![David Beard BA (Hons) Dunelm, MMus (theory and analysis) KCL, DPhil Oxon](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2774?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr David Beard BA (Hons) Dunelm, MMus (theory and analysis) KCL, DPhil Oxon
Reader in Musicology
- BeardD@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29208 74388
- 33-37 Corbett Road, Room 0.21, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EB
Overview
I specialise in contemporary music working in particular on post-1945 British composers including Judith Weir, Harrison Birtwistle, Michael Finnissy, Peter Maxwell Davies and Simon Holt. More generally I'm interested in musical creativity, avant-garde music, experimental music theatre and opera, Steve Reich, and popular music.
My book Musicology: The Key Concepts (Routledge, 2005; revised and expanded 2016), which I co-authored with Kenneth Gloag, reflects the learning environment at Cardiff, especially the current MA course in Music Studies and its predecessors in Musicology, and in Music, Culture and Politics.
I have been an invited speaker at public events throughout Europe, the UK and the USA, and contributed programme notes, essays and articles for the London Sinfonietta, BBC Proms, Music Theatre Wales, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Grand Théâtre Genève, London Southbank, and numerous international music festivals, including Aldeburgh, Bregenz, Cheltenham, Salzburg, and Wexford Opera.
I am Co-Editor of the monograph series 'Music Since 1900' (Cambridge University Press), a Trustee and Member of the Editorial Board of Music & Letters (Oxford University Press), a member of the Editorial Board for 'Elements in Music since 1945' (Cambridge University Press), and a member of the Advisory Board for the book series 'Theory and Analysis of Music Since 1900' (Routledge).
Publication
2021
- Beard, D. 2021. Musicology's crises of identity. In: Radovanovic, B. et al. eds. Shaping the Present through the Future: Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Contemporaneity. Institute of Musicology SASA, pp. 13-36.
2019
- Beard, D. 2019. 'Out of the air': Judith Weir's emergence in 1970s Britain, or interpreting creative self-censorship. Music and Letters 100(3), pp. 481-528. (10.1093/ml/gcz002)
- Beard, D. 2019. Reconceptualising the performer in new music theatre: collaborations with actors, mimes and musicians. In: Adlington, R. ed. New Music Theatre in Europe: Transformations Between 1955–1975. Musical Cultures of the Twentieth Century Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 227-254., (10.4324/9780429451669-11)
2017
- Beard, D. 2017. Listening to the river's roar: stance, texture and space in the concertos. In: Charlton, D. ed. The Music of Simon Holt. Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 194-231., (10.1017/9781787440692.012)
- Beard, D. J. and Birtwistle, H. 2017. Deep Time [Composer note]. Boosey & Hawkes.
2016
- Beard, D. J. and Gloag, K. 2016. Musicology: the key concepts. 2nd edition. Routledge.
2015
- Beard, D. 2015. 'The life of my music': What the sketches tell us. In: Beard, D., Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. Harrison Birtwistle Studies. Cambridge Composer Studies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 120-174., (10.1017/CBO9781316145326.007)
- Beard, D. J., Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. 2015. Harrison Birtwistle studies. Cambridge Composer Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Beard, D. J. 2015. A selected inventory of Birtwistle manuscripts acquired by the British Library in 2013. In: Harrison Birtwistle Studies. Cambridge Composer Series Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 304-309.
