Köchel, Ludwig (Alois Ferdinand), Ritter von
Köchel, Ludwig (Alois Ferdinand), Ritter von
Köchel, Ludwig (Alois Ferdinand), Ritter von, Austrian botanist, mineralogist, and music bibliographer; b. Stein, near Krems, Jan. 14, 1800; d. Vienna, June 3, 1877. He studied law at the Univ. of Vienna (graduated, 1827), and attained distinction in botany and mineralogy; music was his hobby. His love for Mozart’s art moved him to compile a Mozart catalog as methodically as he would a descriptive index of minerals. The result of this task of devotion was the monumental Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amade Mozarts (Leipzig, 1862; 2nd ed., by Waldersee, 1905; 3rd ed., extensively rev. by A. Einstein, who supplemented the “K numbers” used to identify Mozart’s works by secondary numbers, 1937; reprinted, with further alterations and corrections and suppl., Ann Arbor, 1947; 6th ed., a major rev, by F., Giegling, A. Weinmann, and G. Sievers, Wiesbaden, 1964; further supplementary material in the Mozart-Jahrbuch 1971-72, pp. 342-401, as prepared by P. van Reijen). Köchel publ. some supplementary matter in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (1864). He also publ. Über den Umfang der musikalischen Produktivität W.A. Mozarts (Salzburg, 1862), Drei und achtzig neuaufgefundene Original-Briefe Ludwig van Beethovens an den Erzherzog Rudolf (Vienna, 1865), Die Pflege der Musik am österreichischen Hofe vom Schlüsse das XV. bis zur Mitte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts (privately publ., 1866), Die Kaiserliche Hof-Musikkapelle in Wien von 1543-1867 (Vienna, 1869), and J. J. Fux Hofkompositor und Hofkapellmeister der Kaiser Leopold I, Joseph I, und Karl VI, von 1698-1740 (Vienna, 1872).
Bibliography
T. Konrad, Weltberühmt, doch unbekannt: L.R. v. K.: Der Verfasser des Mozartregisters (Vienna, 1998).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire