Secretary’s office (1^st cycle):
Malesherbes Campus
Centre universitaire Malesherbes
108, bd Malesherbes - 75017 Paris
Metro : Malesherbes
Tel.: 01 43 18 41 50
Fax : 01 43 18 41 10
E-mail : malesherbes.musique@paris-sorbonne.fr

Office hours:
Monday to Thursday: 9:30-12:30 and 14:00-16:30
Friday: 9:30-12:30

Secretary’s office (2^nd and 3^rd cycles and CNED students of all levels):
Sorbonne
1, rue Victor Cousin - 75230 Paris cedex 05
Staircase G, 3^rd floor
Tel.: 01 40 46 26 06
Fax: 01 40 46 26 05
E-mail : sorbonne.musique@paris-sorbonne.fr

Office hours:
Monday to Thursday: 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:30
Friday: 10:00-12:00

Music and Musicology Studies at Paris IV

In the context of the human sciences, the scope of Music and Musicology is both special and specific. The purpose of Musicology is to study and understand the phenomenon of music, to locate it in space and time and to undertake reflections concerning it within the larger framework of those disciplines linked to civilization studies.

Heir to a long tradition in the Sorbonne, the Department (UFR) of “Music and Musicology” has learned from it the necessary link between meditation and practice. Indeed, it considers the process of the elaboration of musical discourse during the different periods of musical production, both as a practice and as an object of reflection. It refines the sense of hearing, develops the perception of the different parameters of sound and sharpens the awareness of the internal organization of a musical score to permit the student better to position the musical work within a temporal and geographic area. An eminent actor in the reflection on the prestigious legacy of western music, the department (UFR) has opened its field of study to the entirety of musical manifestations from outside our culture as well as to the practices of contemporary creation.

It offers a complete three-year program of general education (DEUG and Licence), combining courses in history - mainly of music and the fine arts -, classes on technique and sessions of musical practice. This program, which is traditional but unique in France, due to its integration into general education and to its coherence, has been enriched by broadening its scope to include popular music and oral tradition (ethnomusicology). At the Licence level, electives link music to numerous associated sciences: pedagogy, management and administration of music, musical sociology. Information technology, as a learning tool as well as one that aids in a reflection on knowledge, is part of an initiation into research techniques.

The fourth year, the Maîtrise, comprises a complete introduction to research, from the rigorous methods specific to the field, through the writing of a Master’s thesis, the first autonomous work of young researchers. The training in research techniques continues in the DEA (Diplôme d’Études Approfondies), which readies the student to do his or her doctoral dissertation. Prepared over a minimum of three years, the jewel in the crown of the researcher in musicology is the thesis which opens onto job opportunities in higher education or research in specialized institutes, such as the CNRS. Under the direction of a professor, the doctoral student joins one of the research groups belonging to the Graduate School of “Concepts and Languages”. Through its activities - colloquiums, seminars, conference days, publications -, the Graduate School ensures that the influence of the work in musicology carried out at the University of Paris-Sorbonne will continue to spread.

At the same time, after the first three years of study, the student has the possibility of preparing for the competitive secondary-school teacher recruitment examination, the CAPES. After having been granted his Maîtrise, the student can study for the competitive examination called the Agrégation in Music and Choral Singing. The Department (UFR) offers high-level preparation classes for these two competitive exams. After the Maîtrise (with a specialty in management), it also offers a DESS in Administration and Management of Music which leads to careers in public and private musical institutions.