Skip to main content
Rachel Moore

Dr Rachel Moore

Lecturer in Music

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

My research interests lie in French music and culture of the early twentieth century, with a particular focus on music-making during the First World War. My first book, Performing Propaganda: Musical Life and Culture in Paris, 1914–1918, explored the ways in which Western art music became a central part of the home-front war effort in Paris during WWI, employed by both musicians and government as a power tool of propaganda. More recently, I am working on a study of the role of music in shaping ‘Allied’ identity during the First World War; this project focusses on a range of instances of musical exchange between Paris and London, from the cross-channel enterprises of touring theatrical troupes, to mass ‘Allied’ concerts, or street music performed by French and British soldier-musicians on leave.

I have spoken widely on the topic of music during WWI, including at pre-concert talks, and lectures for the National Trust. I have also participated in broadcasts for BBC Radio 4.

Although my primary research lies in the field of historical musicology, I also have strong interests in ethnomusicology. Plans for future research include a large-scale project investigating the influence of Andean music and musicians in twentieth-century France.

Prior to coming to Cardiff, I was Director of Studies and Lecturer in Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford, and a Research Fellow at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. I have held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Music at the University of Oxford, and have a PhD in Musicology from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Although trained as a flautist and trombonist, I have since learnt to play the trumpet and cornet and am an active performer.

Publication

2023

2018

2015

2014

Book sections

Books

Research

My research focusses on French musical life in the early twentieth century, with particular interests in music during the First World War. I have written widely on the topic of music during this conflict and my first monograph, Performing Propaganda: Musical Life and Culture in Paris during the First World War, was published in 2019. My recent research projects include a study of the role of music in shaping concepts of ‘Allied’ identity during the First World War. Music in wartime can play a vital role in bringing people together and creating a sense of belonging to a national cause; this project develops this idea by combining ideas of nation with those of an emerging Allied force. It examines a wide range of musical exchange between Paris and London, to explore how interaction between two capital cities both sustained and challenged national identities within the context of an emerging Allied Entente.

I have given a number of public talks about my research, ranging from lectures for the National Trust, to pre-concert talks at venues such as St John’s Smith Square and Conway Hall in London. I have also participated in radio broadcasts, including BBC Radio 4’s ‘1914–1918: The Cultural Front’. In 2014 I worked in collaboration with the British Library to co-organise an international three-day conference, ‘The Music of War: 1914–1918’.

My publications include a number of studies of music publishing in France in the 1910s and 20s, focussing particularly on the importance of the First World War as a catalyst for change in the publishing industry. My recent work in this area has included a Research Fellowship on the AHRC-funded project ‘Accenting the Classics: Durand’s Édition Classique as a French Prism on the Musical Past’. This research focussed on the French music publisher Jacques Durand’s major edition of music, the Édition Classique—a significant collection of European instrumental music from the 18th and 19th  centuries, published from 1915 onwards. The editions were edited by some of France’s leading composers, musicologists, and teachers. My research as part of the project offers new insights into early twentieth-century French cultural identity, shedding light on the history of music publishing and in particular on the ways in which international publishing markets and cultural networks operated.

Although my primary interests lie in historical musicology, I have strong interests in ethnomusicology. Plans for future research include a large-scale project investigating the influence of Andean music and musicians in twentieth-century France.

Teaching

I teach on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate modules including: Case Studies in Music History; Dissertation; Introducing Music Studies; Music Research in Practice; Music, Culture and Politics; Theory and Practice of Teaching Music. I have supervised undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on a range of musicological topics. I welcome enquiries from those interested in PhD research on all aspects of music during the First World War, and on French Music in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century France.

Biography

Education and qualifications

  • PhD, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • MMus, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • BMus (Hons.), Royal Holloway, University of London

Academic positions

  • Director of Studies and Lecturer in Music, St Peter’s College, Oxford
  • AHRC-funded Research Fellow, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
  • Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Music, Faculty of Music, University of Oxford/New College, Oxford
  • Junior Research Fellow and Stipendiary Lecturer in Music, Worcester College, Oxford
  • Stipendiary Lecturer in Music, New College, Oxford

Committees and reviewing

  • Peer reviewer for Cambridge University Press, Music & Politics, La revue musicale OICRM

Supervisions

I welcome enquiries from those interested in PhD research on all aspects of music during the First World War, and on French Music in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century France.

Contact Details

Email MooreR19@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 75978
Campuses 33-37 Corbett Road, Room 2.05, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EB