Dehn, Siegfried (Wilhelm)

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Dehn, Siegfried (Wilhelm)

Dehn, Siegfried (Wilhelm) , famous German music theorist and teacher; b. Altona, Feb. 24, 1799; d. Berlin, April 12, 1858. He was a law student at Leipzig from 1819 to 1825, and also studied harmony and cello. He studied theory assiduously with Bernhard Klein in Berlin. At Meyerbeer’s insistence he was appointed librarian of the music dept. of the Royal Library in 1842. From 1842 to 1848 he was also ed. of the Caecilia. He then was a prof, at the Royal Academy of Arts (1849–58). Dehn was a profound theorist, and very successful as a teacher of theory, numbering among his pupils Anton Rubinstein and Glinka.

Writings

Theoretisch-praktische Harmonielehre (Berlin, 1840; 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1860); Analyse dreier Fugen aus J.S. Bachs Wohltemperiertem Clavier und einer Vokaldoppelfuge G.M. Buononcinis (Leipzig, 1858); Lehre vom Kontrapunkt, dem Kanon und der Fuge (Berlin, 1859; 2nd ed., 1883).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire