Professor John Butt

  • Honorary Professorial Research Fellow (School of Culture & Creative Arts)

email: John.Butt@glasgow.ac.uk

R306 Level 3, Music, 14 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QH

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220

Biography

I arrived in Glasgow in 2001 to take up the post of Gardiner Professor in Music, having previously taught at the University of Cambridge, UC Berkeley and the University of Aberdeen. I have always been a performer and musicologist, and the two areas sometimes complement one another directly, but sometimes they go in quite different directions. As a musician, I am an organist and harpsichordist but am now most active as a conductor in both orchestral and choral fields (I am musical director of Edinburgh’s Dunedin Consort, but also work with larger orchestras such as the Hallé orchestra, BBC Symphony orchestras in London and Wales, Rotterdam Philharmonic etc.). As a musicologist, my career began in Bach studies and historical performance practice, but my work has spread in several directions, such as early modern music, modernity, music and film and ideologies of classical music.

I have published five monographs with Cambridge University Press (on Bach, early modern music education, modernity, and the culture of historical performance), and many associated journal and book articles. As a performer I have recorded some 25 CDs, including 14 with Dunedin Consort (covering Bach’s major choral works, Handel oratorios, and works by Mozart and Monteverdi).

Research interests

Much of my performance work has related to performing works in their original contexts (e.g. liturgical and coffeehouse performance), or recreating elements of the earliest performances. I am also very interested in listening and audience practices, and endeavour to integrate these issues into some live and recorded performances. The performance research also crosses over with other aspects of my academic work, such as the cultures of classical music and the ideology of musical works within modernity (and the relationship between such cultures and religion). I am currently working on music and film, particularly the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock used music as a way of conceiving of films, specifically in the relationships between ‘absolute music’ and ‘pure cinema’.

Publications

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Number of items: 80.

2024

Marshall, Edward, Stuart-Smith, Jane ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7400-9436, Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Dean, Timothy (2024) Variation and change over time in Standard British Choral Accent (1925-2019). Laboratory Phonology, 15(1), pp. 1-39. (doi: 10.16995/labphon.10125)

2022

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2022) Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque: Treatises, Scores, and the Performance of Organ Music, by Julia Dokter. Music and Letters, 103(2), pp. 350-353. (doi: 10.1093/ml/gcac027)[Book Review]

2020

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2020) Bach and the dance of humankind. In: Caddy, Davinia and Clark, Maribeth (eds.) Musicology and Dance: Historical and Critical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press: New York, pp. 19-48. ISBN 9781108476188 (doi: 10.1017/9781108567947.002)

2019

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2019) The malleable meanings of music. In: Hawkey, James, Quash, Ben and White, Vernon (eds.) God’s Song and Music’s Meanings: Theology, Liturgy, and Musicology in Dialogue. Routledge: London, pp. 127-139. ISBN 9781472478641

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2019) Handel: Samson. John Butt (conductor), Dunedin Consort, Tiffin Boys Choir, various soloists. [Audio]

2018

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2018) Monteverdi, the 1610 Vespers and the beginnings of the modern musical work. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 143(1), pp. 21-50. (doi: 10.1080/02690403.2018.1434328)

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2018) Handel: Ode for St Cecilia’s Day; Concerto in A minor, Op 6/4. John Butt (conductor), Dunedin Consort, Polish Radio Choir, Carolyn Sampson and Ian Bostridge. [Audio]

2017

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2017) Should there be a twenty-first century ‘Complete Kapellmeister’? The skills, content and purposes of a university music degree. In: Heile, Björn, Moreda Rodriguez, Eva and Stanley, Jane (eds.) Higher Education in Music in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 11-29. ISBN 9781472467324

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2017) Claudio Monteverdi - Vespers 1610. John Butt (Director) with Dunedin Consort and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. [Audio]

2016

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Chorale Prelude for organ on ‘Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit’ (Orgelbüchlein completion project). [Compositions]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Johann Sebastian Bach - Christmas Oratorio, with Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Johann Sebastian Bach – Complete Violin Concertos, with Cecilia Bernardini and Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

2015

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach - Complete Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach – Magnificat and Christma Cantata 63 (reconstruction of Bach’s first Christmas at Leipzig) with Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) What is a ‘musical work’? Reflections on the origins of the ‘work concept’ in western art music. In: Rahmatian, Andreas (ed.) Concepts of Music and Copyright: How Music Perceives Itself and How Copyright Perceives Music. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, pp. 1-22. ISBN 9781783478187

