Ben Maloney

Thesis

Thesis Title & Description

If Music and Sweet Poetry Agree': An Orthoepic Approach to Early Modern English Song (c.1540-c.1690)

• Supervisor: Richard Ogden, Robert Hollingworth, Emily Worthington

Since the mid-twentieth-century, singers specialising in early music have drawn upon historical evidence to inform their performance practices. However, historical pronunciation represents a crucial aspect that has been frequently overlooked. English has undergone substantial changes since the sixteenth-century; nonetheless, early song is rendered with present-day received pronunciation. Text delivered in a dialect that it was not composed to accommodate creates discord wherein the stress, rhyme, and assonance do not align correctly. Pioneers of spelling reform during the Renaissance have provided linguists with a solid foundation with which to study the sounds of Early Modern English. Regrettably, their appreciation for the music of their contemporaries has gone largely unnoticed. My objective is to document the approach to music and language between 1540 and 1690, and to establish a methodology for incorporating phonetic reconstructions into modern performances. I hope to rekindle interest in historical pronunciation and make it more accessible for singers.

Biography

Biography

Ben holds a music degree from the University of York, where he founded the student early music ensemble 'Mozzafiata'. In addition, he actively participated in local school workshops with MEG and provided accompaniment at NEEMF events. Continuing his academic pursuits, Ben earned a master’s degree in performance from RNCM, where he received a keyboard studies scholarship. During this period, he directed scenes from Monteverdi’s 'L'Orfeo' and organised an event celebrating African-American composers from the ragtime era. Following his studies, Ben worked as a freelance music teacher in London before returning to York to pursue a doctorate in music and linguistics. He has co-lectured on a historical performance module and was a co-recipient of the Terry Holmes composer/performer award. Beyond academia, Ben is undergoing training to become a musicality judge with BABS. His accomplishments in singing include gold and silver chorus medals, a quartet trophy, and arranging for vocal groups worldwide.

Research

Research Interests

Historically Musicology / Historically Informed Performance / Renaissance Music / Early Baroque Music / Vocal Pedagogy / Early Modern History / English History / English Language / Phonetics and Phonology / Historical Linguistics / Philology

Publications

Publications

Complete edition of the consort music of Anthony Holborne (2019), article on editing early music in 'Soanyway' magazine (2019), guest keyboard appearances with I Fagiolini (2019), many performances with the Early Music as Education charity (2020-present), guest keyboardist for Purcell 'The Fairy Queen' @ RNCM (2021), keyboard in Haydn's 'The Creation' with The Sirius Orchestra