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Guest lecture presented by Owen Belcher:

"My talk divides into two parts. The first offers three analytical vignettes of contrasting musical passages excerpted from compositions by Richard Strauss, Caroline Shaw, and J. S. Bach. I suggest the passages are similar in that they all exhibit instances of musical instruments behaving 'unreasonably' within the particular formal and harmonic expectations of each piece. My approach draws on the framework of musical agency and narrative developed by Seth Monahan (2013) and utilized by Henry Klumpenhouwer (2015) and Ed Klorman (2017). The second part of my talk develops a different understanding of instrumental reason, one derived from Theodor Adorno's critiques of the Enlightenment and mass culture. I employ this understanding as a lens for considering the purposes and goals of music analysis in contemporary society."

Owen Belcher is Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. Prior to his appointment at UMKC he served as Lecturer of Music Theory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research interests include the music of J.S. Bach, the music of Caroline Shaw, historical analytical methodologies, and public music scholarship and its pedagogy. His work on these topics has been published in Music Theory Online, Theory and Practice, Engaging Students, and HAYDN. His main current project is a book manuscript, under contract with Indiana University Press and co-authored with his colleague Dave Thurmaier, which reconsiders key moments in American music theory pedagogy from 1941 to the present. Outside of his academic interests, he enjoys chess, ping-pong, and rabidly supporting the Duke Blue Devils. This makes him extremely unpopular in Big 10 country.