2013
- Beard, D. J. 2013. The silk house tattoo [Programme Note for London Sinfonietta]. In: Arconis International Brass Event: Brass Without Boundaries. Cardiff: St. David's Hall, pp. n/a.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Rites of passage: Harrison Birtwistle, 'Tombeau in memoriam Igor Stravinsky' (1971); 'Nine Settings of Celan' (1989-96); 'Cortege' (2007); 'Secret Theatre' (1984). [Programme essay for Klangforum Wien concert at the Kollegienkirche, Salzburg Festival, 31/7/13]. Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Zurück in Die Zukunft: Gawain. Salzburg: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. 'The Minotaur' in context [Programme Essay]. In: The Minotaur. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 32-38.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Inner spirit: Harrison Birtwistle, 'Trio for violin, cello and piano' (2010); Gabriel Fauré, 'Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor op. 45'; Birtwistle, 'Bourdon for violin and viola' (2009); Johannes Brahms, 'Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor op. 25' {Programme essay for Capuçons and Friends in the Mozarteum Grosser Saal, Salzburg Festival, 22/8/13]. Salzburg, Austria: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Contrapuntal sublimations: Alberto Ginastera, 'String Quartet No. 1 op. 20' (1948); Johann Sebastian Bach, 'Three Fugues from Die kunst der Fuge BWV 1080' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle, 2008); Dimitri Shostakovich, 'String Quartet No. 8, in C minor, op. 110' (1960); Maurice Ravel, 'String Quartet in F major' (1902-3; rev. 1910).[Programme essay for the Simon Bolivar String Quartet concert in the Mozarteum Grosser Saal, Salzburg Festival, 5/8/13]. Salzburg, Austria: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. New light on musical masters: Johannes Ockeghem, 'Ut heremita solus' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle, 1969); Guillaume de Machaut, 'Hoquetus David' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle,1969); George Benjamin, 'At First Light' (1982); Harrison Birtwistle, 'Bach Measures' (1996), 'Verses for Ensembles' (1968-9). [Programme essay for oenm in the Kollegienkirche, Salzburg Festival, 30/7/13]. Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. An introduction to Harrison Birtwistle's music. [Online]. London: Boosey and Hawkes. Available at: http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?site-lang=en&composerid=2729&langid=1&ttype=INTRODUCTION&ttitle=Portr%C3%A4t [accessed 25 June 2013
2012
- Beard, D. J. 2012. Harrison Birtwistle's operas and music theatre. Music Since 1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2011
- Beard, D. J. 2011. La communication des emotions et des affects vocaux et instrumentaux: L'exemple de Punch and Judy. Le point de vue du musicologue. Acto: Le journal du cercle du Grand Théâtre et du Grand Théâtre de Genève 7, pp. 12-14.
2010
- Beard, D. J. 2010. "Batter the doom drum": The music for Peter Hall's 'Oresteia' and other productions of Greek tragedy by Harrison Birtwistle and Judith Weir. In: Brown, P. and Ograjensek, S. eds. Ancient Drama in Music for the Modern Stage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 369-397.
- Beard, D. J. 2010. The shadow of opera: dramatic narrative and musical discourse in Gawain. In: Notley, M. ed. Opera After 1900., Vol. 6. The Ashgate Library of Essays in Opera Studies Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 319-355.
2009
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Taverner: An interpretation. In: Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. Peter Maxwell Davies Studies. Cambridge Composer Studies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 79-105.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Birtwistle at 75: a continuing radical. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 27. London: BBC, pp. 3-5.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. From "Heroische Bogenstriche" to "Waldeinsamkeit": Gender and genre in Judith Weir's 'Heroic Strokes of the Bow'. In: Dichotonies. Gender and Music.. American Studies - A Monograph Series Heidelberg: Univesitatsverlag, Winter, pp. 77-96.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, Silbury Air and Verses for Ensembles (Prom 27). In: BBC Proms. London: BBC, pp. 6-11.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Blurring the boundaries. Geschlechterbeziehungen und Körperbilder in Harrison Birtwistle's The Corridor und Semper Dowland, semper dolens. In: Berman, L. ed. Klang zu Gang Gedanken zur Musik in heutigen Theaterformen, Recherchen 73. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 37-48.
2008
- Beard, D. J. 2008. A Handbook to Twentieth-Century Musical Sketches, eds Patricia Hall and Friedemann Sallis [Book Review]. twentieth-century music 5(2), pp. 243-251. (10.1017/S1478572209990077)
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Birtwistle's 'Labyrinth' [a preview of the Minotaur]?. Opera 59(4), pp. 372-381.
- Beard, D. J. and Spiric Beard, D. 2008. The liminality of song: illusion and reality in the films of Emir Kusturica. Texte und Töne: Zeitschrift zum Kopfschütteln 1(1), pp. 50-57.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Beauty and the beast: a conversation with Sir Harrison Birtwistle. The Musical Times 149(1902), pp. 9-25.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. An opera of sinister charms and lyrical conceits: Richard Rodney Bennett's "The Mines of Sulphhur" [Programme Essay]. In: Wexford Opera Festival. Wexdord Opera, pp. 50-54.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Opera by number [Programme Essay]. In: Punch & Judy. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 3-6.
