Siegfried Wilhelm (von) Dehn (24 or 25 February 1799 – 12 April 1858) was a German music theorist, editor, teacher and librarian. Born in Altona, Dehn was the son of a banker and learned to play the cello as a boy. Intent on becoming a diplomat, he studied law in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

but also took music lessons from J. A. Dröbs. While attached to the Swedish embassy in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Dehn developed an interest in musical research, studying with

Bernhard Klein Bernhard Joseph Klein (6 March 1793 – 9 September 1832) was a German composer. Life Klein was born in Cologne. He married Lili Parthey (1800–1829) who was the sister of Gustav Parthey (1798–1872) and the granddaughter of Friedrich Nicol ...

. He was left destitute by the failure of the family bank in 1830 and decided to devote himself to music; he soon became known and respected widely as a musical theorist and teacher.Warrack and Deaville, ''New Grove (2001)'', 7:140. In 1842, composer

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera '' Robert le d ...

recommended Dehn to fill the post of custodian of the Prussian royal library. Dehn threw himself into cataloging the collection, bringing it into order and adding to it copiously from libraries all over

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. Among the collections he amassed were those of

Anton Schindler Anton Felix Schindler (13 June 1795 in Medlov – 16 January 1864 in Bockenheim (Frankfurt am Main)) was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Schindler moved to Vienna in 1813 to s ...

and

Georg Pölchau Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

; the latter was especially notable for its manuscripts by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

and

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

. Dehn was also editor of ''Cäcilia'' from 1842 to 1848 and professor of the Royal Academy of the Arts from 1849. On the death of Friedrich Konrad Griepenkerl in 1849, Dehn helped edit J.S. Bach's instrumental music for the Peters Edition. He was responsible for, among other works, the first publishing of the Brandenburg concertos. He also edited a large number of

Lassus Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Pales ...

motets. Dehn was widely respected as a teacher. His students included Albert Becker, Ludwig Bussler, Peter Cornelius,

Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, link=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka., mʲɪxɐˈil ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recogni ...

, Heinrich Hofmann, Gustav Nottebohm, and

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the S ...

. He died in Berlin.

Works

* ''Theoretisch-praktische Harmonielehre mit angefügten Generalbaßbeispielen'', Berlin, 1840 * ''Analyse dreier Fugen von S. Bach und einer Vocalfuge von A. M. Bononcini's'', 1858 * ''Lehre vom Contrapunkt, Canon und Fuge'', 1859 * ''Orlandus Lassus Psalmi VII poenitentiales'' o.J. (Hg.) * ''12 Hefte mehrstimmiger Gesänge des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts'', o.J. (Hg.) ;Editions * Bach, J. S., WV 211Joh. Seb. Bach. ''Komische Cantaten. No. I. Schlendrian mit seiner Tochter Liefsgen (Coffee-Cantate:).'' Herausgegeben von S. W. Dehn. Interdum et Socrates equitabat arundine longa,

a. 1830 A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of ...

31 pp. (Partitur) * Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750), WV 1042 ''Deuxieme Concerto en Mi majeur pour le Violon avec Accompagnament de deux Violons, Viola et Basse…'', publie pour la premiere fois par S. W. Dehn artitur Leipzig, Peters (V. Nr. 3888)

a. 1875 A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of ...

20 lithogr.

Bibliography

*Warrack, John and James Deaville, ed. Stanley Sadie, "Dehn, Siegfried (Wilhelm)," ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition'' (London: Macmilian, 2001), 29 vols. .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehn, Siegfried 1799 births 1858 deaths German music theorists Musicologists from Berlin 19th-century German musicologists German librarians