Klaus-Ernst Behne (29 June 1940 – 9 August 2013) was a German professor of

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 ...

with a focus on music psychology.

Life

Born in

Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...

, Behne studied school music, musicology, psychology and physics in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

, Bonn and Hamburg. He belonged to a group of young musicologists around

Hans-Peter Reinecke Hans-Peter Reinecke (1941–2005) was a German actor. Partial filmography

*''Spotkania w mroku'' (1960) - 1. Angeklagter *''Holubice'' (1960) - Ulli *''Das hölzerne Kälbchen'' (1960) - Hirte *''Beschreibung eines Sommers'' (1963) - Tenser ...

. (1927-2003) - besides Klaus-Ernst Behne also Helga de la Motte-Haber, Ekkehard Jost, Günter Kleinen and Eberhard Kötter. When Reinecke was commissioned in 1964 to set up the department for musical acoustics at the State Institute for Music Research of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, he took four of the above-mentioned, including Klaus-Ernst Behne (from 1967), with him to

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

as research assistants or staff members. There Behne founded the (West) German editorial office of the

Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (International Repertory of Music Literature; Internationales Repertorium der Musikliteratur), commonly known by its acronym RILM, is a nonprofit organization that offers digital collections and a ...

(RILM). In 1972, Behne received his doctorate in Hamburg with his empirical study ''Der Einfluß des Tempos auf die Beurteilung von Musik''. From 1972 until 1975, he was a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

at the teacher training college

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

and then for two years professor for systematic musicology at the

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

Music College. In 1977, he was appointed Germany's first and only professor of music psychology at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...

, a post he held until 2004. From 1997 to 2003, he was also president of the same university. In August 2013 Behne died after a long illness in Hannover at the age of 73 and was buried at the cemetery in . He left behind his wife as well as a son and a daughter.

Creation

Together with Helga de la Motte-Haber and Günter Kleinen, Behne is a co-founder of the (DGM) and from 1984 was co-editor of the ''Jahrbuch Musikpsychologie'' for volumes 1 to 18; he was also chairman of this non-profit association for many years. He previously held this position at the "Arbeitskreis Musikpädagogische Forschung" (AMPF). His research interests were particularly focused on the taste of music, the experience of music and the everyday use of music. His

Cross-sectional study In medical research, social science, and biology, a cross-sectional study (also known as a cross-sectional analysis, transverse study, prevalence study) is a type of observational study that analyzes data from a population, or a representative s ...

''Listener Typology'', published as a book in 1986, is regarded by many researchers as a milestone in the study of musical preferences and the manifold functions of music in everyday life. Immediately afterwards, from 1991 to 1997, he conducted the only

long-term experiment A long-term experiment is an experimental procedure that runs through a long period of time, in order to test a hypothesis or observe a phenomenon that takes place at an extremely slow rate. What duration is considered "long" depends on the academ ...

worldwide to date on the development of musical preferences among young people. In 2009, this was published under the title ''Musikerleben im Jugendalter. Eine Längsschnittstudie'' published in book form. He was also interested in the exploration of the special perceptual requirements of

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

as well as in musical creativity,

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...

and audio-visual media music perception. His educational films on the influence of the hearing judgement by the visible performance behaviour of musicians ("musicians on the screen"), in which he used the double procedure, as well as those on the perception of and memory of music in (classical)

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s or on the alteration of pictorial perception through various

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

sversions were evaluated by a multitude of

social research Social research is a research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable ...

es. Studies and theoretical models are accompanied and documented for example in the books ''Film – Musik – Video oder die Konkurrenz von Auge und Ohr'' (1987), ''Gehört – gedacht – gesehen. Zehn Aufsätze zum visuellen, kreativen und theoretischen Umgang mit Musik'' (1994) and ''Musik fürs Auge – ein Jahrzehnt Forschung zu (piano-)Musik auf dem Bildschirm'' (2010). In 1993, Behne founded the "Institute for Music Education Research" (ifmpf) at the

together with his professorial colleagues Franz Amrhein (1935-2012) and Karl-Jürgen Kemmelmeyer (born 1943). (HMTMH), starting with an experimental laboratory for music psychology. In 1994, he was the author of the series of IfMpF research reports which he co-founded. In addition, as the then President of the University, he supported the foundation of the "Instituts für Früh-Förderung musikalisch Hochbegabter" in 2000, and after his retirement, he served on the board of the University's

Alumni association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students (alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), ...

