Gerbert, Martin, Freiherr von Hornau

Gerbert, Martin, Freiherr von Hornau, eminent German music scholar; b. Hornau, near Horb am Neckar, Aug. 11, 1720; d. St.-Blasien, May 13, 1793. A student in the Benedictine monastery at St.-Blasien, he joined the order in 1737, became a priest in 1744, and then prof. of theology there. From 1759 to 1762 he made trips to Germany, France, and throughout Italy, collecting old MSS, particularly those on music history, of which he later made valuable use in his own works. He also visited Padre Martini in Bologna, corresponding with him from 1761 until Martini’s death in 1784. In 1764 he was elected Prince-Abbot of the monastery at St.-Blasien. His writings on music are De cantu et musica sacra (2 vols., 1774; reprint, 1968), Veins liturgia alemannica (2 vols., 1776; reprint, 1967), Monumenta veteris liturgiae alemannicae (2 vols., 1777–79), and Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica sacra potissimum (3 vols., 1784; reprint, 1905).

Bibliography

J. Bader, Furstabt M. G. (Freiburg, 1875); A. Lamy, M.G. (Rheims, 1898); G. Pfeilschifter, Die Korrespondenz des Furstabtes M. G. von St. Blasien (Vol. 1, 1752–73; 1931); E. Hegar, Die Anfange der neueren Musikgeschichtsschreibung urn 1770 bei G., Burney and Hawkins (Strasbourg, 1932); G. Pfeilschifter, A. Allgeler, and W. Miiller, eds., Briefe und Akten des Fiirstabts M. II.G. von St. Blasien, 1764–1793 (Karlsruhe, 1957).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire