Theodore Baker (June 3, 1851"Passed Away," ''Musical America'' (Nov. 10, 1934), p. 32."Dr. Theodore Baker," ''Musical Courier'' (Nov. 3, 1934), p. 20. – October 12, 1934)"Theodore Baker," ''Reports of Deaths of Americans Abroad, 1835-1974'' (death certificate)
available through Ancestry.com (access by subscription). Most biographical entries in reference works provide his death date incorrectly as October 13. was an American

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 m ...

Biography

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Baker's early education occurred there and in Boston. He studied business but turned to music as a career, becoming an organist in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the co ...

. In 1874 he moved to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

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 betwee ...

where he studied with Oscar Paul. He attended

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

beginning in 1878 where he was awarded a doctorate in 1881. His dissertation, published in 1882 as ''Über die Musik der nordamerikanischen Wilden'' (''On the music of the North American Indians''), dealt with the music of the Seneca Indians, and was the first major work published on the music of American Indians. (Themes included in the work were used by

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and '' ...

in his ''Indian Suite''.) The material for his book was a result of Baker's living with the Seneca tribe in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

, where he was initiated as a member of the tribe and thus had incomparable access to resources for the study of their songs and dances. In 1890 Baker returned to the United States. In 1892, he became literary editor for the music publisher

G. Schirmer G. Schirmer, Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. The oldest active music publisher in the United States, Schirmer publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-know ...

, a job he held until 1926. During his tenure he translated a considerable body of books and '' libretti'' into English, and wrote often in the ''

Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'', a Schirmer publication. He published ''Baker's Dictionary of Musical Terms'' (1895) and most notably, ''

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in 2 ...

'' (1900), which was revised after his death by

Nicolas Slonimsky Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Сло́нимский), was a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer. ...

and then Laura Kuhn; as of 2007 is in its ninth edition. He translated Oscar Paul's ''A Manual of Harmony For Use in Music-Schools and Seminaries and For Self-Instruction'' (1885) and numerous other works published by Schirmer. After his retirement in 1926, Baker moved with his wife to Germany due to his wife's ill health. They made their home in

at the American Consulate. She predeceased him on September 3, 1934. He died at Dr. Teuscher's Sanatorium in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Notes

References

*Baker, Theodore. ''Über die Musik der nordamerikanischen Wilden''. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1882. *Baker, Theodore. ''On the Music of the North American Indians''. Reprint with translation. New York: Da Capo Press, 1977. *"Dr. Theodore Baker," ''Musical Courier'' (Nov. 3, 1934), p. 20. *"Passed Away," ''Musical America'' (Nov. 10, 1934), p. 32. *

H. Wiley Hitchcock Hugh Wiley Hitchcock (September 28, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan – December 5, 2007 in New York, New York) was an American musicologist. He is best known for founding the Institute for Studies in American Music at Brooklyn College of the City Un ...

, "Theodore Baker". ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'' (access through subscription). *

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was pub ...

, ed. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Volume 2, p. 45-6 (1980)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Theodore 1851 births 1934 deaths American musicologists American publishers (people) American translators American expatriates in Germany