Karl Horak (musicologist)

Karl Horak (born March 7, 1908 in Vienna , † March 23, 1992 in Schwaz ) was an Austrian researcher in folk music , folk dance and folk drama .

biography

After studying at the University of Vienna (1925–1931), Horak initially worked as a high school teacher for geography and natural history, and later also for music. After initial engagements in Vienna and Linz, he worked in Kufstein from 1932 . As an autodidact, Horak had devoted himself to folklore field research in the Austrian federal states and German- speaking islands of Eastern Europe since the 1920s , partly accompanied by his fellow student Grete Kunz (1908–1996) from Lower Austria . On January 1, 1933, he married Grete Kunz, who also became his long-term research partner. In 1938 he became a member of the NSDAP . From 1940–1941 he worked under the direction of Alfred Quellmalz on musical field research in South Tyrol on behalf of the research and teaching group "Das Ahnenerbe" . In 1939 he took over the management of the Tyrolean folk song archive , which he held until 1945 and later from 1977 to 1986. In 1943 he evacuated the archive to Schwaz, where he now worked as the school director. Until recently, the versatile Horak remained a recognized scientist in the field of (especially Tyrolean ) folk music and folk dance research. In 1985 he handed over his huge private archive to the folk music archive of the Upper Bavaria district .

honors and awards

• Raimund Zoder Medal

literature

• Gerlinde Haid : Horak, Karl. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7001-3044-9 .
• Thomas Nussbaumer: Folk music in Tyrol and South Tyrol since 1900: from "real" Tyrolean songs, scenic musical stems, "cultivated" folk music, folklore and other manifestations of folk culture . StudienVerlag, Innsbruck-Wien-Bozen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7065-4656-0 , pp. 50–62 and 108–115.