Music

The retention of these subjects at the heart of the first year curriculum ensures that every Oxford graduate acquires a detailed yet comprehensive understanding of Western music. More recently, the study of a broader range of subjects including popular music and ethnomusicology have widened the spectrum of subjects studied in the first year to reflect current developments.

The wide range of options available in the second and third years enables students to specialise in areas of particular interest, e.g. original composition, solo performance, chamber music, analytical techniques, editing, ethnomusicology, or specialist history options. For further details about the course see the University's Music page.

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The course and musical facilities at St Peter's

St Peter's generally seeks to admit four or five undergraduates per year. This is one of the largest groups of undergraduates reading Music in any college across the University and creates a vibrant and diverse musical community.

Every undergraduate reading Music is provided with an electric piano (clavinova) for their own study purposes.

The College has a building dedicated entirely to music and culture, including:

• The Music Room: a rehearsal and performance space seating up to 70 people, with state-of-the-art acoustics, live-broadcast and event recording equipment and the Model B Steinway piano;
• Two dedicated music practice rooms
• The Olivia Choi Room: a beautiful green room

The College's spacious Chapel, with its generous acoustic, also provides a flexible space for large- and small-scale concert and operatic performances. The strong tradition of instrumental music in the College is apparent in the number of St Peter’s students who play in the University orchestras. Organ and Choral Scholarships are available together with a number of awards for musical excellence supported through the generosity of old members and given to those who play an outstanding role in the musical life of the College.

In addition to the Steinway Model B grand piano, the College has a Blüthner grand piano and a single manual harpsichord by Robert Goble, which are available for practice and for performances. St Peter’s College Chapel is fortunate in that it still possesses its original organ, built by ‘Father’ Henry Willis in 1875, just as he was rising to the height of his fame with instruments such as those for the Royal Albert Hall and the Alexandra Palace. Additionally, the Chapel has a Nicholson's chamber organ ideal for continuo work and the performance of a wide variety of early organ music.

You can read more about the Choir and the musical life of the College, including our musical facilities, here.

Graduate Study

There is a strong tradition of graduate study in music at St Peter’s at both Masters and Doctoral level. Research interests of recent, current and incoming graduate students include studies in 13th-century manuscripts, psychology of performance, and Elgar. Graduate students play an important role in the musical life of St Peter’s.