Richard Münnich

Richard Karl Emil Münnich (born June 7, 1877 in Berlin ; † July 4, 1970 in Weimar ) was a German musicologist and music teacher .

biography

Münnich studied musicology, German literature and philosophy at the Berlin University and received his doctorate in 1902 with a dissertation on Johann Kuhnau's life. Between 1902 and 1905 he worked on the Obrecht Complete Edition and on the monuments of German music . From 1904 to 1908 he taught music history at the Riemann Conservatory in Berlin , from 1908 piano , music theory and aural training at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory there .

At the suggestion of Georg Rolle , Münnich also took a position as a singing and music teacher at a Berlin secondary school in 1908, where, from 1913 to 1934, he gained increasing influence in the field of music education . As one of the first study councils for music in 1924, he became a member of the examination offices a year later and in 1927 head of the first specialist seminar for school music instructors. At the same time he participated in the publication of the monthly for school music care (1918-1921) and the magazine for school music (1928-1934).

At the same time, Münnich, who founded the Association of Academically Trained Music Teachers in Prussia in 1918 , was intensely involved in school policy : in 1920 he was a participant in the Reich School Conference , in 1924/25 he was a member of the commission for the Richert school reform and from 1928 to 1932 a specialist advisor for school music in the Berlin Ministry. In 1934 Münnich, who had also worked at the Berlin Academy for Church and School Music from 1929 to 1933 , retired and moved to Naumburg (Saale) . In 1935 he was appointed professor of musicology at the Weimar University of Music , where he also took over the management of the Institute for School Music three years later (until 1947).

Since Münnich concealed his NSDAP membership (since 1932, previously DVP since 1919), he retained his position after the war and even took over the management of the musicology department from the beginning of 1948 to mid-1949. After his retirement in 1949, Münnich remained a lecturer until 1964. In 1957 he was made an honorary senator.

meaning

Although not undisputed, Münnich was the practice representative in the school music reforms of the 1920s ( Kestenberg reforms), especially as co-author of the guidelines of 1925, which were exemplary for all German states. In a tone syllable system called Jale (1930) he succeeded in highlighting the advantages of To combine tonic-do teaching and the Eitzian tone word . The major scale was called le, mi, ni, ro, su, wa, ja; by changing vowels and consonants a completely chromatized system was created. This system was used in music lessons in the GDR . Münnich's versatility as a music teacher in school, as a training lecturer in the first and second teaching phase and as a specialist politician made him a “picture-book school musician” for secondary schools. In the 1950s and 1960s, mediated by his students Albrecht Krauss (1914–1989) and Helmut Großmann (1914–2001), he became an absolute role model for Weimar school music.

Fonts

• Richard Münnich: JALE. A contribution to the question of the tone syllable and to school music propaedeutics , Lahr 1930

literature

• Wolfram Huschke: Richard Münnich , in: Ludwig Finscher (Ed.), MGG , Vol. 12, Kassel 2004

Web links

• Literature by and about Richard Münnich in the catalog of the German National Library