum course (see page 13), and TSM students have a
wider range of options that includes Broad Curriculum.
The Sophister years
In the Sophister (third and fourth) years study becomes more
concentrated on your chosen specialisation. It is always possible
to take options from other specialisations.
Students who specialise in composition will receive a thorough
grounding in compositional techniques; they present a portfolio
of their compositions as their final-year project. If you specialise
in music technology you will produce a major project in the final
year. Specialisation in musicology involves a range of courses
relating to historical and analytical subjects, and culminates in a
dissertation in the fourth year.
All students may opt to present a recital for up to approximately
10% of their degree. In each year, Sophister students are also
offered an option in either aural training or in the playing of
figured bass (using either piano or harpsichord). In recent years,
other options have included:
n Film music
n Counterpoint and Fugue in Three Parts
n The German Lied in the 19th century
n Music and language
n Byrd and the politics of polyphony
n Sonata structures
n Experimental theatre music and contemporary opera
n Web design
n Handel and the English oratorio
n Elgar, Newman and The Dream of Gerontius
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Assessment
Most subjects are assessed by a combination of examination
(at the end of the year) and continuous assessment.
Career opportunities
The employment record for Trinity College’s graduates in Music
is excellent. Recent graduates have established successful
careers as composers, as music producers for television, radio,
or recording companies, as performers, administrators and
teachers, as academics in internationally recognised institutions
worldwide, and as conductors. Within the last few years several
recent graduates have been commissioned by front-rank
organisations such as RTÉ to write new works. Graduates
are working in this country and in countries as diverse as the
USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, China and England. Music
graduates have an outstanding record of obtaining scholarships
for further study abroad, from international institutions, as well
as from the Arts Council of Ireland. A smaller number have used
the analytical and intellectual skills that these courses offer to
build successful careers outside music: recent examples include
medicine, law, financial investment, and public relations.
Further information
Anyone considering studying Music is welcome to visit the
department, in order to sit in on lectures, to speak to members of
staff, and to speak to current students. To make an appointment,
contact the Music Executive Officer: +353 1 896 1120;
musicsec@tcd.ie (office hours: 1000-1630, Mondays to Fridays).
Full details of the courses in Music, of the staff and of the
curriculum can be accessed via the Music Department’s
website: www.tcd.ie/Music
Tel: +353 1 896 1120
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