Das Wissenschaftliche der Kunst

English summary: The significance of Johann Nikolaus Forkel for musicology was recognised early on and never seriously called into question. Nevertheless, research has hitherto almost exclusively concentrated on his historiographical works, thus presenting a picture of him that is strikingly contrary to that of Forkel the musician. In his office as academic musical director in Gottingen, Forkel pursued the objective of putting musicology on an equal footing with the other humanities...
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English summary: The significance of Johann Nikolaus Forkel for musicology was recognised early on and never seriously called into question. Nevertheless, research has hitherto almost exclusively concentrated on his historiographical works, thus presenting a picture of him that is strikingly contrary to that of Forkel the musician. In his office as academic musical director in Gottingen, Forkel pursued the objective of putting musicology on an equal footing with the other humanities subjects, but he never lost touch with musical and artistic practice. This study reveals for the first time the impressively broad spectrum of Forkel's musical thought and action and presents him as one of the most original and influential musical personalities of the late Enlightenment period. German description: Die Bedeutung Johann Nikolaus Forkels fur die Musikwissenschaft ist nie in Frage gestellt worden. Bislang beschrankte sich die Forschung jedoch auf seine historiographischen Arbeiten und zeichnete damit ein Bild, das der universalen Physiognomie seines Musikerseins nicht gerecht wird. Als Akademischer Musikdirektor in Gottingen verfolgte Forkel das Ziel, die Musikwissenschaft durch die planvolle Verfeinerung ihrer Methoden den ubrigen geisteswissenschaftlichen Disziplinen gleichrangig an die Seite zu stellen, verlor dabei aber niemals den Kontakt zur musikalisch-kunstlerischen Praxis. Diese Studie entfaltet erstmals das imponierend breite Spektrum seines musikalischen Denkens und Handelns und stellt ihn als eine der originarsten und pragendsten Musikerpersonlichkeiten der Spataufklarung vor.