Chrysander, (Karl Franz) Friedrich
Chrysander, (Karl Franz) Friedrich
Chrysander, (Karl Franz) Friedrich, eminent German musicologist and editor; b. Lübtheen, Mecklenburg, July 8, 1826; d. Bergedorf, near Hamburg, Sept. 3, 1901. He began his career as a private tutor. In 1855 he received his Ph.D. from Rostock Univ. His major undertaking was a biography of Handel, but it remained incomplete, bringing the account only to 1740 (three vols., 1858–67; reprint, 1966). With Gottfried Gervinus, the literary historian, he organized the Deutsche Hân-delgesellschaft in 1856 for the purpose of publishing a complete ed. of Handel’s works. After the first vol. was issued in 1858, disagreements among the members caused Chrysander and Gervinus to carry the task alone. King George of Hannover granted them, in 1860, an annual subvention of 1, 000 thaler, which they continued to receive until the annexation of Hannover by Prussia in 1866; in 1870, Prussia renewed the subvention from Hannover; after the death of Gervinus in 1871, Chrysander continued the task alone. The resulting publication, Georg Friedrich Handels Werke: Ausgabe der Drutschen Handelgesellschaft (100 vols., Leipzig and Bergedorf bei Hamburg, 1858–94; 6 suppl. vols., 1888–1902), was a monumental achievement, but it was superseded by the new critical edition ed. by M. Schneider and R. Steglich (Kassel, 1955–). Chrysander also served as ed. of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (1868–71, 1875–82), to which he contributed many articles. He ed. an important collection of essays in the Jahrbuchfiir Musikalische Wissenschaft in 1863, and again in 1867. In 1885 he helped to found (with Philipp Spitta and Guido Adler) the Vierteljahrsschrift für Musikwissen-schaft, and contributed to it until 1894. His other writings include Über die Molltonart in den Volksgesangen (Schwerin, 1853), Über das Oratorium (Schwerin, 1853), and Handels biblische Oratorien in ge-schichtlicher Betrach-tung (Hamburg, 1897; 4th ed., 1922).
Bibliography
W. Schardig, F G: Leben und Werk (Hamburg, 1986).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire