Charles McGuire

  • Professor of Musicology
  • Director, Division of Musicology

Areas of Study

Education

  • BA, Oberlin College, 1992
  • BM, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 1992 
  • MA, Harvard University, 1995 
  • PhD, Harvard University, 1998 

Biography

Charles Edward McGuire teaches the introduction to music history course all conservatory students take in their first semester at Oberlin, as well as courses on Romantic music history, Mozart, Beethoven, the symphony, and film music. In his classes, he strives to teach students how to use musicology to inform their interpretations of musical works, communicate with their peers and audiences about music, and build their own comprehensive knowledge of music history to aid their love of music.

His areas of scholarly interest include the music of Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, the British music festival, sight-singing techniques, and the intersection of choral singing and moral reform movements. His publications include the monographs Music and Victorian Philanthropy: The Tonic Sol-fa Movement (Cambridge University Press, 2009), Elgar’s Oratorios: The Creation of an Epic Narrative (Ashgate, 2002) and The Historical Dictionary of English Music (Scarecrow, 2011), which he co-authored with Oberlin colleague Prof. Steven Plank.

He has published essays in volumes such as Vaughan Williams Essays, The Cambridge Companion to Elgar, Elgar and His World, Elgar Studies, Chorus and Community and in journals including 19th-Century Music, The Elgar Society Journal, and Musical Quarterly. His publications for reference works include articles in Oxford Music Online, The New Catholic Encyclopedia, and Oxford Bibliographies Online.

He has presented papers at numerous international musicological conferences, and is a frequent invited speaker for panel discussions and pre-concert talks. Mr. McGuire holds a B.A. and a B.Mus. from both Oberlin College and the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and an A.M. and Ph.D. in music from Harvard University. He has taught in various capacities at Harvard University, Ball State University, the University of Maryland at College Park, and James Madison University. He returned to Oberlin in 2001.

Fulbright Scholar, 2012-13

Excellence in Teaching Award, Oberlin College, 2008

Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, 1994, 1995, 1996

Books:

  • A Historical Dictionary of English Music (coauthored with Steven Plank; Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2011)
  • Music and Victorian Philanthropy: The Tonic Sol-fa Movement (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
  • Elgar’s Oratorios (Aldershot: Ashgate Press, 2002)

Articles and Essays:

  • “‘An Englishman and a Democrat:’ The Large-Scale Choral Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams” (essay to be published in The Cambridge Companion to Vaughan Williams, edited by Aidan Thomson and Alain Frogley; Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2013)
  • “American Hymns, English Evangelism, and the Pastoral Temperance Cantata” (essay published in Musician Performance Culture in 19th Century Britian: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Temperley, edited by Bennett Zon; Ashgate Press, 2012, pp. 173-194)
  • “Christianity, Civilization, and Music: Nineteenth-Century British Missionaries and the Control of Malagasy Hymnology” (essay to be published in Music and Theology, edited by Martin V. Clarke; Ashgate Press, forthcoming in 2011).
  • “Edward Elgar: ‘Modern’ or ‘Modernist’? Construction of an Aesthetic Identity in the British Music Press, 1895-1934” (Musical Quarterly, vol. 91, no. 1-2 (Spring-Summer 2008), pp. 8-38)
  • “Elgar and Acworth’s Caractacus: The Druids, Race, and the Individual Hero” (in Elgar Studies, edited by Julian Rushton and Paul Harper-Scott; Cambridge University Press, 2007; pp. 50-77)
  • “Measure of a Man: Catechizing Elgar’s Catholic Avatars” (in Elgar and His World, edited by Byron Adams; Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 3-37)
  • "Music and Morality: John Curwen’s Tonic Sol-fa, the Temperance Movement, and the Oratorios of Edward Elgar” (paper published in Chorus and Community, edited by Karen Ahlquist; University of Illinois Press, 2006, pp. 111-138)
  • “Functional Music: Imperialism, the Great War, and Elgar as Popular Composer” (essay published in The Cambridge Companion to Elgar, edited by Julian Rushton and Daniel Grimley; Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 214-224; 240-242)
  • “From The Apostles to Sancta Civitas: Oratorios and Portraits by Elgar and Vaughan Williams” (essay published in A Special Flame: Proceedings of the International Conference on Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams (Albion Press, 2004, pp. 99-115; 168-175))
  • “Vaughan Williams and the English Music Festival, 1910” (paper published in Vaughan Williams Essays, edited by Byron Adams and Robin Wells; Ashgate Press, 2003, pp. 235-268)
  • “Elgar, Judas, and the Theology of Betrayal” (Nineteenth-Century Music, Vol. XXIII, no. 3 (Spring 2000, pp. 236-272)
  • “One Story, Two Visions: Textual Differences Between Elgar’s and Newman’s The Dream of Gerontius” (Elgar Society Journal, vol. 11, no. 2 (July, 1999), pp. 75-88; reprinted in The Best of Me: a Gerontius Centenary Companion, edited by Geoffrey Hodgkins; Rickmansworth: Elgar Editions, 1999, pp. 84-101)

Reference Sources:

  • Website bibliography: “Sir Edward Elgar.” In Oxford Bibliographies Online: Music (edited by Bruce Gustafson; Oxford University Press: July, 2011): http://www.oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/view/document/obo- 9780199757824/obo-9780199757824-0070.xml.
  • Encyclopedia Article: “Elgar, Sir Edward.” In The New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2011 Supplement. Detroit: Cengage, 2011.
  • Encyclopedia Article: “Johnson, John.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (revised edition; 2001)

Fall 2024

Introduction to the History and Literature of Music — MUSY 101
Musical Studies Honors I — CMUS 400

Spring 2025

Introduction to the History and Literature of Music — MUSY 101
Music of the Romantic Era — MUSY 255
Musical Studies Honors II — CMUS 401

Notes

Charles McGuire Hosts North American British Music Studies Association Conference at Oberlin

August 6, 2024

Professor of Musicology Charles McGuire hosted the 11th biennial conference of the North American British Music Studies Association, held at Oberlin July 25-28. McGuire convened a panel on changes in the field of British musical studies over the last decade and was one of five attendees honored as a founding member and given an honorary lifetime membership.

Charles McGuire Presents Paper

August 6, 2020

Professor of Musicology Charles McGuire presented the paper, "Patti vs. Butt on the British Stage, or the Legacy of an Operatic Star versus a Festival Star” at the biennial conference of the North American British Music Studies Association.

News

Semester Ends with a Packed Performance Calendar

December 8, 2023

Oberlin Conservatory’s student and faculty performers have been filling most concert venues throughout the campus over the last week. During these final five bustling days before students head into reading period and then exams, this explosion of activity feels something akin to the thrilling finale of a fireworks display on New Year's Eve. So, join in—even from a distance. All of these concerts are free and open to the public, and all but one of them can be streamed live at concert time at oberlin.edu/livestream .

Writing to Be Read

June 8, 2020

An Oberlin collaboration with a Cleveland nonprofit helps students explore long-form writing—and expand their audience.

Beauty Amid the Brutality

August 31, 2018

Cross-campus collaboration celebrates artistic master works and hidden gems made in the shadow of WWI.