François Cloete
DPhil in Music
Area of proposed thesis
François’ thesis explores relationships between musical modernism and political border-making in the interwar period. Schoenberg's pupil Egon Wellesz (1885-1974) was a leading composer who worked across Europe’s borders, and in 1938 fled Nazi Austria for Oxford. His stage works and programme music evoke real-world borders of imperial rule, political participation, and territorial belonging.
The thesis brings the new “global” modernist studies into dialogue with border studies. It draws on recent developments in music theory to analyse bordering processes in Wellesz’s compositions. It interprets Wellesz’s music in terms of the borderwork underlying modern societies. The thesis ultimately asks how studying modernism can advance a more humanistic understanding of borders and their ethical possibilities.
Research interests
Music theory and analysis, modernist studies, critical theory (especially Theodor Adorno), political philosophy, cultural geography, environmental humanities.
Subjects taught
Musical Analysis and Criticism, Foundations in the Study of Music, Musical Thought and Scholarship, Extended Essay, Dissertation, Topics (19th and 20th Century Music), Techniques of Composition, Keyboard Skills, Solo Performance (Organ)
Funding
Oxford-Leon E and Iris Beghian Graduate Scholarship
Degrees
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Merton College Oxford, 2025
Master of Music (MMus), King's College London, 2026