Ruth Tatlow
Lärare musik, klarinett, musicology
Ruth Tatlow trained as a clarinettist at the Royal Academy of Music before going to King’s College, London where she gained a first in Musicology, and a PhD in Music Theory and Analysis.
In 2008 she was made a Docent in the musicology department of Stockholm University. Her research into the history of musical ideas and theory, numerical processes and compositional methods, particularly in the music of J.S.Bach, is reflected in her publications which include Bach and the Riddle of the Number Alphabet (Cambridge, 1991, 2006), many articles and commercial liner notes, and the web journal Understanding Bach (2006-), for which she is both designer and editor. She has received numerous awards and honours for her writing including research fellowships from the Leverhulme Trust, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Michael Meyer award from the Society of Authors), the Swedish Vitterhetsakademien and Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien.
In her capacity as research consultant to the conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner (1999-2003) she wrote extensively on church cantatas for the renowned Bach Pilgrimage. An experienced lecturer and broadcaster, she has been a guest on numerous radio programmes, including the BBC’s popular “In Our Time” hosted by Melvyn Bragg.
As a clarinettist Ruth Tatlow (as Ruth Ballard) won, among other awards, second prize in the first National Clarinet Competition of Great Britain in April 1979, and attracted commissions for two compositions by the composer Peter Anthony Monk, Ruth’s Ballade for clarinet solo, and Railway Parade for clarinet and piano. She plays on Peter Eaton Elite clarinets.
Ruth Tatlow is actively engaged in international Bach research, co-founding Bach Network UK (www.bachnetwork.co.uk) in 2003, speaking regularly at international conferences, and serving on the editorial board of the American Bach Society (http://www.americanbachsociety.org/). Her second monograph Bachs Numbers? A Riddle Unravelled is in preparation. From January to May 2010 she will be visiting professor at the Music Theory Department of Eastman Music School (http://www.esm.rochester.edu/)
