Music Commons^™

Cantata Or Concert Aria: A Question Of Genre In Haydn’S Scena Di Berenice, Michael Goetjen

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Haydn’s “Berenice, che fai?” Hob.XXIVa:10, also known as the Scena di Berenice, raises some important questions about genre in operatic works intended for performance outside the theater, whether in a public concert or a private venue such as an accademia or a salon. While sometimes referred to as a concert aria or scene, Berenice has also been called a cantata, including in its earliest reception in London after its 1795 première. While the two genres are closely related in their origins in the salon, the concert aria/scene later ventured out of the salon into the concert hall, coinciding with …

Therapeutic Harmony: Combining Music Therapy And Psychedelic Treatments In Psychiatric Care, Dominikus David Biondi Situmorang, Nadiya Kurniati, Gita Arisara, Listya Istiningtyas, Rose Mini Agoes Salim

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

Focusing on the synergistic efficacy of music therapy and psychedelic treatment in improving patient recovery, this paper addresses their possible integration in the treatment of psychiatric diseases. The authors give background in the introduction on the need of looking for alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders, presenting music therapy to enhance emotional and cognitive well-being in patients and psychedelic treatment as a hopeful approach for treating conditions untreatable with conventional techniques. An integrative narrative review, choosing studies that address the use of music therapy, psychedelic treatment, and a combination of the two, constitutes the approach taken in this paper. The findings …

Idiosyncratic Serialists: The Guitar After Tonality, Alex Tripp

Soundboard Scholar

A review of A Twelve-Tone Repertory for Guitar: Julian Bream and the British Serialists, 1956–1983, by Oliver Chandler.

The Life Of A Showgirl As A Cultural Artifact: What's Hidden By The Lipstick And Lace?, Crystal F. Haryanto

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This paper develops a collage-based framework to holistically assess Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated first release after the Eras Tour concluded. The Life of a Showgirl, with sparkling promotional materials leading up to its October 2025 drop and polarizing critical reception following it, represents an entertainer’s lifestyle while still concealing what was alluded to behind the Eras Tour curtain. Rather than engage in a direct response to Showgirl, I critically evaluate positive and negative commentary from listeners regarding the album, and I thematically analyze lyrical concepts throughout Swift’s discography to contextualize Showgirl within the arc of her work. I …

The Female Voice: Hormones, Literature And Education, Meg Booker

Confluence: Emerging Voices in Music Research and Creativity

The female body experiences significant hormonal change throughout the stages of life, and these fluctuations can substantially impact the voice. Many female singers are aware that their voice changes during times such as menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause, but they are rarely taught the scientific reasons behind these changes. A review of pedagogical books and research studies reveals that many earlier sources either ignored or misunderstood the connection between hormones and the voice. Conversations with singers further highlight that, despite commonly experiencing these changes, many women receive little to no formal education on the topic. This paper explores how hormones affect …

Review Of Re-Reading The Beethoven Violin Sonatas By Daniel Tong, Katharina Uhde

The Beethoven Journal

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Marriage Letters Of Joseph Deym And Josephine Brunsvik-Deym By Rita Steblin, Jos Van Der Zanden

The Beethoven Journal

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Composer Embalmed By Abigail Fine, Joe Davies

The Beethoven Journal

No abstract provided.

"The Effect Was The Same, But Not For The Eye." From Playability To Augenmusik In Beethoven’S Arrangement Of His Grande Fugue Op. 133/134, Elisa Novara

The Beethoven Journal

Beethoven’s four-hands piano transcription of the Grande Fugue Op. 134 is different from any other arrangement he ever made: firstly, it is given an opus number, which is something that conventional Klavierauszüge usually do not have; secondly, it has a dedication, namely to Beethoven’s patron and pupil the Archduke Rudolf. Third, it is notoriously so difficult to play that it barely fulfils the primary function of four-hands piano transcriptions in the 19th century, i.e. a more easily accessible performance medium, which would have resulted in a better circulation of the work.

A more conventional transcription of Op. 133 might have …

Beethoven’S Piccolo Apprenticeship: Eighteen Years Of Experimentation Before The Fifth Symphony, Rikki A. Wolpowitz

The Beethoven Journal

Beethoven is routinely credited as the "father of the orchestral piccolo," a claim resting primarily on his deployment of the instrument in the Fifth Symphony (1808). Yet this paternity metaphor obscures a crucial fact: Beethoven composed for the piccolo for nearly eighteen years before that symphonic premiere, producing works for court entertainment, public dances, and military bands that systematically explored the instrument’s capabilities. This article examines Beethoven’s complete piccolo output—nineteen works comprising thirty-two individual pieces—through a three-function analytical framework: the piccolo as range-extender, as vehicle for programmatic effect, and as independent voice. Beginning with the Musik zu einem Ritterballett (1790) …

"Wondrous Emanations Of A Transcendently Transfigured Sublimity And Profundity": The Reception Of Beethoven's Last Three Piano Sonatas In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Nicholas S. Kennedy

The Beethoven Journal

Ludwig van Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas, Opp. 109, 110, and 111, have captured the imaginations of critics from the nineteenth century to the present. As “late” works penned towards the end of the composer’s life, these sonatas have often been read as infused with existential or transcendental meaning, frequently aligned with Beethoven’s own experiences. Reception studies have identified broader tropes of autobiographical explanation and poetic analogy as applied to these works by early critics; however, these studies frequently stop short of identifying more specific patterns in the images employed to describe the sonatas. Focusing on mainly German literature from …

The Small Reveal: The Identity Of Beethoven’S Brutus Bust, Scott Messing

The Beethoven Journal

Currently displayed in the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn is a bust labeled “Luc. Brutus,” referring to Lucius Junius Brutus, the Roman republic’s first consul. Beethoven’s purported ownership of this porcelain figure is not beyond question, following its first mention by Anton Schindler in the third edition (1860) of his Beethoven biography. Its prior history, however, is unknown. Even so, scholars have invoked it, owing to this ancient official’s extreme means to preserve the republic: he condemned his two sons to death for conspiring to overthrow the regime. Writers have linked this remarkable act of rescuing the state from the threat of …

Beethoven, Caspar Peucer’S Commentarius, And Enchanted Nature, Nicholas Chong

The Beethoven Journal

The posthumous inventory of Beethoven’s library includes a late Renaissance treatise by Caspar Peucer (1525–1602) entitled Commentarius de præcipuis generibus divinationum (Commentary on the main types of divination). Peucer’s text is concerned mainly with methods of predicting the future through such practices as magic, astrology, and the reading of oracles. Neither Peucer nor his treatise is mentioned in any other source associated with Beethoven. The composer also had a limited knowledge of Latin and his copy of Peucer’s text was more than two centuries old.

Previous scholarship has not explored Beethoven’s ownership of this book in any detail, except to …

The Performer As Stylistic Free Agent: A Historically Inspired Approach To Interpreting Manuel De Falla’S Homenaje, Yiannis Efstathopoulos, Maarten Stragier, Kristin Van Den Buys

Soundboard Scholar

Manuel de Falla’s Homenaje pour “Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy” presents a complex identity knot that reflects Debussyan Alhambrism back onto its inspiration, drawing from both classical and folk traditions. This is the first research project to approach that knot from the perspective of historically inspired performance. It identifies a fascinating counterpart to its complexity in the stylistically hybrid guitar practices that were common at the time Falla composed his miniature masterpiece. The authors therefore propose that a historically inspired performer of Homenaje can act as a stylistic free agent, traversing the continuum of styles that gave birth to Falla’s …

The Verney Family And Their Guitars In France And England, 1643–53, Christopher Page

