Walter Howard Rubsamen (July 21, 1911 – June 19, 1973) was an American musicologist specializing in Italian music of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Ballad Opera The ballad opera is a genre of England, English ''comic opera'' stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier ''comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Sings ...

, as well as music and politics. He was professor of musicology at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA).

Career

Rubsamen was born in New York City. He earned a B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1933 where he studied with

Paul Henry Lang Paul Henry Lang (August 28, 1901 – September 21, 1991) was a Hungarian- American musicologist and music critic. Career Lang was born as "Pál Láng" in Budapest, Hungary, and was educated in Catholic schools. In 1918, as World War I was comi ...

Douglas Moore Douglas Stuart Moore (August 10, 1893 – July 25, 1969) was an American composer, songwriter, organist, pianist, Conducting, conductor, educator, actor, and author. A composer who mainly wrote works with an American subject, his music is genera ...

Daniel Gregory Mason Daniel Gregory Mason (November 20, 1873 – December 4, 1953) was an American composer and music critic. Biography Mason was born in Brookline, Massachusetts. He came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry Ma ...

, and

Seth Bingham Seth Daniels Bingham (April 16, 1882 – June 21, 1972) was an American organist and prolific composer. Biography Bingham was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, the youngest of four siblings in a farming family that soon relocated to Naugatuck, Co ...

. In 1937, he received a Ph.D. from the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

where his teachers included

Rudolf von Ficker Rudolf (von) Ficker (until 1919, Rudolf Ritter Ficker von Feldhaus; * 11 June 1886 in Munich; † 2 August 1954 in Igls) was an Austrian musicologist. Life Rudolf von Ficker was the son of the historian Julius von Ficker and brother of author/pu ...

and Otto Ursprung, taking his doctorate about the music of

Pierre de La Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vic ...

. He also studied flute in New York with

Georges Barrère Georges Barrère (Bordeaux, October 31, 1876 - New York City, New York, June 14, 1944) was a French flutist.Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001) Early life Georges Barrère was the son of a cabinetmaker, Gabriel Barrère, and Marie P ...

and

Meredith Willson Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902 – June 15, 1984) was an American flautist, composer, conductor, musical arranger, bandleader, playwright, and writer. He is perhaps best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the 1 ...

. In 1938, Rubsamen joined the music faculty at UCLA, becoming a full professor in 1955 and serving until his death in 1973. He was chairman of the music department from 1965 until 1973. He was awarded a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

twice, once in 1947 and again in 1957, and also earned a Ford Foundation fellowship. Rubsamen also served as president of the Dante Alighieri Society of Southern California from 1969 to 1970. He died aged 61. On February 27, 1976, the UCLA Walter H. Rubsamen Music Library was named in his honor.

Selected publications

* "Political and Ideological Censorship of Opera", in: ''Proceedings of the American Musicological Society'' (1941), pp. 30–42. * ''Literary Sources of Secular Music in Italy'' (Berkley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1943). * "Karl Huber of Munich", in: ''Musical Quarterly'' 30 (1944), pp. 266–233. * "Music Research in Italian libraries. An Anecdotal Account of Obstacles and Discoveries", in: ''Notes'' 6, No. 2 (March 1949), pp. 220–233. * "The Ballad Burlesques and Extravaganzas", in: ''Musical Quarterly'' 36 (1950), pp. 551–571. * "Schoenberg in America", in: ''Musical Quarterly'' 37 (1951), pp. 469–489. * "Descriptive Music for Stage and Screen", in: ''Hinrichsen's Musical Year Book'' 7 (London: Hinrichsen, 1952), pp. 559–569. * "Mr. Seedo, Ballad Opera, and the Singspiel", in: ''Miscelánea en homenaje a Monseñor Higinio Anglés'' (Barcelona: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1958–1961), vol. 2, pp. 775–809. * "From Frottola to Madrigal: The Changing Pattern of Secular Italian Vocal Music", in ''Chanson and Madrigal, 1480-1530'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964), pp. 51–87. * "The Music for 'Quant'è bella giovinezza' and Other Carnival Songs by Lorenzo de Medici", in: Charles Singleton (ed.): ''Art Science and History in the Renaissance'' (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967), pp. 163–184. * "The Earliest French Lute Tablature", in: ''Journal of the American Musicological Society'' 21 (1968), pp. 286–299. * "Unifying Techniques in Selected Masses of Josquin and La Rue: a Stylistic Comparison", in: ''Josquin des Prez: Proceedings of the International Josquin Festival-Conference held at the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center in New York City, 21–25 June 1971'' (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1976), pp. 369–400. * "Irish Folk Music in Midas, a Ballad Burlesque of the 18th Century", in: ''Report of the eleventh Congress, International Musicological Society, Copenhagen 1972'' (Copenhagen: Hansen, 1974), pp. 623–632.

Editions

Jacob Regnart Jacob Regnart (French: ''Jacques Regnart''; 1540s – 16 October 1599) was a Flemish Renaissance composer. He spent most of his career in Austria and Bohemia, where he wrote both sacred and secular music. Biography Regnart was born at Douai, one ...

: ''Puer natus est'' for six parts (New York, 1968). * Anonymous (16th century): ''Magnificat on Christmas Carols'' in four and five voices (New York, 1971). * ''The Ballad Opera. A Collection of 171 Texts of Musical Plays Printed in Photo-Facsimile'', 28 volumes (New York, 1974).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubsamen, Walter H. 1911 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American musicologists University of California faculty Columbia College (New York) alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni