The State Institute for Music Research (german: Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung or ''SIMPK'') is a

musicological 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 ...

research facility 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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for the study of

Musical Instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

Music History Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

Music Theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

and

Music technology Music technology is the study or the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to compose, notate, playback or record songs or pieces; or to analyze or edit music. History The earlies ...

. It is an agency of the

Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...

and operates the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum.

History

The current Institute is a direct descendant of several institutions of the former

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. In 1888, a formalized collection of ancient musical instruments was established at the Prussian Royal Academy of Music. By 1902, the collection had grown substantially through the financial support of

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

. In 1919

Curt Sachs Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Erich ...

, one of the founders of the field of

organology Organology (from Ancient Greek () 'instrument' and (), 'the study of') is the science of musical instruments and their classifications. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how i ...

(the study of musical instruments), was appointed the first Director of the instrument collection. In 1917, an Institute for Musicological Research was also founded under the patronage of

Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe (german: Adolf Wilhelm Viktor; 20 July 1859 – 9 July 1916) was a German prince of the House of Schaumburg-Lippe and a Prussian General of the Cavalry. He was regent of the Principality of Lippe from 1895 t ...

Bückeburg Bückeburg (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Population: 21,0 ...

. At the start of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1933, Sachs was dismissed and forced to emigrate by the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. In 1935 a new National Institute for German Music Research was founded in Berlin, led by

Max Seiffert Maximilian Seiffert (9 February 1868 – 15 April 1948) was a German musicologist and editor of Baroque music. Biography Seiffert was born in Beeskow an der Spree, Germany, the son of a teacher. He was first educated at the Joachimsthal Gymna ...

, incorporating the old Royal College and the

Institute.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

then saw the nearly complete destruction of the Institute and the Museum. In 1943, the instruments, scores and library collections were evacuated from Berlin to protect them from Allied bombing. Despite extensive security, the majority were lost. In January 1945, "by Decree of the Reich Minister of Science, Education and Culture", the Institute was closed. At war's end, only 700 of the original 4,000 musical instruments survived. After the war, what remained of the Institute came under the direct control of the

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 ...

city government and a painstaking reconstruction began, with a focus on the valuable instruments collection. In 1949 it was given accommodations at

Charlottenburg Palace Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough. The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during th ...

. On the 200th anniversary of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

's death in 1950, the Institute held the first chamber music concert on historic instruments. In 1962 the Institute came under the administration of the newly created

, and the Department for Musical Acoustics was established in 1965 through a grant from the

Fritz Thyssen Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (9 November 1873 – 8 February 1951) was a German businessman, born into one of Germany's leading industrial families. He was an early supporter of the Nazi Party, but later broke with them. Biography Youth Thyssen w ...

Foundation. A ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for the Institute's current building in 1979 on the

Kulturforum The Kulturforum ( en, Cultural Forum) is a collection of cultural buildings in Berlin. It was built up in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of West Berlin, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wal ...

, which opened to the public in 1984.

Organization

Division I: Musical Instruments Museum

The Berlin Musical Instrument Museum or "MIM" collects instruments from the European

art music Art music (alternatively called classical music, cultivated music, serious music, and canonic music) is music considered to be of high phonoaesthetic value. It typically implies advanced structural and theoretical considerationsJacques Siron, ...

school from the 16th to the 21st century. It holds about 3,200 instruments, of which 800 can be seen on permanent display. Those that are playable are played regularly. It is one of the most representative collections in Germany in its diversity. The museum also operates a restoration workshop and has its own concert hall with an active program of chamber concerts.

Division II: Music Theory and Music History

This department conducts large-scale research projects in the fields of

and

from antiquity to the present. It also operates the Institute's library with a special focus on

and the

Second Viennese School The Second Viennese School (german: Zweite Wiener Schule, Neue Wiener Schule) was the group of composers that comprised Arnold Schoenberg and his pupils, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern, and close associates in early 20th-century Vienna. ...

.The conceptual plan to edit the correspondence of the Second Viennese School
/ref> It also manages the German National contribution to the RILM Abstract of Music Literature. Bibliographical work of the Institute is currently organized in the form of interactive database BMS ''online''.

Division III: Acoustics and Music technology

This Department researches

Recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

technology, services the Institute's Electronic equipment, and manages the full digitization its resources. One major project captures the sounds of the historic musical instruments in the Museum systematically and them develops mathematical models to describe them. Recordings from concerts at the Museum are also part of the tasks of the Department.

Digital recording In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage de ...

studio space allows it to create high-quality master CDs in-house.

References

External links

Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung
- official website {{Authority control Institute MusicResearch Buildings and structures in Berlin Musicology