Dr Robert Samuels
r.samuels@open.ac.uk

Robert Samuels (b.1962) was educated at Southend High School for Boys and Robinson College, Cambridge. He studied English and Music, graduating with a B.A. in 1985. After a year of voluntary work, he returned to Robinson College in 1986, and graduated with an M.Phil. in Musicology in 1987. He then studied for a Ph.D. in Music from 1987 to 1989, eventually graduating in 1994 with the thesis, Semiotics and Mahler: Analyses of Musical Signification in the Sixth Symphony. In 1989 he was appointed Leverhulme Research Fellow in the Department of Music, the University of Lancaster, and in 1990 he was appointed Lecturer in the same department. In 1995 he was appointed Lecturer in the Music Department of the Open University. He lives in Oxford with his wife, Alison and children, Anna Maria (b.1999) and Benedict (b.2002).

Principal research interests

Music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly from the perspectives of music analysis, critical theory, aesthetic history and comparative cultural history (principally exploring the relationships between music and literature). Publications have included studies of Schubert, Schumann, Mahler, Cage, Boulez and Birtwistle.

Robert is a member of the Literature and Music Research Group.

Robert is currently:

• writing a book, Novel and Symphony: A study of nineteenth-century genres
• Chair of course AA302, From Composition to Performance: Musicians at work
• Chair of course A179, Start Listening to Music
• A contributing author for the new course AA317, Words and Music
  

Follow this link for details of Robert Samuels' publications