Ludwig Finscher: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|German musicologist (1930–2020)}}

| name = Ludwig Finscher

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|03|14|df=y}}

| birth_place = [[Kassel]], [[Province of Hesse-Nassau|Hesse-Nassau]], [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Weimar Republic|Germany]]

| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|06|30|1930|03|14|df=y}}

| death_place = [[Wolfenbüttel]], [[Lower Saxony]], [[Germany]]

| education = [[University of Göttingen]]

| occupation = {{plainlist|

| awards = {{plainlist|

'''Ludwig Finscher''' (14 March 1930 – {{spnd}}30 June 2020) was a German musicologist. He was a professor of [[music history]] at the [[University of Heidelberg]] from 1981 to 1995 and editor of the encyclopedia ''[[Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart]]''.<ref name="Lütteken" /> He is respected internationally as an authority on the history of [[Classical music|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.

Born in [[Kassel]], the youngest of five siblings,<ref name="Munzinger" /> Finscher studied [[musicology]], English, German and philosophy at the [[University of Göttingen]] from 1949 to 1954.<ref name="Munzinger" /> Students at the same time included [[Gerhard Croll]], [[Carl Dahlhaus]] and [[Rudolf Stephan]].<ref name="Lütteken" /><ref name="Munzinger" /> He earned a [[doctorate]] with a thesis about the [[Mass (music)|mass]]es and [[motet]]s by [[Loyset Compère]], with advisor [[Rudolf Gerber]].<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Milano Zurigo" /> From 1955 to 19601954, he worked for the [[Deutsches Volksliedarchiv]] (German archive of folk songs) in [[Freiburg im Breisgau]].<ref name="Mainz" /> He returned to Göttingen in 1955, working as a freelance journalist and music critic in Göttingen.<ref name="Munzinger" /> He became ana scientific assistant to [[Walter Wiora]] in 1960, first at the [[University of Kiel]] and from 1965 at the [[University of Saarbrücken]].<ref>{{cite news |date=2 July 2020 |title=Leitfigur der Musikwissenschaft – Ludwig Finscher 90-jährig gestorben |url=https://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/leitfigur-der-musikwissenschaft-ludwig-finscher-90-jaehrig-gestorben |work=[[neue musikzeitung]] |location=Regensburg |language=de |access-date=2 July 2020}}</ref> In 1967 he obtained his [[habilitation]] in Saarbrücken with the work ''Das klassische Streichquartett und seine Grundlegung durch Joseph Haydn'' (The classical [[string quartet]] and its foundation by [[Joseph Haydn]]).<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Milano Zurigo" /> From 1968 to 1981, he held a chair for musicology at the [[Goethe University Frankfurt|University of Frankfurt]], and from 1981 until his retirement in 1995 the same position at the [[University of Heidelberg]].<ref name="Lütteken" /><ref name="Milano Zurigo" />

Finscher was president of the {{Ill|[[Gesellschaft für Musikforschung|de}}]] (Society for music research) from 1974 to 1977 and the [[International Musicological Society]] from 1977 to 1981.<ref name="Munzinger" /><ref name="Milano Zurigo" />

One of Finscher's most important meritsaccomplishments iswas 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.<ref name="Lütteken" /><ref name="Eggebrecht" /> His extensive works on [[string quartet]]s, [[chamber music]] and [[Joseph Haydn]] are regarded as musicological standard worksstandards,<ref name="Eggebrecht" /> as is the two-volume ''Music of the 15th and 16th centuries''.<ref name="Lütteken" />

{{quote|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. <ref name="Milano Zurigo" />}}

* ''Die Messen und Motetten Loyset Compères''<ref>[https://www.worldcat.org/title/messen-und-motetten-loyset-comperes/oclc/720383319&referer=brief_results ''Die Messen und Motetten Loyset Compères''] on [[WorldCat]]</ref> (dissertation)

* ''[[Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart]]''<ref name="Hagedorn" /><ref name="Eggebrecht" />

* 19951994 [[Pour le Mérite]]<ref>{{cite web |date=1994 |title=Pour le Mérite: Ludwig Finscher |url=http://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/finscher1930_vita.pdf |work=www.orden-pourlemerite.de |location= |publisher= |access-date=1 July 2020}}</ref>

*: {{quote|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 {{lang|de|Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}, which makes the newest research accessible to a wide circle of musicians and music lovers.<ref name="Milano Zurigo" />}}<!--* 2009 Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der [[Universität des Saarlandes]]-->

| authorlinkauthor-link = Laurenz Lütteken

[[Category:PeopleWriters from Kassel]]

[[Category:20th-century German musicologists]]

[[Category:20th-centuryInternational musicologistsMusicological Society presidents]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Kiel faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of Heidelberg University faculty]]