Thomas Phleps (2 September 1955 – 5 June 2017) was a German

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist and

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 ...

Life

Born in

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southeast ...

, Phleps studieded at the

Philipps-Universität Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

and the

University of Kassel The University of Kassel (german: link=no, Universität Kassel) is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 prof ...

and completed his studies in 1981 and 1983 respectively with state examinations for the teaching profession in the subjects music, German and philosophy. Since 1983 he has been a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

for musicology and guitar in Kassel. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1987 with the work ''Hanns Eisler's "Deutsche Sinfonie". A contribution to the aesthetics of resistance''. Initially Phleps worked as a stage musician at the

Staatstheater Kassel The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated theater in Kassel, Germany. History A permanent theatre house existed in Kassel during the first decade of the 17th century. It stood immediately next to the Ottoneum near the State Theatre ...

. Since 1989 he worked as a teacher in

Bad Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and t ...

. In 1995 he was appointed to the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

. In 2000 he

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

there in the fields of musicology and

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. From 2001 to 2003 he was professor for music education at the

University of Bremen The University of Bremen (German: ''Universität Bremen'') is a public university in Bremen, Germany, with approximately 23,500 people from 115 countries. It is one of 11 institutions which were successful in the category "Institutional Strategi ...

, and since 2003 in Gießen. From 2010 Phleps was the editor-in-chief of the ''

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

Complete Edition''. Pfleps died on 5 June 2017 at the age of 61 in Kassel of a heart attack.

Publications

* Hanns Eislers "Deutsche Sinfonie". Ein Beitrag zur Ästhetik des Widerstands (Kasseler Schriften zur Musik 1). Kassel: Bärenreiter 1988, 389 pages. * Zwischen Spätklassik und Hip-Hop – Methoden und Modelle. Musikanalytische, musikhistorische und musikdidaktische Studien. 2000. * Zwischen

Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( , ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and composer. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critica ...

and Zappa. Semantische und funktionale Inszenierungen in der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts (Zwischen/Töne. Neue Folge 1). Berlin: Weidler Buchverlag 2001, 350 pages * Mein bester Freund in der populären Musik. Nachricht von den neuesten Schicksalen des lauten Schalls im deutschsprachigen Raum. Karben: Coda 2002, pages 94.

External links

* Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Musikpädagogik der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen – Ralf von Appen
Thomas Phleps (Nachruf)

Thomas Phleps in WorldCat

References

German musicologists Academic staff of the University of Bremen German classical guitarists German jazz guitarists Academic staff of the University of Giessen 1955 births 2017 deaths People from Bad Hersfeld 20th-century classical musicians {{Germany-music-bio-stub