David J. Buch Explained

David J. Buch
Birth Place:Detroit, Michigan
Occupation:Musicologist
Education:PhD Northwestern University
Subject:Musicology, Mozart scholarship
Notableworks:Der Stein der Weisen,
Magic Flutes and Enchanted Forests: The Supernatural in the Eighteenth-Century Musical Theater
Awards:Donald N. McKay Research Award

David Joseph Buch (born 1950) is an American musicologist.

Life and career

Buch was born in Detroit and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He received his PhD in Music History from Northwestern University.

He had been Professor of Music at Wayne State University and Professor of Music History at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), where he is Professor Emeritus. Buch was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago from 2008 until 2011. He has published numerous scholarly studies on a range of topics in music, having explored archives and libraries in many European cities.

His research has received international attention[1] owing to the discovery of new attributions to Mozart in Emanuel Schikaneder's collaborative opera Der Stein der Weisen oder Die Zauberinsel (Vienna, 1790). His study of the theatrical tradition in which Mozart's The Magic Flute originated has led him to new interpretations of the libretto, notably skepticism to the widely held view that The Magic Flute is specifically a Masonic opera (see Libretto of The Magic Flute).

In 1998 he was named UNI Distinguished Scholar and received the Donald N. McKay Research Award.[2]

Buch plays the lute, viola da gamba and guitar.[3] He has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, and as guest soloist with the Eckstein String Quartet (principals of the CSO).[4]

Selected bibliography

[Items available on Academia.edu and ResearchGate]

Editions

External links

"Not Even Mostly Mozart, but Clearly Some", The New York Times, June 12, 1997

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mozart Discovery der Stein der Weisen . .
  2. Web site: David Buch named 1998-99 UNI Distinguished Scholar | IndexUNI: Database of University Articles .
  3. Web site: David Buch's Big Score . . 3 January 1999 .
  4. Web site: David Buch's Big Score . . 3 January 1999 .