2014

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) The Musician in Literature in the Age of Bach. By Stephen Rose. Music and Letters, 95(1), pp. 94-96. (doi: 10.1093/ml/gcu004)[Book Review]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) The chapel organ: a harmonious anachronism? In: Massing, J.M. and Zeeman, N. (eds.) King’s College Chapel 1515-2015: Art, Music and Religion in Cambridge. Series: Studies in medieval and early Renaissance art history (75). Harvey Miller Publishers: London. ISBN 9781909400214

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) Johann Sebastian Bach: Das wohltemperierte Klavier. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (Reconstruction of first performance). [Audio]

2013

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) John Passion - Johann Sebastian Bach - Reconstruction of Bach's Passion Liturgy. [Audio]

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) Organs and universities: a universal association? In: The Organ in the Academ: Essays in Celebration of the Installation of the Charles B. Fisk and Peter J. Gomes Memorial Organ C.B. Fisk, Inc. Opus 139. Harvard University Department of Music: Cambridge, Mass, pp. 1-10.

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Brandenburg Concertos. [Audio]

2012

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2012) Handel: Esther, first reconstructable version (Cannons, 1720). [Audio]

2011

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2011) George Friedrick Handel and the Messiah. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible. Series: Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, pp. 294-306. ISBN 9780199204540

2010

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Emotion in the German Lutheran Baroque and the development of subjective time consciousness. Music Analysis, 29(1-3), pp. 19-36. (doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2249.2011.00325.x)

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Do musical works contain an implied listener? Towards a theory of musical listening. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 135(S1), pp. 5-18. (doi: 10.1080/02690400903414780)

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Bach's Dialogue with Modernity: Perspectives on the Passions. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9780521883566

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Bach, J.S. (Composer) (2010) Mass in B Minor. [Audio]

2009

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Bach, Johann Sebastian. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 80-81. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 81. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Chorale. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 145. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Chorus. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 145-147. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Counterpoint. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 170-172. ISBN 9780521881920

2008

Butt, J. (2008) Classical music and the subject of modernity. Proceedings of the British Academy, 154, pp. 425-448. (doi: 10.5871/bacad/9780197264355.003.0016)

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Bach, J.S. (Composer) (2008) Matthew Passion BWV 244 : Bach's last performing version, c. 1742. [Audio]

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Handel, G.F. (Composer) (2008) Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a : Original Cannons Performing Version (1718). [Audio]

Butt, J. (2008) Bach's passions and the textures of time. In: Gallagher, S. and Forrest Kelly, T. (eds.) The century of Bach and Mozart : perspectives on historiography, composition, theory, and performance. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass. ; London, pp. 111-120. ISBN 0964031736

Butt, J. (2008) Canonische Veränderungen. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 949-962.

Butt, J. (2008) Choralpartiten. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 494-510.

Butt, J. (2008) Clavier Übung III. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 906-929.

Butt, J. (2008) Schübler-Choräle. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 996-1107.

2007

Butt, J. (p.) et al. (2007) Requiem; Pavanne. [Audio]

2006

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Handel, G.F. (Composer) (2006) Messiah (Dublin, 1742). [Audio]

Butt, J. (2006) Historical instruments and the embodiment of music. In: Latcham, M. (ed.) Music of the past, instruments and imagination : proceedings of the harmoniques International Congress, Lausanne 2004. Peter Lang: Bern, Oxford, pp. 9-16. ISBN 0820483702

Butt, J. (2006) The Postmodern mindset, musicology and the future of Bach scholarship. Understanding Bach, 1, pp. 9-18.

2005

Carter, T. and Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Eds.) (2005) The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521792738

Butt, J. (2005) The 17th century musical work. In: Carter, T. and Butt, J. (eds.) The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 27-54. ISBN 0521792738

Butt, J. (2005) Figuring out Bach. In: Munro, G.J and Elliott, K. (eds.) Notis musycall : essays on music and Scottish culture in honour of Kenneth Elliott. Musica Scotica Trust: Glasgow, pp. 211-219. ISBN 095488650X

2004

Butt, J. (2004) Bach e Händel: differenze entro una comune cultural dell'invenzione musicale. In: Nattiez, J.J. (ed.) Enciclopedia della musica. Vol. 4 Storia della musica europea. G. Einaudi: Torino, pp. 528-551. ISBN 880615852X

Butt, J. (2004) Bach in 2000. In: Bach studies from Dublin : selected papers presented at the ninth biennial conference on Baroque music, Dublin, 12th to 16th July 2000, pp. 191-204.

