LORRAINE
BYRNE BODLEY
LORRAINE
BYRNE BODLEY
LORRAINE
BYRNE BODLEY
BIOGRAPHER
MUSICOLOGIST
AUTHOR
BIOGRAPHER
MUSICOLOGIST
AUTHOR
WHO I AM AND WHAT I DO
I am an Irish-born music historian, currently based at Maynooth University, who started out working on the intersections between German poetry and music in the nineteenth century. Over the course of my career my interests have evolved and spread into curiosity about Goethe’s relationship with Music and Forgotten Music of Weimar Classicism into explorations of the Art of Song (Women’s Songs and Voices; Songs of Travel; Love Songs), the study of translation, mythography and life writing and – in recent decades – into a fascination with the already vexed question in biography as to how – or whether – pathways between life and art can be mapped. Throughout I have been intrigued with issues of identity and their fluctuations, and all of my books touch on this in some ways.
NEWS
My most recent publication is a major new biography on Schubert. A Musical Wayfarer (Yale University Press, 2023), which is the book I consider my magnum opus. This new life of Franz Schubert takes an unparalleled look into the composer’s life, from his early years at the Stadtkonvikt through his harrowing battle with syphilis and to his death at the age of 31.
BOOKS
In the past 20 years I have published 15 books which have consistently challenged conventional narratives.
EVENTS
Find out about my upcoming events, including book launches, lectures and panel discussions.