Osthoff, Wolfgang
Osthoff, Wolfgang
Osthoff, Wolfgang, eminent German musicologist, son of Helmuth Osthoff; b. Halle, March 17, 1927. He studied piano and theory at the Frankfurt am Main Staatliche Hochschule für Musik (1939–43), and then took lessons in conducting with Kurt Thomas and in theory with Kurt Hessenberg (1946–47). He subsequently studied musicology with his father at the Univ. of Frankfurt am Main (1947–49) and with Georgiades at the Univ. of Heidelberg (1949–54), taking his Ph.D. there in 1954 with the diss. Das dramatische Spätwerk Claudio Monteverdis (pubi, in Tutzing, 1960). He taught at the Univ. of Munich (1957–64) and completed his Habilitation there in 1965 with his Theatergesang und darstellende Musik in der italienischen Renaissance (pubi, in Tutzing, 1969). He became a lecturer at the Univ. of Munich in 1966. In 1968 he was named a prof. of musicology at the Univ. of Würzburg. In addition to many scholarly articles dealing with music history from the 15th to the 19th centuries, he also contributed to many music reference works.
Writings
(all publ. in Tutzing unless otherwise given): With J. Ruile-Dronke, Colloquium Alessandro Scarlatti (1979); with P. Cahn and J. Vogel, Gerhard Frommel: Der Komponist und sein Werk (1979); Symposium Hans Pfitzner (1984); with R. Wiesend, Bach und die italienische Musik (Bach e la musica italiana) (Venice, 1987); with R. Wiesend, Colloquium Klassizität, Klassizismus, Klassik in der Musik 1920–1950 (1988); Si. George und “Les deux Musiques”—Tönende und vertonte Dichtung im Einklang und Widerstreit (Stuttgart, 1989); Briefwechsel Hans Pfitzner-Gerhard Frommel 1925–1948 (1990); Hans Pfitzner und die musikalische Lyrik seiner Zeit (1994); with R. Wiesend, Mozart und die Dramatik des Veneto (1996); with P. Cahn, Hans Pfitzner-’Das Herz” und der Übergang zum Spätwerk (1997); with B. Guthmüller, Carlo Gozzi: Letterature e musica (Rome, 1997).
Bibliography
M. Just and R. Wiesend, eds., Liedstudien: W. O. zum 60. Geburtstag (Tutzing, 1989).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire