MUSC13416 - Western Art Music: Romanticism to Modernism

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will study the history and cultural development of western art music from the Romantic era of the 19th century through to the Modernist era around the turn of the 20th century. Your studies will focus on prominent musicians, composers and their repertoire through the analysis of scores and recordings. You will also investigate important forms and instruments; aural characteristics of the music, as well as the technological, sociological and political events that influenced musical trends during this period.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

For entry into this unit, you must have completed 72 credit points in this course.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 30%
2. Written Assessment 30%
3. Written Assessment 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 50% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Staff reflection
Feedback:
 Review Assessment 3: Pre-recorded Video Presentation

Recommendation:
 Review Assessment 3: Pre-recorded Video Presentation, with a view to revert back to a Research Essay in order to better assess the use of Gen AI agents.

Action Taken:
 Assessment 3 was made into a Research Essay
Source: Student Evaluation Data.
Feedback:
 Distribution of content over the term.

Recommendation:
 Review unit content and additional learning resources to ensure there is an even distribution of materials over the term.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Student Evaluation Data.
Feedback:
 Gen AI policy on assessment items.

Recommendation:
 Review the use of Gen AI on assessment items.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe the important musical, structural and aural characteristics of western art music of the 19th and early 20th centuries
  2. Analyse musical works from prominent art music composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries
  3. Describe the contribution of significant composers and musicians to the development of western art music of the 19th and early 20th centuries
  4. Contextualise the principal stylistic trends of western art music within the important social and political movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Written Assessment • • •