Professor Simon Keefe
BA, MA, MusM, PGCE, MPhil, PhD
Department of Music
Professor of Musicology
(he/him)
James Rossiter Hoyle
s.keefe@sheffield.ac.uk
1.13, Jessop Building
Full contact details
Professor Simon Keefe
Department of Music
1.13
Jessop Building
Leavygreave Road
Sheffield
S3 7RD
Department of Music
1.13
Jessop Building
Leavygreave Road
Sheffield
S3 7RD
- Profile
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I took up the James Rossiter Hoyle Chair of Music in April 2008 and served as Head of Department until July 2015, having previously been Professor and Head of Music at City University London. Born in Leicester, I am a graduate of Cambridge, Boston and Columbia Universities (PhD 1997) and have held lectureships at Christ Church Oxford (1997-99) and at Queen's University, Belfast (1999-2003). In autumn 2016, I was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College Oxford, and in September 2022 I was elected the next President of the Royal Musical Association. I will serve a three-year term as RMA President from 1 January 2024.
My primary research and teaching area is late 18th-century music, especially Mozart, but I also have research and teaching interests in music reception and biography, 20th-century French popular song, Wagner, and the concerto genre. I have published five books as author and eight as editor since 2001, including a 700-page musical biography, Mozart in Vienna: the Final Decade (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and most recently Haydn and Mozart in the Long Nineteenth Century: Parallel and Intersecting Patterns of Reception (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
My monograph Mozart’s Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion (Cambridge University Press, 2012) won the 2013 Marjorie Weston Emerson award from the Mozart Society of America for the best book or edition published in 2011 or 2012; my edited volume Mozart in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2019) received an 'Outstanding Academic Title' award from the journal Choice (American Library Association) and was named one of the 'best classical music book releases of 2019' by the BBC Music Magazine.
My non-musical interests include football, golf, and tennis; I am a life-long (and long-suffering) fan of Aston Villa FC.
- Research interests
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Current projects
- (General Editor) 'Music and Musicians, 1750-1850' ('Elements' series for Cambridge University Press);
- (Book project, working title) Haydn and Mozart: Critical Paths through the Long Nineteenth Century, 1791-1914;
- (Article) ‘“No kind of reading is so generally interesting as biography”: Establishing Narratives for Haydn and Mozart in the Second and Third Decades of the Nineteenth Century’.
- Publications
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Books
- Haydn and Mozart in the Long Nineteenth Century: Parallel and Intersecting Patterns of Reception. Cambridge University Press.
- Mozart in Vienna: The Final Decade. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Delhi, Singapore: Cambridge University Press.
- Series preface.
- Mozart’s requiem: Reception, work, completion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Mozart's Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Mozart's Viennese Instrumental Music: A Study of Stylistic Re-Invention. Boydell Press.
- Mozart's Piano Concertos: Dramatic Dialogue in the Age of Enlightenment. Boydell Press.
Edited books
- Mozart in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Mozart. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.
- Mozart Studies 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Mozart Studies. Cambridge University Press.
- The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press.
- The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto. Cambridge University Press.
- The Cambridge Companion to Mozart. Cambridge University Press.
Journal articles
- Mozart’s Requiem in Pamplona (1844): Study and Music Edition / El Réquiem de Mozart en Pamplona (1844): Studio y edición musical. By Miguel Ángel Marín. Music edition by Aurelio Sagaseta. Music and Letters, 102(3), 610-612.
- “No kind of reading is so generally interesting as biography”: Establishing Narratives for Haydn and Mozart in the Second and Third Decades of the Nineteenth Century. 19th-Century Music, 44(2), 67-79.
- Keyboard Concertos from Manuscript Sources XI. NOTES, 77(1), 157-159.
- Keyboard Concertos from Manuscript Sources VII. NOTES, 77(1), 157-159.
- Series Preface. Mozart, ix.
- "We hardly knew what to pay attention to first": Mozart the Performer-Composer at Work on the Viennese Piano Concertos. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 134(2), 185-242.
- Beyond Fact and Fiction, Scholarly and Popular: Peter Shaffer and Milos Forman’s Amadeus at 25. The Musical Times, 150, 45-53.
- Review of "Herman Abert, W.A.Mozart, trans Stewart Spencer, ed. Cliff Eisen". Music & Letters, 1(90), 158-160.
- ‘Die Ochsen am Berge': Franz Xaver Süssmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart’s Requiem K. 626. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 61(1).
- The Aesthetics of Wind Writing in the "Paris" Symphony K.297. Mozart-Jahrbuch 2006, 329-344.
- Guest Column: Mozart Artefacts. Mozart Society of America Newsletter, 2(12), 1-2.
