Musicology
Historical musicologists study the history of musical traditions, the origins of works, and the biographies of composers.
The 19th-century philosophical trends that led to the re-establishment of formal musicology education in German and Austrian universities had combined methods of systematization with evolution.
This was influenced by Hegel's ideas on ordering "phenomena" which can be understood & distinguished from simple to complex stages of evolution.
They are further classified into primitive & developed sections; whereas the particular stages of history are understood & distinguished as ancient to modern.
In practice, these research topics are more often considered within ethnomusicology and "historical musicology" is typically assumed to imply Western Art music of the European tradition.
The methods of historical musicology include source studies (especially manuscript studies), palaeography, philology (especially textual criticism), style criticism, historiography (the choice of historical method), musical analysis (analysis of music to find "inner coherence")[2] and iconography.
Music historians create a number of written products, ranging from journal articles describing their current research, new editions of musical works, biographies of composers and other musicians, book-length studies or university textbook chapters or entire textbooks.
On the other hand, some scholars take a broader view and assess the place of a given type of music, such as the symphony in society using techniques drawn from other fields, such as economics, sociology or philosophy.
New musicology is a term applied since the late 1980s to a wide body of work emphasizing cultural study, analysis and criticism of music.
"[3] Charles Rosen, however, retorts that McClary, "sets up, like so many of the 'new musicologists', a straw man to knock down, the dogma that music has no meaning, and no political or social significance.
Therefore, ethnomusicological scholarship can be characterized as featuring a substantial, intensive fieldwork component, often involving long-term residence within the community studied.
[9] The same year an academic society solely devoted to the topic was formed, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.
Broadly, theory may include any statement, belief or conception of or about music (Boretz, 1995)[incomplete short citation].
Broadly speaking, music theory in the Western tradition focuses on harmony and counterpoint, and then uses these to explain large scale structure and the creation of melody.
As part of their initial training, musicologists typically complete a BMus or a BA in music (or a related field such as history) and in many cases an MA in musicology.
Some musicology professors may take on senior administrative positions in their institution, such as Dean or Chair of the School of Music.
[15] Susan McClary (born 1946) is a musicologist associated with new musicology who incorporates feminist music criticism in her work.
A more complete list of open-access journals in theory and analysis can be found on the website of the Société Belge d'Analyse Musicale (in French).
