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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’ →

A rare opportunity to see me performing with my covers band on video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVF3QTvcIAE&t=5082s&ab_channel=TheWaywardSonsUK KIAF is an annual meet-up for friends from my undergraduate university (Keele, 2008-2011). This being the year of pandemic, we produced an online version. This was painstakingly recorded layer by layer, thanks to the mastermind brilliance of our drummer/producer, Sam. Here… Continue reading Band video: lockdown collaboration indoors →

Here's the first of a few posts where I share my updated course syllabuses ahead of the coming academic year. This is from a 2nd-year music history course, where I get to teach one half (five weeks). Previously, we focused on one set work which we approached from several methodological angles (my set work was… Continue reading Syllabus: ‘Music and the Holocaust’ →

Practical definitions of socialist realism are hard to come by. Soviet composers spent years agonising over a satisfactory way to define the aesthetic (and, arguably, they never did come up with a good definition).  In short, socialist realism is the name given to a body of art, music, literature, poetry, and theatre that was created… Continue reading On Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony →

Nietzsche used a word, unzeitgemäße, that has a meaning of 'unmodern', or 'out-of-date', or, closer to Nietzsche's usage, being so full of its own sense of temporal situated-ness that it embodied something of that exact moment in time, but nothing after. Compare that to something like Fredric Jameson's work and his take on 'Postmodern', which… Continue reading Review – ‘Pandemic: Covid-19 Shakes the World’, by Slavoj Žižek. →

This is a list of audio recordings available for the majority of the music examples featured in my book, 'Music Behind the Iron Curtain'. This is intended for use while reading through the text. You can buy the book from Cambridge University Press here. Square brackets indicate the page number for the example. I have linked… Continue reading Music Examples for ‘Music Behind the Iron Curtain’ →

Daniel Elphick is a musicologist and researcher, currently working as a Teaching Fellow in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London (having also taught at Manchester, Goldsmiths, and Buckinghamshire New University). His research focuses on history and analysis of Russian and East-European music since the 19th century, as well as critical theory and popular music.… Continue reading Academic Profile →