Associate Professor Denis Collins
Associate Professor

Denis Collins

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+61 7 336 53512

Background

Denis Collins is a world authority on the history of compositional techniques, especially counterpoint, in Western art music from the late Middle Ages to the time of J.S. Bach. He is also an expert on the history of music theory, including the legacy of the Russian composer and theorist Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev. Denis's research draws upon digital applications to music, musical iconography, and music perception and cognition. He has been Lead Chief Investigator on two Discovery Projects awarded by the Australian Research Council: "Canonic techniques and musical change from c.1330 to c.1530" (2015-17) and "The art and science of canon in the music of early 17th-century Rome" (2018-20). He was an Associate Investigator at the ARC's Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions in Europe, 1100-1800. He has published extensively in Australian and international music journals and edited volumes and he presents the results of his research regularly at international conferences and symposia. He is Editor-in-Chief of Musicology Australia, the official journal of the Musicological Society of Australia.

Availability

Associate Professor Denis Collins is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, University College Dublin
  • Bachelor of Music, University College Dublin
  • Masters (Coursework), Stanford University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Stanford University

Research interests

  • Musicology

  • Music Theory

  • Counterpoint in Medieval and Early Modern music

  • Music of J.S. Bach

  • Digital applications to music research

  • Music and visual culture

  • Music and the history of emotions

Research impacts

Denis is deeply committed to the success of musicological research in Australia and to highlighting its many positive contributions to the cultural life of the nation. Through collaboration with scholars and music organisations nationally and internationally, he positions the results of his research for the broader community. Activities include workshops and performances by choral and instrumental groups of historical repertoire studied as part of his projects. Denis is the co-founder of the Canons Database (www.canons.org.au) which serves as the foremost online resource for musical canons and is aimed at a very broad community of music enthusiasts from scholars and performers to general audiences worldwide.

Search Professor Denis Collins’s works on UQ eSpace

66 works between 1993 and 2024
All (66) Journal Article (35) Book Chapter (18) Conference Publication (6) Book (4) Other Outputs (3)

21 - 40 of 66 works

2018

Book Chapter

Appendix 1

Collins, Denis, Murphy, Kerry and Owens, Samantha (2018). Appendix 1. J.S. Bach in Australia: studies in Reception and performance. (pp. 218-221) edited by Denis Collins, Kerry Murphy and Samantha Owens. Melbourne, Australia: Lyrebird Press.

Appendix 1

2018

Book Chapter

Music as symbolic image: Christological narratives in the Agnus Dei sections of renaissance masses

Collins, Denis and Stoessel, Jason (2018). Music as symbolic image: Christological narratives in the Agnus Dei sections of renaissance masses. Music/image: transpositions, translations, transformations. (pp. 60-71) edited by Mirjana Veselinovic-Hofman, Vesna Mikic, Tijana Popovic-Mladjenovic and Ivana Perkovic. Belgrade: Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade.

Music as symbolic image: Christological narratives in the Agnus Dei sections of renaissance masses

2018

Book Chapter

Canon in Baroque Italy: Paolo Agostini's collections of masses, motets and counterpoints from 1627

Collins, Denis (2018). Canon in Baroque Italy: Paolo Agostini's collections of masses, motets and counterpoints from 1627. Music preferred: Essays in musicology, cultural history and analysis in honour of Harry White. (pp. 117-140) edited by Lorraine Byrne Bodley. Vienna, Austria: Hollitzer Wissenschaftsverlag.

Canon in Baroque Italy: Paolo Agostini's collections of masses, motets and counterpoints from 1627

2017

Journal Article

Instructions for keyboard accompaniment in Music Manuscript 244 of the University of Melbourne

Collins, Denis (2017). Instructions for keyboard accompaniment in Music Manuscript 244 of the University of Melbourne. Musica Disciplina, 60, 173-200.

Instructions for keyboard accompaniment in Music Manuscript 244 of the University of Melbourne

2017

Conference Publication

Panel Discussion:'What’s missing in music and emotion research?'

Schubert, Emery, MacKinnon, Dolly, Collins, Denis and Garrido, Sandra (2017). Panel Discussion:'What’s missing in music and emotion research?'. The 3rd Conference of the Australian Music & Psychology Society (AMPS) including the 5th International Conference on Music and Emotion (ICME)., School of Music, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 7-9 December 2017..

Panel Discussion:'What’s missing in music and emotion research?'

2016

Journal Article

Review of Mark Hijleh, Towards a Global Music Theory: Practical Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Music across Human Cultures

Collins, Denis (2016). Review of Mark Hijleh, Towards a Global Music Theory: Practical Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Music across Human Cultures. Musicology Australia, 38 (2), 194-197. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2016.1239244

Review of Mark Hijleh, Towards a Global Music Theory: Practical Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Music across Human Cultures

2016

Journal Article

Discomfit them, O Lord, that trust in their own multitude: a new editorial approach to the Tallis-Byrd Cantiones sacrae

Collins, Denis (2016). Discomfit them, O Lord, that trust in their own multitude: a new editorial approach to the Tallis-Byrd Cantiones sacrae. Musicology Australia, 38 (2), 172-181. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2016.1239243

Discomfit them, O Lord, that trust in their own multitude: a new editorial approach to the Tallis-Byrd Cantiones sacrae

2016

Journal Article

Review of Mary Louise O'Donnell, Ireland's Harp: The Shaping of Irish Modernity, c.1770-1880.

Collins, Denis (2016). Review of Mary Louise O'Donnell, Ireland's Harp: The Shaping of Irish Modernity, c.1770-1880.. Australasian Journal of Irish Studies, 16, 133-135.

Review of Mary Louise O'Donnell, Ireland's Harp: The Shaping of Irish Modernity, c.1770-1880.

