Glixon, Jonathan 1952–

(Jonathan Emmanuel Glixon)

PERSONAL:

Born February 10, 1952. Education: Brandeis University, B.A., 1973; Princeton University, M.A., 1975, Ph.D., 1979.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University of Kentucky, School of Music, 105 Fine Arts Bldg., Lexington, KY 40506-0022. E-mail—jonathan.glixon@uky.edu.

CAREER:

Academic and musicologist. University of Kentucky, Lexington, started in 1983, became professor of musicology, university research professor, 2008-09. Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1997-98, 2004-05.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Recipient of numerous research grants from Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, and American Philosophical Society.

WRITINGS:

Honoring God and the City: Music at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260-1807, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Beth L. Glixon) Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jonathan Glixon is an academic and musicologist whose research interests include sacred music and seventeenth-century opera from Venice, Renaissance and baroque music in general, performance practices in earlier classical music forms, and archival studies.

Glixon published his first book, Honoring God and the City: Music at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260-1807, in 2003. The author looks into the institutions collectively known as the Scuole Grandi of Venice to examine the music culture from the perspective of the lay religious institutions, in contrast to the majority of studies that focus exclusively on music associated with the cathedrals and the nobility. Glixon shows how this overlooked area of scholarship uncovers quite a lively realm nurturing the music cultures of Venice.

Andrew Shenton, writing in Church History, remarked that "Glixon builds on the foundation of several previous books on the subject," listing books by Brian Pul- lan and Edward Muir. Shenton also noted that "a large amount of his archival work … is presented for the benefit of future scholars; however, he also contributes several interesting analyses of his material. This study contributes significantly to our understanding not only of the cultural and religious context of these confraternities, but also of the enduring and pervasive lay leadership in a major European city during a period when institutional religious life waxed and waned." Margaret Bent, reviewing the book in the Journal of Ecclesiastical History, described the book as "a masterly extension" based on Glixon's doctoral thesis, "Music at the Venetian ‘Scuole Grandi,’ 1440-1540." Bent summarized that "the richness of their silenced musical culture can only be reconstructed with effort, but this book succeeds in that reconstruction as well as the documentation permits: a fine achievement."

With Beth L. Glixon, he published his second book, Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice, in 2005. The research-oriented book covers the business aspect of opera companies, highlighting opera's early commercial moments and the figures associated with its promotion and successes in seventeenth-century Venice.

Sandy Thorburn, reviewing the book in Notes, explained that "despite the fact that the book sometimes takes individual aspects of Ellen Rosand's book to task, it is in many ways the sequel to her monumental work. It is exceptionally well-written, although it suffers from several typos and a strange typesetting." Thorburn concluded that "it is highly readable and its scholarship is without any significant errors. It has filled in a great many details, making this period in the history of music much more alive, adding greatly to the literature. Although the authors chose not to enter into aesthetic speculation by studying the scores and librettos for their social, aesthetic, and historical value …, it is an excellent book aimed at the expert on seventeenth-century Venetian opera." "Given the quantity of information and the meticulous documentation provided by the authors," Andrew Dell'Antonio remarked in an article in Renaissance Quarterly, the reviewer "was most grateful for the use of footnotes rather than endnotes." Dell'Antonio stated that Inventing the Business of Opera is "not a page-turner to be devoured at one sitting, but rather a reference book of sorts," appending that the authors "have provided a substantial contribution to expert knowledge about seventeenth-century Venetian opera, and this monumental archival study should change our thinking and teaching about the early decades of dramma per musica."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, April 1, 2004, Ann E. Moyer, review of Honoring God and the City: Music at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260-1807, p. 639.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, November 1, 2003, D. Heuchemer, review of Honoring God and the City, p. 551.

Church History, September 1, 2005, Andrew Shenton, review of Honoring God and the City, p. 607.

Journal of Ecclesiastical History, January 1, 2006, Margaret Bent, review of Honoring God and the City, p. 137.

Journal of Musicological Research, April 1, 2004, Jeffrey Kurtzman, review of Honoring God and the City.

Notes, March 1, 2007, Sandy Thorburn, review of Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice, p. 600.

Opera, October 1, 2006, Richard Law, review of Inventing the Business of Opera, p. 1263.

Renaissance Quarterly, December 22, 2006, Andrew Dell'Antonio, review of Inventing the Business of Opera, p. 1204.

Theatre Research International, October 1, 2007, Clemens Risi, review of Inventing the Business of Opera, p. 336.

Theatre Survey, May 1, 2007, Mark Ringer, review of Inventing the Business of Opera, p. 192.

ONLINE

University of Kentucky, School of Music Web site,http://www.uky.edu/FineArts/Music/ (June 16, 2008), author profile.