<span class="vcard">Wendelin Bitzan</span>
Wendelin Bitzan

In Remembrance of Stephan

I am mourning the death of my friend and colleague Stephan Schönlau (1985–2024), who passed away recently during the Christmas holidays after a fierce battle against cancer for two and a half years. It is heartbreaking to lose a person of such sincerity, integrity, awareness, and kindness, and the more so if this person has been such a dear and valuable companion in professional and private life.

Stephan was a music theorist and lecturer at music universities in Berlin and Dresden. In his research, he opened up new perspectives on English and Italian Baroque music, and on the study of thoroughbass, passacaglia, and ground composition. As a member of the GMTH and its working group for international affairs, he co-established and coordinated the international lecture series of the society, and introduced his approaches to transcultural music theory and the integration of musics from a variety of origins in the classroom. In doing so, he contributed significantly to the advancement of the European music theory community. Moreover, Stephan and his husband, as a cross-continental and multiethnic couple, themselves were—and continue to be—a role model of diversity and plurality in many respects.

Stephan and I were in close exchange on a number of subjects, discussing the relations of music and politics, career paths in academia, and recent developments in European and American music theory. I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to be in touch with him. Our communication has broadened my mind and prompted me to challenge my own views on several occasions. May he rest in peace; may his graciousness in everything he was doing set an example for others who share his ideals and convictions; and may his family and friends find consolation and comfort in the idea that his work will be an inspiration to many people who have known and met him.

On the Relationship of Musicology and Music Theory

I pondered over the relationship of musicology and music theory in the German-speaking countries, and examined different aspects of collaboration, cooperation, and competition between the two fields and their protagonists. My article »Miteinander, nebeneinander oder aneinander vorbei?« (»Along with, side by side, or past each other?«) appears in Die Musikforschung 77, no. 4 (2024): 332–343.

Medtner’s Complete Songs

What an achievement! The first-ever complete recording of Nikolai Medtner‘s vocal music is finally finished, including 108 songs (some of them never recorded before), the Sonate-Vocalise, and Suite-Vocalise. With this 5-CD series, singer Ekaterina Levental and pianist Frank Peters have made a substantial contribution to the Medtner discography that can hardly be overestimated. Congratulations to everybody involved in the Medtner Project! Please follow this link for ordering and further information.

Seminar on Piano Sonatas

I am currently teaching a musicology seminar at Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf, focusing on piano sonatas of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While the works are considered in their particular aesthetical and genre-historical contexts, the primary approach is analytic, and we are examining the various conceptions of musical form and cyclic construction as seen in the music.

The start of the semester has been auspicious, with student presentations on works by Franz Liszt and Joachim Raff, besides sonatas by Josef Rheinberger, Edvard Grieg, Ethel Smyth, and Felix Draeseke. As the journey continues, we will delve into music by Peter Tchaikovsky, Mykola Lysenko, Leoš Janáček, Cécile Chaminade, Alexander Scriabin, Zara Levina, Béla Bartók, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Viktor Ullmann, and others. Moreover, we will have two guest appearances by pianists Kyra Steckeweh and Severin von Eckardstein who will introduce and perform sonatas by Dora Pejačević and Nikolai Medtner. I am looking forward!

 

Workshop: Creating OER for Music

On the occasion of the current International Open Access Week, I take the opportunity to acknowledge my conviction to publishing and providing my research and educational materials online and free of charges. In this context, I am glad to announce that I will be conducting an online workshop for the Netzwerk 4.0 der Musikhochschulen (in German language) on designing open educational resources and tutorials using the platform Open Music Academy. If you are teaching at a conservatory or music university, feel free to join the webinar! Please follow this link for more information and registration.

» Online workshop on creating OER for music content
» Thursday, 7 November 2024, 10–12 am