Butt, J. (2004) Germany and the Netherlands. In: Silbiger, A. (ed.) Keyboard music before 1700 2nd edition. Series: Studies in musical genres and repertories. Routledge: New York, pp. 147-234. ISBN 0415968917

Butt, J. (2004) Roman Catholicism and being musically English: Elgar's church and organ music. In: Grimley, D.M. and Rushton, J. (eds.) The Cambridge companion to Elgar. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 106-119. ISBN 0521826233

Kitchen, J. (p.) et al. (2004) Organs in Glasgow. [Audio]

2003

Butt, J. (2003) Preface. In: Geck, M. and Bell, A. (translator) (eds.) Bach. Haus Publishing: London, vii-xii. ISBN 1904341357

Butt, J. (2003) Towards a genealogy of the keyboard concerto. In: Hogwood, C. (ed.) The keyboard in Baroque Europe. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 93-110. ISBN 0521810558

2002

Butt, J. (2002) Choral culture and the regeneration of the organ. In: Samson, J. (ed.) The Cambridge history of nineteenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 522-543. ISBN 0521590175

Butt, J. (2002) Choral music. In: Samson, J. (ed.) The Cambridge history of nineteenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 213-236. ISBN 0521590175

Butt, J. (2002) Historische Auffuerungspraxis und postmoderne Befindlichkeit. Basler Jahrbuch fur Historische Musikpraxis, 26, pp. 11-16.

Butt, J. (2002) Playing with history: the historical approach to musical performance. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521813522

2000

Butt, J. (2000) Performance on paper: rewriting the stories of notational progress. In: Franko, M. and Richards, A. (eds.) Acting on the past : historical performance across the disciplines. University Press of New England: London, pp. 137-155. ISBN 0819563943

1999

Boyd, M. and Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Eds.) (1999) J.S. Bach. Series: Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 0198662084

Butt, J. (1999) Bach recordings since 1980: a mirror of historical performance. In: Schulenberg, D. (ed.) Bach Perspectives. University of Nebraska Press: London, pp. 181-198. ISBN 0803210515

1998

Butt, J. (1998) Bach's vocal scoring: what can it mean? Early Music, 26(1), pp. 99-108.

1997

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Ed.) (1997) The Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1997) Bach's metaphysics of music. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 46-59. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1997) Germany - education and apprenticeship. In: Burrows, D. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Handel. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 11-23. ISBN 0521454255

Butt, J. (1997) Introduction. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 1-6. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1997) "A mind unconscious that it is calculating?" Bach's creative character and the rationalist philosophy of Wolff, Leibniz and Spinoza. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 60-71. ISBN 052145350X

1996

Butt, J. (1996) Acting up a text: the scholarship of performance and the performance of scholarship. Early Music, 24(2), pp. 323-332.

1995

Butt, J. (1995) Germany and the Netherlands. In: Silbiger, A. (ed.) Keyboard music before 1700. Series: Studies in musical genres and repertories. Prentice Hall International: London, pp. 147-234. ISBN 0028723910

Butt, J. (1995) J.S. Bach and G.F. Kauffmann: reflections on Bach's later style. In: Melamed, D.R. (ed.) Bach Studies. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 47-61. ISBN 0521470676

Butt, J. (1995) Purcell's organ music: a tercentenary tribute. RCO Journal, 3, pp. 51-69.

1994

Butt, J. (1994) Music education and the art of performance in the German Baroque. Cambridge University Press,: Cambridge. ISBN 0521433274

1992

Butt, J. (Performer) and Cabanilles, J. (Composer) (1992) Obras de organo. [Audio]

1991

Butt, J. (1991) Bach: Mass in B Minor. Cambridge University Press,: Cambridge. ISBN 0521382807

Butt, J. (1991) Bach's Mass in B Minor: considerations of its early performance and use. Journal of Musicology, 9(1), pp. 109-123.

