William Oliver Strunk (March 22, 1901 – February 24, 1980) was an American

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

. Charles Rosen called him one of the most influential American musicologists of the 1930s to the 1960s.Rosen, Charles. "The Discipline of Philology: Oliver Strunk," collected in ''Critical Entertainments''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. He was known for his anthology ''Source Readings in Music History'' (1950) and his work on

Byzantine music Byzantine music () originally consisted of the songs and hymns composed for the courtly and religious ceremonial of the Byzantine Empire and continued, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, in the traditions of the sung Byzantine chant of East ...

Life and career

Strunk was the son of ''Elements of Style'' author William Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946). He attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

from 1917 to 1919 and again in 1927, studying under Otto Kinkeldey. While never earning a university degree, he received honorary degrees from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1936 and from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1970. He studied at Berlin University from 1927 to 1928 and then worked at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, becoming head of the Music Division in 1934. He began his teaching career as a lecturer at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in 1934, and in 1937 joined the faculty of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, becoming a full professor in 1950. Retiring from teaching in 1966 he moved to Grottaferrata,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, continuing his research on Byzantine music at the Abbey of Santa Maria (Badia Greca) there. Strunk served as president of the

Music Library Association The Music Library Association (MLA) of the United States is the main professional organization for music libraries and librarians (including those whose music materials form only part of their responsibilities and collections). It also serves cor ...

(1935 to 1937) and was a founding member of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

, as well as the initial editor of the ''

Journal of the American Musicological Society The ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal and an official journal of the American Musicological Society. It is published by University of California Press and covers all aspects of musicol ...

'' in 1948 and the president of the AMS from 1959 to 1960. He directed the ''Monumenta Musicae Byzantinae'' from 1961 to 1971. His scholarship was exceptionally broad, covering the notation of early

, the ''

ars nova ''Ars nova'' ()Fallows, David. (2001). "Ars nova". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan. refers to a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of ...

'', Renaissance

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, and

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

. He was one of the leading figures in post–World War II American musicology. His ''Source Readings in Music History'' (1950; rev. 1998 by

Leo Treitler Leo Treitler (born January 26, 1931) is an American musicologist born in Dortmund, Germany. He is distinguished professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Treitler studied at the University of Chicago, earning a B.A. (1 ...

) was and is a standard primary-source text for music historians.

Books

*''State and Resources of Musicology in the United States'' (Washington DC, 1932) *''Source Readings in Music History'' (New York, 1950, enlarged 2nd ed. 1998 by

) *(ed.) ''Specimina notationum antiquiorum'' (1966) * ''Essays on music in the Western World'' (New York, 1974) *(with Enrica Follieri) ''Triodium Athoum'' (1975) * ''Essays on music in the Byzantine World'' (New York, 1977)

References

Sources

* Kenneth Levy, "Oliver Strunk". ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'' online. *Harold Powers et al. ''Studies in Music History: Essays for Oliver Strunk''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1968. *'' Who Was Who in America'', volume VII (1977–81), p. 554 (Chicago 1981)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strunk, Oliver 1901 births 1980 deaths American expatriates in Italy Cornell University alumni Catholic University of America faculty Princeton University faculty Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America 20th-century American musicologists Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Scholars of Medieval music Scholars of Renaissance music Haydn scholars Palestrina scholars