FORKEL, JOHANN NIKOLAUS

born Feb. 22, 1749, Meeder, near Coburg, Saxony died March 20, 1818, Gttingen, Westphalia one of the first great musicologists and the first biographer of Johann Sebastian Bach. After brief legal studies, he became organist at the university church at Gttingen, where, from 1778 until his death, he was musical director of the university. Forkel's most important work is probably his Allgemeine Literatur der Musik (1792). His ber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben, Kunst und Kunstwerke (1802) remains valuable (Eng. trans. by C.S. Terry, 1920).