- Colloquy: Finishing Mozart’s Requiem: a Reply from Simon P. Keefe. Journal of the American Musicological Society, 61(3), 602-608.
- The 'Jupiter' Symphony in C, K. 551: New perspectives on the dramatic finale and its stylistic significance in Mozart's Orchestral Œuvre. Acta Musicologica, 75(1), 17-44.
- Sophisticated Simplicity: Text and Music in the Early Songs of Georges Brassens. Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie, 7(1), 11-23.
- ‘La Chanson c'est pour tout le monde’: an introduction to the music of Georges Brassens. Tempo(212), 38-46.
- The stylistic significance of the first movement of Mozart's piano concerto no. 24 in minor, K. 491: A dialogic apotheosis. Journal of Musicological Research, 18(3), 225-261.
- Sartre's Wagner. The Musical Times, 137, 9-11.
Chapters
- Scholarship and Fiction in the Late Nineteenth Century, 1861-1890, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 131-175).
- Papa and the Matador, Alive and Dead Haydn and Mozart, 1792-1810, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 14-45).
- Continuity and Change Epilogue, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 225-228).
- Biographical and Critical Narratives and Perspectives, 1811-1830, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 46-85).
- Anniversaries, Commemorations, Writings The Developing Reputations of Haydn and Mozart, 1831-1860, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 86-130).
- Anniversaries in Context, 1891-1914, HAYDN AND MOZART IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY (pp. 176-224).
- The Magic Flute in Biography, Criticism, and Literature, CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO THE MAGIC FLUTE (pp. 291-303).
- "Es ist der Mühe werth": the Performance and Reception of Pleyel's Op. 1 String Quartets In Klauk S (Ed.), Instrumentalmusik neben Haydn und Mozart (pp. 179-194). Würzburg: Könighausen & Neumann.
- Personal Relationships, Mozart in Context (pp. 3-9). Cambridge University Press
- Mozart the Performer-Composer, Mozart in Context (pp. 213-219). Cambridge University Press
- Mozart Iconography, Mozart in Context (pp. 59-78). Cambridge University Press
- Biographical and Critical Traditions, Mozart in Context (pp. 246-253). Cambridge University Press
- ‘We hardly knew what we should pay attention to first’: Mozart the Performer-Composer at Work on the Viennese Piano Concertos, Mozart (pp. 413-470). Routledge
- Mozart the Child Performer-Composer: New Musical-Biographical Perspectives on the Early Years to 1766 In McPherson GE (Ed.), Musical Prodigies: Interpretations from Psychology, Education, Musicology, and Ethnomusicology (pp. 550-575). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
- Mozart 'stuck in music' in Paris (1778): towards a new biographical paradigm In Keefe SP (Ed.), Mozart Studies 2 (pp. 23-54). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- 'Composing, Performing and Publishing: Mozart's "Haydn" Quartets' In Keefe SP (Ed.), Mozart Studies 2 (pp. 140-167). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- CPE Bach Series Preface, C.P.E. BACH (pp. XI-XXXV).
- Gluck Series Preface, GLUCK (pp. IX-IX).
- 'Mozart's Requiem' In Farnham H & Fairclough J (Ed.), Mozart (interactive iBook for iPad) (pp. 190-207). London: Pipedreams Media.
- Harmonies and effects: Haydn and Mozart in parallel, The Cambridge Companion to the Symphony (pp. 155-173). Cambridge University Press
- 'On Instrumental Sounds, Roles, Genres and Performances: Mozart's Piano Quartets, K. 478 and K. 493' In Harlow M (Ed.), Mozart's Chamber Music with Keyboard (pp. 154-181). Cambridge University Press
- Across the divide: currents of musical thought in Europe, c. 1790–1810 In Keefe SP (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Music (pp. 663-688). Cambridge University Press
- 'Greatest effects with the least effort': strategies of wind writing in Mozart's Viennese piano concertos, MOZART STUDIES (pp. 25-46).
- Introduction, The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto (pp. 1-4). Cambridge University Press
- The concerto from Mozart to Beethoven: aesthetic and stylistic perspectives, The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto (pp. 70-92). Cambridge University Press
- Theories of the concerto from the eighteenth century to the present day, The Cambridge Companion to the Concerto (pp. 5-18). Cambridge University Press
Book reviews
- WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791), WITH COMMENTARY BY ROBERT D. LEVIN
AND PREFACE BY COLIN LAWSON
KLAVIERKONZERT C-MOLL, KV 491: BÄRENREITER FACSIMILE
Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2014 pp. 74 (facsimile) + 40 (commentary), isbn
978 3 7618 1927 2. Eighteenth Century Music, 13(1), 134-136.
