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.