Ludwig Finscher (14 March 193030 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of

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 ...

at the

University of 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, ...

from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

''. He is respected internationally as an authority on the history of

Western Classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

from the 16th century to

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

, with a view on music in cultural, social, historical and philosophical context, in a clear language for both specialists and lay readers.

Life and career

Born in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, the youngest of five siblings, Finscher studied

musicology 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 ...

, English, German and philosophy at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

from 1949 to 1954. Students at the same time included

Gerhard Croll Gerhard Croll (25 May 1927 – 26 October 2019) was a German-Austrian musicologist. Life Born in Düsseldorf, Croll studied Kapellmeister at the Robert Schumann Hochschule and musicology with Rudolf Gerber at the University of Münster. He r ...

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 ...

and

Rudolf Stephan Rudolf Stephan (3 April 1925 – 29 September 2019) was a German musicologist. Life Stephan was born in Bochum. After studying violin at the conservatory, he entered the Institute of Heidelberg, where he studied musicology at the University unde ...

. He earned a

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 ...

with a thesis about the

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

es and

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s by

Loyset Compère Loyset Compère ( – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicians ...

, with advisor Rudolf Gerber. From 1954, he worked for the

Deutsches Volksliedarchiv The Deutsche Volksliedarchiv, a research institute for Volkslied (folk song) in German, was founded in 1914 and was integrated into the University of Freiburg in 2014, now called Zentrum für Populäre Kultur und Musik (Centre of popular culture ...

(German archive of folk songs) 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 ...

. He returned to Göttingen in 1955, working as a freelance journalist and music critic. He became a scientific assistant to

Walter Wiora Walter Wiora (30 December 1906 – 8 February 1997) was a German musicologist and music historian. Life and career Born in Kattowitz, Wiora received his doctorate in Freiburg with Wilibald Gurlitt and then worked as an assistant at the Deutsches ...

in 1960, first at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

and from 1965 at the

University of Saarbrücken Saarland University (german: Universität des Saarlandes, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in s ...

. In 1967 he obtained his

habilitation 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 ...

in Saarbrücken with the work ''Das klassische Streichquartett und seine Grundlegung durch Joseph Haydn'' (The classical

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

and its foundation by

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

). From 1968 to 1981, he held a chair for musicology at the University of Frankfurt, and from 1981 until his retirement in 1995 the same position at the

. Finscher was president of the

Gesellschaft für Musikforschung The ''Gesellschaft für Musikforschung'' (GfM) is a professional association of musicologists and institutes active in study, research and teaching in Germany. It has over 1600 members. The association is based in Kassel, Hesse. History The soc ...

(Society for music research) from 1974 to 1977 and the International Musicological Society from 1977 to 1981. He died in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest c ...

on 30 June 2020 at the age of 90.

Research work

One of Finscher's most important accomplishments was his editing, beginning in 1994, of the new edition of the encyclopaedia ''

'' in 28 volumes, for which he wrote or updated some 40 articles. His extensive works on

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

and

are regarded as musicological standards, as is the two-volume ''Music of the 15th and 16th centuries''. Finscher contributed to the complete editions of the works of

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

, W. A. Mozart, and

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

. He was also co-editor of the ''Capellae Apostolicae Sixtinaeque Collectanea Acta Monumenta''. He published over 130 articles in anthologies and journals, aiming for simple wording accessible to lay readers as well as specialists. His approach was described by the Balzan Foundation:

Publications

* ''Die Messen und Motetten Loyset Compères'' (dissertation) * ''

Awards

* 1994

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...

* 1997

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 2003 Honorary doctorate of the

University of Zürich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

* 2006 Balzan Prize, awarded on 24 November 2006 by the President of the Italian Republic

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

in Rome *:

References

External links

*
Literatur von Ludwig Finscher
in

Bibliography of Music Literature The Bibliography of Music Literature (BMS or BMS online, german: Bibliographie des Musikschrifttums) is an international bibliography of literature on music. It considers all kind of music and includes both current and older literature. Since 196 ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finscher, Ludwig 1930 births 2020 deaths Writers from Kassel 20th-century German musicologists International Musicological Society presidents University of Göttingen alumni University of Kiel faculty Heidelberg University faculty Haydn scholars Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)