Heavenly Music and the Framing of (Public) Music Theory

Tue, September 28, 2021 12:45 PM at Zoom Webinar

Dr. J. Daniel Jenkins, Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of South Carolina, presents a guest lecture at Michigan State University. The event is free, open to the public, and will take place via Zoom Webinar. If you would like to attend, please register here. 

Lecture Abstract

The film Heavenly Music, winner of the 1944 Academy Award for Best Short Subject, follows the story of a recently departed band leader, Ted Barry, as he arrives in heaven. Barry is brought in front of a tribunal of composers including Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner who sit in judgement on him, deciding if he is worthy to join their ranks. On the surface, the film seems to show how musical analysis can reveal hidden commonalities between classical compositions and popular songs, employing the kind of similarity measures that Leonard Bernstein would soon be adding to his television broadcasts and pre-concert lectures. But the film carries other lessons, too, about who gets to be a musician and who gets to decide what music is. By extension, these are lessons about the ontology of music theory as well. 

In this paper, I will provide a close reading of the film. I will discuss other examples of public music theory that it either borrows from or foreshadows. I will conclude by considering the ontological lessons of the film and how public music theory can lead us to a deeper understanding of what we mean when we say “music theory.” 

Guest Teaching

MUS 970 Pedagogy of Music Theory on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 3:00pm EDT

Please contact Dr. Bruce Taggart (taggartb@msu.edu) if interested in attending.

Bio

J. Daniel Jenkins is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of South Carolina. He has published research on Elliott Carter, Arnold Schoenberg, and public music theory. A dedicated pedagogue, Jenkins has received teaching awards from the Eastman School of Music, the University of Rochester, and the University of South Carolina. In addition to his university teaching, Jenkins has taught at Lee Correctional Facility in Bishopville, SC, and at the Lourie Center in Columbia, SC. Currently he is editing the Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory.