An Interview with Prof. Bathia Churgin in Honor of Beethoven’s 250th Birthday

Abstract

Professor Emerita Bathia Churgin, Israel’s leading scholar in the field of Classical music, has dedicated her internationally acclaimed research to studies of the origins and development of eighteenth-century Classical music and the Classic Symphony, as manifested in the works of Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c.1700–75). Extending into the nineteenth century, her studies of Beethoven demonstrate how the composer’s most daring innovations emerge from within the tradition of Classical music (see attached List of publications). In honor of Min-Ad’s 17th issue, commemorating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, we thank Bathia for graciously sharing with us some of the highlights of her research. Moreover, as founder and head of the Department of Musicology (Music) at Bar-Ilan University, 1970–84, we thank her for sharing with us aspects of her academic and personal experiences.