Erpf, Hermann (EN)

Erpf Hermann Robert, *23 April 1891 Pforzheim, †17 October 1969 Stuttgart, German music theorist and teacher. From 1909, he studied mathematics and natural sciences in Heidelberg; from 1911, he studied musicology under H. Riemann and philosophy under J. Volkelt in Leipzig. In 1913, he was awarded a doctorate on the basis of his thesis Der Begriff der musikalischen Form (Stuttgart 1914). Between 1919 and 1927, he taught in Pforzheim, Freiburg im Breisgau and Münster. From 1927, he headed the music department at the Folkwang-Schule in Essen, and in 1935 he became director of the institution. Between 1943 and 1945, and again from 1952 to 1956, he served as director of the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart. He composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and piano.

Erpf’s research focused primarily on theoretical issues of musical form, harmony and instrumentation. He developed and transformed Riemann’s theory of functional harmony (Studien zur Harmonie- und Klangtechnik), but did not adopt the principles of harmonic dualism. In his works Studien zur Harmonie- und Klangtechnik and Lehrbuch der Instrumentation, there is a tendency to consider harmony and instrumentation in their interaction with the form of the work and from a historical perspective. Erpf advocated a descriptive method in which systematics takes a back seat to a historical-relative treatment of musical techniques and styles. He devoted considerable attention to issues of contemporary music. His final work, Form und Struktur in der Musik, serves as a synthesis of his views.