Hamilton Gazetteer / Entities / Karl Geiringer

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person

Overview

Karl Geiringer (1899–1989) was an Austrian-born musicologist and music historian who served as visiting professor of music at Hamilton College during the academic year 1940–41. Born in Vienna, he had been curator of the archives, museum, and library of the Society of the Friends of Music in Vienna until fleeing Austria after the 1938 Nazi annexation. He is best known for his biographies of Brahms and Haydn and later became a distinguished professor at Boston University and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Relevance to Research

The September 1940 Hamilton Life profile describes his arrival at Hamilton as visiting professor, his Viennese background, his flight from Austria in 1938 after his close association with Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg made him a target of the Nazi regime, and his scholarly work including published biographies of Brahms and a Haydn biography being translated into English. It also describes his discovery of unpublished Schumann manuscripts in the Friends of Music archives. The May 1941 Hamilton Life reports his resignation from Hamilton to accept a professorship in history and theory of music at Boston, noting he had also lectured at Harvard, Vassar, and the Williams-Munson-Proctor Institute. He had been brought to Hamilton through a friendship with music faculty member Mr. Shute, who had met him in Vienna during a sabbatical in 1937–38. The October 1958 Spectator names him as chairman of the music department at Boston University among distinguished figures gathering for a music event. The May 1961 Spectator confirms that Shute brought Geiringer to Hamilton in 1942 (likely in error—the 1940–41 Hamilton Life coverage places his appointment in 1940).

Notes

The 1961 Spectator states Shute brought Geiringer to Hamilton “in 1942,” but the 1940 and 1941 Hamilton Life issues clearly document his presence in 1940–41. The 1942 date in the Spectator retrospective may be an error or may refer to a return visit. He is not a Hamilton alumnus but a visiting faculty member.