John Muniz
- Associate Professor, Music
- Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
- (520) 626-1255
- Music, Rm. 109
- Tucson, AZ 85721
- johnmuniz@arizona.edu
Degrees
- Ph.D. Music Theory
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
- Enharmonic Procedures in Nineteenth-Century Music
- M.A. Music Theory
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
- N/A
- M.Phil. Music Theory
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
- N/A
- M.M. Music Composition
- Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Numina for thirteen instruments
- B.A. Music (concentration in Composition)
- The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
- Yin-Yang for Pierrot plus percussion
Work Experience
- Crisis Text Line (2017 - Ongoing)
- Fred Fox School of Music, University of Arizona (2015 - Ongoing)
- Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (2011 - 2015)
- School of Music, Boston University (2008 - 2009)
- School of Music, Boston University (2007 - 2009)
- The College of William & Mary (2004 - 2007)
Interests
Teaching
Undergraduate theory sequence, chromaticism, transformational theory, musical form, atonal theory, philosophy of music, rhythm and meter, composition
Research
Enharmonicism, transformational theory, philosophy of music theory, processual approaches to rhythm and meter
Courses
2024-25 Courses
-
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2024) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Fall 2024) -
Independent Study
MUS 699 (Fall 2024) -
Musical Skills+Struc I
MUS 120A (Fall 2024)
2023-24 Courses
-
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Spring 2024) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2024) -
Theory Pedagogy
MUS 622 (Spring 2024) -
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2023) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Fall 2023) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2023)
2022-23 Courses
-
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Spring 2023) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2023) -
Thesis
MUS 910 (Spring 2023) -
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2022) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2022) -
Practicum
MUS 694 (Fall 2022) -
Thesis
MUS 910 (Fall 2022)
2021-22 Courses
-
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2022) -
Theory Pedagogy
MUS 622 (Spring 2022) -
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2021) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2021)
2020-21 Courses
-
Counterpoint
MUS 420B (Spring 2021) -
Counterpoint
MUS 520B (Spring 2021) -
History Speculative Thry
MUS 620B (Spring 2021) -
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Spring 2021) -
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2020) -
Counterpoint
MUS 420A (Fall 2020) -
Counterpoint
MUS 520A (Fall 2020) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Spring 2020) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2020) -
Practicum
MUS 694 (Spring 2020) -
Thesis
MUS 910 (Spring 2020) -
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Fall 2019) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2019) -
Practicum
MUS 694 (Fall 2019) -
Thesis
MUS 910 (Fall 2019)
2018-19 Courses
-
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Spring 2019) -
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Spring 2019) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2019) -
Practicum
MUS 694 (Spring 2019) -
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Fall 2018) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Fall 2018) -
Independent Study
MUS 499 (Fall 2018) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2018) -
Practicum
MUS 694 (Fall 2018)
2017-18 Courses
-
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Spring 2018) -
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Spring 2018) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2018) -
Comprehensive Theory
MUS 419 (Fall 2017) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Fall 2017) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2017)
2016-17 Courses
-
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Spring 2017) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Spring 2017) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2017) -
Comprehensive Theory
MUS 419 (Fall 2016) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Fall 2016) -
Music Theory
MUS 696C (Fall 2016) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220A (Fall 2016)
2015-16 Courses
-
Anlys Tonal Mus I:Form
MUS 521A (Spring 2016) -
Dissertation
MUS 920 (Spring 2016) -
Musical Skills+Struc II
MUS 220B (Spring 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Journals/Publications
- Muniz, J. (2017). Rhythmic Processes in Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. Music Analysis.More infoAnalyses of rhythm in Schoenberg have traditionally focused on quantitative groupings of pulses and the alignment (or lack thereof) among independent "streams" of pulses. This methodology is arguably flawed, however, in view of the fluid, protean nature of Schoenberg's rhythms; the latter tend to defeat the perception of regular pulses. Instead, this essay seeks insight into Pierrot Lunaire via qualitative rhythmic events as codified in Hasty 1997. I identify several distinct rhythmic processes that create momentum, musical-textual coordination, and cohesion in Pierrot Lunaire.
