Otto Erich Deutsch

Otto Erich Deutsch (5 September 1883, Vienna – 23 November 1967, Vienna) was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of the works of Franz Schubert, first published in 1951 in English, new edition in 1978 in German. It is from this that the D numbers used to identify Schubert's pieces are drawn.

Life

Following his studies of art history and literature in Vienna and Graz, he worked as a lecturer at the Department of Art History of the University of Vienna. His specialization was the Biedermeier period, which led naturally to his interest in Schubert, whose life took place during this cultural era.^[1] His scholarly career was interrupted by the First World War, when he served in the Austrian army.^[1] Following the war Deutsch worked for a time as a bookseller.^[1] He also shifted his scholarly interests to historical musicology, eventually becoming music librarian, working in the archives of Anthony van Hoboken.^[1] In 1938, when Austrian was taken over by Nazi Germany in the Anschluss, Deutsch was forced to flee the country, as he was of Jewish origin. He lived in Cambridge, England, from 1939 to 1951, thereafter in Vienna again.

Deutsch was a close friend of Heinrich Schenker. His niece Sophie Deutsch studied with him until her premature death. Deutsch is interred in an honorary grave of the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 40, no. 12).

Scholarship

According to Jones, Deutsch's work was based on "an abiding belief that historical documents and iconographic^[2] evidence constituted the essential ingredients of biographical exposition."^[1] Hence, Deutsch composed "documentary biographies" of Schubert, Mozart and Handel; in them, the texts of the old documents are placed in chronological order, strung together with narration and commentary by Deutsch. In these biographies, Deutsch lets the documents speak for themselves, with his supplementary remarks providing clarifications, corrections, and context.

Deutsch also prepared conventional scholarly articles on these composers as well as on Joseph Haydn.^[1] He also edited and published musical texts, in particular Haydn's output of canons.^[1]

Works

• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1955). Handel: A Documentary Biography. ^[3]
• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965). Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford: Stanford University Press.  (English translation of Deutsch's German original. Eric Blom provided many translations for this work)
• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1995). The Schubert Thematic Catalogue. Dover Publications. ISBN 0486286851. 

Films

• D 795: Die schöne Müllerin. Otto Erich Deutsch – Ein Leben für die Musik. Film by Claus Spahn, ARD 1983, 60 min.

See also

• List of compositions by Franz Schubert
• Schubert compositions D number 1–500
• Schubert compositions D number 501–998

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Jones 2009
2. ^ i.e., pictorial
3. ^ "Review of "Handel: A Documentary Biography"". Music & Letters 36 (3): 269–272. July 1955. JSTOR 730975.  (subscription required)

References

• Jones, David Wyn (2009) "Deutsch, Otto Erich," in David Wyn Jones, ed., Oxford Composer Companions: Haydn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Persondata
Name	Deutsch, Otto Erich
Alternative names
Short description	Austrian musicologist
Date of birth	5 September 1883
Place of birth	Vienna
Date of death	23 November 1967
Place of death	Vienna