Koch, Heinrich Christoph

views updated

Koch, Heinrich Christoph

Koch, Heinrich Christoph, German music theorist; b. Rudolstadt, Oct. 10, 1749; d. there, March 19, 1816. He studied with Gopfert in Weimar. He was made violinist in the Court Orch. in Rudolstadt (1768), then court musician (1772) and Konzertmeister (1777). He publ. the valuable Versuch einer Anleitung zur Composition (3 vols., Rudolstadt and Leipzig, 1782-93) and Musikalisches Lexikon (Frankfurt am Main, 1802; 2nd ed., 1817); also Handbuch bei dem Studium der Harmonie (Leipzig, 1811) and a manual of enharmonic modulation (Rudolstadt, 1812). He launched the unsuccessful Journal der Tonkunst (Erfurt, 1795). He composed a Choralbuch for Wind Band and various choral works.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire