Marx, Adolf Bernhard

Born May 15, 1795, in Halle; died May 17, 1866, in Berlin. German music historian and theorist, teacher, and composer. Doctor of philosophy (1828).

Marx studied composition under D. Turk in Halle. He completed his training under C. Zelter in Berlin (from 1820). In 1824 he founded the Berliner Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung (Berlin General Music Journal), which he edited until 1830. In 1828, Marx became a music instructor at the University of Berlin, receiving a professorship there in 1830. He was appointed to the chair of music in 1832. At the university he laid the foundations for the systematic teaching of musicology.

Marx wrote the following fundamental works on the history, aesthetics, and theory of music: On Painting in Music (1828), Music of the 19th Century (1855), and General Music Textbook (1839, Russian translation, 3rd ed., 1893). He studied and attempted to popularize classical music, particularly the works of Beethoven and Gluck (The Life and Creative Work of Ludwig van Beethoven, vols. 1-2, 1859; Gluck and Opera, vols. 1-2, 1863). He wrote the well-known textbook Instruction in Music Composition (vols. 1-4, 1837-47), which has been published in many countries. He composed a number of orchestral, piano, and vocal pieces.