M.A. Musicology majors must demonstrate reading knowledge of French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, or Spanish. The Ph.D. in Musicology requires reading knowledge of two non-English languages. The first language must be French, German, Italian, Latin, Russian, or Spanish; the second should be relevant to the student’s research area.
Reading knowledge in a language may be demonstrated in the following ways: by passing an examination administered by the appropriate language department (usually the GSFLE), by passing a translation examination administered by the musicology department (see below), by grades of B or higher in two semesters of reading courses at the graduate level (usually -491 and -492), or by receiving a grade of B or higher in a literature or civilization course at Indiana University numbered 300 or higher (exclusive of individual readings and correspondence courses) in which the reading is done in the foreign language.
Musicology students may be able to satisfy the departmental foreign language requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees by passing a translation examination in the language that has been prepared by members of the Musicology faculty. The examination will test the student’s ability to deal with texts of a musicological nature.
Format: One historical text (Fraktur appropriate in German), one modern scholarly text, and possibly a poetic text, which may either take the place of the historical text or appear in addition to the other two. In the case of Latin, the texts will be some combination of historical, ecclesiastical, and poetic Latin. In each of the examinations, the student will be expected to translate the texts; a dictionary may be used. Sample past examinations are on file in the Musicology Office.
Length: 3 hours.
Departmental examinations will be administered once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester (please consult the calendar for exact dates). The examinations will be evaluated by members of the respective language departments or, as appropriate, by a member of the musicology faculty, who will certify to the department that the examination has been passed. Students must register in the Musicology Office (M225H) to take the examination at least one week before the examination is scheduled to be given.
Students who have passed an IU language exam as an M.A. student ordinarily need not retake it as Ph.D. students. For information regarding the time limits for completing the requirements, see the Bulletin of the School of Music.