Born: February 9, 1868 - Beeskow an der Spree, Germany
Died: April 13, 1948 - Schleswig, Germany

The eminent German musicologist, Max Seiffert, was educated at his native place and at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium at Berlin. He studied musical science and literature under Philipp Spitta.at the University of Berlin (Ph.D., 1891, with the dissertation J.P. Sweelinck und seine direkten deutschen Schüler, published in Vierteljahrsschrift in Leipzig, 1891).

Max Seiffert was editor-in-chief of Sammelbände der internationalen Musik-Gesellschaft from 1903 to 1914. With Johannes Wolf und Max Schneider, he edited the Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft from 1918 to 1926. He also taught at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik and at the Akademie für Kirchen- und Schulmusik (from 1909). He served as provisional director of the Fürstliches Forschungsintitut für Musikwissenschaft in Bückeburg (from 1921). After it he became the Staatliches Institut für deutsche Musikforschung in Berlin in 1935, he served as its director until 1942.

Besides many contributions to the periodical Vierteljahrsschrift, to the Allg. deutsche Biographie, the Tijdschrift of the Dutch Vereeniging, etc., Max Seiffert published Gescbichte der Klaviermusik (Berlin, 1899-1901), nominally the 3^rd edition of Weitzmann's history, but actually a new and valuable study. He contributed many editions to the Denkmüler Deutscher Tonkunst series (1892-1927). He also edited the works of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (12 volumes, 1895-1901), and several volumes of the various series of D.D.T. Festschrifts were published in his honour for his 70^th (1938) and 80^th (1948) birthdays.

Source: Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1952 Edition; Author: J.A. Fuller Maitland); Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (July 2007)

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