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)

41 - 60 of 66 works

2010

Conference Publication

Henry Purcell's Three Parts Upon a Ground and the traditions of English counterpoint

Collins, Denis (2010). Henry Purcell's Three Parts Upon a Ground and the traditions of English counterpoint. Seventh International Conference on Music Theory and Analysis, Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, May 15-17 2009. Belgrade, Serbia: University of Arts, Belgrade.

Henry Purcell's Three Parts Upon a Ground and the traditions of English counterpoint

2009

Journal Article

William Bathe's tabular method and late Renaissance theories of Canon composition

Collins, Denis B. (2009). William Bathe's tabular method and late Renaissance theories of Canon composition. Music Theory and Analysis, 1, 87-95.

William Bathe's tabular method and late Renaissance theories of Canon composition

2008

Journal Article

William Byrd's motets and canonic writing in England

Collins, Denis (2008). William Byrd's motets and canonic writing in England. Context: Journal of Music Research, 1 (33), 45-65.

William Byrd's motets and canonic writing in England

2008

Journal Article

"So you want to write a canon?" An historically-informed new approach for the modern theory class

Collins, Denis (2008). "So you want to write a canon?" An historically-informed new approach for the modern theory class. College Music Symposium, 48, 108-123. doi: 10.2307/25664812

"So you want to write a canon?" An historically-informed new approach for the modern theory class

2007

Journal Article

From Bull to Bach: In search of precedents for the "Complete" version of the Canon by augmentation and contrary motion in J.S. Bach's Musical Offering

Collins, Denis B. (2007). From Bull to Bach: In search of precedents for the "Complete" version of the Canon by augmentation and contrary motion in J.S. Bach's Musical Offering. BACH: The Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, 38 (2), 39-63.

From Bull to Bach: In search of precedents for the "Complete" version of the Canon by augmentation and contrary motion in J.S. Bach's Musical Offering

2007

Conference Publication

'Sufficient to quench the thirst of the most insaciate scholler whatsoeuer': George Waterhouse's 1,163 canons on the plainsong Miserere

Collins, D. (2007). 'Sufficient to quench the thirst of the most insaciate scholler whatsoeuer': George Waterhouse's 1,163 canons on the plainsong Miserere. Canons and Canonic Techniques, 14th-16th Centuries, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, 4-6 October, 2005. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.

'Sufficient to quench the thirst of the most insaciate scholler whatsoeuer': George Waterhouse's 1,163 canons on the plainsong Miserere

2007

Book

A briefe and short instruction of the art of musicke by Elway Bevin

Collins, Denis B. and Bevin, Elway (2007). A briefe and short instruction of the art of musicke by Elway Bevin. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate.

A briefe and short instruction of the art of musicke by Elway Bevin

2005

Journal Article

The art of fugue: Bach fugues for keyboard, 1715-1750

Collins, Denis (2005). The art of fugue: Bach fugues for keyboard, 1715-1750. Musicology Australia, 28 (1), 143-146. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2005.10415287

The art of fugue: Bach fugues for keyboard, 1715-1750

2004

Conference Publication

Compositional strategies in sixteenth-century three- and four-part canons

Collins, Denis (2004). Compositional strategies in sixteenth-century three- and four-part canons. International Congress of the Musicological Society of Japan (IMJ 2002): Musicology and Globalisation, Shizuoka, Japan, 2-5 November 2002. Tokyo, Japan: Musicological Society of Japan.

Compositional strategies in sixteenth-century three- and four-part canons

2004

Journal Article

Review of Peter Williams, Bach: The Goldberg Variations

Collins, D. B. (2004). Review of Peter Williams, Bach: The Goldberg Variations. Eighteenth-Century Music, 1 (2), 318-319.

Review of Peter Williams, Bach: The Goldberg Variations

2004

Book Chapter

Approaches to invertible canonic composition in late sixteenth-century theory and practice.

Collins, D. B. (2004). Approaches to invertible canonic composition in late sixteenth-century theory and practice.. Music Research: New Directions for a New Century. (pp. 368-375) edited by M. Ewans, R. Halton and J. Phillips. London: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Approaches to invertible canonic composition in late sixteenth-century theory and practice.

2003

Journal Article

The transmission of Zarlino's canonic theory in seventeenth-century organ chorale settings

Collins, Denis (2003). The transmission of Zarlino's canonic theory in seventeenth-century organ chorale settings. Musicology Australia, 26 (1), 38-64. doi: 10.1080/08145857.2003.10416508

The transmission of Zarlino's canonic theory in seventeenth-century organ chorale settings

2003

Book Chapter

The vocal canons of Fernando Sor

Collins, D. B. (2003). The vocal canons of Fernando Sor. Estudios Sobre Fernando Sor/Sor Studies. (pp. 305-312) edited by Luis Gasser. Madrid, Spain: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales.

The vocal canons of Fernando Sor

2002

Journal Article

Bach's occasional canon BWV 1073 and 'stacked' canonic procedure in the eighteenth century

Collins, Denis (2002). Bach's occasional canon BWV 1073 and 'stacked' canonic procedure in the eighteenth century. BACH: The Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, 33 (2), 15-34.

Bach's occasional canon BWV 1073 and 'stacked' canonic procedure in the eighteenth century

2002

Conference Publication

Metric space as a cognitive-structural model of musical pitch

Collins, D. B. and Pavlovic, B. (2002). Metric space as a cognitive-structural model of musical pitch. 7th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, Sydney, 17-21 July 2002. Adelaide: Causal Productions.

Metric space as a cognitive-structural model of musical pitch

2001

Journal Article

An Unusual Effect in the Canon Per Tonos from J. S. Bach's Musical Offering

Collins, Denis and Schloss, W. Andrew (2001). An Unusual Effect in the Canon Per Tonos from J. S. Bach's Musical Offering. Music Perception, 19 (2), 141-154. doi: 10.1525/mp.2001.19.2.141

An Unusual Effect in the Canon Per Tonos from J. S. Bach's Musical Offering

1999

Journal Article

Voice leading in cantus firmus-based composition: a comparison between theory and practice in Renaissance and Baroque music using computer-assisted inferential measures

Collins, Denis and Huron, David (1999). Voice leading in cantus firmus-based composition: a comparison between theory and practice in Renaissance and Baroque music using computer-assisted inferential measures. Computers in Music Research, 6 (Spring), 53-95.

Voice leading in cantus firmus-based composition: a comparison between theory and practice in Renaissance and Baroque music using computer-assisted inferential measures

1999

Journal Article

Bach and approaches to canonic composition in early eighteenth-century theoretical and chamber music sources

Collins, Denis (1999). Bach and approaches to canonic composition in early eighteenth-century theoretical and chamber music sources. BACH: The Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, 30 (2), 27-48.

Bach and approaches to canonic composition in early eighteenth-century theoretical and chamber music sources

1996

Journal Article

Spiegel-Kontrapunkt in Theorie und Praxis: Vorlaufer fur Contrapunctus 12 und 13 aus Bachs Kunst der Fuge

Collins, Denis (1996). Spiegel-Kontrapunkt in Theorie und Praxis: Vorlaufer fur Contrapunctus 12 und 13 aus Bachs Kunst der Fuge. Bach-Jahrbuch, 82, 77-92.

Spiegel-Kontrapunkt in Theorie und Praxis: Vorlaufer fur Contrapunctus 12 und 13 aus Bachs Kunst der Fuge

1995

Journal Article

Musical terminology in the canonic works of Bach: an historical context

Collins, Denis (1995). Musical terminology in the canonic works of Bach: an historical context. BACH: The Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, 26 (1/2), 91-101.

Musical terminology in the canonic works of Bach: an historical context

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

  • 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

    Shifting priorities in representations of female musicians in Renaissance art

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Andrea Bubenik

  • 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

    Rhetoric and Symbolism in Late Elizabethan Music

    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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