Barry S. Brook
Encyclopedia
Barry S. Brook was an American musicologist.
Brook received his masters’ degree from Columbia University, where he studied with P.H. Lang, Erich Hertzmann, Hugh Ross, and Roger Sessions, in 1942; he received the doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1959. He became a fellow at City College, New York (1940–42), continued at Queens College (1945–89), and founded the graduate program in music at the City University of New York in 1967; he served as the program’s Executive Officer until his retirement in 1989.
Dr. Brook taught frequently at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). In 1984, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique asked him to design a new doctoral program in musicology at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Along with his duties at City University, he spent much time teaching in that new program in Paris.
Brook’s research interests included Renaissance
secular music, 18th- and 19th-century music and aesthetics
, music iconography
, and the sociology
of music. He served as editor of a facsimile edition of the Breitkopf Thematic Catalogues (New York, 1966), an important source for the identification and dating of 18th-century compositions. His interest in music bibliography
and its history led him to found RILM
, the first international bibliography of music scholarship, in 1966; he served as the project’s Editor-in-Chief until 1989.
Although he was known principally for his work in classical music, in the later years of his life Dr. Brook became fascinated with ethnomusicology. He often sought out and trained budding music historians in how to bring their reports and studies of local music traditions into the mainstream, academic world of music history.
Brook received his masters’ degree from Columbia University, where he studied with P.H. Lang, Erich Hertzmann, Hugh Ross, and Roger Sessions, in 1942; he received the doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1959. He became a fellow at City College, New York (1940–42), continued at Queens College (1945–89), and founded the graduate program in music at the City University of New York in 1967; he served as the program’s Executive Officer until his retirement in 1989.
Dr. Brook taught frequently at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). In 1984, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique asked him to design a new doctoral program in musicology at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Along with his duties at City University, he spent much time teaching in that new program in Paris.
Brook’s research interests included Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
secular music, 18th- and 19th-century music and aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, music iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, and the sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
of music. He served as editor of a facsimile edition of the Breitkopf Thematic Catalogues (New York, 1966), an important source for the identification and dating of 18th-century compositions. His interest in music bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
and its history led him to found RILM
Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale
Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale , commonly known as , is an international bibliography of writings on music covering scholarly publications on all kinds of music and published in any language...
, the first international bibliography of music scholarship, in 1966; he served as the project’s Editor-in-Chief until 1989.
Although he was known principally for his work in classical music, in the later years of his life Dr. Brook became fascinated with ethnomusicology. He often sought out and trained budding music historians in how to bring their reports and studies of local music traditions into the mainstream, academic world of music history.