Emma Dillon

Emma Dillon is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania, holding the Andrew W. Mellon Penn Faculty Fellowship in the Humanities. Her research focuses on the reception of polyphony in 13th-century France, examining how innovations in musical notation transformed medieval listening practices. She investigates semantic tensions in the motet, a genre characterized by multilingual, multi-textual polyphonic compositions, and analyzes manuscript transmission as a material witness to these developments.

Dr. Dillon's work interrogates the interplay between sonic complexity and textual meaning in sacred and secular contexts, using approximately 50 manuscripts dated 1220-1300. These sources range from performance-oriented rolls to lavishly illuminated music compendia, which she interprets as tools for decoding polyphonic intricacies through their physical layout and cross-references to other textual traditions.

Scientific Awards:

• Andrew W. Mellon Penn Faculty Fellowship in the Humanities