Hellmuth Christian Wolff (23 May 1906, in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

– 1 July 1988, in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and musicologist. As a young man he studied music in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. He later taught music in

from 1954-1971. He is particularly remembered for his numerous publications on the history of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

and in particular the subject of

baroque opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

. Also of interest, are his writings on the visual aspects of music which led him to study

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, including a pictorial history of opera. Wolff’s reputation rests on his many publications rather than on his compositions which were rarely performed. He composed four operas: ''Der kleine und der grosse Klaus'' (1931, revised 1940), ''Die törichten Wünsche'' (1943), ''Der Tod des Orpheus'' (1947), and ''Ich lass' mich scheiden'' (1950),Opera Glass
/ref> and wrote a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and several orchestral and chamber works. He also became known as a painter later in life.

Bibliography

* ''Oper: Szene und Darstellung von 1600 bis 1900''. Musikgeschichte in Bildern. IV: Musik der Neuzeit 1 (Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1968).

Sources

Horst Seeger Horst Seeger (6 November 1926 – 2 January 1999), pseudonyme ''Horst Schell'', was a German musicologist, music critic, dramaturg, librettist and opera director. Leben Born in Erkner, Seeger studied musicology at the Humboldt University of Be ...

/Andrew Clark. The ''

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', edited by Stanley Sadie (1992). and

References

German opera composers Male opera composers 1906 births 1988 deaths 20th-century classical composers German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German musicologists 20th-century German male musicians Swiss emigrants to Germany {{Germany-musicologist-stub