Franz Xaver Haberl (12 April 1840, in Oberellenbach (today Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg),

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau- ...

– 5 September 1910, in Ratisbon) was a German

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

, friend of

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, Perosi, and Singenberger, cleric, and student of Proske. He made his classical and theological studies at Passau,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where he was

ordain Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, 12 August 1862. Showing decided aptitude for music, he was given every opportunity for study of the art, and was entrusted with the direction of music in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

. From 1867 to 1870 Haberl resided in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was active as choirmaster at the German national church,

Santa Maria dell'Anima , native_name= , image=Santa Maria del Anima I.jpg , caption=Façade of the church. , mapframe=yes , mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view , mapframe-zoom=12 , mapframe-marker=religious-christian , coordinates= , location=Via di ...

, and also made historical and archæological researches. From 1871 to 1882 he directed the choir at the Ratisbon cathedral, his incumbency forming one of the most brilliant periods in the history of this famous institute. Working for church music reform, in 1874 Haberl founded a famous school for church musicians at Regensburg (Ratisbon). This school began with three professors—Dr. Haberl, Dr. Jacob, and Canon Haller—and only three pupils, and attracted reform-minded church music programs. Haberl not only secured permanency for the school in the shape of endowment, but he built next to it a church, dedicated to St. Cecilia, where pupils are given opportunities for practising the knowledge they have acquired in theory. He fought for the Editio Medicea against the editions of Solesmes and others. In 1868 Haberl re-edited the Medicæa version of the

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

, and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

declared his edition authentic and official for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. This form of the chant has since been superseded by the "Editio Vaticana." With Proske, he was a prime mover in the " Caecilia Movement," and helped to edit the fourth volume o
Musica Divina
For thirty years he gathered data and material for a critical edition of the works of

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...

, completed in 1908 in thirty-three volumes, the first ten of which were prepared by the joint labour of Th. de Witt, J.N. Rauch, Fr. Espagne, and Fr. Commer. A similar edition of the works of

Orlando Lasso Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pales ...

, undertaken by him in company with Dr. Sanberger, he left unfinished. As president of the

Allgemeiner Cäcilien-Verband für Deutschland The Allgemeiner Cäcilien-Verband für Deutschland (General Association of the Cecilian Movement Germany) (abbreviated as ACV) was founded in 1868 and is an organization for choral singing of the Catholic Church. The official residence of the ACV ...

(Cecilian Society for Germany), which position he held from 1899 until his death, as editor of '' Musica sacra'' and ''Fliegende Blätter für Kirchenmusik'', the official organ of the society, as the author of ''Magister Choralis'', now in the twelfth edition, and of innumerable articles on historical, theoretical, and scientific subjects, but especially as director of the school which he founded, Haberl championed the spirit and authority of the Church in musical matters against modernising influences. One of Haberl's most famous students was

Lorenzo Perosi Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi (21 December 1872 – 12 October 1956) was an Italian composer of sacred music and the only member of the Giovane Scuola who did not write opera. In the late 1890s, while he was still only in his twenties, Perosi was ...

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haberl, Franz Xaver 1840 births 1910 deaths 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests 19th-century German musicologists 20th-century German musicologists People from Straubing-Bogen 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests