Hans Hickmann
Encyclopedia
Hans Robert Hermann Hickmann (b. Roßlau
, Germany
, May 19, 1908; d. Blandford Forum, England
, September 4, 1968) was an eminent German musicologist
. He lived in Egypt and specialized in the music and organology
of Ancient Egypt
, and survivals thereof in Egyptian traditional music. He wrote about Egypt's tradition of cheironomy
(as practiced in Ancient Egypt and still found in Coptic music
) for the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
.
He studied at the University of Berlin, studying with Curt Sachs
and Erich von Hornbostel
, and graduating in 1934. He also played the piano and organ, and conducted
Hickmann first investigated Egyptian music in 1932-33, during a visit to the Siwa Oasis
, and settled in Egypt in 1933. He operated a conservatory called Musica Viva, located at 1 Seket el Fadl in downtown Cairo.
His notable students included the composer Rifaat Garrana
.
Roßlau
Roßlau is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, part of the town Dessau-Roßlau. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, here crossed by two railway bridges, 3 m. by rail N. of Dessau and 35 m. S.E. of Magdeburg. Pop. 13,939...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, May 19, 1908; d. Blandford Forum, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, September 4, 1968) was an eminent German musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
. He lived in Egypt and specialized in the music and organology
Organology
Organology is the science of musical instruments and their classification. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and musical instrument classification...
of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and survivals thereof in Egyptian traditional music. He wrote about Egypt's tradition of cheironomy
Cheironomy
Cheironomy is the use of hand signals to direct vocal music performance. Whereas in modern conductingthe notes are already specified in a written score, in cheironomy the hand signs indicate melodic curves and ornaments.-History:...
(as practiced in Ancient Egypt and still found in Coptic music
Coptic music
Coptic music is the music sung and played in the Coptic Orthodox Church . It consists mainly of chanted hymns in rhythm with instruments such as cymbals and the triangle...
) for the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
.
He studied at the University of Berlin, studying with Curt Sachs
Curt Sachs
Curt Sachs was a German-born but American-domiciled musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology , and is probably best remembered today for co-authoring the Sachs-Hornbostel scheme of musical instrument classification with his fellow scholar Erich von Hornbostel.Born in Berlin,...
and Erich von Hornbostel
Erich von Hornbostel
Erich Moritz von Hornbostel was an Austrian ethnomusicologist and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs.-Life:Hornbostel was born in...
, and graduating in 1934. He also played the piano and organ, and conducted
Hickmann first investigated Egyptian music in 1932-33, during a visit to the Siwa Oasis
Siwa Oasis
The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo....
, and settled in Egypt in 1933. He operated a conservatory called Musica Viva, located at 1 Seket el Fadl in downtown Cairo.
His notable students included the composer Rifaat Garrana
Rifaat Garrana
Mohamed Garrana Rifaat is an Egyptian composer of classical music, a member of that nation's second generation of such composers.He began playing the trumpet at age 12, studying it later at the Institute for Dramatic Music. He later studied with Hans Hickmann and Menato in Cairo.His works feature...
.
Books by Hans Hickmann
- Hickmann, Hans (1980). Miscellanea musicologica (Vies et travaux). Organization des antiquites de l'Egypte, Service des musees. ISBN 9770203343. ISBN 9789770203347.
Articles by Hans Hickmann
- Hickmann, Hans. "Un Zikr Dans le Mastaba de Debhen, Guîzah (IVème Dynastie)." Journal of the International Folk Music Council, v. 9 (1957), pp. 59-62.
- Hickmann, Hans. "La dans l'Egypte ancienne." Zeitschrift fur ägyptische Sprache und Altertumkunde, vol. 83, no. 2 (1958).
Obituaries
- "Hans R. H. Hickmann (1908 - 1968)." Ethnomusicology, v. 13, no. 2 (May 1969), pp. 316-319.