School of Music
Dr Bryan White
Senior Lecturer in Musicology
+44 (0)113 343 8228
BMus SMU, Dallas, TX MA, PhD University of Wales
Dr White studied for his first degree (BMus, 1991) at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. Supported by a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarhip he studied for an MA in Performance Studies (1992) at the University of Wales, Bangor. He later undertook a dissertation at Bangor on Louis Grabu and his opera Albion and Albanius for which he was awarded a PhD in 2000. He began lecturing at Bretton Hall in 1998, and moved to the University of Leeds in 2001. He is a member of the Purcell Society and was the editor (2002-2009) of the journal Early Music Performer. (opens in a new window)
At Leeds, Bryan is Director of the Leeds University Centre for Opera Studies (LUCOS), and a member of the Leeds University Centre for English Music (LUCEM). He is director of Leeds University Liturgical Choir (LULC). (opens in a new window)
- English music and opera of the 17th and 18th centuries
- English odes, especially St Cecilia's Day odes
- Music editing
- Opera and operatic performance
- The music of Michael Tippett
- Choral literature, training
Bryan White's PhD thesis investigated the life and music of the Catalan-born composer Louis Grabu, especially his opera Albion and Albanius. An exploration of the influence of the music and stagings of J.B. Lully's operas on Grabu brought to light the importance of Thomas Betterton in adapting scenic practices of the French opera for the London stage, both in Albion and Albanius and the subsequent dramatic operas of Purcell (the music of which also bears the influence of Grabu). Bryan is pursuing an interest in English odes with a special emphasis on those for St Cecilia's Day. He is working on a book: British Music for St Cecilia from Purcell to Handel. The social and cultural impetus behind the Cecilian movement of the late 17th century has led him to explore those persons, amateur musicians and music lovers, who enjoyed and patronized feasts and concerts in London and in the provinces. This has involved the study of personal letters discussing music and musical activities. Bryan is an active performer as a choral director, soloist and choral singer. His work with the Leeds University Liturgical Choir includes performances from his own editions which come out of his interest in English music of all periods, but particularly the 17th, 18th and 20th centuries.
Current Modules
- MUSS 1030 Music, History and Culture
- MUSS 1110 Music Research Skills
- MUSS 1324 Ensemble Performance
- MUSI 2311/2, 3320 Project in Performance
- MUSI 2721/2 Music in Context: Music, Patronage and Commerce
- MUSI 2420 Notation and Editing
- MUSI 3520/40 Editing and Source Studies
- MUSI 5430 Editing and Archival Skills
Module Coordinator for
- MUSS 1030 Music, History and Culture
- MUSS 1324 Ensemble Performance
- MUSI 2311/2, 3320 Project in Performance
- MUSI 2420 Notation and Edition
- MUSI 3520/40 Editing and Source Studies
- MUSI 5430 Editing and Archival Studies
- Programme Manager: MMus Musicology
- Postgraduate Research Tutor (2007-2010)
- Deputy Director of Research (2007-2010)
- Admissions Tutor (2003-2007)
Contributions to books and conference proceedings
- 'Studying a little of the French Air': Louis Grabu's Albion and Albanius and the dramatic operas of Henry Purcell', Art and Ideology in European Opera, ed. Brown, Cooper and Cowgill (Woodbridge:Boydell & Brewer, 2010), 12-29
- '"A pretty knot of musical friends": the Ferrar brothers and a Stamford music club of the 1690s', in Music in the British Provinces 1690-1914, ed. Cowgill and Holman (Ashgate, 2007), 1-44
Periodical articles
- "'Brothers of the string': Henry Purcell and the letter-books of Rowland Sherman", Music & Letters 92 (2011), 519-581
- 'Letter from Aleppo: dating the Chelsea School performance of Dido and Aeneas', Early Music 37 (2009), 417-428
- Music for 'A brave livlylike boy': the Duke of Gloucester, Purcell and 'The noise of foreign wars', The Musical Times 148 (Winter, 2007), 75-83
- With Andrew Woolley: 'Jeremiah Clarke: a tercentenary tribute', Early Music Performer 21 (2007), 25-36
- "'Acquainted with all the performances of the French Opera's': Louis Grabu's Albion and Albanius and the operas of Lully", Early Music 30 (August 2002), 410-427
Contributions to encyclopaedias
- Contributions to Alison Latham (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford University Press, 2002): entries on performance including 'Authenticity', 'Interpretation' and 'Expression'.
- 'William Turner 1650/1-1740' in Die Musik in Geschicte und Gegenwart
Editions (critical & other)
- Louis Grabu, Albion and Albanius, Purcell Society Edition, Companion Series vol.1 (Stainer & Bell, 2007)
- G B Draghi, From Harmony, from Heav'nly Harmony, Purcell Society Edition, Companion Series vol.3 (Stainer & Bell, 2010)
Recordings
- Leeds University Liturgical Choir: Songs of Praise: Music in the West Riding (2004); Vox Dei (2006); No man is an Island (2008)
Conference papers (oral)
- 'Restoration opera and the failure of patronage', The Nineteenth Annual Conference of the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music, University of Minnesota, 7-10 April, 2011
- 'Restoration opera and the failure of patronage', From Restoration to Republic, University of Hull, 6-10 July, 2010
- 'Mixing 'Britain's Orpheus' with 'Corelli's Heights': a Cecilian entertainment in Stamford', 14th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music, Queen University, Belfast, 30 June-4 July, 2010
- 'The Rise and Fall of the London Cecilian Celebrations 1683-1700', Purcell, Handel & Literature, Institute of Musical Research London, 19-21 November, 2009
- 'The Rise and Fall of the London Cecilian Celebrations 1683-1700', The Bangor Conference on the Restoration: Politics, Religion and Culture in Britain and Ireland in the 1680s, Bangor University, 28-30 July, 2009
- 'Henry Purcell and the letter book of Rowland Sherman', American Musicological Society, Nashville, 6-9 November 2008
- 'Letter from Aleppo: Dating the Chelsea School performance of Dido and Aeneas' 13th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music, Leeds, 2-6 July 2008
- Music's Sacred Jubilee: London Cecilian Celebrations 1683-1700', Friends of University Art an Music, University of Leeds; University of York, November 2007
- 'Gentlemen of quality or persons of note': The Organization and Patronage of the London Cecilian celebrations, 1683-1700, London in Text and History: 1400-1700, Jesus College, Oxford, September 13-15 2007
- 'A late seventeenth-century Stamford music club', 12th Biennial conference on Baroque Music; Warsaw, July 2006.
