Oscar Sonneck
Born6 October 1873 Edit this on Wikidata
Jersey City Edit this on Wikidata
Died30 October 1928 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 55)
OccupationLibrarian Edit this on Wikidata

Oscar George Theodore Sonneck (October 6, 1873 – October 30, 1928) was a U.S. librarian, editor, and musicologist.

Biography

Sonneck was born in Jersey City. He studied philosophy and musicology in Germany at the universities of Heidelberg and Munich.

From 1902 to 1917, he was head of the music division of the Library of Congress, and as such created a significant music library. Since 1915, he was also editor of The Musical Quarterly. As a writer, he specialized in the history of early (before the 19th century) American music. He died in New York City, aged 55.

The Society for American Music was created in his honor, and initially named after him.

As a writer, he specialized in the history of American music, and his publications laid the foundation for the scholarly study of music in the U.S.[1] Sonneck understood how important a bibliographical basis was for making musical studies. As a documentary historian, bibliographer, cataloguer, editor and critic, Oscar Sonneck is recognized as the first scholar of early music in America.[2]

From 1918, he was honorary librarian of the New York Beethoven Association. The collection of Beethoveniana he built up came to the New York Public Library in 1940.[3]

Works

  • A Bibliography of Early Secular American Music (1905, rev. ed. 1945)
  • Early Concert-Life in America (1907)
  • Report on "The Star-Spangled Banner", "Hail Columbia", "America", "Yankee Doodle" (1909)
  • The Star-Spangled Banner (1914)
  • Catalogue of Opera Librettos Printed before 1800 (2 vol., 1914)
  • Early Opera in America (1915)
  • Vier pessimistische Lieder, op. 17 (Universal-Edition Ä.G., Vienna & New York, 1922)

References

  1. ↑ "Oscar Sonneck Musicologist, Librarian, Editor". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Sonneck, Oscar George Theodore". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-07-28.
  3. ↑ "Happy 240th, Beethoven! And thank you, Beethoven Association". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 2023-07-28.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.