2006
- Beard, D. J. 2006. "A face like music": Shaping images into sound in the second Mrs Kong. Cambridge Opera Journal 18(3), pp. 273-300. (10.1017/S0954586706002205)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Alison Latham, ed., Sing, Ariel: Essays and Thoughts for Alexander Goehr’s Seventieth Birthday (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), ISBN 0 7546 3497 3 (hb) [Book Review]. Twentieth-Century Music 3(1), pp. 150-154. (10.1017/S1478572207000370)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Aspects of British Music in the 1990s. Ed. by Peter O’Hagan. pp. xviii + 164. (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003, £45. ISBN 0-7546-3041-2.) [Book Review]. Music & Letters 87(1), pp. 163-166. (10.1093/ml/gci161)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene [Book Review]. Music & Letters 87(3), pp. 482-485. (10.1093/ml/gci223)
2005
- Beard, D. J. 2005. The shadow of opera: Dramatic narrative and musical discourse in Gawain. twentieth-century music 2(2), pp. 159-195. (10.1017/S1478572206000259)
- Beard, D. J. and Gloag, K. 2005. Musicology: the key concepts. Routledge Key Guides. London: Routledge.
- Beard, D. J. 2005. Review: Analyzing Popular Music [Book Review]. Music & Letters 86(2), pp. 325-328. (10.1093/ml/gci057)
- Beard, D. J. 2005. Meta-narratives and multidimensional opera: Harrison Birtwistle's 'The Mask of Orpheus'. In: Markovic, T. and Mikic, V. eds. Music and Networking: The seventh international conference, Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade.. Beograd: Fakultet Muzicke Umetnosti, pp. 143-153.
2004
- Beard, D. J. 2004. Britten's ambiguities; Tippett's times; Metzer's borrowings. Journal of the Royal Musical Association 129(2), pp. 305-323. (10.1093/jrma/129.2.305)
- Beard, D. J. 2004. The endless parade: competing narratives in recent Birtwistle studies. Music Analysis 23(1), pp. 89-127. (10.1111/j.0262-5245.2004.00196.x)
- Beard, D. J. 2004. Refrains and choruses [works by Davies and Birtwistle]. In: Bellingham, J. ed. Aldeburgh Music Festival 2004. Aldeburgh: Aldeburgh Productions, pp. 48-50.
2003
- Beard, D. J. 2003. The shadow of night: UK premiere [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 72. London: BBC, pp. 5-7.
- Beard, D. J. 2003. Monuments and Miniatures [works by Kurtág, Birtwistle, and Beethoven]. In: Bellingham, J. ed. Aldeburgh Music Festival 2003. Aldeburgh: Aldeburgh Productions, pp. 39-41.
2001
- Beard, D. J. 2001. 'From the mechanical to the magical': A pre-compositional plan for Birtwistle's 'Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum'. Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung 14, pp. 29-33.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Reading pop: approaches to textual analysis in popular music Edited by Richard Middleton Oxford UP (Oxford, 2000); xi, 388pp; L40 / 14.99 pbk. ISBN 0 19 816612 5 / 0 19 816611 7. [Book Review]. The Musical Times 142(1876), pp. 70-71.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Tenebrae David: UK premiere [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 64. London: BBC, pp. 5-6.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Sonance 2000 [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 64. London: BBC, pp. 17-17.
1993
- Beard, D. J. 1993. A 'seven year index' of The Musical Times, 1984-91. The Musical Times 134(1804)
Articles
- Beard, D. 2019. 'Out of the air': Judith Weir's emergence in 1970s Britain, or interpreting creative self-censorship. Music and Letters 100(3), pp. 481-528. (10.1093/ml/gcz002)
- Beard, D. J. 2011. La communication des emotions et des affects vocaux et instrumentaux: L'exemple de Punch and Judy. Le point de vue du musicologue. Acto: Le journal du cercle du Grand Théâtre et du Grand Théâtre de Genève 7, pp. 12-14.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. A Handbook to Twentieth-Century Musical Sketches, eds Patricia Hall and Friedemann Sallis [Book Review]. twentieth-century music 5(2), pp. 243-251. (10.1017/S1478572209990077)
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Birtwistle's 'Labyrinth' [a preview of the Minotaur]?. Opera 59(4), pp. 372-381.