Butt, J. (1991) Improvised vocal ornamentation and German baroque compositional theory - an approach to 'historical' performance practice. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 116(1), pp. 41-62. (doi: 10.1093/jrma/116.1.41)

1990

Butt, J. (1990) Bach interpretation: articulation marks in primary sources of J.S. Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521372399

1988

Butt, J. (1988) Bach's organ sonatas BWV 525-530 - compilation and recomposition. Organ Yearbook, 19, pp. 80-90.

1985

Butt, J. and le Huray, P. (1985) In search of Bach the organist. In: Williams, P.F. (ed.) Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: tercentenary essays. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 185-206. ISBN 0521252172

This list was generated on Fri Jul 11 13:13:01 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Book Reviews | Edited Books | Conference Proceedings | Compositions | Audio
Number of items: 80.

Articles

Marshall, Edward, Stuart-Smith, Jane ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7400-9436, Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Dean, Timothy (2024) Variation and change over time in Standard British Choral Accent (1925-2019). Laboratory Phonology, 15(1), pp. 1-39. (doi: 10.16995/labphon.10125)

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2018) Monteverdi, the 1610 Vespers and the beginnings of the modern musical work. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 143(1), pp. 21-50. (doi: 10.1080/02690403.2018.1434328)

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Emotion in the German Lutheran Baroque and the development of subjective time consciousness. Music Analysis, 29(1-3), pp. 19-36. (doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2249.2011.00325.x)

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Do musical works contain an implied listener? Towards a theory of musical listening. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 135(S1), pp. 5-18. (doi: 10.1080/02690400903414780)

Butt, J. (2008) Classical music and the subject of modernity. Proceedings of the British Academy, 154, pp. 425-448. (doi: 10.5871/bacad/9780197264355.003.0016)

Butt, J. (2006) The Postmodern mindset, musicology and the future of Bach scholarship. Understanding Bach, 1, pp. 9-18.

Butt, J. (2002) Historische Auffuerungspraxis und postmoderne Befindlichkeit. Basler Jahrbuch fur Historische Musikpraxis, 26, pp. 11-16.

Butt, J. (1998) Bach's vocal scoring: what can it mean? Early Music, 26(1), pp. 99-108.

Butt, J. (1996) Acting up a text: the scholarship of performance and the performance of scholarship. Early Music, 24(2), pp. 323-332.

Butt, J. (1995) Purcell's organ music: a tercentenary tribute. RCO Journal, 3, pp. 51-69.

Butt, J. (1991) Bach's Mass in B Minor: considerations of its early performance and use. Journal of Musicology, 9(1), pp. 109-123.

Butt, J. (1991) Improvised vocal ornamentation and German baroque compositional theory - an approach to 'historical' performance practice. Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 116(1), pp. 41-62. (doi: 10.1093/jrma/116.1.41)

Butt, J. (1988) Bach's organ sonatas BWV 525-530 - compilation and recomposition. Organ Yearbook, 19, pp. 80-90.

Books

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2010) Bach's Dialogue with Modernity: Perspectives on the Passions. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9780521883566

Butt, J. (2002) Playing with history: the historical approach to musical performance. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521813522

Butt, J. (1994) Music education and the art of performance in the German Baroque. Cambridge University Press,: Cambridge. ISBN 0521433274

Butt, J. (1991) Bach: Mass in B Minor. Cambridge University Press,: Cambridge. ISBN 0521382807

Butt, J. (1990) Bach interpretation: articulation marks in primary sources of J.S. Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521372399

Book Sections

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2020) Bach and the dance of humankind. In: Caddy, Davinia and Clark, Maribeth (eds.) Musicology and Dance: Historical and Critical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press: New York, pp. 19-48. ISBN 9781108476188 (doi: 10.1017/9781108567947.002)

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2019) The malleable meanings of music. In: Hawkey, James, Quash, Ben and White, Vernon (eds.) God’s Song and Music’s Meanings: Theology, Liturgy, and Musicology in Dialogue. Routledge: London, pp. 127-139. ISBN 9781472478641

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2017) Should there be a twenty-first century ‘Complete Kapellmeister’? The skills, content and purposes of a university music degree. In: Heile, Björn, Moreda Rodriguez, Eva and Stanley, Jane (eds.) Higher Education in Music in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 11-29. ISBN 9781472467324

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) What is a ‘musical work’? Reflections on the origins of the ‘work concept’ in western art music. In: Rahmatian, Andreas (ed.) Concepts of Music and Copyright: How Music Perceives Itself and How Copyright Perceives Music. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, pp. 1-22. ISBN 9781783478187

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) The chapel organ: a harmonious anachronism? In: Massing, J.M. and Zeeman, N. (eds.) King’s College Chapel 1515-2015: Art, Music and Religion in Cambridge. Series: Studies in medieval and early Renaissance art history (75). Harvey Miller Publishers: London. ISBN 9781909400214

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) Organs and universities: a universal association? In: The Organ in the Academ: Essays in Celebration of the Installation of the Charles B. Fisk and Peter J. Gomes Memorial Organ C.B. Fisk, Inc. Opus 139. Harvard University Department of Music: Cambridge, Mass, pp. 1-10.

