Oliver Clark Godber

Thesis

Thesis

How can radical movements of the 20th Century in the USA be understood through the lens of their music?

Supervisors: Matthew Williams, Pete Dale

This study asks how music was vital to new religious movements and high control organisations in the 20th Century United States, with a particular focus on those which perceived themselves to be at the centre of existential struggles that necessitated violence and disorder. 

Through comparative study of music-making practises across a diverse array of movements and organisations, this research employs a semiotic approach to shed light on the potency of music as a means through which identity and belief are shaped. Particular interest is given to the way in which existing music is appropriated by such groups. 

The study has the potential to characterise a unique intersection of the American psyche with music, and it has relevance to a modern United States grappling with a present political turmoil.

Biography

Biography

Oliver is a postgraduate researcher from Hull whose research interests centre on musical meaning, the role of music in society, and it’s capacity to shape belief and identity. 
Oliver completed a Bmus in Classical Performance on viola at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in 2017. 

Subsequently he undertook a Master’s degree in Musicology at the University of Hull in 2020, specialising in the music of Richard Wagner and its role in the politics of Fin de Siècle Germany.

Alongside his studies, Oliver plays viola for a number of local ensembles and a dementia-friendly theatre company. 

Research

Research Interests

Musicology, Sociology, Semiotics, Phenomenology.