The formation of Music Science in the 19th Century

A treasure for music science has been found in Hamburg-Bergedorf at the beginning of this year: the partial estate of Friedrich Chrysander, born in 1826, consisting of about 900 letters. His name is linked to significant publications such as the Monuments of Musical Art, the Quarterly Journal of Music Science and the first complete edition of the works of Georg Friedrich Händel.

Picture: letters and correspondence cards from Friedrich Chrysanders’ estate

Looking into the life and publications of this „music scientist of the first hour“ facilitates a change of perspective on the history of the discipline of music science, which still fought for academic recognition at the time of Chrysander. Apart from the scientific debates Friedrich Chrysander also played an important role in the musical life of the 19th century. His partial estate consists of correspondences with conductors, composers and singers, which give fascinating insights into artistic everyday life – Chrysander was involved all the way from the rehearsals to the performance.

Lifting the treasure

Johannes Schröder and Johanna-Katharina Backhaus of the Institute for Historic Music Science dedicate themselves to these documents which are still in the possession of the family. In order to be able to take a deeper look at the treasure, it was necessary to conserve the documents by digitalizing them and ensuring an appropriate storage of the documents. The second work step was the transcription and textual exploitation of the hand-written material as well as the tracing of the replies of Friedrich Chrysander in order to facilitate a contextualization.

Student Exchange

During the third and current project phase Johanna-Katharina Backhaus and Johannes Schröder organize a student workshop at the Institute for Historic Music Science, where they will present their own results as well as the research work of other master students in April. The Hamburg participants are supported by the Keynote-Speaker Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen (Zürich) and Junior-Prof. Dr. Matthew Gardner (Tübingen) as well as two external student speakers in order to ensure a fruitful exchange an intensive discussion

Student research group

• Johanna-Katharina Backhaus
• Johannes Schröder

Mentor

• Prof. Dr. Ivanna Rentsch