Geering Arnold, *14 May 1902 Basel, †16 December 1982 Vevey, Swiss musicologist. At the University of Basel, he studied musicology (with K. Nef, J. Handschin, and W. Merian), as well as German and English philology. At the local conservatory he obtained a diploma in vocal studies (1925). He furthered his vocal training in Zurich with A. Cairati and subsequently pursued a career as a concert singer. In 1931 he received his doctorate, and in 1947 his habilitation at the University of Basel. He taught singing at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis; between 1944 and 1950 he was active primarily as a teacher. In 1950 he assumed the chair of musicology at the University of Bern. From 1948 to 1951 he served as secretary of the International Musicological Society, from 1949 to 1963 as director of the Schweizerisches Volksliedarchiv in Basel, and from 1961 to 1969 as president of the Schweizerische Geisteswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft in Bern.
Geering’s main field of interest was the history of music in Switzerland and in the German-speaking regions during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Among his works on the music of the Reformation period, particular attention should be given to the study Die Vokalmusik in der Schweiz…, in which he discusses vocal practice in 16th-century Switzerland as well as the life and output of three of the most important Swiss composers of the time (B. Franck, J. Wannenmacher, and C. Adler), drawing on previously unknown source material. Of major importance is also his edition of the songs of L. Senfl, as well as his biographical studies and articles in which, on the basis of research into musical notation, archival documents, publishers’ comments on Renaissance vocal and instrumental works, and theoretical writings, he addresses issues of performance practice (e.g. Textierung und Besetzung in L. Senfls Liedern). Another important area of Geering’s research is the problem of retrospective medieval polyphony, presented, among others, in the study Die Organa und mehrstimmigen Conductus…, which contains a detailed description of polyphonic works created outside the main centers of medieval musical development.
Literature: Festschrift Arnold Geering zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. V. Ravizza, Bern 1972 (contains a complete list of Geering’s works).
Die Vokalmusik in der Schweiz zur Zeit der Reformation, “Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft” VI, 1933 (doctoral dissertation)
Die Organa und mehrstimmigen Conductus in den Handschriften des deutschen Sprachgebietes vom 13. bis 16. Jahrhundert, «Publikationen der Schweizerischen Musikforschenden Gesellschaft» series II vol. 1, Bern 1952 (habilitation thesis)
articles:
Homer Herpol und Manfred Barbarini Lupus, in: celebratory publication for K. Nef, Zurich 1933
Textierung und Besetzung in L. Senfls Liedern, “Archiv für Musikforschung” IV, 1939
Geschichte der Musik in der Schweiz von der Reformation zur Romantik, in: Schweizer Musikbuch, Zurich 1939
Die Nibelungenmelodie in der Trierer Marienklage, in: proceedings of the 4th Congress of the International Musicological Society in Basel 1949
Vom speziellen Beitrag der Schweiz zur allgemeinen Musikforschung, “Die Musikforschung” III, 1950
Retrospektive mehrstimmige Musik in französischen Handschriften des Mittelalters, in: celebratory publication for H. Anglès, vol. 1, Barcelona 1958–61
Calvin und die Musik, in: Calvin-Studien, Neukirchen 1960
Eine tütsche Musica des figurierten Gesangs 1491, in: celebratory publication for K.G. Fellerer, Regensburg 1962
G.F. Händels französische Kantate, in: Musicae scientiae collectanea, celebratory publication for K.G. Fellerer, Cologne 1973
editions:
L. Senfl Deutsche Lieder, 4 parts, and Instrumental-Carmina. Lieder in Bearbeitungen für Geigen, Orgel und Laute, in: L. Senfl Sämtliche Werke, vols. II, IV, V, VI and VII, with W. Altwegg, Wolfenbüttel 1938 (repr. 1962), 1940 (repr. 1962), 1949, 1961, 1960
Eine tütsche Musica, facs. ed., Bern 1964
Das Liederbuch des Johannes Heer von Glarus, with H. Trümpy, «Schweizerische Musikdenkmäler» V, Basel 1967