Soundboard Scholar

The five-course guitar was a fundamental resource for the Verney family from 1643 to 1653 as they sheltered in France, avoiding their creditors and escaping the state of civil war at home in England. Their papers from that period, comprising many thousands of letters and financial accounts, show them hiring a guitar-master, ordering new guitars in Paris and debating the relative benefits of lessons for their eldest son on the guitar as opposed to the lute. This article reproduces the key documents and considers the music that the Verneys may have played. The papers particularly show how an instrument often …

Recovering Hidden Histories: Christopher Page On The Guitar In Victorian England, Jenny Nex

Soundboard Scholar

A review of The Guitar in Victorian England: A Social and Musical History, by Christopher Page (Cambridge University Press, 2025)

Darlene Love: I Know Where I’Ve Been, Ken Derry

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been (2026), directed by Barry Avrich.

Piercing The Veil In Sinners: Theological Insights From The Juke Joint, Antonio D. Sison Cpps

Journal of Religion & Film

Celebrated as a critical and commercial success, Ryan Coogler’s genre-defying opus Sinners has also been considered as one of the most culturally significant films of 2025. It also promises to be one of the most theologically resonant films of the year. This is evinced not only in its thematic and literary bases but, importantly, in its very audiovisual language and grammar, its stylistic strategies qua film. As reasoned in this essay, Coogler’s film is a rich locus theologicus, a nexus for theological discovery and insight.Sinners kindles the hermeneutical impulse to dialogue with African American/Pan-Africa theologies exemplified by the …

"Heil, O Sonne, Heil!": Schemata And Semiotics In Haydn's Oratorio Sunrises, Michael D. Slattery

HAYDN: Online Journal of the Haydn Society of North America

Both of Haydn’s late oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons, contain depictions of sunrises, a subject matter that Sisman (2013) has characterized as “Emergent Light,” in contrast with the famous “absolute” creation of light at the opening of The Creation. In addition to their shared object of representation, the four sunrise passages I identify in these two works all use a phrase-level schema Gjerdingen (2007) has christened the Do-Re-Mi. In this paper, I enrich our cultural understanding of Haydn’s sunrises by attending to nuanced semantic implications of the Do-Re-Mi, illustrating how phrase-level schemata can construct extramusical meaning.

Work on phrase-level …

Dowland Is For Everyone! The Making Of A New Biography, K. Dawn Grapes, Katharyn R. Benessa

Soundboard Scholar

Following the publication of her new biography of the Elizabethan lutenist John Dowland, K. Dawn Grapes details her research journey in conversation with Katharyn Benessa. They discuss both the history of Dowland research, including the legacy of Diana Poulton, and the gaps that still remain. Grapes offers new context for understanding Dowland’s music and considers how his travels and experiences may have shaped his life and work.

So Much For Musicology: William Carter Plays Santiago De Murcia, Ellwood P. Colahan

Soundboard Scholar

Review of La Guitarra Española: Santiago de Murcia (1682–1732), by William Carter (Baroque guitar).

A Living Source Report: Cristian Gutiérrez Plays Cifras Selectas, Ellwood P. Colahan

Soundboard Scholar

Review of Cifras selectas de guitarra, by Cristiano Gutiérrez (Baroque guitar).

Creolized Baroque: Early Music In A Brazilian Key, Ellwood P. Colahan

Soundboard Scholar

Review of Iberian and Afro-Brazilian Music of the 17th Century, by Ensemble Banza, Rogério Budasz, (Baroque guitar).

A Two-Winged Murcia: Spanish Dance, Italian Corelli, One Guitar, Ellwood P. Colahan

Soundboard Scholar

Review of Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739): Entre dos almas, by Stefano Maiorana (Baroque guitar).

