Richard Hallowell Hoppin (February 22, 1913 – November 1, 1991) 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 ...

. His research centered around

medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

, the subject of his 1978 monograph.

Life and career

Hoppin received his BA from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

in 1936 after spending two years at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

''Ecole Normale de Musique''. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, obtaining his MA in 1938, and taught at

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private liberal arts university in Alliance, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until 2019. It had an enrollment of 2,100 students as of 2023. Histo ...

from 1938 to 1942. After serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he returned to Harvard, completing his Ph.D. in 1952. From 1949 to 1961 he taught at The

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, and from 1961 at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Hoppin's scholarship dealt primarily with

; he specialized in the

Music of Cyprus The music of Cyprus includes a variety of traditional, Western classical and Western popular genres. Cypriot traditional music is similar to the Greek folk music, traditional music of Greek music, Greece, it is most similar to Nisiotika the son ...

in the 14th and 15th centuries. He published ''Medieval Music'' in 1978, which is a standard English-language work in the field.

Books

* ''The Motets of the Early Fifteenth-Century Manuscript J.II.9. in the Biblioteca Nazionale of Turin'' (dissertation, Harvard U., 1952) * ''Medieval Music'' (New York, 1978; French translation, 1991; Spanish translation, 2000; Slovak translation, 2007) ith accompanying anthology

References

* Paula Morgan, "Richard Hoppin". ''

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoppin, Richard 1913 births 1991 deaths Carleton College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Mount Union faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Ohio State University faculty École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni 20th-century American musicologists American expatriates in France Scholars of Medieval music