Timothy Noonan

Education

• PhD, Musicology, UW-Madison, 1996
• MM, Music History and Literature, UW-Milwaukee, 1984
• BFA, Music History and Literature, UW-Milwaukee, 1982

Biography

Milwaukee native Timothy Noonan earned his bachelor's and master’s degree in Music History and Literature at UW-Milwaukee. His master’s thesis analyzed Beethoven’s piano trios. He then completed his PhD in Musicology at University of Wisconsin-Madison; his dissertation examined structural aspects of the symphonies of Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805). During his studies at Madison, he served twice at UW-Milwaukee as a sabbatical replacement for music history faculty. Noonan returned to UWM and joined the music history faculty after graduation and also serves as Graduate Advisor for the department.

Noonan’s research interests in the field of art music are centered on the Classical period (c. 1740-1815). He is fascinated by the Classical forms and the vast variety of approaches to be found, especially in the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Noonan’s dissertation work found noteworthy structural approaches in Boccherini’s symphonies, involving in particular the slow introduction and his pioneering use of cyclic form, i.e., the recurrence of musical material from an earlier movement within a later movement of the same work, and his article “The Slow Introduction in Boccherini’s Symphonic Finales” was published in Studi Musicali (2002). Noonan also authored the Boccherini chapter in The Symphonic Repertoire, vol. 1 (Indiana University Press, 2012). Noonan’s extensive knowledge of structural matters in Classical repertoire continues to inform his teaching, which centers on the undergraduate music history survey plus courses on specific style periods.

Recent & Selected Works

Chapters

• Noonan, Timothy. “Luigi Boccherini.” The Symphonic Repertoire, vol. 1, edited by Mary Sue Morrow and Bathia Churgin, Indiana University Press, 2012, pp. 170-184.