Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology

Winning an audience in 18th-century England: Handel and politics

Modern artists often feel they have to try to be ‘relevant’. In 18th-century England, relevance of art to politics and ideology was expected and looked for. This talk explores ways in which Handel, a master assimilator, engaged with the traditions, ideas and events of his adopted country and his time, while aiming to win audiences for his art.

Ruth Smith is a regular writer, lecturer and broadcaster on Handel’s oratorios and operas, focusing on the ways in which they reflect the ideas and events of their time. Her Cambridge University Press book, Handel’s Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought (1995) was awarded a Cambridge University PhD and a British Academy Prize. Recent speaking engagements have taken her to Australia, South Africa and the USA. She enjoyed several seasons of collaboration with Graeme Jenkins at the Dartington International Summer School. Recent publications include articles on Handel’s evocation of Old Testament instruments in Saul, on the psychological realism of Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, and on the rationale of the plot of Jephtha.

Join us on February 22, 2012; 4-5 p.m. on the stage of Voertmann Concert Hall for this fascinating lecture by Dr. Ruth Smith.

The Graduate Association of Musicologists und Theorists (GAMuT) is a graduate student organization dedicated to providing a forum for the presentation of original research by its members. Recent research presentations have included "From Outward Appearance to Inner Reality: A Brief Journey Through Copland's Inscape," "Dropping the Beat: Formal Devices of Buildups in Trance and House Music," and “Smuggling, Betrayal, and the Handle of a Gun: Death and Autonomy in Two Narcocorridos." In addition, GAMuT offers a forum for discussion of matters relevant to the academic lives of its members and serves as an organized liaison between students and faculty in the Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology. Each year, GAMuT publishes a journal, Harmonia, that features papers written by graduate students.

Provost Warren Burrgren and President Lane Rawlins hosted UNT's annual Promotion and Tenure Reception on October 11, 2011 in the Club Room of the new Apogee Stadium. The promotion of Dr. Margaret Notley was recognized as was that of Professor Richard Sparks, Professor of Conducting. The Provost extolled even the full professors to continue to distinguish themselves in their careers and to never stop in their pursuits of excellence in research and creative activity. A busy week of CoM events culminated in Abendmusik on Friday evening at Winspear Hall, with a performance by the Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Singers, professors Paul Leenhouts and Richard Sparks, conducting. Professors Bernado Illari and Hendrik Schulze are working closely with the early music faculty to solidify the curriculum of the Ph.D. in musicology with the emphasis in early music. Dean James C. Scott and Eileen M. Hayes joined Professor Notley and Dr. Sparks for the celebration.

(Photo/Jonathan Reynolds, UNT/URCM)

University of Illinois Press, March 2010
Drawing on research conducted at eight women's music festivals, Eileen M. Hayes shows how studying these festivals--attended by predominately white lesbians--provides critical insight into the role of music and lesbian community formation. The core of her argument is that the women's music festival is a significant institutional site for the emergence of black feminist consciousness in the contemporary period. She offers sage perspectives on black women's involvement in the women's music festival scene, the ramifications of their performances as drag kings in those environments, transgender challenges to notions of black community membership, and the challenges and joys of a black lesbian retreat based on the feminist festival model. With acuity and candor, Hayes, a feminist ethnomusicologist, elucidates why this music scene matters.
Veteran vocalist, percussionist, producer, and cultural historian Linda Tillery provides a foreword.