Manfred Bukofzer

Manfred Fritz Bukofzer (born March 27, 1910 in Oldenburg , † December 7, 1955 in Berkeley , California , USA ) was a German-American musicologist and humanist .

life and work

He studied at the University of Heidelberg and at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin . In 1933 he fled Germany to Basel , where he received his doctorate. In 1939, Bukofzer went to the USA, where he settled and later became a US citizen. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley from 1941 until his untimely death.

Bukofzer became known as a historian of early music, especially the Baroque era . His book Music in the Baroque Era is still one of the standard reference books on the subject, although some modern historians insinuate that it was written from a 'German' point of view, since, for example, he explored the importance of Italian opera during the development of the I did not take sufficient account of the musical style of the 17th century.

Beyond baroque music, Bukofzer was a specialist in English music and music theory from the 14th to the 16th century. His other scientific interests were jazz and ethnic music.

Works

• History of the English treble and the Fauxbourdons according to the theoretical sources , collection of musicological treatises Volume 21, Strasbourg: Heitz 1936
• Music in the Baroque Era , New York: WW Norton & Co. 1947, ISBN 0-393-09745-5
• The Place of Musicology in American Institutions of Higher Learning , New York: The Liberal Arts Press Inc. 1957

literature

• David D. Boyden: In Memoriam: Manfred F. Bukofzer (1910-1955) , in: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 3 (July 1956), pp. 291-301
• Bernhold Schmid: Manfred Bukofzer in correspondence with Thomas Mann , in: Festschrift for Horst Leuchtmann for his 65th birthday, ed. by Stephan Hörner and Bernhold Schmid , Tutzing: Hans Schneider 1993, pp. 311–321
• Werner Röder; Herbert A. Strauss (Ed.): International Biographical Dictionary of Central European Emigrés 1933-1945 . Volume 2.1. Munich: Saur, 1983 ISBN 3-598-10089-2 , p. 169