Heinz Becker (26 June 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a German composer and

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 ...

Career

Born in Berlin, Becker began his studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1945, majoring in

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

, piano and clarinet, graduating in 1949. He was also a private student of the composer and music theorist

Hermann Grabner Hermann Grabner (12 May 1886 – 3 July 1969) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. Career Grabner was born in Graz. He studied law at the University of Graz graduating in 1909. In parallel, he studied music with Leopold Suchsland un ...

. Further studies included musicology, art history and philosophy at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. (1948–1951). In 1951 he received his doctorate on the subject ''On the problems and technique of musical final composition''. He then worked as a lecturer at the Volkshochschule in West Berlin and from 1952 to 1955 he directed the private music teacher seminar at the John Petersen Conservatory in Berlin-Zehlendorf. In 1956 he took over a position as a research assistant at the Institute for Musicology at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover. There he habilitated in 1961 with his thesis ''Studien zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der antiken und mittelalterlichen Rohrblattinstrumente'' ("Studies on the developmental history of ancient and medieval reed instruments"). In 1966 he was appointed as the first full professor to the chair of musicology at the

Ruhr-Universität Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

. Becker specialized in the study of

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

(wind instruments) and opera, especially the French

Grand opéra Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...

. Becker was married to the musicologist Gudrun Becker ''née'' Weidmann, with whom he edited his edition of

Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

documentaries.

Honours

* ''Festschrift Heinz Becker zum 60. Geburtstag am 26. Juni 1982'', edited by

Jürgen Schläder Jürgen Schläder (born 1948 in Hagen) is a German theatre director and musicologist, who was from May 1987 to March 2014 Professor of Theatre Studies with a focus on stage music at the LMU München. He studied German literature and musicology a ...

and Reinhold Quandt * ''Musiktheater im Fokus. Gedenkschrift für Heinz Becker'', edited by

Sieghart Döhring Sieghart Döhring (born 12 December 1939) is a German musicologist and Opera researcher. Career Born in Biskupiec, East Prussia, Döhring studied musicology, theology and philosophy in Hamburg and Marburg/Lahn. In 1969 he gained a doctorate at ...

and Stefanie Rauch. n behalf of the Meyerbeer-InstituteStudio-Verlag, Sinzig. 2014

Publications

* ''Der Fall Heyne-Meyerbeer: Neue Dokumente revidieren ein Geschichtsurteil''''Der Fall Heyne-Meyerbeer: Neue Dokumente revidieren ein Geschichtsurteil''
on WorldCat

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Heinz Musicologists from Berlin 20th-century German musicologists Ruhr University Bochum faculty 1922 births 2006 deaths