Michael Burden, FAHA, (born 14 March 1960) is an Australian musicologist, working in the United Kingdom. He was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

in 2018.

Life

Born in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, he was educated at

Pulteney Grammar School Pulteney Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, co-educational day school. Founded in 1847 by members of the Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Church, it is the second oldest independen ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

; his took his PhD at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He is currently Fellow in Music, Dean and Chattels Fellow at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

; he is also director of New Chamber Opera, and Professor of Opera Studies in the Faculty of Music,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 2016, he became one of the patrons of the St Peter’s Cathedral Music Foundation, which supports the music of

St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Adelaide and Metropolitan of the Province of South Australia. The cathedral, a significant Adelaide landmark, is sit ...

Academic Service

He served as chair of the board of the University of Oxford's music faculty from 2015 to 2018. From 2007 until 2015, he was a visitor to Oxford's

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street in Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University ...

; he is also curator of the Music Faculty's collection of portraits. In the academic year 2009–2010, he was one of the university's four pro-proctors (deputies to the proctors). He is currently chair of the Society for Theatre Research. From 2009 to 2013, he was the president of the

British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) is an interdisciplinary scholarly society founded in 1971 and based in the United Kingdom which promotes the study of all aspects of eighteenth-century history and culture. Its members are ...

, preceded by two years as vice-president, and followed by two years as past president. He has also served on the council of the Royal Musical Association and is on the steering committee of the Besterman Centre for the Enlightenment (see

Voltaire Foundation The Voltaire Foundation is a research department of the University of Oxford, founded by Theodore Besterman in the 1970s. It publishes the definitive edition of the ''Complete Works of Voltaire'' (''Œuvres complètes de Voltaire''), as well as ' ...

), a member of the Project Team for

Ballad Opera The ballad opera is a genre of England, English ''comic opera'' stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier ''comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Sings ...

s Online, a trustee of both

Répertoire International des Sources Musicales The Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM, English ''International Inventory of Musical Sources'', German ''Internationales Quellenlexikon der Musik'') is an international non-profit organization, founded in Paris in 1952, with ...

United Kingdom, and the Gerald Coke Handel Foundation; and on the advisory panel of The Oxford Centre for Life Writing.

Research

His research is on the stage music of

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

, and on aspects of dance and theatre in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and includes a catalogue of Metastasio’s operas as performed in London, an edition of

Le Ballet de la Nuit The ''Ballet Royal de la Nuit'' (Royal Ballet of the Night), ''Ballet Royal de la Nuict'' in its original spelling and often referred to simply as the ''Ballet de la Nuit'', is a ''ballet de cour'' with a libretto by Isaac de Benserade and music ...

: Rothschild B1/16/6 with Jennifer Thorp, and a biographical account of

Regina Mingotti Regina Mingotti, born in Naples 16 February 1722, died Neuburg an der Donau 1 October 1808, was an operatic soprano. Besides achieving great success as a performer in Germany, Spain, France, Britain and Italy, she composed and published songs and ...

’s years in London. He is currently completing a book on the staging of opera in London 1660 to 1860. Much of his recent research has been directed towards the London Stage Project

in particular to soon-to-be released The London Stage Calendar 1800-1844

With Jennifer Thorp, he organises the annual Oxford Dance Symposium, which takes place each year at New College. His collection of mainly 18th century English theatre books, music, and other ephemera is gradually being accepted in a series of gifts to the Rare Books collection by the

Barr Smith Library The Barr Smith Library is the main library of the University of Adelaide, situated in the centre of the North Terrace campus. It is named after its early benefactor Robert Barr Smith and was formally established in 1882, though its history dat ...

at the

Editorial Boards, Editing

With Jonathan Hicks and Caroline Radcliffe, he is joint editor of the series 'Nineteenth-century British Theatrical Culture'. He is on the editorial boards of the ''

Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) is an interdisciplinary scholarly society founded in 1971 and based in the United Kingdom which promotes the study of all aspects of eighteenth-century history and culture. Its members are ...

'', and the series 'Studies in British Musical Cultures' published by

Clemson University Press Clemson University Press is a university press associated with Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. The press was founded in 2000, and as of 2021, it issues around twenty-five publications a year, most of which focus on nineteent ...

. He has been Consultant Editor for numbers of the journal ''

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

'' ('Music in Purcell's London I' (1995); 'Music in Purcell's London II'; (1996), Metastasio (1998)) and Guest Editor for numbers of the journals ''

'' - 'Farinelli' (2004) - and with Jennifer Thorp for ''

Music in Art Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of musi ...

'' (2010) and ''

The Court Historian ''The Court Historian'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by The Society for Court Studies covering research in the field of court history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, h ...

'' (2010). He is on the editorial committees for the collected music editions of the works of

Alessandro Stradella Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating with ...

and John Eccles. His own editions include *

Benedetto Marcello Benedetto Giacomo Marcello (; 31 July or 1 August 1686 – 24 July 1739) was an Italian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher. Life Born in Venice, Benedetto Marcello was a member of the noble Marcello family and in his composit ...

, ''Il pianto e il riso delle quattro stagioni'', ''Recent Researches in Music of the Baroque Era'', 115 (Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 2002). *

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

, ''The Fairy-Queen'' (London: Edition Eulenburg, 2009); the first complete edition of both the text and the music. *

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

, '' The Bear'', William Walton Collected Edition, 2 (Oxford University Press, 2010). *

, ''Il Trionfo della Poesia, e della Musica nel celebrasi la morte, le esaltazione, e la inconronazione di Maria Sempore Virgine assunta in Cielo.'' ''Recent Researches in Music of the Baroque Era'', 191 (Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 2016). *

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading op ...

, ''

Erismena ''Erismena'' is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. First performed in Venice in 1655, it was designated as a ''dramma per musica''. Libretto The Italian libretto was by Aurelio Aureli, the only work by this writer for ...

'', Collected Cavalli Edition (Bärenreiter Verlag, Kassel, 2018). Performed New College, Oxford, July 2010. Performed by Yale Baroque Opera Project on 1 and 2 May 2015. http://ybop.yale.edu * John Eccles, ''Revels on the Peace of Ryswick'', ''Recent Researches in Music of the Baroque Era'', 209 (Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 2019). *

, ''Il Trespolo tutore'', ''Alessandro Stradella Opera Omnia'', 3 (Pisa: Edizioni ETS, 2024). *

Domenico Paradies Pietro Domenico Paradies (also Pietro Domenico Paradisi) (170725 August 1791) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and music teacher, most prominently known for a composition popularly entitled "''Toccata in A''", which is, in other sources, the ...

, ''Fetonte'', ''Recent Researches in Music of the Baroque Era'', 242 (Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 2025).

Personal

One of his interests outside music is architectural history, particularly the history of architecture and town planning in

. His first book was a photographic exploration of demolished buildings of that city. Published as ''Lost Adelaide'' by Oxford University Press in 1983, it remains a classic text in the documentation of Adelaide's lost architectural heritage.

Sources

*(2018), ''Who's Who 2018'' (London: A. & C. Black) *

Michael Burden
*Faculty of Music, University of Oxfor
The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
*