Peter Wollny (born 29 June 1961) is a German

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 ...

, a Bach scholar who has served the Bach Archive Leipzig beginning in 1993, and as its director from 2014. Wollny has contributed to the

Neue Bach-Ausgabe The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete Wo ...

, and has been an editor of '' Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works''. He has been professor at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

, and teaching internationally. He received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

Career

Wollny was born in ,

Issum Issum is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately east of Geldern. Economy Issum is home to the Diebels brewery, the largest altbier brewery in the world. Notable natives * ...

. He studied musicology, art history and German studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

from 1981 to 1987 He studied musicology further 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 ...

with Christoph Wolff,

Lewis Lockwood Lewis H. Lockwood (born December 16, 1930) is an American musicologist whose main fields are the music of the Italian Renaissance and the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven. Joseph Kerman described him as "a leading musical scholar of the postw ...

and

Reinhold Brinkmann Reinhold Brinkmann (21 August 1934, Wildeshausen, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony – 10 October 2010, Eckernförde, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein) was a German musicologist. Brinkmann was born in Wildeshausen and studied at Freiburg im Brei ...

, where he achieved a Ph.D. in 1993 with a dissertation about

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...

. He has worked scientifically at the Bach Archive Leipzig, beginning that year. From 2001, he directed the Referat Forschung I, was the scientific Referent of the library and curator of the collection of manuscripts. Wollny was habilitated in 2009 at the

, writing "Studien zum Stilwandel in der protestantischen Figuralmusik des mittleren 17. Jahrhunderts" (Studies about the change in style in the Protestant figurative music of the mid 17th century). He has been director of the Bach Archive from 2014, and was instrumental in returning the manuscript score of ''O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort'', BWV 20, to Leipzig. In 2019, the Bach Archive acquired vocal books (''Stimmbücher'') of the final movement, " Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder", of the ''St Matthew Passion'' which can be dated to Berlin in the 1770s, proving that Bach's sacred music was performed at least in private circles at that time. Wollny is

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

of the Bach Archive's

Bachfest Leipzig The Bachfest Leipzig (Leipzig Bach Festival) is a music festival which takes place annually, in the month of June, in the city of Leipzig, where J. S. Bach worked as the Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750. The current artistic director ...

festival. Wollny has been professor at the University of Leipzig since 2014. He has also taught regularly in Dresden, and as a guest in Weimar, and the Universität der Künst and

Humboldt University 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 of ...

in Berlin. He received an honorary doctorate of the University of Uppsala in 2020. Wollny has contributed to the

and has been a member of the editor team (General Editor) of the collected works of Bach's son, '' Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works'', the edition of C. P. E. Bach's works. He has been the editor of the Jahrbuch Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik from 2002, and of the

Bach-Jahrbuch The ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' ("Bach yearbook" or according to the publication's website "Bach Annals") is an Periodical literature, annual publication related to the composer Bach. It is published in German by the Neue Bachgesellschaft in Leipzig. It is t ...

(Bach Annals) from 2005. His publications focus on the

Bach family The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the Baroque music, baroque and Classical period (music), classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann ...

and the music history of the 17th and 18th centuries.

References

External links

Peter Wollny
homepages.bw.edu * * * Peter Wollny

Lehmstedt 2021
Peter Wollny / 1961 / Publications

Carus-Verlag Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart. Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...

Peter Wollny, Prof. Dr.
Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig
The Bach Edition from the possession of Gustav Mahler
Bach Archive Leipzig {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollny, Peter 1961 births Living people German musicologists Bach scholars University of Music and Theatre Leipzig faculty University of Cologne alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni