Suzannah Clark (born February 3, 1969) is a Canadian-British musicologist and music theorist specializing in the music of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, the history of

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

, and

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

. She is currently Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music and in 2019 was named Harvard College Professor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and from 2016 to 2019 served as chair of the Music Department at Harvard.

Biography and research

Clark grew up in Newfoundland, Canada, and England. Educated at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and the

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

Berlin, she took up a Junior Research Fellowship, and then a British Academy Research Fellowship at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. Between 2000 and 2008 she taught at the Faculty of Music at the

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 2008 she moved to Harvard University, where she had first taught as a visiting professor the previous year. Clark’s main research has focused on

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

analysis. Originally beginning with an analysis of the harmonically symmetrical properties of his instrumental forms, Clark’s study soon encompassed the forms of Schubert’s songs as well. Her interest in the properties of diatonicism and tonal spaces has also fed much of her work in the history of music theory, notably in her studies of

Arthur von Oettingen Arthur Joachim von Oettingen ( – 5 September 1920) was a Baltic German physicist and music theorist. He was the brother of theologian Alexander von Oettingen (1827–1905) and ophthalmologist Georg von Oettingen (1824–1916). Biography ...

and

Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was an Austrian music theory, music theorist #Theoretical writings, whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis ...

. Clark’s work on medieval music originally focused on the music of the thirteenth century, the trouvères, the genre of refrains, but now centers broadly on questions of textuality, performance, and musical analysis. Clark serves on the advisory boards of ''Music Analysis'' and ''Nineteenth-Century Music Review'', and she was an associate director of the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music (DIAMM). She was Reviews Editor for the ''Journal of the American Musicological Society''.

Select publications

* ''Citation and Authority in Medieval and Early Renaissance Musical Culture: Learning from the Learned'' (co-edited with

Elizabeth Eva Leach Elizabeth Eva Leach is a British musicologist and music theorist who specializes in medieval music, especially that of the fourteenth century. Much of her scholarship concerns the life and work of Guillaume de Machaut. Life and career Leach is ...

, London: Boydell, 2005) * ''Music Theory and Natural Order from the Renaissance to the Early Twentieth Century'' (co-edited with Alexander Rehding, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, pbk 2005) * “Schenker’s Mysterious Five” ''Nineteenth Century Music'' (1999) * “Schubert, Theory, and Analysis” ''Music Analysis'' (2001) * “The politics of the Urlinie in Schenker’s Der Tonwille and Der freie Satz“ Journal of the RMA (2007) * “‘S’en dirai chançonete’: hearing text and music in a medieval motet" Plainsong and Medieval Music (2007) * ''Analyzing Schubert'' Cambridge University Press (2011)

References

External links

Harvard University, Department of Music

Merton College Oxford

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Suzannah 1969 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Princeton University alumni Harvard University faculty Canadian academics