- Beard, D. J. and Spiric Beard, D. 2008. The liminality of song: illusion and reality in the films of Emir Kusturica. Texte und Töne: Zeitschrift zum Kopfschütteln 1(1), pp. 50-57.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Beauty and the beast: a conversation with Sir Harrison Birtwistle. The Musical Times 149(1902), pp. 9-25.
- Beard, D. J. 2006. "A face like music": Shaping images into sound in the second Mrs Kong. Cambridge Opera Journal 18(3), pp. 273-300. (10.1017/S0954586706002205)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Alison Latham, ed., Sing, Ariel: Essays and Thoughts for Alexander Goehr’s Seventieth Birthday (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003), ISBN 0 7546 3497 3 (hb) [Book Review]. Twentieth-Century Music 3(1), pp. 150-154. (10.1017/S1478572207000370)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Aspects of British Music in the 1990s. Ed. by Peter O’Hagan. pp. xviii + 164. (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003, £45. ISBN 0-7546-3041-2.) [Book Review]. Music & Letters 87(1), pp. 163-166. (10.1093/ml/gci161)
- Beard, D. J. 2006. Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene [Book Review]. Music & Letters 87(3), pp. 482-485. (10.1093/ml/gci223)
- Beard, D. J. 2005. The shadow of opera: Dramatic narrative and musical discourse in Gawain. twentieth-century music 2(2), pp. 159-195. (10.1017/S1478572206000259)
- Beard, D. J. 2005. Review: Analyzing Popular Music [Book Review]. Music & Letters 86(2), pp. 325-328. (10.1093/ml/gci057)
- Beard, D. J. 2004. Britten's ambiguities; Tippett's times; Metzer's borrowings. Journal of the Royal Musical Association 129(2), pp. 305-323. (10.1093/jrma/129.2.305)
- Beard, D. J. 2004. The endless parade: competing narratives in recent Birtwistle studies. Music Analysis 23(1), pp. 89-127. (10.1111/j.0262-5245.2004.00196.x)
- Beard, D. J. 2001. 'From the mechanical to the magical': A pre-compositional plan for Birtwistle's 'Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum'. Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung 14, pp. 29-33.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Reading pop: approaches to textual analysis in popular music Edited by Richard Middleton Oxford UP (Oxford, 2000); xi, 388pp; L40 / 14.99 pbk. ISBN 0 19 816612 5 / 0 19 816611 7. [Book Review]. The Musical Times 142(1876), pp. 70-71.
- Beard, D. J. 1993. A 'seven year index' of The Musical Times, 1984-91. The Musical Times 134(1804)
Book sections
- Beard, D. 2021. Musicology's crises of identity. In: Radovanovic, B. et al. eds. Shaping the Present through the Future: Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Contemporaneity. Institute of Musicology SASA, pp. 13-36.
- Beard, D. 2019. Reconceptualising the performer in new music theatre: collaborations with actors, mimes and musicians. In: Adlington, R. ed. New Music Theatre in Europe: Transformations Between 1955–1975. Musical Cultures of the Twentieth Century Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 227-254., (10.4324/9780429451669-11)
- Beard, D. 2017. Listening to the river's roar: stance, texture and space in the concertos. In: Charlton, D. ed. The Music of Simon Holt. Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 194-231., (10.1017/9781787440692.012)
- Beard, D. 2015. 'The life of my music': What the sketches tell us. In: Beard, D., Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. Harrison Birtwistle Studies. Cambridge Composer Studies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 120-174., (10.1017/CBO9781316145326.007)
- Beard, D. J. 2015. A selected inventory of Birtwistle manuscripts acquired by the British Library in 2013. In: Harrison Birtwistle Studies. Cambridge Composer Series Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 304-309.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. The silk house tattoo [Programme Note for London Sinfonietta]. In: Arconis International Brass Event: Brass Without Boundaries. Cardiff: St. David's Hall, pp. n/a.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. 'The Minotaur' in context [Programme Essay]. In: The Minotaur. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 32-38.
- Beard, D. J. 2010. "Batter the doom drum": The music for Peter Hall's 'Oresteia' and other productions of Greek tragedy by Harrison Birtwistle and Judith Weir. In: Brown, P. and Ograjensek, S. eds. Ancient Drama in Music for the Modern Stage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 369-397.
- Beard, D. J. 2010. The shadow of opera: dramatic narrative and musical discourse in Gawain. In: Notley, M. ed. Opera After 1900., Vol. 6. The Ashgate Library of Essays in Opera Studies Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 319-355.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Taverner: An interpretation. In: Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. Peter Maxwell Davies Studies. Cambridge Composer Studies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 79-105.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Birtwistle at 75: a continuing radical. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 27. London: BBC, pp. 3-5.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. From "Heroische Bogenstriche" to "Waldeinsamkeit": Gender and genre in Judith Weir's 'Heroic Strokes of the Bow'. In: Dichotonies. Gender and Music.. American Studies - A Monograph Series Heidelberg: Univesitatsverlag, Winter, pp. 77-96.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum, Silbury Air and Verses for Ensembles (Prom 27). In: BBC Proms. London: BBC, pp. 6-11.
- Beard, D. J. 2009. Blurring the boundaries. Geschlechterbeziehungen und Körperbilder in Harrison Birtwistle's The Corridor und Semper Dowland, semper dolens. In: Berman, L. ed. Klang zu Gang Gedanken zur Musik in heutigen Theaterformen, Recherchen 73. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, pp. 37-48.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. An opera of sinister charms and lyrical conceits: Richard Rodney Bennett's "The Mines of Sulphhur" [Programme Essay]. In: Wexford Opera Festival. Wexdord Opera, pp. 50-54.
- Beard, D. J. 2008. Opera by number [Programme Essay]. In: Punch & Judy. London: Royal Opera House, pp. 3-6.
- Beard, D. J. 2005. Meta-narratives and multidimensional opera: Harrison Birtwistle's 'The Mask of Orpheus'. In: Markovic, T. and Mikic, V. eds. Music and Networking: The seventh international conference, Department of Musicology and Ethnomusicology, Faculty of Music, University of Arts, Belgrade.. Beograd: Fakultet Muzicke Umetnosti, pp. 143-153.
- Beard, D. J. 2004. Refrains and choruses [works by Davies and Birtwistle]. In: Bellingham, J. ed. Aldeburgh Music Festival 2004. Aldeburgh: Aldeburgh Productions, pp. 48-50.
- Beard, D. J. 2003. The shadow of night: UK premiere [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 72. London: BBC, pp. 5-7.
- Beard, D. J. 2003. Monuments and Miniatures [works by Kurtág, Birtwistle, and Beethoven]. In: Bellingham, J. ed. Aldeburgh Music Festival 2003. Aldeburgh: Aldeburgh Productions, pp. 39-41.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Tenebrae David: UK premiere [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 64. London: BBC, pp. 5-6.
- Beard, D. J. 2001. Sonance 2000 [Programme Note]. In: BBC Proms Festival: Prom 64. London: BBC, pp. 17-17.
Books
- Beard, D. J. and Gloag, K. 2016. Musicology: the key concepts. 2nd edition. Routledge.
- Beard, D. J., Gloag, K. and Jones, N. eds. 2015. Harrison Birtwistle studies. Cambridge Composer Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Beard, D. J. 2012. Harrison Birtwistle's operas and music theatre. Music Since 1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Beard, D. J. and Gloag, K. 2005. Musicology: the key concepts. Routledge Key Guides. London: Routledge.
Other
- Beard, D. J. and Birtwistle, H. 2017. Deep Time [Composer note]. Boosey & Hawkes.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Rites of passage: Harrison Birtwistle, 'Tombeau in memoriam Igor Stravinsky' (1971); 'Nine Settings of Celan' (1989-96); 'Cortege' (2007); 'Secret Theatre' (1984). [Programme essay for Klangforum Wien concert at the Kollegienkirche, Salzburg Festival, 31/7/13]. Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Zurück in Die Zukunft: Gawain. Salzburg: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Inner spirit: Harrison Birtwistle, 'Trio for violin, cello and piano' (2010); Gabriel Fauré, 'Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor op. 45'; Birtwistle, 'Bourdon for violin and viola' (2009); Johannes Brahms, 'Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor op. 25' {Programme essay for Capuçons and Friends in the Mozarteum Grosser Saal, Salzburg Festival, 22/8/13]. Salzburg, Austria: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. Contrapuntal sublimations: Alberto Ginastera, 'String Quartet No. 1 op. 20' (1948); Johann Sebastian Bach, 'Three Fugues from Die kunst der Fuge BWV 1080' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle, 2008); Dimitri Shostakovich, 'String Quartet No. 8, in C minor, op. 110' (1960); Maurice Ravel, 'String Quartet in F major' (1902-3; rev. 1910).[Programme essay for the Simon Bolivar String Quartet concert in the Mozarteum Grosser Saal, Salzburg Festival, 5/8/13]. Salzburg, Austria: Salzburg Festival.