2016

Book Chapter

Continuity and discontinuity in contrapuntal techniques ca. 1500

Collins, Denis (2016). Continuity and discontinuity in contrapuntal techniques ca. 1500. Music: transitions/continuities. (pp. 120-132) edited by Mirjana Veselinovic-Hofman, Vesna Mikic, Tijana Popovic Mladenovic and Ivana Perkovic. Belgrade, Serbia: Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade.

Continuity and discontinuity in contrapuntal techniques ca. 1500

2015

Journal Article

Thomas Schmidt-Beste (ed.), The Motet Around 1500: On the Relationship of Imitation and Text Treatment? (2012); and Albert Clement and Eric Jas (eds), Josquin and the Sublime (2011)

Collins, Denis (2015). Thomas Schmidt-Beste (ed.), The Motet Around 1500: On the Relationship of Imitation and Text Treatment? (2012); and Albert Clement and Eric Jas (eds), Josquin and the Sublime (2011). Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, 10 (14-15), 57-64.

Thomas Schmidt-Beste (ed.), The Motet Around 1500: On the Relationship of Imitation and Text Treatment? (2012); and Albert Clement and Eric Jas (eds), Josquin and the Sublime (2011)

2015

Journal Article

Taneyev's theories of moveable counterpoint and the music of J.S. Bach

Collins, Denis (2015). Taneyev's theories of moveable counterpoint and the music of J.S. Bach. BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, 46 (2), 22-45.

Taneyev's theories of moveable counterpoint and the music of J.S. Bach

2014

Book Chapter

Creative collaborative thought and puzzle canons in renaissance music

Collins, Denis (2014). Creative collaborative thought and puzzle canons in renaissance music. Collaborative creative thought and practice in music. (pp. 111-126) edited by Margaret Barrett. Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate.

Creative collaborative thought and puzzle canons in renaissance music

2013

Other Outputs

Counterpoint

Collins, Denis (2013). Counterpoint.

Counterpoint

2013

Book

Histories and narratives of music analysis

Miloš Zatkalik, Milena Medić and Denis Collins eds. (2013). Histories and narratives of music analysis. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Histories and narratives of music analysis

2013

Book Chapter

Preface

Collins, Denis (2013). Preface. Music Theory and its Methods: Structures, Challenges, Directions . (pp. VII-VIII) edited by Collins, D.. Berlin, Germany: Peter Lang. doi: 10.3726/978-3-653-02906-2

Preface

2013

Book

Music theory and its methods: structures, challenges, directions

Denis Collins ed. (2013). Music theory and its methods: structures, challenges, directions. Methodology of Music Research: Methodologie der Musikforschung, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany: Peter Lang.

Music theory and its methods: structures, challenges, directions

2013

Book Chapter

Palestrina's Missa Sacerdotes Domini and analytical approaches to renaissance counterpoint

Collins, Denis (2013). Palestrina's Missa Sacerdotes Domini and analytical approaches to renaissance counterpoint. Histories and Narratives of Music Analysis. (pp. 120-134) edited by Miloš Zatkalik, Milena Medić and Denis Collins. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Palestrina's Missa Sacerdotes Domini and analytical approaches to renaissance counterpoint

2013

Book Chapter

John Bull's "Art of Canon" and plainsong-based counterpoint in the late renaissance

Collins, Denis (2013). John Bull's "Art of Canon" and plainsong-based counterpoint in the late renaissance. Music Theory and its Methods: Structures, Challenges, Directions. (pp. 99-127) edited by Denis Collins. Frankfurt Am Main, Germany: Peter Lang.

John Bull's "Art of Canon" and plainsong-based counterpoint in the late renaissance

2012

Journal Article

Musicianship in the 21st Century: Issues, Trends, and Possibilities

Collins, Denis (2012). Musicianship in the 21st Century: Issues, Trends, and Possibilities. Musicology Australia, 34 (2), 335-338. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2012.738056

Musicianship in the 21st Century: Issues, Trends, and Possibilities

2012

Journal Article

Fundamentals of Musical Performance [by] Zdenek Bruderhans

Collins, Denis (2012). Fundamentals of Musical Performance [by] Zdenek Bruderhans. Musicology Australia, 34 (2), 339-340. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2012.738057

Fundamentals of Musical Performance [by] Zdenek Bruderhans

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2025
    Sounding Symmetry
    Engaging Science Grants
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023
    Indigenising the musicology curriculum: Developing resources for teaching and learning in higher education
    Musicological Society of Australia Special Funding Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    The art and science of canon in the music of early 17th-century Rome
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2020
    Music keyboard and piano research equipment and infrastructure
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2018
    Canonic Techniques and Musical Change from c.1330 to c.1530
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2005
    The Canonic Compositions of G.P.da Palestrina and their Influence on Contrapuntal Compendia by Early Seventeenth-century Roman Composers
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2001
    Canon and related contrapuntal procedures in music from ca. 1400 to ca. 1800
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Denis Collins is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Master Philosophy

    Vibrato Use in Contemporary Performance of Paul Hindemith's Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25 No. 1

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Mr Patrick Murphy

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Shifting priorities in representations of female musicians in Renaissance art

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Andrea Bubenik

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Pictorial Title Pages of Musical Editions Produced under Thomas Morley's Printing Patent (1597-1602)

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Honorary Professor Samantha Owens

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Stylistic Continuation of Monophonic Byzantine Chant in Australia: Educational Possibilities for Greek-to-English Chant Adaptation in Greek Orthodox Communities

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Anne Levitsky

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Denis Collins directly for media enquiries about:

  • Baroque music
  • Canon - music
  • Contrapuntal procedures - renaissance and Baroque music
  • History of music theory
  • Music cognition
  • Music theory - history of
  • Renaissance music

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