Sachs, Curt

(born June 29, 1881, Berlin, Ger.—died Feb. 5, 1959, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. musicologist. He studied clarinet and composition as a teenager but earned a doctorate in art history. After working as an art critic, he returned to musicology, becoming one of the most significant scholars of that field, especially in the systematic study of musical instruments (working with Erich von Hornbostel). After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he wrote important textbooks and surveys and supervised the growth of the discipline, lecturing at such institutions as Columbia University and New York University.

Sachs, Curt (1881–1959) musicologist; born in Berlin, Germany. After studies in art and music, he held posts in Berlin including curator of the Museum of Musical Instruments. Driven from Germany by the Nazis in 1933, he settled in the U.S.A. four years later and held posts as a consultant to the New York Public Library (1937–52) and a teacher at Columbia University (from 1953). He also served as president of the American Musicological Society in 1948–50. His books include The History of Musical Instruments (1940) and The Commonwealth of Art (1946).