- Muniz, J. (2021). Rhythmic Processes in Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire. Music Analysis, 40(1), 3-39. doi:10.1111/musa.12167
- Muniz, J. (2018). What's Notation Got to Do with It?: Enharmonic Modulations Reconsidered. Indiana Theory Review.
- Muniz, J. (2019). A Tendency-Transformational Model of Enharmonic Modulations and Related Phenomena. Music Theory Spectrum.More infoProceeding from Harrison 2002's critique of notational accounts of enharmonicism, this article develops of model of enharmonicism based on changes in the directional tendencies of scale degrees. It applies this model to the analysis and interpretation of 19th-century music.
- Muniz, J. (2018). Transformation at the Margins of Tonality: Scriabin's Seventh Piano Sonata, Op. 64. Music Theory and Analysis.More infoThrough a transformational network analysis of the Seventh Sonata, I attempt to show that triadic thinking and schemes of transposition place Scriabin in dialogue with the extended tonality of his immediate predecessors and contemporaries. By providing insight into the harmonic procedures of the Seventh Sonata, transformational analysis creates an avenue for understanding tonality in Scriabin’s other middle-to-late works. Conversely, my analysis suggests ways in which triadic transformational methodology itself can be extended to later, more tonally daring repertories than those to which it has previously been applied.
Presentations
- Muniz, J. (2023). "An Invitation to Atonal Music". Arizona Senior Academy lecture series. Arizona Senior Academy: Arizona Senior Academy.More infoI gave a public lecture/presentation on music theory to attendees at the Arizona Senior Academy in Tucson.Atonal music is a paradox: despite having been widely performed for more than 100 years, it still strikes many listeners as deeply unfamiliar or even unmusical. Its often jagged melodies, dissonant harmonies, and lack of an orienting key challenge us to radically expand our notions of what is melodious, harmonious, and beautiful in music. Atonal music can be all of these; we just have to know how to listen. John Muniz, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona, shows that order and beauty lie hidden within atonal music, and that even its chaos—when heard correctly—can be sublime.
- Muniz, J. (2023). "Musical Form as Expression". Arizona Senior Academy lecture series. Arizona Senior Academy: Arizona Senior Academy.More infoI gave a public lecture/presentation on music theory to attendees at the Arizona Senior Academy in Tucson.Abstract: What makes the compositions of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven so moving? In the presence of beautiful melody and sonorous harmony, we tend to think it is these alone that move us. But it is form—the music’s unfolding play of impetus, tension, and closure—that shapes these melodies and harmonies, uniting them into an expressive whole. John Muniz, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arizona, shows how understanding form gives us access to the depth of expression contained in Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven’s works.
- Muniz, J. (2018, July). "The ear alone must judge": Harmonic Meta-Theory in Weber's Versuch. CityMAC 2018. City, University of London: Society for Music Analysis (SMA) and Wiley.More infoI presented a 20-minute paper at a major conference held by the Society for Music Analysis at City, University of London. The paper was about the interpretation of a treatise by a respected 19th-century German music theorist, Gottfried Weber.
- Muniz, J. (2018, November). "The ear alone must judge": Harmonic Meta-Theory in Weber's Versuch. Joint Meeting of the Society for Music Theory and the American Musicological Society. San Antonio, TX: Society for Music Theory and American Musicological Society.More infoI presented a 20-minute paper at the annual conference held by the Society for Music Theory, the main organization for music theorists in North America, in San Antonio, TX. The paper was about the interpretation of a treatise by a respected 19th-century German music theorist, Gottfried Weber.
Creative Productions
- Muniz, J. (2023. Meditation on Constable's Hay Wain (original composition, approx. 14 minutes). Old St Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco: Noontime Concerts.More infoI have been invited (along with violinist Emily Chao) to give a full concert of my compositions as part of the Noontime Concerts series at Old St Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, on June 18th, 2024. The listed output was done in 2023 for the concert.
Creative Works
- To Allen; Solo piano; Anna Kijanowska; September 2018; Performance at Yale University; I was asked to compose a piece for solo piano in memory of the late music theorist Allen Forte. The piece, To Allen (ca. 10 minutes long), was performed by pianist Anna Kijanowska at a memorial concert for Forte at Yale University. The score is attached.