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Jonathan Brown  BMus (Hons) MA (Cardiff)

Mr Jonathan Brown

(he/him)

BMus (Hons) MA (Cardiff)

Teams and roles for Jonathan Brown

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

External profiles