Fischer, Kurt Von

Fischer, Kurt von, distinguished Swiss musicologist; b. Bern, April 25, 1913. He studied piano with Hirt and Marek at the Bern Cons, and musicology with Kurth and Gurlitt at the Univ. of Bern (Ph.D., 1938, with the diss. Griegs Harmonik und die nordlandische Folklore; publ. in Bern, 1938; Habilitationsschrift, 1948, Die Beziehungen von Form und Motiv in Beethovens Instrumentalwerken; publ. in Strasbourg, 1948; 2nd ed., 1972). After teaching piano at the Bern Cons. (1939–57) and musicology at the Univ. of Bern (1948–57), he was prof. of musicology at the Univ. of Zurich (1957–79). In 1965 he became co-ed, of the Archivfur Musikwissenschaft. From 1967 to 1972 he was president of the International Musicological Soc. He was general ed. of the series Polyphonic Music of the 14th Century from 1977 to 1992. From 1979 to 1987 he was president of the commission of the Repertoire International des Sources Musicales. He was honored with Feschriften on his 60th (1973), 70th (1983), and 80th (1993) birthdays. In 1980 he was made a corresponding member of the American Musicological Soc.

Writings

Die Variation (Cologne, 1956; Eng. tr., 1962); Studien zur italienischen Musik des Trecento und frtihen Quattrocento (Bern, 1956); Der Begriff des “Neuens” in der Musik von der Ars nova bis zur Gegenwart (N.Y., 1961); Die Passion von ihren Anfangen bis ins 16. Jahrhundert (Bern and Munich, 1973); Arthur Honegger (Zurich, 1977); T. Evans, ed., and C. Skoggard, tr., Essays in Musicology (N.Y., 1989); E. Schmid (Zurich, 1992); Die Passion: Musik zwischen Kunst und Kirche (Kassel, 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire