Curt Sachs

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Curt Sachs

Curt Sachs (June 29, 1881 - February 5, 1959) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
musicologist

Musicology

Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture....
. He was one of the founders of modern organology

Organology

Organology is the science of musical instruments and their classification . It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification....
(the study of musical instrument

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
s), and is probably best remembered today for co-authoring the Sachs-Hornbostel scheme of musical instrument classification

Musical instrument classification

Erich von Hornbostel

Erich Moritz von Hornbostel was an Austrian ethnomusicologist and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs-Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs....
.

Sachs was born in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. In his youth, he studied piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
, music theory

Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
and composition

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
. However, his doctorate from Berlin University (where he was later professor of musicology) in 1904 was on the history of art

Art

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature....
, with his thesis on the sculpture

Sculpture

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Encyclopedia

Curt Sachs (June 29, 1881 - February 5, 1959) was a German

Germany

Musicology

Organology

Musical instrument

Musical instrument classification

Erich von Hornbostel

Berlin

Piano

Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
and composition

Composer

Art

Sculpture

Sculpture is Three-dimensional space artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly Stone sculpture , metal, glass, or wood....
of Verrocchio. He began a career as an art historian, but gradually became more and more devoted to music, eventually being appointed director of the Staatliche Instrumentensammlung, a large collection of musical instruments. He reorganised and restored much of the collection, and his career as an organologist began.

In 1913, Sachs saw the publication of his book Real-Lexicon der Musikinstrumente, probably the most comprehensive survey of musical instruments in 200 years. In 1914 he and Erich Moritz von Hornbostel published the work for which they are probably now best known in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, a new system of musical instrument classification

Musical instrument classification

At various times, and in various different cultures, various schemes of musical instrument classification have been used.The most commonly used system in use in the west today divides instruments into string instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments....
. It is today known as the Sachs-Hornbostel system. It has been much revised over the years, and has been the subject of some criticism, but it remains the most widely used system of classification by ethnomusicologists

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology is a branch of musicology defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts." ...
and organologists.

In 1933, Sachs was dismissed from his posts in Germany by the Nazi Party because he was a Jew

Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
. Sachs consequently moved to Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, and later to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, where he settled in New York City

New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. He taught at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private university, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan....
from 1937 to 1953, and also worked at the New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is one of the leading Public library of the world and is one of the United States's most significant research libraries....
.

He wrote books on rhythm

Rhythm

Rhythm is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events....
, dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to Motion of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of Emotional expression, social social interaction or presented in a spirituality or performance setting....
and musical instruments, with his The History of Musical Instruments (1940), a comprehensive survey of musical instruments worldwide throughout history, seen as one of the most important. His relationship with W. W. Norton & Company began with The Rise of Music in the Ancient World (1943). Although these works have been superseded by more recent research, they are still seen as essential texts in the field.

Sachs died in 1959 in New York City. The American Musical Instrument Society

American Musical Instrument Society

The American Musical Instrument Society was formed in 1971 "to promote better understanding of all aspects of the history, design, construction, restoration, and usage of musical instruments in all cultures and from all periods" ....
has a "Curt Sachs Award", which it gives each year to individuals for their contributions to organology.