Bernhard Ziehn (January 20, 1845 – September 8, 1912) was a German-American

music theorist Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

and music teacher.

Biography

Ziehn was born in

Erfurt, Germany Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

.Winthrop Sargeant, "Bernhard Ziehn, Precursor," ''Musical Quarterly'' 19, no. 2 (Apr. 1933), p. 169-177. As he was trained to be a schoolteacher, music education played only a small part in his upbringing. Initially he taught briefly at

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

before emigrating. He arrived in Chicago in 1868, teaching mathematics, German, history, and music at the German Lutheran School from 1868 through 1871. After a stint as an organist for a synagogue, he became a private teacher, publishing an extensive number of musical and theoretical articles.Siegmund Levarie, "Ziehn, Bernhard," ''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online'', Oxford University Press, accessed February 2, 2015 (access by subscription)
His first theoretical works were published in 1881. His students included John Alden Carpenter,

Wilhelm Middelschulte Wilhelm Middelschulte (April 3, 1863, Werve, Kreis Hamm, now part of Kamen – May 4, 1943, Dortmund) was a German organist and composer who resided in America for most of his career. Life Middelschulte initially studied organ with August Knabe ...

Hugo Kaun Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (21 March 1863 – 2 April 1932) was a German composer, conductor, and music teacher. Biography Kaun was born in Berlin, Germany and completed his musical training in his native city. In 1886 (or 1887), he left Germany fo ...

Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (July 16, 1863 – August 20, 1927) was an Austrian-born U.S. pianist. Biography Zeisler was born Fannie Blumenfeld on July 16, 1863, in Bielitz, Austrian Silesia, to Jewish parents. She emigrated to the United States ...

Eleanor Everest Freer Eleanor Everest Freer (14 May 1864 – 13 Dec 1942) was an American composer and philanthropist. Life Eleanor Everest was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Cornelius Everest and Ellen Amelia (Clark) Everest, and studied singing in Paris with ...

, Glenn Dillard Gunn, Julius Gold,

Grace Chadbourne Grace Runnion Wassall Chadbourne (1870 – Jun 9, 1919) was an American composer, pianist, and singer. She married Joseph William Wassall in 1890 and they had two children, Ellen and LeRoy. After divorcing Wassall, she married Thomas Linco ...

Regina Watson Regina Cohn Watson (April 23, 1845 - July 31, 1913) was a composer, pianist, and teacher who was born in Germany. Her family later moved to America, first to Detroit, then to Chicago, where Regina lived for the rest of her life. In 1873, she married ...

, and Otto Wolf. Ziehn died in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Theories

Ziehn refused to use Helmholtz's theory of harmonic structure based on physical phenomena. Rather, his ideas were based not on natural science, but on music itself. This was in contradistinction to

Hugo Riemann Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a musi ...

who sought to base his rationales on "scientific" reasoning (not entirely consistently). He praised

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

while condemning

Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the ''Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. H ...

and Phillipp Spitta. His ideas were admired by Hans von Bülow,

, Leopold Godowsky,

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

, George P. Upton and others. Theodore Thomas reportedly changed details of his interpretations based on discussions with Ziehn.

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American professor of music, critic, analyst, and composer who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 to 2005) and ...

, a fan of Ziehn's music and theories, says both that he, "had a considerable influence on the pre-war Chicago scene," and that, "his obsessive musical mind has been forgotten because he lived in Chicago, wrote in German, and was just too far ahead of his time."Recordings of Kyle Gann's Music
, ''KyleGann.com''.

Writings

*System der Uebungen für Clavierspieler und ein Lehrgang für den ersten Unterricht/System of Exercises for Pianoforte and a New Method of Instruction for Beginners (Hamburg, 1881) ilingual edn*Harmonie- und Modulationslehre (Berlin, 1887; rev. 2/1907 as Manual of Harmony) *Five- and Six-part Harmonies/Fünf- und Sechsstimmige Harmonien (Milwaukee and Berlin, 1911) ilingual edn*Canonical Studies: a New Technic in Composition/Canonische Studien: eine neue Compositions-Technik (Milwaukee and Berlin, 1912 ilingual edn abridged in Eng. as Canonic Studies, London, 1976); *ed. J. Goebel: 'Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Geschichte und Theorie der Musik von Bernhard Ziehn', Jahrbuch der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Historischen Gesellschaft von Illinois, xxvi–xxvii (1926–7) [double issue devoted chiefly to a collection of Ziehn's articles, with introduction by J. Goebel and 2 essays by T. Otterstrom

References

External links

Bernhard Ziehn Papers
a
the Newberry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziehn, Bernhard German music theorists American music theorists 1845 births 1912 deaths People from Chicago Musicians from Erfurt German emigrants to the United States