![Jonathan Brown BMus (Hons) MA](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/7547?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Mr Jonathan Brown
(he/him)
BMus (Hons) MA
Teams and roles for Jonathan Brown
Research Student/Graduate Tutor
Research student
Overview
I am a final-year PhD student in Musicology, working under the supervision of Dr. Carlo Cenciarelli and Dr. Daniel Bickerton.
My thesis presents a genealogy of Lydian modality in Hollywood film music, with particular interest in how the mode has become emblematic of contemporary American Film Sound over the last 45 years. Secondary specialisms include post-war Jazz, and I have previously written on the works of Miles Davis.
Prior to doctoral study, I graduated with my undergraduate degree in Music from Cardiff University in 2019 (BMus, First Class Hons). In my final year, I was awarded the Morfydd Owen Scholarship, John Morgan Lloyd Scholarship, and Masters Excellence Scholarship. I received a Master's in Music from Cardiff University in 2020 (MA, Distinction) and a Music Faculty Scholarship in 2021 to fund my doctoral research.
I am a Graduate Tutor at the School of Music.
Research
2025
- Research Paper: 'Eric Whitacre's Deep Field: Listening Cinematically Beyond the Big Screen to Interstellar Space', RMA Student Conference, Aberdeen
2020
- MA Dissertation: 'Lydian Sound Worlds and the Standardization of Post-Classical Hollywood Cinema (1980—2010)'; supervised by Dr Carlo Cenciarelli
2019
- BMus Dissertation: ''So What’? Miles Davis’ Use of Modality in the 1950s and its Role in Shaping Jazz to Come’; supervised by Dr Joe O'Connell
Teaching
I am a Graduate Tutor at the School of Music.
Rewinding Pop (Y1) — Examiner (2021–22)
Reading Film Sound (Y2) — Seminar lead (2022–24); Examiner (2024–2025)
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Film music
- Music Theory