Institute of History of Art and Musicology (2013–2019)

The Institute of History of Art and Musicology (Institut für kunst- und musikhistorische Forschungen or IKM) was established on January 1, 2013, through the merger of the Commission for Art History and the Commission for Music Research. Leadership was assumed by two veteran ÖAW staff members: art historian Werner Telesko served as director from 2013–2017, followed by musicologist Barbara Boisits as interim director from 2018–2019.

Both research institutions had previously collaborated successfully on joint projects examining the history of visual arts and music in Austria and Central Europe. Building on this foundation, the new institute aimed to develop content synergies and establish inter- and transdisciplinary basic research as core priorities. Several research initiatives were deliberately designed as cross-departmental endeavors, including studies in representation scholarship and the history of science. At the same time, major discipline-specific projects continued, including work on the Vienna Hofburg and medieval stained glass, documentation and editorial projects focusing on medieval music and liturgical sources, research on some of Austria’s most significant composers (Johann Joseph Fux, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, and Anton Webern), and the online version of the Austrian Encyclopedia of Music.

The IKM was dissolved on January 1, 2020. The former Department of Art History now operates as a research division within the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies, while the Department of Musicology has been incorporated into the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities.

Commission for Music Research (1944–2012)

The ÖAW’s commitment to music research dates back to 1849, when Raphael Georg Kiesewetter was elected as a corresponding member. Through the end of the monarchy, he was followed by only two others: Charles Edmond Henri de Coussemaker and Otto Jahn, both elected as corresponding members in 1862. The establishment of the Phonogram Archive Commission in 1899 marked the founding of the ÖAW’s first research department with musicological components. (In 1972, what is now the Phonogrammarchiv spun off a commission that became an independent Acoustics Research Institute in 1999.) Robert Lach became the first musicologist in the modern sense to be elected as corresponding member in 1919. From 1921–1938, a separate commission existed for publishing songs and texts recorded in prisoner-of-war camps, with Lach’s participation.

The Commission for Music Research was officially established in 1944, initially envisioned as a central hub for Schubert scholarship. After the war, plans shifted toward publishing materials on Vienna’s musical history, but by 1946 the decision was made to create a bio-bibliographical encyclopedia for Austria. Various factors delayed realization of this ambitious project, which was finally realized at the turn of the 21st century with the Austrian Encyclopedia of Music. The commission maintained continuous staffing from 1961 onward, with scholarly staff growing substantially (reaching 19 members by the end). Commission membership also expanded over time, from eight members in 1944 to twelve by 2012.

The Commission for Music Research evolved into Austria’s premier non-university research institution for musicology. Its work centered primarily on Austrian musical heritage and music history within a Central European context. The commission’s primary focus initially involved extensive preparatory work for the Austrian Encyclopedia of Music, which was published in five volumes between 2002–06 and became available online in 2002.

Until 2006, the Anton Bruckner Institute Linz (ABIL), co-founded by the ÖAW in 1978, maintained close ties with the Commission for Music Research. When this collaboration was discontinued in 2007, a dedicated Bruckner research position was established within the commission, laying the groundwork for today’s Anton Bruckner Encyclopaedia Online and the comprehensive composer platform Bruckner online.

The Commission for Art and Music Sociology (1989–94) operated as an independent ÖAW institution separate from the Commission for Music Research, though some Academy members participated in both commissions.

At the start of the twenty-first century, several complete works edition projects became affiliated with the Commission for Music Research: The Vienna research group of the New Schubert Edition (in collaboration with the University of Tübingen), housed at the ÖAW since 1978, was integrated into the commission in 2006. In 2008, work began on the new edition Johann Joseph Fux – Werke. This was followed by the Vienna research group of the Anton Webern Complete Edition (in collaboration with the University of Basel) from 2008–2020, and in 2011, the Vienna research group of the Johannes Brahms Complete Edition (in collaboration with the University of Kiel).

The project Music—Identity—Space ran from 2007 to 2013. Alongside and following this research focus, additional projects examined music in Habsburg representation, questions regarding the history of science and music iconography, audiovisual media, and source cataloging initiatives.

From 2006–2012, the commission was part of the former Center for Cultural Research—a loose consortium of various organizational units within the ÖAW’s Philosophical-Historical Division—before becoming one of two departments in the newly established Institute of History of Art and Musicology from 2013–2019.

Commission Chairs:

Deputy Commission Chairs:

Scholarly Directors of the Anton Bruckner Institute Linz at the ÖAW:

Deputy Scholarly Directors of the Anton Bruckner Institute Linz at the ÖAW: