Biography
Matthew Head was schooled in the State sector in south-west Cornwall in the days before OFSTED. A boy treble, he fell for the flute when his voice broke. He studied music at Oxford (1985-88) and Yale (1988-95). After postgraduate studies in music theory and history in the States, he returned to the UK with with a Leverhulme Special Research Fellowship at the University of Southampton where he subsequently worked as a lecturer. He came to King's in 2007 and became a Reader in 2008, and a Professor in 2014.
Research Interests and PhD Supervision
- Enlightenment subjectivity
- Keyboard music and song
Matthew studies the music of the German-speaking eighteenth-century. His work to date focuses on marginal and problematic repertories, or repertories that can appear as such: the fantastic style in C. P. E. Bach; exoticism and orientalism in Mozart and Haydn; female composers and the discourse of femininity. He is currently exploring the rise of subjectivity in keyboard culture, with a particular focus on expressive practices of terror, melancholy, love, desire and humour in Haydn, Mozart and C. P. E. Bach.
Matthew welcomes applications for PhD topics related to any of his research interests. For more details, please see his full research profile.
Teaching
Matthew enjoys teaching topics in the cultural history of music in the long eighteenth century, cultural theory, and harmony and counterpoint. He particularly likes to challenge, provoke and stimulate students, through a combination of formal lecturing, discussion and in-class activities.
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Head, M., 12 Jan 2021, (Accepted/In press) In: JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 40 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Head, M., 2021, (Accepted/In press) In: JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 40, 3, p. 239-249 11 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/01411896.2021.1949313
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Head, M., 2020, Music and the Sonorous Sublime in European Culture, 1600-1880. Hibberd, S. & Stanyon, M. (eds.). 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., p. 44-62 Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108761253.003
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Head, M. W., Jun 2019, (Accepted/In press) Cambridge Companion to *The Magic Flute*. Waldoff, J. (ed.). 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Head, M. W., Mar 2019, The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopaedia. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., p. 97-100 4 p. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry in encyclopedia/dictionary › peer-review
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Head, M. W. & Dolan, E., Feb 2019, 14 p. Cambridge : Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Research output: Other contribution
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Head, M. W. (ed.), Cavett, E., Whittall, A., Wiebe, H., Ap Sion, P. & Head, M., 2019, 1st ed. United Kingdom: Boydell & Brewer. Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
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Head, M. W., Jul 2018, The Melodramatic Moment: Music and Theatrical Culture, 1790–1820. Hicks, J. & Hambridge, K. (eds.). 1st ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Cavett, E. & Head, M. W., Sep 2017, In: Eighteenth-Century Music. 14, 2, p. 285-290 Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478570617000082
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Head, M., 16 Aug 2016, In: Eighteenth-Century Music. 13, 2, p. 211-234 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478570616000051