Professor Ronald Woodley

Professor Woodley enjoys a wide-ranging career as musicologist, clarinettist and chamber pianist. As a scholar he is an international authority on late medieval and early Renaissance music theory, and has published fundamental work on the important 15th-century musician Johannes Tinctoris and a monograph book on early Tudor music theory published by OUP. Professor Woodley’s combination of expertise in both academic and performing spheres has led to research projects in 20th-century musicology with a focus on performance studies, including published articles on early recordings of Ravel and an investigation of the relationship between performance, analysis and criticism in Prokofiev. He also has active research interests in minimalism, postmodernism, and the music of Steve Reich. His research has recently been supported by Fellowships and grants from The Leverhulme Trust, The Worshipful Company of Musicians, and the Arts & Humanities Research Board. Before joining the Conservatoire, Professor Woodley previously held posts as Head of Postgraduate Studies & Research, Royal Northern College of Music (2001-4); Senior Lecturer and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Music, Lancaster University (1995-2001); Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Music, University of Newcastle (1984-95); Lecturer in Music, University of Liverpool (1981-4); Lecturer in Music, Christ Church, Oxford (1979-81).

Research & Teaching Specialisms

Late medieval and early Renaissance music and music theory, especially Johannes Tinctoris
Notation and manscript studies
Minimalism and post-minimalism, especially the music of Steve Reich
Performance studies (clarinet and piano); early recordings.

Current Projects

Complete theoretical works of Johannes Tinctoris: a new electronic edition, translation and commentary Link
Tuning theories of the late Middle Ages and their computer realisation
Textuality and authority in late medieval music theory
Development of notation software for medieval and Renaissance music
Performance issues in, and early recordings of, the late piano works of Brahms
Steve Reich in the 1970s and 80s: analytical and critical studies

Publications & other public output

Refereed Website

2000 onwards: Johannes Tinctoris: Complete Theoretical Works, online electronic edition in progress, The Stoa Consortium, University of Kentucky. Link

Book

1993: John Tucke: A Case Study in Early Tudor Music Theory, Oxford Monographs in Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Book Chapters

2000: ‘Performing Ravel: Style and Practice in the Early Recordings', in Mawer, Deborah (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Ravel. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, pp. 213 – 239.

1995: ‘Strategies of Irony in Prokofiev’s F minor Violin Sonata’, in Rink, John (ed.) The Practice of Performance: Studies in Musical Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 170 – 193.

Articles

2001: Articles for The Revised New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: ‘Johannes Tinctoris', ‘John Tucke' and ‘John Torkesey'. London: Macmillan.

1999: ‘Minor Coloration Revisited: Okeghem's Ma bouche rit and Beyond', Théorie et analyse musicales 1450 – 1650: Actes du colloque international (Louvain-la-Neuve, 23-25 septembre 1999), ed. Anne-Emmanuelle Ceulemans and Bonnie J. Blackburn (Musicologica Neolovaniensia. Studia 9; Louvain-la-Neuve, 2001), pp. 39 – 63; also available with full-colour notation as internet publication and subsequent links to ‘Related Articles'.

1991: 'Steve Reich', in Morton, Brian and Collins, Pamela (eds.) Contemporary Composers. Chicago & London: St James Press, pp. 766 - 768.

1988: ‘Tinctoris's Italian Translation of the Golden Fleece Statutes: A Text and (Possible) Context', Early Music History, 8, pp. 173 – 244.

1987: ‘Renaissance Music as Literature: On Reading Tinctoris's Proportionale musices', Renaissance Studies, 1, pp. 209 – 220.

1985: ‘The Printing and Scope of Tinctoris's Fragmentary Treatise De inuentione et usu musice', Early Music History, 5, pp. 239 – 268.

1981: ‘Johannes Tinctoris: A Review of the Documentary Biographical Evidence', Journal of the American Musicological Society, 34, pp. 217 – 248.

Broadcasts

1994: Series of five programmes for BBC Radio 3 ‘The Music Machine' on Steve Reich, Philip Glass and digital sampling technology: ‘The Sampling Sessions'.

1993: Script editor and presenter of Radio 3 documentary (50') on Stravinsky and Dylan Thomas: ‘Dying of the Light'.

Funded commissions, dedicated works and first performances

2002: James Wishart, Threnos: Zerrissen: Headsong (oboe/cor anglais, bass clarinet, ensemble & electronics)

1994: Christopher Fox, straight lines in broken times 4 (two bass clarinets and tape)

1993: Christopher Fox, clarinet quintet (commission funded by the Holst Foundation of Great Britain )

1992: Adrian Jack, Snakes and Ladders (two bass clarinets)

1992: Roger Marsh, Holz und Hitze (two bass clarinets)

1990: Steve Ingham, Panama (clarinet, bass clarinet and tape)

1990: James Wishart, Òran Canaigh (two bass clarinets and tape; commission funded by Northern Arts)

1986: Steve Ingham, Shards (bass clarinet, marimba, piano and tape; commission funded by Merseyside Arts)

1984: Stephen Pratt, Judgement of Paris (clarinet and orchestra)