Log In
Sign Up
Musicology at Harvard offers intensive training in historical and cultural approaches to the study of music. While our program has an emphasis on Western music, students increasingly explore wide-ranging geographies and subjects. We take an expansive view of the field and encourage our students to do the same. Most graduate courses in musicology are research seminars; many treat specific topics and theoretical approaches, while others deal with methodology and recent trends in the field. The musicology faculty also offer proseminars that are open to both graduate and undergraduate students. At the end of two years of study, graduate students take a General Examination. In year three, having passed the General Exam, students begin to teach and craft a Ph.D. dissertation proposal; subsequent years are devoted to teaching, research, writing, and professional development.
An important aspect of the Harvard program in musicology is its interdisciplinary breadth, which includes training in ethnomusicology and music theory. Students often also take seminars in other departments – and are encouraged to do so. Accreditation in secondary fields is available through many programs, such as American Studies, Critical Media Practice, Medieval Studies, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, to name a few.
Special Resources
The deep holdings of the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library include a substantial recording archive, and the Isham Memorial Library houses rare original books, scores, and personal archives ranging from the Randy Weston Archive to Sir Georg Solti’s annotated conducting scores. Additional resources on campus include the Special Collections at Houghton Library and the Harvard Theater Collection, one of the largest performing arts collections in the world. The department also maintains a selection of musical instruments for study and performance, including early keyboards and a consort of viols.
The Mahindra Humanities Center, Film Study Center, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti (Florence), Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Charles Warren Center for the Study of American History, and several other campus institutions provide additional intellectual resources and funding for graduate student research. Faculty and graduate students hold conferences each year on a variety of topics; artists in residence and visiting artists often enrich coursework, and some courses provide opportunities for students to perform.
Language Requirements for Musicology
Two languages are required. The languages will be chosen in consultation with the program’s graduate advisor, and wherever possible should be relevant to future research. We encourage students to pass both languages before taking the general exam. In the event this is not possible, both languages need to be passed by the end of the fall semester of the third year.