. Colleagues describe Behne as a highly committed, open, but sometimes also overcorrect scientist, but always humorous, lovable person and great philanthropist: His thoroughly humane attitude towards culture and people was to give impulses to people and promote their perception and development, inviting everyone to take responsibility for culture. As a scholar at a music academy, he was always connected to the lively production of art, was particularly enthusiastic about

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and musical

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

, sometimes sat down at his main instrument, the piano, as documented in his educational films (but there as a double!), was highly productive and original as a photographer and continued to learn a new music instrument after his retirement. Behne organised concerts for and with the "Hannoversche Gesellschaft für Neue Musik" (HGNM) and played a major role in the design of the programme booklets, He was not afraid of mixing the arts or of new forms of performance beyond the traditional concert such as concerts in a completely darkened room (''Concert surprise noir''), the setting to music of a

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

in several versions (''

Meshes of the Afternoon ''Meshes of the Afternoon'' is a 1943 American short experimental film directed by and starring wife-and-husband team Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied. The film's narrative is circular and repeats several motifs, including a flower on a lon ...

]''

943 Year 943 ( CMXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Allied with the Rus', a Hungarian army raids Moesia and Thrace. ...

Maya Deren Maya Deren (born Eleonora Derenkowska, uk, Елеоно́ра Деренко́вська, links=no;

) or sound installations (e.g. the sound installation ''Klang Bewegung Raum'' by Walter Fähndrich in summer 1990 in the Herrenhäuser Gärten in Hanover). In 1984, he was co-founder of a

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

in his long-time place of residence Schloß Ricklingen (

Garbsen Garbsen () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 11 km northwest of Hanover. The name Garbsen can be traced back to 1223. Today's 13 city districts have partly developed i ...

), and for years he was a voluntary choir director. In addition, he was involved in the construction of a new

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

. His students include Heiner Gembris at that time, currently Professor of Empirical and Psychological Music Pedagogy and Head of the Institute for Giftedness Research in Music at

Universität Paderborn Paderborn University (german: Universität Paderborn) is one of the fourteen public research universities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It was founded in 1972 and 20,308 students were enrolled at the university in the winter ...

, and Josef Kloppenburg, currently Professor of Music and its didactics at the Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe.

Awards

* 2006: Honorary membership of the * 2010: Culture award of the city of Garbsen

Publications

* ''Der Einfluß des Tempos auf die Beurteilung von Musik'' (Diss.). Arno Volk publishing house, Cologne 1972 (Veröffentlichungen des Staatlichen Institutes für Musikforschung Preußischer Kulturbesitz vol. 7) * ''Musikalische Sozialisation'' (ed). Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 1981 (Musikpädagogische Forschung, 2). * Klaus-Ernst Behne, Günter Kleinen, Helga de la Motte-Haber (ed.): ''Musikpsychologie''. Jahrbuch der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Musikpsychologie, vol. 1–12, Wilhelmshaven: Noetzel 1984–1995, vol. 13–18, Göttingen: Hogrefe 1998 ff. (from vol. 19 edited by W. Auhagen, C. Bullerjahn & R. von Georgi bzw. C. Louven) * ''Hörertypologien – Zur Psychologie des jugendlichen Musikgeschmacks''. Gustav Bosse publishing house, Regensburg 1986 (Perspektiven zur Musikpädagogik und Musikwissenschaft vol. 10), * ''Musikerleben im Jugendalter. Eine Längsschnittstudie''. Con Brio Verlag, Regensburg 2009,

References

External links