Specialisms and themes
We celebrate creative and intellectual diversity through wide-ranging but interconnected specialisms.
Our research balances cultural-historical approaches with the analytical and critical, and promotes a broad spectrum of methodologies, including sketch studies, archival research, editing and philology, textual analysis, iconography, aesthetics, cultural theory, ethnography, oral history, microhistory, and digital humanities.
Musicology, composition and performance
We have research expertise in the disciplines of composition, performance and musicology, ethnomusicology and popular music.
Musicology research in the School ranges from the eighteenth to twenty-first century, spanning contexts from Western Europe, the Middle East and West Africa. Past projects have focused on the music of Judith Weir, transatlantic religious drumming, and San Francisco in the 1960s.
Contemporary composition has been an essential part of the School since its foundation, offering a fresh and diverse range of approaches. Composition staff have established international profiles, working with companies in Cardiff and around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the London Chamber Orchestra.
We have an established reputation for performance, performance practice and innovative recordings. Our research in historical performance influences concert practices worldwide, with areas of expertise including both historical and contemporary keyboard performance, singing and operatic production.
Research in the School falls into four key strands:
