There’s no one right way to prepare to study Music at university. One thing is certain, though: the more music you know and the more widely you’ve been listening, the better!
But we all get stuck in a rut with listening from time to time – and it can be hard to know where to start when there’s so much out there. So we asked our Music department academics to recommend starting points for broadening your listening this summer. Here are ten tracks to try out – they’re as varied as the BMus itself and all connected to the modules we teach:
1. Marianna Martines, Harpsichord Sonata in A (c. 1765)
2. Nikhil Banerjee (North Indian classical sitar player) playing Rag Bhimpalasi (1970)
3. Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time (1941)
4. Hildegard of Bingen, Columba aspexit, Latin Christian devotional song (12th century)
5. Joseph Haydn, String Quartet Op. 20 No. 2 (1772)
6. Igor Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms (1948)
7. Giuseppe Verdi, Desdemona’s ‘Ave Maria’ from Otello (1887)
8. Venezuelan cuatro player Cheo Hurtado performing the joropo ‘Cari Cari con Pajarillo’ live (2017)
9. Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (1813)
10. Vulfpeck, ‘Beastly’ (2011)
If you’re looking for more listening inspiration over the coming months, try the department’s Lockdown Listening Spotify playlist.
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You can also check out our post on Reading and Watching recommendations for Music BMus Offer holders.
Are you a composer? Dr Edward Nisbet has made Recommendations for Composers.
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