Ludwig Nohl (5 December 1831 in

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

– 15 December 1885 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

) was a German writer and musicologist best known for discovering and publishing

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 ...

's famous

bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by wood ...

, "

Für Elise Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (WoO59, Biamonti Catalogue, Bia515) for solo piano, commonly known as "Für Elise" (, ), is one of Ludwig van Beethoven's most significant popular compositions. It was not published during his lifetime, only being disc ...

Life

After graduation from the Gymnasium in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

, Nohl studied jurisprudence at the universities in Bonn, Heidelberg, and Berlin, where he received instruction in music from Siegfried Dehn and Friedrich Kiel. From 1853 to 1856 he was a

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byza ...

and undertook journeys to France and Italy, and he also taught music in Heidelberg. In 1860 he wrote his thesis on Mozart and earned the rank of

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

for "History and Aesthetic of Musical Art." In 1864 he moved to Munich and made an introduction to

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, whose works he had praised in his writings. In 1865 he was awarded by King Ludwig II the title of Professor of Music at the University of Munich for his compilation of Mozart's letters. The university faculty, however, was disinclined to Nohl, and he was not given any teaching duties. In that year he discovered through the "industrial teacher" Babeth Bredl in Munich the now-lost autograph of Beethoven's Bagatelle Für Elise. The work was first published in 1867 in Nohl's book "New Beethoven Letters" (Neue Briefe Beethovens). From 1868 to 1872 he lived in Badenweiler and eventually returned to Heidelberg. In 1875, he was a Dozent at the polytechnic in Karlsruhe (predecessor to the

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Karlsruhe (), founde ...

) and became a full professor in 1880. He was one of the most widely read writers on music of his time. His many books went through many printings. His main legacy is as a Beethoven scholar, and a portion of his writings are housed at the state archive in

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nohl, Ludwig 1831 births 1885 deaths 19th-century German composers 19th-century German musicians Beethoven scholars German writers about music German musicologists 19th-century German musicologists