Alan Walker Tyson, (27 October 1926 – 10 November 2000) was a Glasgow-born British

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 ...

who specialized in studies of the music of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. He wrote the (deliberately concise) ''Thematic catalogue of the works of

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...

'' which appeared in 1967 at Hans Schneider of

Tutzing Tutzing is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Starnberg (district), Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany, on the west bank of the Starnberger See. Just 40 km south-west of Munich and with good views of the Alps, the town wa ...

/Germany, with no following editions up to date. Tyson was Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

. One of his most celebrated publications was ''Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores,'' whose chapters detailed the study of

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

s in Mozart's

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

s as a method of dating the scores. This book also included several of Tyson's discoveries, such as the true ending to the '' Rondo in A for Piano and Orchestra,'' K. 386, which previously had only been known in a completion arranged for solo piano by Cipriani Potter and published in 1837. Tyson also established that the standard version of the second movement of Mozart's Horn Concerto in D, K. 412/514, was actually completed after Mozart's death by his pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Additionally, Tyson edited a noteworthy series of volumes entitled ''Beethoven Studies.'' His interest in watermarks and paper studies on Beethoven scores actually predated his involvement in those of Mozart. Prior to becoming intensely involved in

musicology 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, ...

, Tyson was lecturer in

Psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of mental illness. It includes the signs and symptoms of all mental disorders. The field includes Abnormal psychology, abnormal cognition, maladaptive behavior, and experiences which differ according to social norms ...

and Developmental

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from 1968 to 1970. He was co-editor of '' The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud'' for which he also translated some texts, notably '' Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood'' and '' The Psychopathology of Everyday Life''. He had read

Classical Moderations Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores''). Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ...

and Greats at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and medicine at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

Sources

Alan Tyson (Obituary)
The Guardian, 14 November 2000. *Alan Tyson, ''Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores,'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987. . **Ch. 17, "The Rondo for Piano and Orchestra, K. 386" (pp. 262–289), presents Tyson's discovery of Mozart's original ending. **Ch. 16, "Mozart's D Major Horn Concerto: Questions of Date and of Authenticity" (pp. 246–261) deals with Tyson's findings regarding K. 412/514. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyson, Alan Walker 1926 births 2000 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Beethoven scholars Mozart scholars Translators of Sigmund Freud 20th-century British translators 20th-century British writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British musicologists