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2011) George Friedrick Handel and the Messiah. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible. Series: Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, pp. 294-306. ISBN 9780199204540

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Bach, Johann Sebastian. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 80-81. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 81. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Chorale. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 145. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Chorus. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 145-147. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2009) Counterpoint. In: Landgraf, A. and Vickers, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press, pp. 170-172. ISBN 9780521881920

Butt, J. (2008) Bach's passions and the textures of time. In: Gallagher, S. and Forrest Kelly, T. (eds.) The century of Bach and Mozart : perspectives on historiography, composition, theory, and performance. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Mass. ; London, pp. 111-120. ISBN 0964031736

Butt, J. (2008) Canonische Veränderungen. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 949-962.

Butt, J. (2008) Choralpartiten. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 494-510.

Butt, J. (2008) Clavier Übung III. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 906-929.

Butt, J. (2008) Schübler-Choräle. In: Rampe, S. (ed.) Bachs Klavier- und Orgelwerke : das Handbuch. Laaber Verlag: Laaber, pp. 996-1107.

Butt, J. (2006) Historical instruments and the embodiment of music. In: Latcham, M. (ed.) Music of the past, instruments and imagination : proceedings of the harmoniques International Congress, Lausanne 2004. Peter Lang: Bern, Oxford, pp. 9-16. ISBN 0820483702

Butt, J. (2005) The 17th century musical work. In: Carter, T. and Butt, J. (eds.) The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 27-54. ISBN 0521792738

Butt, J. (2005) Figuring out Bach. In: Munro, G.J and Elliott, K. (eds.) Notis musycall : essays on music and Scottish culture in honour of Kenneth Elliott. Musica Scotica Trust: Glasgow, pp. 211-219. ISBN 095488650X

Butt, J. (2004) Bach e Händel: differenze entro una comune cultural dell'invenzione musicale. In: Nattiez, J.J. (ed.) Enciclopedia della musica. Vol. 4 Storia della musica europea. G. Einaudi: Torino, pp. 528-551. ISBN 880615852X

Butt, J. (2004) Germany and the Netherlands. In: Silbiger, A. (ed.) Keyboard music before 1700 2nd edition. Series: Studies in musical genres and repertories. Routledge: New York, pp. 147-234. ISBN 0415968917

Butt, J. (2004) Roman Catholicism and being musically English: Elgar's church and organ music. In: Grimley, D.M. and Rushton, J. (eds.) The Cambridge companion to Elgar. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 106-119. ISBN 0521826233

Butt, J. (2003) Preface. In: Geck, M. and Bell, A. (translator) (eds.) Bach. Haus Publishing: London, vii-xii. ISBN 1904341357

Butt, J. (2003) Towards a genealogy of the keyboard concerto. In: Hogwood, C. (ed.) The keyboard in Baroque Europe. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 93-110. ISBN 0521810558

Butt, J. (2002) Choral culture and the regeneration of the organ. In: Samson, J. (ed.) The Cambridge history of nineteenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 522-543. ISBN 0521590175

Butt, J. (2002) Choral music. In: Samson, J. (ed.) The Cambridge history of nineteenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 213-236. ISBN 0521590175

Butt, J. (2000) Performance on paper: rewriting the stories of notational progress. In: Franko, M. and Richards, A. (eds.) Acting on the past : historical performance across the disciplines. University Press of New England: London, pp. 137-155. ISBN 0819563943

Butt, J. (1999) Bach recordings since 1980: a mirror of historical performance. In: Schulenberg, D. (ed.) Bach Perspectives. University of Nebraska Press: London, pp. 181-198. ISBN 0803210515

Butt, J. (1997) Bach's metaphysics of music. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 46-59. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1997) Germany - education and apprenticeship. In: Burrows, D. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Handel. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 11-23. ISBN 0521454255

Butt, J. (1997) Introduction. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 1-6. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1997) "A mind unconscious that it is calculating?" Bach's creative character and the rationalist philosophy of Wolff, Leibniz and Spinoza. In: Butt, J. (ed.) Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 60-71. ISBN 052145350X

Butt, J. (1995) Germany and the Netherlands. In: Silbiger, A. (ed.) Keyboard music before 1700. Series: Studies in musical genres and repertories. Prentice Hall International: London, pp. 147-234. ISBN 0028723910

Butt, J. (1995) J.S. Bach and G.F. Kauffmann: reflections on Bach's later style. In: Melamed, D.R. (ed.) Bach Studies. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 47-61. ISBN 0521470676

Butt, J. and le Huray, P. (1985) In search of Bach the organist. In: Williams, P.F. (ed.) Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: tercentenary essays. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 185-206. ISBN 0521252172

Book Reviews

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2022) Tempo and Tactus in the German Baroque: Treatises, Scores, and the Performance of Organ Music, by Julia Dokter. Music and Letters, 103(2), pp. 350-353. (doi: 10.1093/ml/gcac027)[Book Review]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) The Musician in Literature in the Age of Bach. By Stephen Rose. Music and Letters, 95(1), pp. 94-96. (doi: 10.1093/ml/gcu004)[Book Review]

Edited Books

Carter, T. and Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Eds.) (2005) The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century music. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0521792738

Boyd, M. and Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Eds.) (1999) J.S. Bach. Series: Oxford Composer Companions. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 0198662084

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (Ed.) (1997) The Cambridge companion to Bach. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 052145350X

Conference Proceedings

Butt, J. (2004) Bach in 2000. In: Bach studies from Dublin : selected papers presented at the ninth biennial conference on Baroque music, Dublin, 12th to 16th July 2000, pp. 191-204.

Compositions

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Chorale Prelude for organ on ‘Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit’ (Orgelbüchlein completion project). [Compositions]

Audio

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2019) Handel: Samson. John Butt (conductor), Dunedin Consort, Tiffin Boys Choir, various soloists. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2018) Handel: Ode for St Cecilia’s Day; Concerto in A minor, Op 6/4. John Butt (conductor), Dunedin Consort, Polish Radio Choir, Carolyn Sampson and Ian Bostridge. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2017) Claudio Monteverdi - Vespers 1610. John Butt (Director) with Dunedin Consort and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Johann Sebastian Bach - Christmas Oratorio, with Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2016) Johann Sebastian Bach – Complete Violin Concertos, with Cecilia Bernardini and Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach - Complete Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2015) Johann Sebastian Bach – Magnificat and Christma Cantata 63 (reconstruction of Bach’s first Christmas at Leipzig) with Dunedin Consort. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) Johann Sebastian Bach: Das wohltemperierte Klavier. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2014) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (Reconstruction of first performance). [Audio]

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) John Passion - Johann Sebastian Bach - Reconstruction of Bach's Passion Liturgy. [Audio]

Butt, John ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2013) Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Brandenburg Concertos. [Audio]

Butt, J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 (2012) Handel: Esther, first reconstructable version (Cannons, 1720). [Audio]

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Bach, J.S. (Composer) (2010) Mass in B Minor. [Audio]

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Bach, J.S. (Composer) (2008) Matthew Passion BWV 244 : Bach's last performing version, c. 1742. [Audio]

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Handel, G.F. (Composer) (2008) Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a : Original Cannons Performing Version (1718). [Audio]

Butt, J. (p.) et al. (2007) Requiem; Pavanne. [Audio]

Butt, J. (Conductor) ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8220 and Handel, G.F. (Composer) (2006) Messiah (Dublin, 1742). [Audio]

Kitchen, J. (p.) et al. (2004) Organs in Glasgow. [Audio]

Butt, J. (Performer) and Cabanilles, J. (Composer) (1992) Obras de organo. [Audio]

This list was generated on Fri Jul 11 13:13:01 2025 BST.

Grants

  • 2005  Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for a two-year study of Bach’s Passions (2006-2008)
  • CI on the Bass Culture project, 2013-16, AHRC
  • PI on the EAERN project (Eighteenth Century Arts Educaiton Research Network), 2016-18, Royal Society of Edinburgh

Supervision

I have supervised in a variety of fields from 16th-18th century but have also been closely involved with projects in 19th and 20th centuries and contemporary music culture (including music and film). So a broad range of proposals are welcome!

