Drieberg, Friedrich Von

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Drieberg, Friedrich Von

Drieberg, Friedrich von, German music historian and composer; b. Charlottenburg, Dec. 10,1780; d. there, May 21, 1856. He served in the Prussian army until 1804, when he went to Paris to study composition with Spontini; also traveled to Vienna. He produced two operas, Don Cocagno (Berlin, 1812) and Der Stinger und der Schneider (Berlin, Nov. 23,1814), but became known mainly through his speculative publications concerning Greek music, promulgating theories and conclusions that were utterly unfounded. However, they were publ. and seriously discussed, if only in refutation. These are Die mathematische Intervallenlehre der Griechen (1818), Aufschlüsse über die Musik der Griechen (1819), Die praktische Musik der Griechen (1821), Die pneumatischen Erfindungen der Griechen (1822), Wőrterbuch der griech. Musik (1835), Die griechische Musik, aufihre Grundgesetze zurückgeführt (1841), and Die Kunst der musikalischen Composition… nach griechischen Grundsätzen bearbeitet (1858).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire