Jeffrey Kurtzman

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Jeffrey Gordon Kurtzman
Born1940 (1940) (age 84)
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Jeffrey Gordon Kurtzman (born 1940) is an American pianist, musicologist and editor. A professor of musicology at the Washington University in St. Louis, he is known for his research on Italian sacred music of the 17th century, especially Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine . [1]

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Life

Kurtzman studied piano at the University of Colorado, graduating in piano performance in 1963. He studied musicology at the University of Illinois from 1965 to 1968, earning a PhD in 1972 with a dissertation entitled The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 and their Relationship with Italian Sacred Music of the Early Seventeenth Century. [2] He taught at Rice University from 1975, was appointed a professor in 1982, and has been a professor of musicology at the Washington University in St. Louis since 1986. [2]

Kurtzman is known for his research on Italian sacred music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, especially Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine . [3] He edited music by Monteverdi for Carus-Verlag, including the collection of sacred music Selva morale e spirituale and excerpts from it. [4] He authored a critical edition of the Vespro della Beata Vergine for Oxford University Press in 1999 and subsequently wrote a book, The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610: Music, Context, Performance. [5] A reviewer described it as "comprehensive" and "authoritative", covering Monteverdi's work in the context of his contemporaries, the music, and considerations for its performance. [5] He noted the author's knowledge and "keen musical instincts" in aspects of performance such as tempo, tuning, pitch and transposition, vocal technique, pronunciation and ornamentation, and continuo realization. [5]

Together with Anne Schnoebelen, Kurtzman published a catalogue of sacred music printed in Italy, around 2000 works for mass and other liturgical functions. [1] He edited the complete works by Alessandro Grandi and co-founded the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 A Companion to Music in Sixteenth-Century Venice. Brill's Companions to the Musical Culture of Medieval and Early Modern Europe, vol. 2. Brill. 2018. p. XIX. ISBN   978-9-00-435830-0.
  2. 1 2 "Jeffrey G. Kurtzman / Department of Music / Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Washington University in St. Louis . Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. "Jeffrey Kurtzman – Selected Bibliography". Society for Seventeenth-Century Music. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  4. "Jeffrey Kurtzman". Carus-Verlag . Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Saunders, Steven (March 2001). "The Monteverdi Vespers of 1610: Music, Context, Performance by Jeffrey Kurtzman". Notes . 57 (3): 626–628. doi:10.1353/not.2001.0056. JSTOR   900815. S2CID   191482160.