Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music
Intersecting with RBC's French Music Research Hub, the Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music (formally created in autumn 2016) aims to promote research into, and performance of, music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
It brings together one of the strongest concentrations of expertise in this area within the UK. The close links with performance, through work on performance practice and the creation of critical editions that lead to research-informed performance, make the work of the Forum ideally suited to a Conservatoire setting.
Specialisms and core themes:
- 17th- and 18th-century French music (Thompson, Sadler, Skidmore, Dingle)
- 17th- and 18th-century Italian music (Churnside, Perkins, Savan)
- 17th- and 18th-century English music (Perkins, Roberts)
- 17th- and 18th-century performance practices (Savan, Thompson, Sadler, Skidmore, Roberts)
- Latin American Baroque music (Skidmore)
- Late 18th-century Austro-Germanic music (Derry, Pilcher)
Three key approaches present in much of the Forum’s work:
- Critical editing (Thompson, Sadler, Savan, Perkins, Churnside, Skidmore, Derry, Dingle, Timms, Whenham)
- Performance practice (Thompson, Sadler, Savan, Perkins, Skidmore, Derry, Dingle)
- Historically-informed performance (Skidmore, Savan, Perkins, Derry).
Main research objectives are:
- To produce world-leading research that draws on the collective expertise of the members
- To promote research-informed performances and performance-informed research of music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
- To organise seminars and conferences of international significance
Key Staff
- Dr Carrie Churnside: Forum Director: especially Italian baroque vocal music
- Dr Shirley Thompson: Professor: French Baroque music from Charpentier to Rameau
- Professor Graham Sadler: French Baroque music from Charpentier to Rameau
- Martin Perkins: Dr: Italian sonata and regional British music-making, especially the Midlands, in the 18th century
- Dr Siân Derry: Beethoven studies
- Jeffrey Skidmore OBE: especially performance practice and Latin American baroque
- Dr Jamie Savan: Professor: especially performance practices of the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries
- Dr Matthew Pilcher: Beethoven studies
- Christopher Dingle: Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
- Dr Michael Robertson: German dance music
- Dr Helen Roberts
External Members
- Emeritus Professor Colin Timms: late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century secular Italian music; Handel
- Emeritus Professor John Whenham: Italian late Renaissance and early Baroque secular and sacred music.
- Emeritus Professor Michael Talbot, FBA: music of the late Baroque and early Classical periods from Italy, England, France and Germany, in most genres.
PhD Students and Awards (2014–)
- Giulia Galasso
- Martin Perkins
- Helen Roberts
- Adrian Powney
- Joseph Waggott
- Adrian Horsewood
- William Hunt
- Gareth James
- En-Ming Lin