American musicologist (1899?1977)
Gustave Reese
(
REESS
; 29 November 1899 ? 7 September 1977) was an American
musicologist
and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on
medieval
and
Renaissance music
, particularly with his two publications
Music in the Middle Ages
(1940) and
Music in the Renaissance
(1954);
these two books remain the standard reference works for these two eras, with complete and precise bibliographical material, allowing for almost every piece of music mentioned to be traced back to a primary source.
Early life and education
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Reese was born in
New York City
on 29 November 1899.
He was an avid scholar and had interests in many areas outside music, including art, architecture, and literature. He studied law at
New York University
, graduating in 1921. Though he was admitted to the New York State Bar, he opted to re-enroll and pursue a Bachelor of Music from NYU, which he received in 1930.
Career
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In 1927, however, he was already teaching classes at the university in medieval and Renaissance music. He continued teaching there intermittently until 1974, and he became Professor Emeritus in 1973. He also served as a visiting professor at a number of universities, including
Harvard
,
Duke
,
UCLA
,
USC
,
Michigan
,
Oxford
and the
Juilliard School of Music
. At his death he was still leading doctoral seminars in the Graduate School of the City University of New York. He was a founder-member of the
American Musicological Society
(AMS) from 1934, serving as its first secretary (1934?1946). He became vice-president in 1946 and president of the organization in 1950. He has also held positions in the
International Musicological Society
(IMS), the
Renaissance Society of America
, and the
Plainsong and Medieval Music Society
.
Also active in the music publishing industry, he headed the publication department of
G. Schirmer
(1940?1945) and was also director of publication at Carl Fischer (1945?1955). Furthermore, he was editor of
The Musical Quarterly
from 1944 to 1945.
Gustave Reese had a profound impact on many generations of music students through his passionate and insightful teaching. He has left a valuable legacy in
Music in the Middle Ages
and
Music in the Renaissance
. These two pillars have incited a revival of interest and scholarship in the areas of early music. He is often perceived to have 'raised the bar' of musicological scholarship with his thorough research, intellectual rigour and comprehensive bibliographies. He commissioned other people to contribute specialist sections to these books, such as
Igor Buketoff
's piece on Russian chant in
Music in the Middle Ages
.
[5]
Personal life
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Reese married Fine Arts administrator and cookbook author and editor
Carol Truax
in 1974. He died, aged 77, in
Berkeley, California
.
Publications
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Books
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Articles
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Others
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- Reese, Gustave; Noble, Jeremy; Lockwood, Lewis; Owens, Jessie Ann; Haar, James; Kerman, Joseph; Stevenson, Robert (1984).
The New Grove High Renaissance Masters: Josquin, Palestrina, Lassus, Byrd, Victoria
. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians: The Composer Biography Series. London: Macmillan.
ISBN
0-393-30093-5
.
- Essays in musicology in honor of Dragan Plamenac on his 70th birthday
. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, c1969.
ISBN
0-8229-1098-5
- A compendium of musical practice
. New York, Dover Publications, 1973.
ISBN
0-486-20912-1
References
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Sources
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Further reading
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External links
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