- Beard, D. J. 2013. New light on musical masters: Johannes Ockeghem, 'Ut heremita solus' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle, 1969); Guillaume de Machaut, 'Hoquetus David' (arranged by Harrison Birtwistle,1969); George Benjamin, 'At First Light' (1982); Harrison Birtwistle, 'Bach Measures' (1996), 'Verses for Ensembles' (1968-9). [Programme essay for oenm in the Kollegienkirche, Salzburg Festival, 30/7/13]. Salzburg Festival.
Websites
- Beard, D. J. 2013. An introduction to Harrison Birtwistle's music. [Online]. London: Boosey and Hawkes. Available at: http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?site-lang=en&composerid=2729&langid=1&ttype=INTRODUCTION&ttitle=Portr%C3%A4t [accessed 25 June 2013
Research
My research is focussed on intersections between archival, analytical, creative and critical-theoretical perspectives on post-1945 concert music, experimental music theatre and opera. I have published widely on contemporary British concert music and opera, and am currently writing the first book on the music of Judith Weir CBE and Master of the Queen's Music, for Cambridge University Press.
From 2017-2021 I was Director of Research overseeing the School's REF2021 submission. I am currently on an 18-month research leave funded by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship.
Teaching
My Undergraduate teaching is focused on music since c. 1890 to the present and embraces a range of historical, cultural, political and music-analytical perspectives on European cultural centres (The Birth of Modernism), and the varied topography of British music since 1900 (Topics in Musicology 2B). I devised a module on Ambient music (Sounded Out) and supervise dissertations on a range of topics, including popular music, concert programming, and experimental contemporary art music.
My Masters teaching has included seminars on academic reading and writing, sketch studies, early modernism, ecomusicology, music and race, ethnicity and identity.
PhD topics I have supervised include the emergence of the avant-garde in West Germany in the 1940s, virtual bands and vocaloids, and the music of Pavel Haas.
I am external examiner for the BA (Hons) degrees in Music at the Universities of Cambridge and Keele, having been Final Honours external at Oxford (2017-20) and Bristol (2017-21).
Biography
I studied music at Durham University (1990-93) before completing an MMus in music theory and analysis at King's College London (1993-4), and a DPhil at the University of Oxford on the early instrumental music of Harrison Birtwistle (2000).
Halcyon summer breaks during my first degree were spent working in London for the National Sound Archive (Kensington) and The Musical Times (then in Mandela Street, Camden). I was later employed by Macmillan Publishers as an assistant editor on the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, in Holborn (1994-5). I held a scholarship at the Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel, in 1999, and was appointed Lecturer in Music at Cardiff University in January 2000.
Honours and awards
2021 Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship (18 months)
2020 Ruth Solie Prize for ‘the most outstanding article on a subject in British music’ published in 2018 and 2019, awarded by the North American British Music Studies Association (NABMSA)
2016 Research Leave Fellowship (full academic year), Cardiff University
2014 Music Analysis Development Fund Award, Society for Music Analysis
2013 Research Leave Fellowship (Autumn semester), Cardiff University
2013 Honorable Mention, 2013 Diana McVeagh Prize for Best Book on British Music, NABMSA
2010 International Collaboration Award, Cardiff University
2008 AHRC Research Leave Award
2006 Music & Letters Award, to present a paper at a conference in the USA
2005 British Academy Small Research Grant
Professional memberships
North American British Music Studies Association
Academic positions
Tutor for Christ Church, Jesus College, St Edmund Hall and St Peter's, University of Oxford.
Committees and reviewing
Director of Research (2017-2021)
Director of Postgraduate Research (2014-16)
Subject Lead (Music) for Cardiff University on the Creative and Critical Practice Panel of the AHRC funded South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership consortium (2014–16)
Director of the MA in Musicology programme (2009–13)
Director of Undergraduate Admissions (2003–8, January–May 2011, and July 2012)
Convener of the John Bird Guest Lecture Series, School of Music (2000–08)