Representasi Identitas Dan Gastronomi Budaya Kuliner Jawa Dalam Lima Lagu Karya Ki Narto Sabdo, Aditya Pratama, Darmoko -, Ari Prasetiyo, Dwi Woro Retno Mastuti

Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya

Culinary is not just food and drink, but has transformed into a study of culinary gastronomy which focuses on aspects of history, values, philosophy, taste and components. The study of the problems discussed in this research is related to the cultural identity of Javanese culinary gastronomy in the five songs by Ki Narto Sabdo. Descriptive qualitative research methods with an objective approach were applied in this research. This research uses Santich's culinary gastronomy theory and Stuart Hall's theory of cultural identity representation with a constructionist approach. As a result, the representation of Javanese culinary gastronomic cultural identity is built on …

Paragliding The Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A Creative Response To Navigating The Post-18 Landscape For Young Adults With Send., James Tarling, Charlie Robinson, Nick Hall, Sammy Shepherd

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This conceptual article investigates novel ways of thinking about Open Mic Nights (OMN) – performance spaces understood as free, community arts and performance opportunities where the members of the public are welcome to perform music, poetry and comedy in front of an audience. For the purposes of this article, music-related OMN that take place in pubs or community centres are discussed.

The article is intended to be a primer for OMN studies that offers new and emerging trailheads for future research and discussion. Its central focus is how OMN may benefit the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community with …

Heuristic Inquiry As A Research Method In Music Education, Austina F. Lee

Visions of Research in Music Education

This article presents heuristic inquiry as a form of autoethnography and its potential as a methodological resource for music educators. Rather than reporting findings from a single study, the article illustrates how heuristic inquiry can serve as a structured yet flexible process of critical reflection that helps teachers navigate the cultural and political contexts of their work. Drawing on the author’s experiences as a high school choral director, the discussion highlights the six phases and seven processes of heuristic inquiry, showing how personal reflection, cultural awareness, and relational care can be interwoven into professional practice. By framing autoethnography as both …

Disrupting The Silence: A Case For Critical Race Theory In Music Education, Preston Wilson Jr.

Visions of Research in Music Education

In response to the inequities within music education, Critical Race Theory (CRT) offers an approach to analyzing how race and racism operate within music education and prompts educators to critically examine existing structures and practices. CRT is a comprehensive framework that offers fundamental insights, perspectives, methods, and pedagogical approaches. Its primary objective is to identify, analyze, and transform the structural and cultural factors that perpetuate the marginalization and subordination of People of Color. CRT’s origins can be traced back to the legal system, where it emerged as a means to challenge and dismantle the pervasive influence of race and racism …

Professionalizing Folklore In Latin America: Four Paradigms Of The Musician And The Coloniality Of Music Education, Matias Recharte

Visions of Research in Music Education

In this article, I discuss the professionalization of folklore and its entanglements with coloniality through an analysis of four paradigms of the musicians I encountered in conversations with students, administrators and instructors at the Escuela Nacional de Folklore Jose Maria Arguedas in Lima, Peru. I contrast two pairs of paradigms, the empírico with the académico and the chivero with the professional in order to show how the “professional folklore musician” is constructed through similarities and differences with these paradigms. For my analysis, I use a coloniality theory framework (Casto-Gomez, 2021; Quijan, 1980, 2000, 2007; Segato 2011, 2022) which considers social …

La Profesionalización Del Folklore En América Latina: Cuatro Paradigmas Del Músico Y La Colonialidad De La Educación Musical, Matias Recharte

Visions of Research in Music Education

En este artículo discuto la profesionalización del folklore y su imbricación con la colonialidad a través de un análisis de cuatro paradigmas del músico que emergieron en conversaciones con estudiantes, administradores e instructores de la Escuela Nacional Superior de Folklore José María Arguedas en Lima, Perú. Contrasto dos pares de paradigmas, el empírico con el académico y el “chivero” con el profesional para mostrar como el “músico profesional de folklore” es construido a través de similitudes y diferencias con estos paradigmas. Para el análisis utilizo un marco teórico decolonial (Casto-Gómez, 2021; Quijano, 1980, 2000, 2007; Segato 2011, 2015) que toma …