Composition Bachelor

The Program

The aim of the program is to enable students to develop as independent composers. The starting point is therefore to teach them basic composition techniques and introduce them to the issues associated with composing music. Both involve not only traditional techniques and questions of musical context but are influenced to a great extent by the current situation, for example by the use of technology, such as electronics, to compose music.

The program provides an overview of historical and contemporary compositional techniques and methods and delves into the aesthetic approaches associated with these. Students analyze a broad variety of works to get a feel for diverse styles and to understand stylistic criteria. This provides them with examples they can use for orientation when composing their own works. The degree program offers opportunities for intensive practical study of instrumental, vocal, and electronic sound production. The curriculum also provides space for projects in which students learn through examples to compose for modern contexts such as radio plays, internet-based music, musical installations, and performance-oriented projects. The project part of the program also offers opportunities to work creatively with other disciplines, such as theater, film, dance, visual arts, etc. Basic experience in teaching music is also part of the program.

While students acquire the basic knowledge they require to work as composers, the program also allows them the space for an individual focus, a prerequisite for developing an independent artistic personality.

Composition students have access to theStudio for Electronic Music and Acoustics comprising a laboratory and several studio rooms at the Eschersheimer Landstraße and Schwedlerstraße sites where they can gain practical experience in using technical media. In addition, events featuring students' work will be regularly staged in the two concert halls of the HfMDK, at the Frankfurt LAB and at theaters and concert halls throughout the Rhine-Main area. Cooperation will also take place with the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main and various other colleges and universities in the Rhine/main area.

In close cooperation with the Institute for Contemporary Music (IzM) concerts of contemporary music, regular excursions to other universities or contemporary music/art festivals as well as guest lectures/workshops given by external artists and composers are additional highlights of the study program.

Study and Examination Regulations

Brief profile

• Regular duration of the program: 8 semesters
• Program begins: winter semester
• Degree: Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.)
• Credit Points: 240CP
• Language: German

Admission requirements

Applicants for the Bachelor’s degree program in Composition must provide evidence of a university entrance qualification (equivalent to the German Abitur) as stipulated by Section 54 Clause 2 of the Hessian Universities Act (HHG) of December 14, 2009, in the version from December 21, 2010. Applicants who do not have a university entrance qualification as stipulated by Section 54 Clause 4 Article 3 HHG can instead demonstrate their outstanding artistic talent by obtaining at least 19 of 25 possible points in the entrance examination.

Applicants to the Bachelor's program in Composition must have a sufficient oral and written command of German. Applicants to the Bachelor's degree program in Composition must pass an entrance examination.