He was born in Vienna, and studied musicology with Guido Adler at the University of Vienna, finishing his Ph.D. in 1926 with a dissertation on sonata form in the works of Franz Schubert. At the same time he studied music theory and analysis with Heinrich Schenker and Hans Weisse. In 1939 Salzer emigrated to the United States, and became a citizen in 1945. While in the US he taught at several schools, including the Mannes College of Music, and Queens College of the City University of New York.
His contributions to Schenkerian theory were two-fold: first, he brought Schenker's ideas to the attention of American music theorists and musicologists, and second, he applied the analytical technique to music outside of the common-practice era music in which Schenker had exclusively worked, particularly to the music of the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and to some music of the 20th century. Later theorists applied Schenkerian techniques to popular music as well.
Some of the specific refinements Salzer made to Schenkerian theory involve aspects of voice leading, and the differentiation of chords into structural versus contrapuntal categories.
Salzer's works include Structural Hearing (1952 and 1962), Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading (with Carl Schachter, 1969), and the periodical The Music Forum (initiated 1967).
References and further reading
"Felix Salzer," "Heinrich Schenker" in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1561591742
The Concise Edition of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky. New York, Schirmer Books, 1993. ISBN 002872416X
He was one of the principal followers of Heinrich Schenker, and did much to refine and explain Schenkerian analysis after Schenker's death.
In 1939Salzer emigrated to the United States, and became a citizen in 1945.
Salzer's works include Structural Hearing (1952 and 1962), Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading (with Carl Schachter, 1969), and the periodical The Music Forum (initiated 1967).
Born in Vienna into the Wittgenstein family (his mother, Helene Salzer, was the sister of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein), Salzer began his studies with Schenker in 1931.
Salzer also studied musicology with Guido Adler at Vienna University, writing a dissertation “Die Sonatenform bei Franz Schubert,”; and receiving a doctorate in 1926.
Salzer’s major publications include Sinn und Wesen der abendländischen Mehrstimmigkeit (Vienna: Saturn-Verlag, 1935), Structural Hearing: Tonal Coherence in Music (New York: Boni, 1952; reprinted New York: Dover, 1962 and 1982), and Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading, with Carl Schachter (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969; reprinted New York: Columbia University Press, 1989).
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