Mr Jonathan Brown
(he/him)
BMus (Hons) MA (Cardiff)
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. I am currently finalising my fifth chapter, which contends that the mode's relationship with film has become inextricable from its meaning and associations in the 21st Century. 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