![GuidoAdler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/GuidoAdler.png)
Guido Adler (1 November 1855,
Ivančice
Ivančice (; german: Eibenschütz, yi, אייבעשיץ) is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as a ...
(Eibenschütz),
Moravia
Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The me ...
– 15 February 1941,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
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)
was a Bohemian-Austrian
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 mu ...
and writer.
Biography
Early life and education
Adler was born at Eibenschütz in Moravia in 1855. He moved with his family to Vienna nine years later. His father Joachim, a physician, died of typhoid fever in 1857. Joachim contracted the illness from a patient, and therefore told his wife Franciska to "never allow any of the children to become a doctor".
Adler studied at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
and — at the same time (1868-1874) — the
Vienna Conservatory of Music
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
(where he studied piano (main subject) and
music theory
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 composition under
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 ...
and
Otto Dessoff
Felix Otto Dessoff (14 January 1835 – 28 October 1892) was a German conductor and composer.
Biography
Dessoff was born to a Jewish family in Leipzig; his father was a cloth merchant. His musical talent was recognized by Franz Liszt, who then ...
). He even briefly served at the Vienna Handelsgericht before deciding to pursue his interest in music history.
[Erica Mugglestone, "Guido Adler's 'The Scope, Method, and Aim of Musicology' (1885): An English Translation with an Historico-Analytical Commentary," '']Yearbook for Traditional Music
The ''Yearbook for Traditional Music'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folk music and dance. It is published by the International Council for Traditional Music, once a year in December. The editor-in-chief is Kati Szego. ...
'' vol. 13 (1981), 1-21. He received an arts diploma from the conservatory in 1874. In 1878, he graduated from University of Vienna as
doctor
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
of
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
, and in 1880 as doctor of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. His dissertation, ''Die Grundklassen der Christlich-Abendländischen Musik bis 1600'' (''The Chief Divisions of Western Church Music up to 1600''), was reprinted in ''
Allgemeine Musikzeitung''. Two years later, he completed his accreditation as a university lecturer, also known as ''Habilitation'', with a dissertation on the history of harmony.
A pioneer of musicology
In 1883 Adler became lecturer in
musicology
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 mu ...
at ''University of Vienna'', on which occasion he wrote ''Eine Studie zur Geschichte der Harmonie'' (''An Essay on the History of Harmony''), published in the "''Sitzungsberichte der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse der Wiener Academie der Wissenschaften''", 1881.
In 1884 he founded (with
Friedrich Chrysander
Karl Franz Friedrich Chrysander (8 July 1826 – 3 September 1901) was a German music historian, critic and publisher, whose edition of the works of George Frideric Handel and authoritative writings on many other composers established him as a ...
and
Philipp Spitta
Julius August Philipp Spitta (27 December 1841 – 13 April 1894) was a German music historian and musicologist best known for his 1873 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life
He was born in , near Hoya, and his father, also called Phil ...
) the ''Vierteljahresschrift für Musikwissenschaft'' ''(Musicology Quarterly)''. Adler provided the first article of the first issue, "Umfang, Methode und Ziel der Musikwissenschaft" ("The Scope, Method, and Aim of Musicology", 1885), which not only constitutes the first attempt at a comprehensive description of the study of music, but also famously divides the discipline into two subdisciplines, ''historische Musikwissenschaft'' (historical musicology) and ''systematische Musikwissenschaft'' ("systematic musicology"). In Adler's article, systematic musicology included ''Musikologie'' or ''vergleichende Musikwissenschaft'' (comparative musicology), which later became an independent discipline (cf. ''ethnomusicology''). Although these subfields do not exactly line up with current practice, they are roughly maintained in modern European musicology and roughly correspond to the North American division of musicology into
music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
(often called "musicology"),
music theory
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
ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
.
In 1885 he was called to the newly established
German University of Prague,
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, as
ordinary professor
Academic ranks in Germany are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Overview
Appointment grades
* (Pay grade: ''W3'' or ''W2'')
* (''W3'')
* (''W2'')
* (''W2'', ...
of the history and theory of music, and in 1898, in the same capacity, to the University of Vienna, where he succeeded
Eduard Hanslick. At the University of Vienna he established the Musikwissenschaftliches Institut (Musicological Institute). His students at the Musikwissenschaftliches Institut included composers
Anton Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stea ...
and
Karel Navrátil; conductor
Theo Buchwald; violinist
Rudolf Kolisch
Rudolf Kolisch (July 20, 1896 – August 1, 1978) was a Viennese violinist and leader of string quartets, including the Kolisch Quartet and the Pro Arte Quartet.
Early life and education
Kolisch was born in Klamm, Schottwien, Lower Austria and ra ...
; music editor
Felix Greissle; and musicologists
Pavao Markovac,
Heinrich Jalowetz, and
Walter Graf.
In 1886, he published ''Die Wiederholung und Nachahmung in der Mehrstimmigkeit''; in 1888, ''Ein Satz eines Unbekannten Beethovenischen Klavierkoncerts''. In 1892-93 he edited a selection of musical compositions of the Emperors
Ferdinand III,
Leopold I, and
Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to:
*Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283
* Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711)
*Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696)
*Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...
(two vols.). Between 1894 and 1938 he was editor of ''
Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich'', a seminal publication in music history.
Adler was the first
music historian
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
to emphasize style criticism in research. His attitudes and procedures are evident in the ''Handbuch der Musikgeschichte'' (“Handbook of Music History”), of which he became the editor in 1924.
National Socialist period
After the
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
in 1938, Adler was forced to resign from his position as editor of ''Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich''. Following his death in 1941, his library was taken from his daughter, Melanie Karoline Adler, and subsumed into the collections of the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. At the end of World War II, the large part of Adler's library was returned to his son. Much of his library is now housed at the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
and other important items are in the
Houghton Library
Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Guido Adler - Musicology Then and Now at Harvard University Symposium, Exhibitions, & Concert on Friday, October 13, 2017
, harvard.edu. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
Reputation
Adler was one of the founders of musicology as a discipline (''Musikwissenschaft''). He was also among the first scholars in music to recognize the relevance of sociocultural factors to music (''Musiksoziologie''), thereby providing a broader context for aesthetic criticism which, with biography, had been the primary focus of 19th century music scholarship. Empirical study was for him the most important part of the discipline. His own emphasis was on the music of Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, specifically the music of the First Viennese School
The First Viennese School is a name mostly used to refer to three composers of the Classical period in Western art music in late-18th-century to early-19th-century Vienna: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Sometimes, ...
: Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...
, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
and their contemporaries.
See also
* Second Viennese School
References
Citations
Sources
* Adler, Guido (1885). Umfang, Methode und Ziel der Musikwissenschaft. ''Vierteljahresschrift für Musikwissenschaft, 1,'' 5-20.
*
External links
Guido Adler: eine Kurzbiographie
at musicalconfrontations.com
Adler, Guido: AEIOU: Österreich-Lexikon im Austria Forum
Adler, Guido
at www.jewishencyclopedia.com
Guido Adler papers
at Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Guido
1855 births
1941 deaths
Austrian musicologists
Jewish classical musicians
Jewish composers
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
Austro-Hungarian Jews
19th-century Austrian Jews
Austrian people of Czech-Jewish descent
People from Ivančice