Thrasybulos Georgiades


Thrasybulos Georgios Georgiades was a Greek musicologist, pianist, civil engineer and philosopher. He was for many years director of the Institute of Musicology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest German musicologists.

Life

Georgiades grew up as a dedicated pianist, making advanced studies at Athens Conservatoire, and completing his education in Munich under Carl Orff. He did structural engineering studies at Athens Polytechnic, specializing in the building of bridges. According to some colleagues, "In his work as a musicologist also, he succeeded in forming many unexpected links" – with the philosophy of Heidegger and Gadamer for instance – or in establishing musical connections between Classical Antiquity and the Modern Era, between Greek and German music, or between non-European and Central European music.
In June 1935 he obtained his PhD in Munich, under the supervision of, with a thesis on the development of polyphony in the Middle Ages. In 1936 he married harpsichordist. In 1938, Georgiades became professor at the Athens Conservatoire, and its director the following year. In 1947 he received his habilitation from Heidelberg University with his "Observations on Ancient Metrical Quantity", a work on ancient Greek rhythms.
Georgiades was succeeded in his research by his colleague Theodor Göllner.

Awards

In English translation