The music theory department is thrilled to announce that Paul Sherrill (Ph.D., 2016) and Matthew Boyle (ABD), students of Prof. Roman Ivanovitch, have won the David Kraehenbuehl award from the Journal of Music Theory, for their article “Galant Recitative Schemas.” The award, awarded only once every two years, is given to the best article submitted by an untenured author.
Sherrill and Boyle’s work develops a concise and accessible method of categorizing musical gestures in 18th-century recitatives, and promises to spark new interest in recitative among both audiences and scholars. Both Sherrill and Boyle were past recipients of the Jacobs School of Music dissertation-year fellowship in music theory.
Paul Sherrill
Paul Sherrill is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the College of Wooster. In May 2016, he graduated from Indiana University with a Ph.D. in music theory. His dissertation “The Metastasian Da Capo Aria,” which was advised by Prof. Roman Ivanovitch, explores how the musical form of the da capo aria functions both as a dramatic device and as an embodiment of certain philosophical principles. In his research, Paul is interested in the ways that musical convention and usage create meaning at various levels, with a focus on Italian-language operas from the eighteenth century.
Matthew Boyle
Matthew Boyle is a Ph.D. candidate in music theory at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His research focuses on the analysis and history of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century opera. His dissertation examines how the relationship between Rossini’s compositional style and common tropes in the reception of his operas (especially as a source of hedonistic pleasure) both constrains and shapes potential analytical narratives of his operas. Other research projects include developing a theoretical framework for simple (secco) recitative and exploring the cultural and expressive meanings of recitative in eighteenth-century Northern Germany.
