Gerhard Croll (25 May 1927 – 26 October 2019) was a German-Austrian

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 ...

Life

Born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Croll studied

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

at the

Robert Schumann Hochschule Robert Schumann Hochschule is a school for music studies at university level in Düsseldorf, Germany. It has a student body of some 850 from over forty countries. Forty-seven full-time and part-time faculty and two hundred associate professors pr ...

and

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, ...

with Rudolf Gerber at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in 1954 with his thesis on ''Das Motettenwerk von

Gaspar van Weerbeke Gaspar van Weerbeke ( – after 1516) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance. He was of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, but unique in his blending of the contemporary Italian style with the older Burgundian style of Dufay. L ...

''. After his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1961, he became involved with the study of the operas of

Agostino Steffani Agostino Steffani (25 July 165412 February 1728) was an Italian bishop, polymath, diplomat and composer. Education Steffani was born at Castelfranco Veneto on 25 July 1654. As a boy he was admitted as a chorister at San Marco, Venice. Steff ...

. From 1966 to 1993 he was professor and founding lecturer for musicology at the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...

. He was co-founder of the musicological institute (Salzburg Music History, Dance and Music Theatre and Bernhard-Paumgartner-Archive). Since 1955 he was a member of the New Mozart Edition. From 1960 to 1990 he was director of the

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

Complete Edition. In 1986 he founded the International Gluck Society. He was a member of the Central Institute for

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 ...

research in Salzburg. He was also an honorary member of the

Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum The International Mozarteum Foundation (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) was founded in 1880 in Salzburg with its primary concern being the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Closely affiliated with the Mozarteum University Salzburg ...

. As a musicologist with practical training, he always combined science and practice. With Bernhard Paumgartner, a much acclaimed performance of an early opera by

Emilio de' Cavalieri Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 155011 March 1602), or Emilio dei Cavalieri (the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors), was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of t ...

was given at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

. He founded the edition series "Monuments of Music in Salzburg" and initiated the recording of several disks with music from Salzburg archives. His research on Salzburg's music history and its lively cultivation was directed not only at Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart but also at Johann Michael Haydn, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Georg Muffat among others. He encouraged the restoration of valuable local instruments (Salzburg Claviorganum, Haydn grand piano) and contributed significantly to the restoration of the organs on the crossing porticoes in Salzburg Cathedral. Through his personal commitment he was able to acquire a number of important collections and estates (Rudolf Gerber,

Bernhard Paumgartner Bernhard Paumgartner (born 14 November 1887 in Vienna; died 27 July 1971 in Salzburg) was an Austrian conductor, composer and musicologist. He is most famous for being Herbert von Karajan's composition teacher at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, wher ...

Friderica Derra de Moroda Friderica Derra de Moroda MBE (2 June 1897 – 19 June 1978) was a British dancer, choreographer and dance teacher of Greek and Hungarian descent. Career Derra de Moroda was born in Bratislava, Kingdom of Hungary, the daughter of a Greek wri ...

) for the institute. By taking over the Derra de Moroda Dance Archives, an internationally important foundation stone for dance studies was laid. The life and work of

Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of th ...

were the focus of his scientific work. From 1960 to 1990, as head of the Complete Edition and later as director of the Salzburg Gluck Research Centre, he set new accents in Gluck research through numerous publications and music editions. As co-founder of the Gluck Festival in the composer's home region, he rendered great services to the maintenance of Gluck's oeuvre. The close connection to musical practice was also reflected in his teaching activities and his lifelong contacts with great musical personalities. An intensive professional exchange took place with musicians and conductors such as

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his musi ...

, Alan Curtis and

Diego Fasolis Diego Fasolis (born 19 April 1958) is a Swiss classical organist and conductor, the leader of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted operas in historically informed performance at major European opera houses and festivals, and has made award- ...

, and open-minded interpreters such as

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...

could be won for lectures on performance practice. The 'Collegium musicum' at the Institute of Musicology, which Croll had directed for many years, offered students the opportunity to explore the subject of their field by making music themselves. Croll promoted and accompanied the foundation of an ensemble for historical dance at the Institute for Musicology in Salzburg, which, under the long-standing direction of Sibylle Dahms, was dedicated to the practical implementation of dance sources. This enabled in particular the relationship between music and dance from the late 16th century to the 19th century to be researched and put into practice. Croll died in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

at the age of 92.

Prizes

* 1968: Mozart Medal by the Mozartgemeinde. * 2017: Citizen medal of the city of Berching

References

External links

*
Lebenslauf von Gerhard Croll
(PDF-Datei; 3,59 MB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Croll, Gerhard Austrian musicologists 20th-century German musicologists 21st-century German musicologists Academic staff of the University of Salzburg 1927 births 2019 deaths Writers from Düsseldorf German emigrants to Austria Robert Schumann Hochschule alumni

Life

Prizes

Further reading

References

External links