Silke Leopold (born 30 November 1948) 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 m ...
and university lecturer.
Life
Born in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, Leopold studied
musicology,
theatre studies
Theatre studies (sometimes referred to as theatrology or dramatics) is the study of theatrical performance in relation to its literary, physical, psychobiological, sociological, and historical contexts. It is an interdisciplinary field which also e ...
,
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...
and literature at the
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...
and the
University of Rome, besides also
singing
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or with ...
and
transverse flute
A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the embouchure hole, in a direction perpendicular to the flute's body length.
Transverse flutes include the Western concert flut ...
at the
Hamburger Konservatorium from 1969 to 1975.
[Silke Leopold, University Heidelberg](_blank)
/ref> From 1969 to 1980 she was member of the Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg (conducted by Jürgen Jürgens
Jürgen Jürgens (5 October 1925 – 4 August 1994) was a German choral conductor and academic teacher. He founded and directed the Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg, a pioneering ensemble for Monteverdi's music.
Biography
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Jür ...
). After receiving her doctorate in 1975 on the Roman Baroque composer Stefano Landi
Stefano Landi (baptized 26 February 1587 – 28 October 1639) was an Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque Roman School. He was an influential early composer of opera, and wrote the earliest opera on a historical subject: '' Il ...
, she spent three years as a research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Rome, then two years as a fellow of the German Research Foundation. As a research assistant to Carl Dahlhaus
Carl Dahlhaus (10 June 1928 – 13 March 1989) was a German musicologist who was among the leading postwar musicologists of the mid to late 20th-century. A prolific scholar, he had broad interests though his research focused on 19th- and 20th ...
, she has taught at the Technische Universität Berlin
The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...
since 1980, where she habilitated in 1987 with a thesis on poetry and music in the Italian solo singing of the early 17th century. After an academic year as visiting scholar
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
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 high ...
in 1985/86 and a substitute professorship in the summer semester 1988 at the University of Regensburg
The University of Regensburg (german: link=no, Universität Regensburg) is a public research university located in the medieval city of Regensburg, Bavaria, a city that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university was founded on 18 ...
she was appointed in 1991 as full professor at the and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold
The Hochschule für Musik Detmold is a university-level music school situated in Detmold, Germany.
Academics
The Hochschule offers performance degrees in composition, all orchestral instruments, piano, voice, opera, art-song, conducting, as we ...
.
From 1996 until her retirement in 2014, she was Professor of musicology and Director of the Musicological Institute of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. Leopold held numerous elective positions in the Academic Self-Government; from 2001 to 2007 she was vice-rector
A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...
for studies and teaching at Heidelberg University, where she was responsible for the conversion of courses to the BA/MA system and a sensible distribution concept for the newly introduced tuition fees. Leopold has been a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Academ ...
since 1999.
Research
Leopold's research focuses on the history of music from the 16th to the 18th century and on the question of how text and music combine to form an individual organism. She has studied this in connection with the Italian language and emphasized interdisciplinary approaches. This is reflected above all in her contributions to the history of opera. Leopold has published numerous books on this subject, a complete account of the 17th century opera, and writings on the operas of Claudio Monteverdi, Georg Friedrich Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
. Further focal points are historically informed performance, the relationship between musical text and performance, aesthetics of music
Aesthetics of music () is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of art, beauty and taste in music, and with the creation or appreciation of beauty in music. In the pre-modern tradition, the aesthetics of music or musical aesthetics expl ...
as well as questions of music historiography and the epochal classification of music. Since 2006 Leopold has been head of the research centre of the Südwestdeutsche Hofmusik of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences.
Miscellaneous
Parallel to her scientific career, Leopold develops extensive journalistic activities, as the communication of scientific findings to an interested public outside her peers is important to her. She moderates and writes broadcasts on topics from her specialist fields in broadcasting, has co-developed various radio formats, writes programme book texts and organises seminars and teacher training courses outside the university.
Publications
* Claudio Monteverdi. Biografie, Reclam/Carus, Stuttgart 2017, .
* Ich will Musik neu erzählen. René Jacobs
René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera.
Biography Countertenor
Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...
in conversation with Leopold, Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 2013, .
* ''Verdi – La traviata.'' Henschel Verlag, Leipzig 2013, .
* ''Händel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
. Die Opern.'' Bärenreiter, Kassel 2009,
* ''Die Oper im 17. Jahrhundert'' (= ''Handbuch der musikalischen Gattungen.'' Vol. 11). Laaber Verlag, Laaber 2004, (Unchanged special edition. (''Geschichte der Oper.'' Vol. 1). ibid 2006, ).
