Das Leipziger Konservatorium der Musik im 19. Jahrhundert

In the 19th century Leipzig and its Academy of Music represented an incontestable authority for the international musical community, both within and outside Europe. The high quality of the city’s musical life, and the Academy as completely new institution, made Leipzig a magical centre of attraction. Previous research has concentrated on the reasons behind this magnetic effect.

In this study the focus is turned for the first time on the nature and power of the Academy’s influence as a magnet for the musical life of other cities and countries. A signifcant role in this process of cultural mediation was played by the Academy’s international student body. Using contemporary statements by students and teachers alongside biographical details of their careers, the role of this music-teaching establishment is re-cast.

The conculsion presents the surprising insight that, even at this apparently exemplary and modern academy, the positive and the negative existed side by side.