Italian/Music

Italian is the language of one of Europe's great cultural and artistic traditions, and of a major EU country that has shaped the continent's political, intellectual and aesthetic development over centuries. To study Italian at university level is to gain access to that tradition in its original language: the literature of Dante, Petrarch and Calvino, the art criticism, philosophy and political thought that have emerged from Italy, and the living culture of a country that remains central to European and global life. Combining it with music adds a dimension that is particularly fitting, since Italy has been one of the formative influences on Western music from the Renaissance through to opera and beyond.

This five-year full-time degree at the University of Glasgow includes a sandwich year with a work placement, giving you professional experience embedded in the programme. You will develop your Italian to a high level, engaging with the language through literature, culture, film and contemporary contexts, while studying music across its historical, analytical and practical dimensions. The combination asks you to think about Italian culture in its broadest sense, understanding music and literature as intertwined expressions of a single cultural tradition.

You will develop skills in linguistic analysis, literary criticism, musicological argument and the close reading of both texts and scores.

Graduates combine advanced Italian language competence with musical knowledge and analysis skills, opening careers in music, arts administration, education, publishing, broadcasting, cultural diplomacy, tourism and international business in Italian-speaking contexts. The specialist combination of language and music is particularly valuable in opera, music publishing, arts organisations with international profiles and cultural institutions with connections to Italy. Further study in Italian studies, musicology, opera studies or performance is a natural route for those who wish to deepen their expertise.