Nicholas Baragwanath

Contact

• workRoom A8 Department of Music
  University Park
  Nottingham
  NG7 2RD
  UK
• work+44 115 951 4757
• nicholas.baragwanath@nottingham.ac.uk
• http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/music/people/nicholas.baragwanath

Biography

Following conservatoire studies as a pianist, Nick completed postgraduate degrees at the University of Sussex. From 1998 he was Lecturer in Music at the University of Wellington, New Zealand, moving in 2001 to the Royal Northern College of Music, where he was Head of Postgraduate Studies and subsequently Dean of Research and Enterprise, overseeing the establishment of a new Graduate School and the introduction of PhD programmes. He joined the University of Nottingham in 2010.

Expertise Summary

Nick's research covers a wide range of areas from the Baroque to the present day. His publications have dealt with music theory and history from 1600, especially Italian; nineteenth-century opera; Haydn; Mozart; Wagner; Berg; Puccini; music analysis; and critical theory. He received the Jack Westrup Prize in 2006 for an article on 'Musicology and Critical Theory' and the Weston Emerson Prize in 2014 for a chapter on Mozart's early sonatas.

He is an experienced broadcaster and regularly writes and presents material for BBC Radio 3, Radio 4, and World Service. Programmes include a documentary on the 18th-century Neapolitan conservatoires ('Educating Isaac'), First Night of the Proms, live opera from Covent Garden, and the 50th anniversary episode of Record Review (on Beethoven's Fifth). They can be accessed free on iPlayer or iTunes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041vg00

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/cd-review-building-a-library/id273489899?mt=2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0379z7b/p0379yyk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b091w7fy

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b088fnx8

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r6533

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r5d10

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f8tqb

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05zgf6k

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vgxvp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0375ql1

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03kpb9c

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093lhvf

BBC Radio 3 - Record Review, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with Andrew McGregor and Nicholas Baragwanath

BBC Radio 3 - Record Review, Andrew McGregor with Nicholas Baragwanath and Sarah Walker

BBC Radio 3 - Record Review, Andrew McGregor with Iain Burnside and Nicholas Baragwanath

BBC Radio 3 - Record Review, Summer Record Review, Andrew McGregor with Harriet Smith and Nicholas Baragwanath

Teaching Summary

Nick enjoys teaching courses on many aspects of music history and theory c.1600-1945, as well as philosophical approaches. Recent modules include: 'The Art of 18th-Century Performance-Improvisation',… read more

Research Summary

Nick is currently working on a series of textbooks/critical editions which will bring the findings of his recent monograph, The Solfeggio Tradition (OUP 2020), to a broader readership, enabling music… read more

Selected Publications

• BARAGWANATH, N., 2011. The Italian Traditions and Puccini: Compositional Theory and Practice in Nineteenth-Century Opera Indiana University Press.
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2012. Mozart's early chamber music with keyboard: traditions of performance, composition, and commodification. In: HARLOW, M., ed., Mozart's Chamber Music with Keyboard Cambridge University Press. 25-44
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2008. Analytical approaches to melody in selected arias by Puccini Music Theory Online: A Journal of Criticism, Commentary, Research, and Scholarship. 14(2), n/a
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2006. Musicology and Critical Theory: The Case of Wagner, Adorno, and Horkheimer Music and Letters. VOL 87(NUMBER 1), 52-71

• View all publications

Nick enjoys teaching courses on many aspects of music history and theory c.1600-1945, as well as philosophical approaches. Recent modules include: 'The Art of 18th-Century Performance-Improvisation', 'Learning History' (the History Department's major first-year course), 'The Romantic Piano', 'Music in 19th-century Russia', 'Elements of Music', 'Approaches to Music Analysis', Haydn's String Quartets', 'Introduction to the Philosophy and Aesthetics of Music', and 'Understanding 18th-century Music'.

He has supervised PhD researchers working on 19th-century Italian opera, Mediterranean musical traditions, 18th-century Neapolitan comic opera, philosophical approaches to contemporary performance ideologies, semiotic interpretations of Pop-Core and Pop-Punk, and piano performance practice in the early 1800s.

Current Research

Nick is currently working on a series of textbooks/critical editions which will bring the findings of his recent monograph, The Solfeggio Tradition (OUP 2020), to a broader readership, enabling music learners and teachers to master for themselves the 18^th-century art of melodic improvisation. The textbooks will make available some of the most significant collections of lessons to survive from the 18^th century, together with detailed commentaries on how to use them to develop skills in improvisation, score-reading, performance, aural skills, and composition.

He shares updates on his research with over 3,000 members of his Facebook Group, The Art of Solfeggio.

Past Research

The Solfeggio Tradition: A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth Century (OUP 2020) is the first study of the fundamentals of music education in the age of Bach and Mozart.

"Having one's eyes opened to an entire world of music history, especially one that you thought you understood but clearly did not, can be an exhilarating experience. That something so fundamental as melody could have been conceived so differently is both surprising and genuinely intriguing [...] Baragwanath's book will open up a host of fascinating avenues that have the potential to lead us toward a fundamental reevaluation of eighteenth-century melody." Robert O. Gjerdingen, Eighteenth-Century Music 19/1 (2022), pp. 59-62

"big, path-breaking books have been joined by yet another [...] Baragwanath has written what may well be the definitive study of the technique by which many 18th-century musicians learned to read - and subsequently to perform, to improvise and to compose - melodic lines. [...] With prose that is both lively and precise he repeatedly urges his readers to solmize with him. Those who accept his invitation will find much to learn, as he opens a window onto a part of the 18th-century soundscape unfamiliar to most of us." John Rice, Early Music America (2023)

The Italian Traditions and Puccini, a major study of compositional theory and practice in 19th-century Italy, was published in 2011 by Indiana University Press. It surveys the once commonplace fundamentals, methods, and formulas that were taught at Italian music conservatories, and explores their significance for composition through case studies from Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti to Verdi, Boito, and Puccini. Some reviews:

'Baragwanath has made a major contribution - one of the most major to date, in any language - not only to Puccini studies but also to the study of nineteenth-century Italian opera in general. […] a deep, wide-ranging study the influence of which will surely be felt in the field for years to come.' Andrew Davis, Nineteenth-Century Music Review (2014), pp. 135-41

'[The book] seeks to rebalance the scales of history through no less than a thorough reappraisal of how composition was learned by those who would actually become composers.' Robert Gjerdingen, Journal of Music Theory (2013), pp. 119-29

'Baragwanath calls upon a vast range of sources … [his] study has greater ambition than simply filling in gaps in our knowledge of the nineteenth-century opera tradition … Baragwanath has comprehensively achieved what he set out to do: create a framework for further study.' Chloe Valenti, Music&Letters 94/4 (2013), pp. 689-90

'this book is an invaluable contribution to the history of Italian music theory.' Deborah Burton, Music Theory Spectrum 35/2 (2013), pp. 256-60

• BARAGWANATH, N. and CAFIERO, R., eds., 2024. The Ocean of Sopranos: Career of a Castrato Singer, Luigi Marchesi (1754-1829) Stile Galante: Amsterdam.
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS, 2024. Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the 'Thread' of Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 10 (RV 580) Music Theory and Analysis Special Issue: Solfeggio in the Eighteenth Century. 11(1), 17-46
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS and VAN TOUR, PETER, 2024. Introduction Music Theory and Analysis Special Issue: Solfeggio in the Eighteenth Century. 11(1), 1-4
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS, 2024. Salieri's Musical Epitaph for the Old Solfeggio Music Theory and Analysis. 11(2), (In Press.)
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS, 2024. Whose Musical Language? William Rothstein, The Musical Language of Italian Opera Journal of Music Theory. 68(2), (In Press.)
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS, 2021. Porpora’s Page, Traits of Vocalization, and the Art of Improvised Melody Pergolesi Studies. 11(1),
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2020. The Solfeggio Tradition: A Forgotten Art of Melody in the Long Eighteenth Century Oxford University Press.
• 2020. Carlo Broschi Farinelli: The Career, Skills and Networks of a Castrato Singer Eighteenth-Century Music. 17(1),
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2018. Bungled Schemata, Accent, and Class Prejudice in Haydn's 'Joke' Quartet Proceedings of the Ninth European Music Analysis Conference.
• BARAGWANATH, N, 2018. The Supremacist's Toolbox, Existential Angst, and Current Approaches to Teaching Music Theory
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2014. Giovanni Battista De Vecchis and the Theory of Melodic Accent from Zarlino to Zingarelli Music & Letters. 95(2), 157-182
• BARAGWANATH, NICHOLAS, 2014. Wagner's Parsifal: Studies in Genesis, Structure, and Interpretation. By William Kinderman Music & Letters. 95(3),
• 2014. Partimento Ware bestu bleven?: Partimento in the European Classroom: Pedagogical Considerations and Perspectives Music Theory and Analysis. 1(1), 157-82
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2013. Critical forum: Giorgio Sanguinetti, The Art of Partimento: History, Theory, and Practice Music Analysis. 32(1), 283-290
• BARAGWANATH, N, 2012. Born-again Redeemer: Richard Wagner, Parsifal (ENO Opera Guide) The Wagner Journal. 5(3), 89-92
• BARAGWANATH, N, 2012. Alban Berg and his World. Ed. by Christopher Hailey Music and Letters. 93(2), 261-64
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2012. Expression, Truth, Authenticity: On Adorno's Theory of Music and Musical Performance. Ed. by Mário Vieira de Carvalho Music and Letters. 93(2), 264-67
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2012. Mozart's early chamber music with keyboard: traditions of performance, composition, and commodification. In: HARLOW, M., ed., Mozart's Chamber Music with Keyboard Cambridge University Press. 25-44
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2011. The Italian Traditions and Puccini: Compositional Theory and Practice in Nineteenth-Century Opera Indiana University Press.
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2011. Wagner: Beyond Good and Evil. By John Deathridge. Music and Letters. 92(2), 305-07
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2010. Studien zu Alban Bergs Oper `Lulu'. By Werner Konig. Music and Letters. VOL 91(NUMBER 1), 122-123
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2009. The Cambridge Companion to Wagner. Ed. by Thomas Grey. The Wagner Journal. 3(1), 65-70
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2008. Analytical approaches to melody in selected arias by Puccini Music Theory Online: A Journal of Criticism, Commentary, Research, and Scholarship. 14(2), n/a
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2008. Late Thoughts: Reflections on Artists and Composers at Work. Ed. by Karen Painter and Thomas Crow. Music and Letters. VOL 89(NUMBER 3), 415-419
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2007. Anna Bahr-Mildenburg, Gesture, and the Bayreuth style The Musical Times. NUMB 1901, 63-74
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2007. Richard Wagner's Zurich. By Chris Walton. The Wagner Journal. 2(1), 79-82
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2007. A Companion to Wagner's Parsifal. Ed. by William Kinderman and Katherine Syer. The Wagner Journal. 1(2), 85-91
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2006. Musicology and Critical Theory: The Case of Wagner, Adorno, and Horkheimer Music and Letters. VOL 87(NUMBER 1), 52-71
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2004. Fin-de-siècle Wagner: Parsifal Analysed Through Berg's Programme to Mahler's Ninth Symphony Music Analysis. VOL 23(NUMBER 1), 27-55
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2001. Alban Berg, Richard Wagner, und Leitmotive von Symmetrie Archiv für Musikwissenschaft. 58(1), 23-50
• BARAGWANATH, N., 2000. A Question of Balance: The Music of Ross Harris Music in New Zealand. 12-21
• BARAGWANATH, N., 1999. Alban Berg, Richard Wagner, and Leitmotivs of Symmetry Nineteenth-Century Music. 23(1), 62-83