- 'Sacred Music for London St Cecilia's Day Celebrations', 11th Biennial conference on Baroque Music: Manchester, July 2004
- 'Albion and Albanius and the music of Henry Purcell', 10th Biennial conference on Baroque Music: La Rioja, Spain, July 2002
Book Reviews
- 'Purcell's elusive life' [review of Bruce Wood, Purcell: an extraordinary life (London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 2009] Early Music (2011)
- Amanda Eubanks-Winkler, O let us howle some heavy note: music for witches, the melancholic, and the mad on the 17th-century English stage, Early Music 37 (2009), 304-5
- Daniel Melamed, Hearing Bach's Passions, Early Music Performer 16 (2005), 20-21.
- PVAC Faculty Research Leave 2011-12 Semester 2
- British Academy Small Grant 2009
- British Academy Overseas Conference Grant 2008
- Music & Letters Trust 2007
- PVAC Faculty Research Leave 2006-07 Semester 1
- British Academy Small Grant 2004
- Chair Leeds Baroque Choir and Orchestra
- Editor Early Music Performer (2002-2009) (opens in a new window)
- Conference Organizer of 13th Biennial conference on Baroque Music, University of Leeds, 2-6 July, 2008
- Member of Purcell Society
Current Research Students
- Chris Roberts
- Sarah Kelly (with Prof Clive Brown)
- Miaoyin Qu (with Prof Clive Brown)
- Jess Ward (with Dr Mic Spencer)
- Jonathan Tobutt (with Dr Michael Allis)
- Mary Black: Singers make the best choral directors: the use and effect of imagery in choral conducting (with Dr Karen Burland)
- Duncan Boutwood: Northern perspectives on the British Musical Renaissance (with Dr Michael Allis & Prof Clive Brown)
Past Research Students
- 2008 Min-Jung Kang: The trio sonata in seventeenth-century England (with Prof Peter Holman)
Abstract
Albion and Albanius and its composer, Louis Grabu, have been unjustly dismissed by musical scholars, a situation which this thesis seeks to redress. A documentary biography of Grabu is provided, and a discussion of the inception of Albion and Albanius, detailing the role of each of its creators. The opera is subjected to a thorough examination, including a discussion of: 1) the relationship between the 1685 libretto and the 1687 score; 2) its large-scale structure and tonal plan; 3) and its vocal and instrumental writing. These studies reveal that Grabu, in composing the music, Dryden, in writing the libretto, and Betterton, in designing staging, drew upon specific models from Lully's Phaëton (1683). Furthermore, it is shown that Grabu drew upon a thorough knowledge of Lully's other operas: not only the general compositional features and structures, but also specific movements. There is, in addition, evidence suggesting that Grabu borrowed musical ideas and techniques from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.
Information regarding the opera's performance is gathered from the score and developed through comparison with contemporary practices. In particular, the similarities between Grabu's score and those of Lully printed by Ballard suggest that Grabu wrote for an ensemble modelled on that of the Paris Opéra. The dance and staging elements of the opera are examined in the light of information about, and illustrations from, English and especially French productions (particularly the drawings of Berain).
Grabu's influence on Purcell, and Dioclesian in particular, is demonstrated. The reception history of Albion and Albanius is explored, and the assertion that Grabu was an incompetent composer and the opera an artistic failure is shown to be unfounded. A modern edition of Albion and Albanius with critical commentary is provided.
- Higher Education Innovation Fund IV 'Exploring Historical Opera through Performance' (2008-2011)
- Leeds University Liturgical Choir: Vox Dei recording and Germany Tour 2007
Soloist, Chorus master and music editor for productions of the following operas:
- Anton Eberl Die Königin der schwarzen Inseln, as The Queen of the Black Islands, Eng. trans. Clive Brown (Bretton Hall, 1999) the first known performance since 1801.
- Franz Schubert Die Freunde von Salamanka, as The Friends from Salamanca, Eng. trans. and creation of lost dialogue by Clive Brown (Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House, 2000) British premiere staging.
- Johann Christian Bach Amadis de Gaule, Eng. trans. Clive Brown (Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House, 2001) British premiere staging; the first modern production to be based on a critical study of the sources and to include the complete ballet music.
- J. F. Lampe Margery, or A Worse Plague than the Dragon (Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House, 2002), modern premiere.
- A. Dvorak, The Stubborn Lovers, Eng. Trans. Stephen Muir (Great Hall, University of Leeds, 2003). First complete British Staging.
- Leeds University Liturgical Choir (opens in a new window)
- Leeds Baroque Choir (opens in a new window)
- Leeds Baroque: www.leedsbaroque.org.uk (opens in a new window)
- http://www.henrypurcell.org.uk/ (opens in a new window)
- http://www.btinternet.com/~earlymusic/nema/Performer.htm (opens in a new window)
- http://mus-www.leeds.ac.uk/lulc/ (opens in a new window)