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(image: wikipedia) In the spirit of sharing syllabi and teaching materials, I'm making the overview of my new module publicly available. Beginning January 2022, I'll be teaching a new module at Royal Holloway (well, technically a revived one, from maybe 10 years ago), on Shostakovich's String Quartets. Over 10 weeks, students will engage with these… Continue reading New course: ‘The String Quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich’ →

Here's a post on a brand new module I'm delivering this coming term: 'A History of the Nineteenth Century in 100 Musical Works'.  I spend lots of my time dissecting ideas of classical canon in music, seeking to expand representation in terms of ethnic diversity and gender, exploring 'forgotten' composers, etc (you only have to… Continue reading Teaching: ‘A History of the 19th-Century in 100 Musical Works’ →

Here's a few updates on my recent and upcoming activities. First of all, I'm giving a talk on 'The Paradoxes of Socialist-Realist Music' at QMUL on 12 May, as part of their 'Translation, Transmission, and Cultural Transfer' seminar series. Abstract as follows: 'There is a considerable body of work on socialist realism in literature, art,… Continue reading April/May Update – QMUL talk and book reviews →

I'm excited to be giving a talk at Cambridge University's Faculty of Music next month (Wednesday 17 March 2021). Full abstract below. Talk will be hosted via Zoom (details for how to log-in details to be distributed via Musicology-All email list in the UK; alternatively, email me and I can forward to you). Music on… Continue reading Cambridge Faculty of Music talk →

I was delighted to record an episode of the new podcast 'Down with the Patri-Bachy' with Ellie Ajao and Ben Richards at the weekend. Their podcast focuses on expanding our ideas of the classical canon via exploring composers who aren't male/white/dead. Their first two episodes explored the music of Florence Price and Germaine Tailleferre. For… Continue reading Podcast appearance – ‘Down with the Patri-Bachy’ →

Latest from 'Cult of Musicology': https://youtu.be/0OGfUPDXHUQ Classical music discourse is dominated by a small group of composers, including in music education. This group is often referred to as the 'canon'. In this video, I explore what the canon is, how it came about, and potential problems that it can bring.

Here's the latest 'Cult of Musicology' video: https://youtu.be/5l9-_1UAZfM There is a persistent use of the word 'genius' in classical music (be it the popular press, in reviews, programme notes/liner notes, radio, etc). In this video, I examine why this is not necessarily helpful. Video is based on five years teaching on this topic, with numerous… Continue reading The Problem with ‘Genius’ →

The Covid pandemic has forced lots of teachers and lecturers to teach entirely online, most for the first time. In my own case, that meant producing an online series of videos on Music Theory (you can see that playlist here, updating slowly with a new video uploaded every week) After that project, and after feedback… Continue reading Cult of Musicology – first video →

I've made a resolution to post on this site more often. It perhaps won't always be the most 'in-depth' content, but I'm going to post more often anyway. Here's a few things I would like to do this year: Start up Youtube channel (watch this space!) Two articles accepted/published Book proposal submitted + accepted Here's… Continue reading 2021 →

Socialist Realism has frequently been badly received outside of its intended audience. The following is a memorable review by Harold C. Schonberg for the New York Times on a production of Kiril Molchanov's The Dawns are Quiet Here. -------------------------------------- New York Times, July 14, 1975. 'Socialist Realism Comes to Met Stage' Presumably, there was a political… Continue reading ‘Socialist Realism comes to the Met Stage’ →