Bernhard Ziehn (January 20, 1845 – September 8, 1912) was a German-American

music theorist Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the " rudiments", that ...

and

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

Biography

Ziehn was born in

Erfurt, Germany Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

.Winthrop Sargeant, "Bernhard Ziehn, Precursor," ''Musical Quarterly'' 19, no. 2 (Apr. 1933), p. 169-177. As he was trained to be a schoolteacher, music education played only a small part in his upbringing. Initially he taught briefly at

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's Central Germany (geography)#Geographical centre, geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen ...

before emigrating. He arrived in Chicago in 1868, teaching mathematics, German, history, and music at the German Lutheran School from 1868 through 1871. After a stint as an organist for a synagogue, he became a private teacher, publishing an extensive number of musical and theoretical articles.Siegmund Levarie, "Ziehn, Bernhard," ''Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online'', Oxford University Press, accessed February 2, 2015 (access by subscription)
His first theoretical works were published in 1881. His students included

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, Glenn Dillard Gunn, Julius Gold, Grace Chadbourne,

Regina Watson Regina Cohn Watson (April 23, 1845 – July 31, 1913) was a composer, pianist, and teacher who was born in Germany. Her family later moved to America, first to Detroit, then to Chicago, where Regina lived for the rest of her life. In 1873, she marr ...

, and Otto Wolf. Ziehn died in

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Theories

Ziehn refused to use Helmholtz's theory of harmonic structure based on physical phenomena. Rather, his ideas were based not on natural science, but on music itself. This was in contradistinction to

Hugo Riemann Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a mus ...

who sought to base his rationales on "scientific" reasoning (not entirely consistently). He praised

Anton Bruckner Joseph Anton Bruckner (; ; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his Symphonies by Anton Bruckner, symphonies and sacred music, which includes List of masses by Anton Bruckner, Masses, Te Deum (Br ...

while condemning

Eduard Hanslick Eduard Hanslick (11 September 18256 August 1904) was an Austrian music critic, aesthetician and historian. Among the leading critics of his time, he was the chief music critic of the '' Neue Freie Presse'' from 1864 until the end of his life. Hi ...

and Phillipp Spitta. His ideas were admired by

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (; 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishi ...

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, George P. Upton and others. Theodore Thomas reportedly changed details of his interpretations based on discussions with Ziehn.

Kyle Gann Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American composer, professor of music, critic, analyst, and musicologist who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 ...

, a fan of Ziehn's music and theories, says both that he, "had a considerable influence on the pre-war Chicago scene," and that, "his obsessive musical mind has been forgotten because he lived in Chicago, wrote in German, and was just too far ahead of his time."Recordings of Kyle Gann's Music
, ''KyleGann.com''.

Writings

*System der Uebungen für Clavierspieler und ein Lehrgang für den ersten Unterricht/System of Exercises for Pianoforte and a New Method of Instruction for Beginners (Hamburg, 1881) ilingual edn*Harmonie- und Modulationslehre (Berlin, 1887; rev. 2/1907 as Manual of Harmony) *Five- and Six-part Harmonies/Fünf- und Sechsstimmige Harmonien (Milwaukee and Berlin, 1911) ilingual edn*Canonical Studies: a New Technic in Composition/Canonische Studien: eine neue Compositions-Technik (Milwaukee and Berlin, 1912 ilingual edn abridged in Eng. as Canonic Studies, London, 1976); *ed. J. Goebel: 'Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Geschichte und Theorie der Musik von Bernhard Ziehn', Jahrbuch der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Historischen Gesellschaft von Illinois, xxvi–xxvii (1926–7) [double issue devoted chiefly to a collection of Ziehn's articles, with introduction by J. Goebel and 2 essays by T. Otterstrom

References

External links

Bernhard Ziehn Papers
a
the Newberry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziehn, Bernhard German music theorists American music theorists 1845 births 1912 deaths People from Chicago Musicians from Erfurt 19th-century German people [ ategory:German emigrants to the United States