  • Ritchie, Andrea
    A Musical Model for the MCU: Investigating Representation and Identity in Phases One to Three of Marvel's Cinematic Universe Films

I have supervised projects in a variety of fields, including late Renaissance theories of music and the world, seventeenth-century keyboard cultures and fantasy, the emergence of early modern musical works, music and other arts of performance, Bach studies, Mozart studies, musical education in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, twentieth century performance culture.

Teaching

  • Historiography and Criticism
  • Notation and Performance Practice
  • Bach and the Lutheran Passion
  • Chamber Music
  • Film Music
  • Dissertation
  • Musicianship
  • MMus Musicology
  • MMus Historically informed performance

Additional information

Engagement

Performing career, especially as conductor, covering Scotland, UK, much of Europe, Far East, US and Canada. Part of regular series in Scottish venues and Wigmore Hall. 

Media

  • Two concerts at London BBC Proms (one televised)
  • Regular broadcast concerts from Edinburgh Festival and other festivals in UK and Europe
  • Many interviews, broadcasts and presentations of BBC Radio 3 and 4

Awards

  • OBE, FBA, FRSE, member of Academia Europaea
  • Winner of two Gramophone Awards (and several nominations); Nomination for Grammy Award
  • Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize
  • Medal of the Royal College of Organists

 

Other

  • Principal Artist, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
  • Director of Krakow’s Easter Festival Misteria Paschalia 2018

 

 

MMus Convenor

HIPP Convenor

Other Publications

2015
Bach’s Magnificat and Cantata 63 – Dunedin Consort (CD – Linn Records)
Bach’s Violin and Harpsichord Sonatas (with Lucy Russell0 – (CD – Linn Records)
2014
Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier, harpsichord (CD – Linn Records)
Mozart Requiem, Dunedin Consort (CD Linn Records)
2013
Bach Brandenburg Concertos, Dunedin Consort (CD Linn Records)

Reviews and Notes

  • Over forty reviews of books and music for Country Life, Early Music, Early Music History, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Music and Letters, Music Library Association NOTES, Musical Times, The New Republic, Piano and Keyboard, The Times Literary Supplement, Early Keyboard Journal
  • Numerous CD reviews for Gramophone, Early Music, Early Music Review
  • Author of extended Guardian article on Bach, for the BBC Radio 3 Bach marathon, December 2005
  • Sleeve notes and concert programme notes for Academy of Ancient Music, Aldeburgh Festival, Berkeley Festival, Britten Sinfonia, Carmel Bach Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Andras Schiff's 2000 Bach series, Monteverdi Choir, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Angela Hewitt’s 2009 recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier

External Responsibilities

  • Commissioning editor (with Laurence Dreyfus) for the series Cambridge Studies in the Performance and Reception of Music (formerly, Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs) 1994 -
  • Editorial Board of The Journal of the American Musicological Society, 1999 - 2003
  • Advisory Board of Eighteenth-Century Music, 2003 -
  • Advisory Board of The Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 2003 - 2006
  • Council Member, Royal Musical Association,  2004 - 7
  • Advisory Board of CHARM (Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music), 2004 - 8
  • Member of AHRC Peer Review College, 2004 - 7
  • Member of RAE 2008, Sub-Panel 67, 2005 - 8
  • Member of The American Musicological Society - Annual Conference Programme committee, 2005
  • Member of Advisory Council for Institute of Musical Research (University of London), 2006 -
  • British Academy awards in music, 2007-
  • Editorial Board, Understanding Bach, 2005-
  • Editorial Board, Scottish Music Review, 2007- (editor of first issue)
  • Appointed to the Council of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, 2010

Broadcasting

  • Numerous lectures and interviews for the BBC (relayed from San Francisco 1994-7, from London, Cambridge or Glasgow 1997-) - including 3 short papers on the history of western music ('The Unfinished Symphony'), 31 December 1999, contributions to the Sunday Bach programmes, 2000, and contribution to 'The English Cadence' (2002)); several interviews on Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, 'The Choir' and on Radio Scotland
  • Performances include:
    • Recital from the organ in the Schosskirche, Altenburg, Germany (including interview with Joshua Rifkin, 2000)
    • Concert of organ concertos and sonatas by Handel and Mozart (with EnsemblePtarmigan) from Glasgow University Chapel (2003)

