Pubblicazioni

In 1913 Curt Sachs (1881–1959) saw the publication of his book Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, probably the most comprehensive survey of musical instruments in 200 years, conceived by the German pioneer of instrument research. The value of Sachs's Real-Lexikon hardly needs mentioning: it covers instruments from all peoples and nations from Greek auloi to Chinese temple instruments to Peruvian silvadores; it emphasizes philological aspects of the names of instruments, rendering their names in Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit. Over the course of many decades, Sachs annotated his personal copy with corrections and additions. Based on this work, his wife Irene Sachs issued a second edition five years after his passing. It contains 600 emendations incorporated into the body of the book and 500 new entries dedicated to folk and non-European instruments that are grouped together alphabetically in a supplement at the end, along with the requisite supplementary bibliography. The revised and enlarged version preserves the 200 line drawings of the first edition.

Between 1962 and 1966 Wolfgang Suppan (1933–2015) conceived the only existing encyclopedia on the musical culture of Styria, an extensive work of seven volumes. Its content was heavily rooted in the collection of the Wamlek family. Hans Wamlek (1892–1959), a writer and composer based in Graz, conceived the vision of the lexicon and had collected original manuscripts, iconography, and correspondence of Styrian composer since the 1930s. Circumstances prevented publication. In 1957 Suppan picked up the threads and transformed the content into the Steirisches Musiklexikon. Forty years later he issued a completely revised edition, which remained a historical reference work focusing on regional aspects. It contains information not found anywhere else (e.g., Franz Liszt’s visit to Styria in June 1846, and information on Styria’s dynastic musical families) and provides solid entries on the music history of individual cities. It excludes post–1945 developments.