Ludwig Finscher

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Ludwig Finscher
Born(1930-03-14)14 March 1930
Kassel, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, Germany
Died30 June 2020(2020-06-30) (aged 90)
Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany
EducationUniversity of Göttingen
Occupations
Organizations
Awards

Ludwig Finscher (14 March 1930 – 30 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of

University of Heidelberg from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.[1] He is respected internationally as an authority on the history of Western Classical music from the 16th century to contemporary classical music
, 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

University of Heidelberg.[1][3]

Finscher was president of the

Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (Society for music research) from 1974 to 1977 and the International Musicological Society from 1977 to 1981.[2][3]

He died in Wolfenbüttel on 30 June 2020 at the age of 90.[1][6]

Research work

One of Finscher's most important accomplishments was his editing, beginning in 1994, of the new edition of the encyclopaedia Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart in 28 volumes, for which he wrote or updated some 40 articles.[1][7] His extensive works on string quartets, chamber music and Joseph Haydn are regarded as musicological standards,[7] as is the two-volume Music of the 15th and 16th centuries.[1]

Finscher contributed to the complete editions of the works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, W. A. Mozart, and Paul Hindemith.[6][3] He was also co-editor of the Capellae Apostolicae Sixtinaeque Collectanea Acta Monumenta.[8] He published over 130 articles in anthologies and journals, aiming for simple wording accessible to lay readers as well as specialists.[3]

His approach was described by the Balzan Foundation:

All of Finscher’s publications are fundamental for further study and research. His writings always place the subject and the description of the sources in the foreground; his personal interpretation remains in the background, thus showing his great modesty. For Finscher, music history is part of the greater cultural, social and historical milieu, and he explains facts by their spiritual dependence on the philosophical developments in European thought. His approach is interdisciplinary and his understanding of music history is therefore different from that of musicologists of the past. His language is clear and understandable for non-specialists. When a topic might tempt other authors to use vague metaphors or unusual terminology, he prefers to express his opinion as simply as possible.[3]

Publications

Awards

  • 1994 Pour le Mérite[11]
  • 1997 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[4]
  • 2003 Honorary doctorate of the
    University of Zürich[1]
  • 2006 Balzan Prize, awarded on 24 November 2006 by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano in Rome[3]

    For his wide-ranging research activity in the field of musicology; for his penetrating, memorable insights into great works of music; for his profound commentaries on musical phenomena as well as his editorial direction of the new edition of the encyclopaedia Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, which makes the newest research accessible to a wide circle of musicians and music lovers.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lütteken, Laurenz (1 July 2020). "Voreilige Thesen und Verengungen blieben ihm fremd / Zum Tod von Ludwig Finscher". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Ludwig Finscher". munzinger.de (in German). 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ludwig Finscher – Balzan Prize History of Western Music". Milano Zurigo. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "✝ Prof. Dr. phil. Ludwig Finscher". Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz (in German). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. neue musikzeitung
    (in German). Regensburg. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b Lengersdorf, Jörg. "Zum Tod des Musikwissenschaftlers Ludwig Finscher". SWR (in German). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Eggebrecht, Harald (1 July 2020). "Jäger und Sammler". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Munich. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. ISBN 978-0-19-816734-1
    .
  9. ^ Die Messen und Motetten Loyset Compères on WorldCat
  10. ^ Hagedorn, Volker (21 June 2007). "Man muss nicht Klavier spielen können". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Pour le Mérite: Ludwig Finscher" (PDF). www.orden-pourlemerite.de. 1994. Retrieved 1 July 2020.

External links

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