Halm, August Otto

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Halm, August Otto

Halm, August Otto, German writer on music and composer; b. Gross-Altdorf, Württemberg, Oct. 26, 1869; d. Saalfeld, Feb. 1, 1929. A member of a family of scholars, he received an excellent general education. He then studied theology at Tübingen. In 1892 he went to Munich, where he took courses with Rheinberger. Subsequently he devoted himself mainly to musical pedagogy. He taught in various schools in Thuringia, conducted choral societies, and wrote music criticism. He wrote 2 syms., a Piano Concerto, 8 string quartets, 2 suites for String Trio, and piano studies. He publ. Harmonielehre (Berlin, 1905), Von zwei Kulturen der Musik (Munich, 1913; 3rd ed., 1947), Die Symphonien Anton Bruckners (Munich, 1914; 2nd ed., 1923), Von Grenzen und Ländern der Musik: Gesammelte Aufsätze (Munich, 1916), Einführung in die Musik (Berlin, 1926), and Beethoven (Berlin, 1927).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire