Ludwig Ritter von Köchel (; born Ludwig Alois Friedrich Köchel; 14 January 1800 – 3 June 1877) was an Austrian

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, writer, composer,

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and publisher. He is best known for cataloguing the works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and originating the 'KV-numbers' by which they are known (''KV'' for ''Köchel-Verzeichnis'').

Life

Ludwig Alois Friedrich Köchel was born in the town of Stein,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

. He studied law in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and graduated with a PhD in 1827. For fifteen years, he was tutor to the four sons of

Archduke Charles of Austria Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

. Köchel was rewarded with a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Ritter is a title translated approximately as " Sir". and a generous financial settlement, permitting him to spend the rest of his life as a private scholar. Contemporary scientists were greatly impressed by his

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

researches in North Africa, the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, the United Kingdom, the North Cape, and Russia. In addition to botany, he was interested in geology and

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

, but also loved music, and was a member of the Mozarteum Salzburg. He died of cancer at age 77 in Vienna.

Köchel catalogue

In 1862 he published the

Köchel catalogue The Köchel catalogue () is a catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally created by Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, in which the entries are abbreviated ''K.'' or ''KV''. Its numbers reflect the ongoing task of compiling the chro ...

, a chronological and thematic register of the works of Mozart. This catalogue was the first on such a scale and with such a level of scholarship behind it; it has since undergone revisions. Mozart's works are often referred to by their KV-numbers (''cf.''

opus number In music, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's publication of that work. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among ...

); for example, the "Jupiter" symphony, '' Symphony No. 41'', KV. 551. At the same time that Köchel was writing his catalogue

Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...

was making a comprehensive collection of Mozart works and writing a scholarly biography of Mozart. When Jahn learned of Köchel's work he turned over his collection to him. Köchel dedicated his catalogue to Jahn.

Other works

Moreover, Köchel arranged Mozart's works into twenty-four categories, which were used by

Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel () is a German Music publisher, music publishing house. Founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, it is the world's oldest music publisher. Overview The catalogue contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works ...

when they published the first complete edition of Mozart's works from 1877 to 1910, a venture partly funded by Köchel. He also catalogued the works of Johann Fux.Brook, Barry S.; Viano, Richard J. (1997) . Pendragon Press. page 146. .

Notes

References

External links

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Ludwig Ritter von Köchel Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kochel, Ludwig Von Scholars from the Austrian Empire Scholars from Austria-Hungary Mozart scholars 1800 births 1877 deaths Composers from the Austrian Empire