* ''„Al modo d'Orfeo“. Dichtung und Musik im italienischen Sologesang des frühen 17. Jahrhunderts'' (= ''Analecta Musicologica.'' Vol. 29). 2 volumes (vol. 1: ''Abhandlung.'' ; vol. 2: ''Notenbeispiele und Katalog.'' ). Laaber Verlag, Laaber 1995 (Zugleich: Berlin, Techn. Univ., Habil.-Schr.).
* '' Claudio Monteverdi und seine Zeit.'' Laaber Verlag, Laaber 1982, (2nd revised edition. ibid. 1993, ).
* ''Stefano Landi
Stefano Landi (baptized 26 February 1587 – 28 October 1639) was an Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque Roman School. He was an influential early composer of opera, and wrote the earliest opera on a historical subject: '' Il ...
. Beiträge zur Biographie. Untersuchungen zur weltlichen und geistlichen Vokalmusik'' (''Hamburger Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft.'' Vol. 17). 2 volume. Verlag der Musikalienhandlung Wagner, Hamburg 1976, (Zugleich: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 1975).
As editor:
* with Sabine Ehrmann-Herfort: ''Migration und Identität. Wanderbewegungen und Kulturkontakte in der Musikgeschichte'' (Analecta Musicologica 49), Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 2013, .
* with Norbert Greiner and Sara Springfeld: ''Das Sonett
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention ...
und die Musik. Poetiken, Konjunkturen, Transformationen, Reflexionen. Beiträge zum interdisziplinären Symposium in Heidelberg vom 26. bis 28. September 2012'', Winter, Heidelberg 2016, .
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ''Die Zauberflöte
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...
''. Aria: ''Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen'', facsimile and piano reduction, with an afterword by Silke Leopold, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2006 .
* in collaboration with Jutta Schmoll-Barthel and Sara Jeffe: '' Mozart-Handbuch.'' Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2005, .
* ''Guten Morgen, liebes Weibchen! Mozarts Briefe an Constanze.'' Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 2005, .
* with Bärbel Pelker: ''Hofoper in Schwetzingen. Musik, Bühnenkunst, Architektur.'' Winter, Heidelberg 2004, .
* with Thomas Betzwieser: '' Georg Joseph Vogler. Ein Mannheimer im europäischen Kontext'' (''Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Mannheimer Hofkapelle.'' Vol. 7). Internationales Colloquium Heidelberg 1999. Lang, Frankfurt am Main etc. 2003, .
* with Agnes Speck: ''Hysterie und Wahnsinn'' (''Heidelberger Frauenstudien.'' Vol. 7). Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 2000, .
* with Ullrich Scheideler: ''Oratorienführer.'' Metzler, Stuttgart etc. 2000, .
* with Joachim Steinheuer: '' Claudio Monteverdi und die Folgen.'' Bericht über das Internationale Symposium Detmold 1993. Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 1998, .
* with Robert Maschka: ''Who's who in der Oper.'' Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 1997, (Extended New Edition. ibid 2004, ).
* ''Musikalische Metamorphosen. Formen und Geschichte der Bearbeitung'' (''Bärenreiter Studienbücher zur Musik.'' Vol. 2). Bärenreiter, Kassel etc. 1992, .
Awards and memberships
* 1986 Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association
The Royal Musical Association (RMA) is a British scholarly society and charity. Founded in 1874, the Association claims to be the second oldest musicological society in the world, after that of the Netherlands. Activities include organizing and sp ...
.
* 1992 Member of the Central institute (now: Academy) for Mozart research of the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum
The International Mozarteum Foundation (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) was founded in 1880 in Salzburg with its primary concern being the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Closely affiliated with the Mozarteum University Salzburg, it w ...
.
* 1999 Full member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The Academ ...
.
* 2003 Corresponding member of the American Musicological Society.
* 2013 Corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
* 2018 Deutscher Musikeditionspreis 'BEST EDITION' for the publication of ''Claudio Monteverdi: Biografie''.
* 2019 Handel Prize
The Handel Prize (german: Händel-Preis) is an annual award, instituted in 1956, which is presented by the city of Halle, in Germany, in honour of the celebrated Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. It is awarded, "for exceptional artisti ...
of the city of Halle.
References
External links
Silke Leopold on the website of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
(with bibliography)
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold, Silke
1948 births
Living people
Writers from Hamburg
Women musicologists
20th-century German musicologists
21st-century German musicologists
Mozart scholars
Academic staff of Paderborn University
Academic staff of Heidelberg University
Handel Prize winners
Handel scholars
Monteverdi scholars