Wolfgang Schmieder (May 29, 1901 – November 8, 1990) was a German music librarian 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 ...
.
Schmieder was born in
Bromberg
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
(now
Bydgoszcz
Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...
, Poland).
[Eggebrecht, Hans. "Wolfgang Schmieder". ''Oxford Music Online''. 2001, https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.24954.] In 1950, he published the
BWV
The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...
, or Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis ("Bach Works Catalogue"), a catalog of musical works by
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 ...
. The numbering system used in the BWV has since become a nearly universal standard, used by scholars and musicians around the world. (BWV numbers are sometimes referred to as "Schmieder" numbers; the designations S 971 and BWV 971 therefore refer to the same thing, the
''Italian Concerto''.) Schmieder served as the Special Advisor for Music for the City and University Library at
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
from April 1942 until his retirement in 1963. He lived in
Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
until his death in November 1990 at the age of 89.
References
1901 births
1990 deaths
Bach scholars
20th-century German composers
20th-century German musicologists
20th-century conductors (music)
Music librarians
People from Bydgoszcz
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