Recordings

  • Recordings as Conductor
    • Chorus Director of UC Chamber Chorus in recordings by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas McGegan, Handel’s Theodora and Judas Maccabaeus with Harmonia Mundi, 1992-95
    • Gibbons, anthems, with UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, Centaur, conductor and solo organ, 1997
    • Handel’s Messiah (Dublin version, 1742), Dunedin Consort and Players, Linn Records, CKD285 (November, 2006)
    • Bach’s Matthew Passion (Bach’s final performing version c. 1742), Dunedin Consort and Players, Linn Records, CKD313 (March, 2008)
    • Handel’s Acis and Galatea (first, Cannons, version 1718), Dunedin Consort and Players, Linn Records, CKD319 (November, 2008)
    • Bach’s B Minor Mass (Rifkin edition of final version), Dunedin Consort and Players,  Linn Records, CKD354 (May, 2010)
  • Solo Recordings (Organ and Harpsichord; most involving substantial scholarly preparation)
    • Pachelbel - Hexachordum Apollinis; two chaconnes; organ - Harmonia Mundi France, 1990
    • Bach - Trio sonatas for organ - Harmonia Mundi France, 1992
    • Cabanilles - Organ music - Harmonia Mundi France, 1992
    • Solo harpsichord (with violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock) in Bach's complete harpsichord/violin sonatas (2 CDs), Harmonia Mundi France, 1993
    • Kuhnau - solo harpsichord sonatas, Frische Clavier Früchte, Harmonia Mundi France, 1993
    • Purcell - Complete Organ Music and Works by Locke and Blow, Harmonia Mundi France, 1994
    • Kuhnau, Biblische Historien, played on organ, clavichord and harpsichord, Harmonia Mundi France, 1995
    • Frescobaldi, Capricci, Harmonia Mundi France, 1996
    • Recital, 2 July 1995 at St. Machar's Cathedral, Aberdeen (Bach, Liszt, Brahms, Dupré and Messiaen), released by University of Aberdeen on CD, 1997
    • Telemann, Fantasies for Harpsichord (on instruments in the Russell Collection, Edinburgh), Harmonia Mundi France, 1999
    • J.S. Bach - Four Toccatas and Fugues; Schübler Chorales - (Recorded on the Organ of Trinity College, Cambridge) Harmonia Mundi France, 2000
    • Edward Elgar - Complete Organ Music, (Recorded on the Organ of King's College Cambridge), Harmonia Mundi France, 2002
    • Organs of Glasgow (with John Kitchen), Delphian (2004)
  • Recordings as Keyboard Soloist, Continuo etc
    • Re-released recordings, originally from 1980-2:
      • EMI, Duruflé, Fauré Requiems (King’s College Choir/Ledger); solo organ parts
      • ASV, Gibbons church music (King’s College Choir/Ledger); organ solos
    • Session Producer for American Bach Soloists recording of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, conducted by Jeffrey Thomas, Koch International
    • Harpsichord 1, in Bach’s concerto for four harpsichords, with American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Koch International
    • Harpsichord solo, in Bach’s Brandenburg concerto V, with American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas (recorded 1995, to be released 2007)
    • 1989-1997 - About 15 recordings playing harpsichord and organ continuo, mainly with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists

Fellowships, Awards, Honours

 

  • 1983 Finalist in the London Lloyd-Webber Memorial Organ Competition
  • 1984 Finalist in the Leipzig Bach Organ Competition
  • 1992 W. H. Scheide Award from the American Bach Society for book, Bach Interpretation (Cambridge, 1990)
  • 1995 Honorary member of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, Ohio
  • 2003 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
  • 2003 Book, Playing with History, shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize
  • 2006 Fellow of the British Academy
  • 2007 Elected to membership of Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe)
  • 2007 Recording of Messiah awarded Gramophone Award, Baroque Vocal category
  • 2008 Recording of Messiah awarded MIDEM, Baroque Music award
  • 2010 Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize

Awards

  • OBE (2013)
  • 2014 Gramophone Award for Mozart Requiem recording
  • 2015 Grammy Nomination for Mozart Requiem recording
  • 2015 Appointed Principal Artist, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Affiliation

  • FBA, FRSE. Commissioning editor for series – Cambridge Studies in the Performance and Reception of Music (CUP)

Professor John Butt