- The Scoring of Early Classical Concertos 1750–1780. By Richard Maunder. Music and Letters, 96(4), 660-662.
- Mozart's Ghosts: Haunting the Halls of Musical Culture. By Mark Everist. Music and Letters, 95(2), 285-287.
- Mozart and Enlightenment Semiotics. By Stephen Rumph.. Music and Letters, 94(1), 152-154.
- The Mozart Cache: The Discovery and Examination of a Previously Unknown Collection of Mozartiana. By Daniel N. Leeson.. Music and Letters, 91(1), 105-107.
- W. A. Mozart. By Hermann Abert. Trans. by Stewart Spencer and ed. by Cliff Eisen.. Music and Letters, 90(1), 158-160.
- Finishing Mozart's Requiem. On "'Die Ochsen am Berge': Franz Xaver Sussmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart's Requiem, K. 626" by Simon P. Keefe, Spring 2008 Reply. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 61(3), 602-608.
- Haydn: The "Paris" Symphonies. Notes, 56(2), 403-403.
- Haydn studies. NOTES, 56(2), 403-405.
Conference proceedings papers
- ‘“Die trefflich gewählten Instrumente”: Orchestrating Don Giovanni’s Defeat’. Mozart in Prague: Essays on Performance, Patronage, Sources and Reception (pp 343-369). Prague, 9 June 2009 - 13 June 2009. View this article in WRRO
- Haydn and Mozart in the Long Nineteenth Century: Parallel and Intersecting Patterns of Reception. Cambridge University Press.
- Research group
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I am happy to supervise students in any of my areas of specialty.
My current and previous PhD students have worked on the following topics:
- Beethoven's annotations of Cramer's piano studies
- 19th-century oboe studies
- theories of editing Mozart's piano works
- late 18th-century keyboard music in London
- Prokofiev's piano music; Chopin reception in England
- concepts of music analysis in the late 18th- and early-19th centuries
- editing and performance practice in Mozart's keyboard music
- Handel reception in the 18th century
- Mozart's sacred music
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Elected (2005) to life membership of the Salzburg-based Akademie für Mozart-Forschung of the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum (as the only British member until 2019).
- General Editor of the Royal Musical Association monographs series (published by Routledge) (2011- ).
- Chair of the Royal Musical Association Publications Committee (2013-19), including organizing, planning and negotiating a change of publisher for the RMA journals from Routledge to Cambridge University Press.
- Editor of a Late Eighteenth-Century Composers series (Ashgate, 2015)
- Editorial/advisory boards: Journal of the Royal Musical Association (Routledge); Mozart-Jahrbuch (Bärenreiter); Humanities (Basel: MDPI Verein); RMA Research Chronicle (Routledge).
- Founding editor (reviews) of Eighteenth-Century Music (2002-2008), and editorial board member to 2016.
- Member of the AHRC Peer Review College (2009- )
- President of the Royal Musical Association (2024-2027)
Public and media engagement
- Programme notes for annual international Mozart festival, 'Mozart Woche', Salzburg (2008- )
- Eight study days at King’s Place, London as part of a year-long ‘Mozart Unwrapped’ series of events (2011).
- Public lectures: Sheffield (University and 'Music in the Round': 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015); Sheffield (Cathedral: 2017, 2011, 2009); Birmingham Conservatoire (2009); University of Buckingham (2019, 2008, 2002); Fairford, Gloucestershire (2006); Arnside, Cumbria (2006); Queen’s University Belfast (Queen’s Film Theatre) (2002).
- Pre-concert lectures: Royal Northern College of Music (2019); Tideswell, Derbyshire (2015); St. Oswald’s Church, Sheffield (2012); Barbican, London (2008); Wigmore Hall, London (x4, 2006); Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (London Philharmonic, 2006); St John’s Smith Square London & Cambridge Faculty of Music (Academy of Ancient Music, 2006); Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms x2, 2006).
- Cosmoetica: Dan Schenider video interview on Mozart (2017)
- Principal musicological consultant for, and contributor to ‘Mozart in Prague: Rolando Villázon on Don Giovanni’: Renegade Film for BBC2 (2013-14) on the Prague premiere of Don Giovanni, featuring international opera star Rolando Villázon.
- Panellist on BBC Radio 3 debates (2011, x2); contributor to BBC2 Newsnight films (2008, 2007)
- Contributions to UK Radio 2’s ‘What Mozart Did for Us’, first broadcast 24 January 2006.
- Principal contributor to ‘In Mozart’s Footsteps: London’ on Deutsche Welle TV (‘Euromaxx’), first broadcast 6 September 2006.
- ‘Mozart in England’ (German Public Radio; interviewed by Walter Bohnacker), first broadcast January 2006.