Manfred Bukofzer

Manfred Bukofzer
Born	(1910-03-27)March 27, 1910 Oldenburg, German Empire
Died	December 17, 1955(1955-12-17) (aged 45) Berkeley, California
Nationality	Germany, United States
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	Heidelberg University
Occupation	Musicologist
Employer	University of California, Berkeley
Spouse	Ilse Kämmerer

Manfred Fritz Bukofzer (March 27, 1910 – December 7, 1955) was a German-American musicologist and humanist. He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933, going to Basle, where he received his doctorate. In 1939 he moved to the United States where he remained, becoming a U.S. citizen. He taught at the University of California, Berkeley from 1941 until his premature death.

Bukofzer is best known as a historian of early music, particularly of the Baroque era. His book Music in the Baroque Era is still one of the standard reference works on the topic, though some modern historians assert that it has a Germanic bias, for instance in minimizing the importance of opera (Italian by origin) during the development of musical style in the 17th century.

In addition to Baroque music, he was a specialist in English music and music theory of the 14th through 16th centuries. His other scholarly interests included jazz and ethnomusicology.

Among his influential students were Leonard Ratner.

Bibliography

• Manfred Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0-393-09745-5

References

• Charles, Sydney Robinson (1980). "Manfred F. Bukofzer". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. iii (1st ed.). London: Macmillan. pp. 429–430.