Reinhold Brinkmann (21 August 1934,

Wildeshausen Wildeshausen (Low Saxon: ''Wilshusen'') is a town and the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated by the river Hunte. History In 1648, Wildeshausen and the surrounding district was ceded to Sweden, in the Peace ...

, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony – 10 October 2010, Eckernförde, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein) was a German musicologist. Brinkmann was born in

and studied at Freiburg im Breisgau. His dissertation was about

Arnold Schönberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's Klavierstücke op. 11. He started working on the faculty of

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

in 1970. From 1972 to 1980 he taught at Philipps-Universität Marburg, and then until 1985 again in Berlin, at the

Universität der Künste Berlin The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. After 1985 he taught 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 ...

, as the James Edward Ditson professor, and chair of the department of music. In 2001 he was honored with the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. In 2006 he was elected Honorary Member of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

. His research has included widely diverse publications in all areas of music theory and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from the 18th to the 20th centuries, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary aspects. His writings examined subjects such as the Second Viennese School (especially Arnold Schoenberg), the Romantic Lied tradition, Richard Wagner, Alexander Scriabin, Edgard Varèse,

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 ...

, and Charles Ives. His last, unfinished project, which drew Brinkmann back to Berlin, according to the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', had the working title "Das verzerrte Sublime: eine Analyse des Umgangs mit der großen musikalischen Überlieferung im Dritten Reich."

Selected writings

*''Richard Wagner: Von der Oper zum Musikdrama''. Bern: Francke 1978. *(ed.) ''Improvisation und neue Musik. 8 Kongressreferate.'' Mainz: Schott 1979. *(ed.) ''Musik im Alltag. 10 Kongressbeiträge.'' Mainz: Schott 1980.
''Late Idyll: The Second Symphony of Johannes Brahms''
translated by Peter Palmer,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

, 1997. *''Arnold Schönberg: Drei Klavierstücke Op. 11. Studien zur frühen Atonalität bei Schönberg. 2., durchges. Aufl. mit einem neuen Vorwort''. Stuttgart: Steiner 2000. *"Musik nachdenken." Reinhold Brinkmann und

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

im Gespräch. Regensburg: ConBrio 2001.
''Music of My Future: The Schoenberg Quartets and Trio''
edited by Reinhold Brinkmann and Christoph Wolff, Harvard University Press, 2001. *''Vom Pfeifen und von alten Dampfmaschinen. Aufsätze zur Musik von Beethoven bis Rihm''. Wien: Zsolnay 2006.

References

External links

*
Interview with Reinhold Brinkmann

Obituary, ''Harvard Gazette''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkmann, Reinhold 1934 births 2010 deaths People from Wildeshausen German musicologists People from Oldenburg (state) Harvard University faculty Ernst von Siemens Music Prize winners