Do you know music by Gioseffo Zarlino, Johann Mattheson, or Heinrich Schenker? Thanks to my dear students and their widespread interests, I felt inclined to go beyond the well-known treatises and textbooks of European music scholarship, and to dig a bit deeper to see what those scholars contributed in the domain of musical composition. The playlist Music by Theorists is, if you will, the side effect of a seminar on the history of music theory which I had the pleasure to give at Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf. I believe that many of these pieces are worth being disclosed from obscurity—and, of course, there is still much more to discover. For now I hope you enjoy this selection of preciosities as much as I did.
Autocracy at DTKV Berlin
The current issue of nmz features an interview with Detlef Bensmann, chairman of Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband Berlin, who maintains that his aim is to unify and pacify the professional body. So how is it that he refuses to communicate with critical members and ignores diverging opinions? In the last general assembly I got most of the votes for the position of the second deputy chairman—yet the person supervising the election failed to initiate a second ballot. However, Bensmann since denies any collaboration, plans to avoid the election to be completed, and prevents me from introducing my ideas to the executive board. Instead, he threatens to expel me from the organisation. This is how efficient association work and representation of Berlin’s freelance musicians is ruled out.
Medtner Talk in Leipzig
Dear devotees and scholars of Russian music: this is an invitation to my forthcoming musicological lecture on Thursday, January 30, 3 pm, which will see me delving into biographical studies for the first time. In the framework of a conference on Eastern European émigré culture at Zentrum für Musikwissenschaft Leipzig, I will be presenting an English-language paper titled »Decision, Hope, and Resignation«, examining Nikolai Medtner‘s stay in Berlin (1921–24) and the personal and artistic implications associated to that period. Admission is free, so please stop by if you are around! The conference will also cover aspects of emigration from Poland, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Hungary. — Full schedule available here.
Obituary for Linda
This is to commemorate Linda Shaver-Gleason who passed away last week, aged 36. A public musicologist, as she used to refer to herself, Linda appeared as a scholar of Mendelssohn’s reception history, as a highly valued author writing for diverse outlets, and not least as an influential blogger who reached out via her own website Not Another Music History Cliché. Her eloquence, commitment, and courage will be missed. May she rest in peace and her legacy continue.
Musicians Craving for Recognition
I find it deplorable that executives of the largest professional body of musicians in Germany, Deutscher Tonkünstlerverband, present themselves with misleading or plainly wrong information regarding their actual occupation. Here are three examples:
(1) Saxophonist Detlef Bensmann, current chairman of DTKV Berlin, claims to be a professor on his Instagram account. In fact, he holds no such position at any public institution.
(2) Flutist Adelheid Krause-Pichler, current vice president of DTKV Germany, refers to herself as a composer on her website. In fact, she does not appear in public with her own compositions, provided there are any.
(3) Composer Gabriel Iranyi, former board member of DTKV Berlin, claims to be a musicologist in several places. In fact, he has never published or lectured substantially in this discipline.
