Deborah Burton is an American

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. She is particularly known for her publications on

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

and his works, including ''Recondite Harmony'' (Pendragon, 2012) and the 2004 book ''Tosca's Prism: Three Moments of Western Cultural History''. She has contributed articles to numerous music journals, including ''Nuova Rivista Musicale'', ''

Opera Quarterly ''The Opera Quarterly'' is a peer reviewed academic journal of opera, founded in 1983. It is published by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest univers ...

'', ''Studi Musicali'', and ''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

''.

Life and career

Burton earned a diploma in piano performance from the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School ca ...

, a Master of Music from the

Yale School of Music The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a join ...

, and a PhD from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1995 with a doctoral dissertation entitled ''An Analysis of Puccini's Tosca: A Heuristic Approach to the Unifying Elements of the Opera''. She is associate professor of music, composition and theory at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

and is a former faculty member at

Adrian College Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buil ...

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

, Fordham University,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

. Burton was one of the originators of the conference Tosca 2000 in Rome, marking the centenary of Puccini's ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

'' and the 2010 Boston conference Fanciulla 100: Celebrating Puccini, marking the centenary of Puccini's ''

La fanciulla del West ''La fanciulla del West'' (''The Girl of the West'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by and , based on the 1905 play '' The Girl of the Golden West'' by the American author David Belasco. ''Fanciulla'' follow ...

''.Weaver (July 16, 2000) p. 21, Section 2; Sachs (December 10, 2010); Kellow (December 2010)

Bibliography

Books *Burton, Deborah (2012). ''Recondite Harmony: Essays on Puccini's Operas''. Pendragon Press, . *Burton, Deborah and Gregory Harwood (2012). ''The Theoretical-Practical Elements of Music, Parts III and IV, Studies in the History of Music Theory and Literature'', vol. 5. University of Illinois Press, . *Burton, Deborah; Nicassio, Susan Vandiver; Ziino, Agostino (eds.) (2004)
''Tosca's Prism: Three Moments of Western Cultural History''
Northeastern University Press. Articles *Burton, Deborah. (1994). "A Select Bibliography of Articles and Dissertations about Puccini and His Operas" in ''The Puccini Companion'', William Weaver and Simonetta Puccini (eds). Norton. *Burton, Deborah (1994). "The Real Scarpia: Historical Sources for Tosca." ''Opera Quarterly'', Vol. 10, no. 2 *Burton, Deborah (1996). "The Creation of Tosca: Toward a Clearer View." ''Opera Quarterly'', Vol. 12, no. 3 *Burton, Deborah (1996). "Michele Puccini's Counterpoint Treatise". ''Quaderni pucciniani'' *Burton, Deborah (2001). "A Journey of Discovery: Puccini's 'motivo di prima intenzione' and its applications in ''Manon Lescaut'', ''La fanciulla del West'' and ''Suor Angelica''". ''Studi Musicali'', 2, pp. 473–499 *Burton, Deborah (2004). "Orfeo, Osmin and Otello: Towards a theory of opera analysis", ''Studi musicali'' Vol. 33, no. 2

References

Sources

*Ellison, Cori (December 3, 2010)

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' *Fairtile, Linda (1999)
''Giacomo Puccini: A guide to research''
Routledge. *Kellow, Brian (December 2010)
"Giordani saddles up to sing Dick Johnson at the Met; a Boston University academic makes Fanciulla's centennial her personal crusade."
'' Opera News'', Vol. 75, No. 6 *Sachs, Julian (December 10, 2010
"Puccini's 100-Year-Old Girl"
i-Italy, Italian/American Digital Project *Weaver, William (July 16, 2000). "In 'Tosca,' a Touch of Family History". ''The New York Times'', p. 21, Section 2

External links

Biography page
(

)
"Giacomo Puccini's ''La fanciulla del West''"
an interdisciplinary conference held at Boston University April 18–19, 2008, including Deborah Burton's presentation "In his shoes: ''The Marriage of Figaro'' and the Movies" and her interview with Gottfried Wagner {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Deborah Living people 1954 births American music theorists Boston University faculty Adrian College faculty Florida International University faculty Fordham University faculty Mannes School of Music alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan faculty Yale School of Music alumni Yale University faculty American women musicologists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists