Music
Music at Cambridge is one of the most demanding and rewarding of all the degree programmes available in the subject in the UK. It is rooted in the classical tradition of musical scholarship, requiring rigorous training in harmony, counterpoint, analysis, composition, and the history of music from the medieval period to the present, while also engaging with contemporary practice, ethnomusicology, and the critical and philosophical dimensions of musical thought. For students with the preparation and commitment to work at this level, it is an extraordinary education.
This three-year, full-time programme develops your musical knowledge and analytical skills through a curriculum that is both historically grounded and intellectually ambitious. You will study music theory and analysis, the history of Western music and music of other traditions, composition in a range of styles, and the cultural and philosophical contexts that give music its meaning. The University and Colleges own over 100 pianos and the East of England's largest set of orchestral percussion instruments, and the Faculty has a large collection of period instruments available for use, giving the practical dimension of your study an exceptional material foundation.
The Cambridge system, combining lectures and supervisions within the collegiate structure, provides a level of individual intellectual attention that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.
Graduates of Cambridge music go on to careers as performers, composers, conductors, music scholars, teachers, critics, music therapists, broadcasters, publishers, and arts administrators. Many pursue postgraduate study in performance, composition, musicology, or music education at leading conservatoires and universities worldwide. The rigorous analytical and argumentative training the degree provides is also valued in a wide range of non-musical careers, and many graduates move into law, finance, the civil service, education, and the creative industries, where the intellectual habits of musical scholarship translate effectively into analytical and communicative skill.