Ludwig Bussler

Ludwig Bussler was a German music theorist, conductor and critic, born and died in Berlin, in the second half of the nineteenth century. His significance lies above all in his manuals of harmony, counterpoint, form and composition, which circulated widely in the German-speaking world and beyond its borders.

He came from a family with artistic connections: his maternal grandfather was the celebrated tenor Karl Bader, and his father, Robert Bussler, was a painter, writer and privy councillor. Ludwig studied music with A. E. Grell, with Siegfried Dehn in theory and with W. F. Wieprecht in orchestration. From 1865 he taught theory at the Ganz Music School in Berlin, later known as the Schwantzer Conservatory. In 1874 he was appointed professor at the Mohr Conservatory, and in 1877 he returned to his post at the Schwantzer. From 1879 he taught theory at the Stern Conservatory, and in 1898 he was awarded the title of Royal Professor. At the same time, he conducted at various Berlin theatres and, from 1883, published music criticism in the Nationalzeitung and other journals in the city.

His treatises are distinguished by a practical approach, with abundant examples drawn from masters of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and numerous exercises, a feature which, according to Riemann, explains their wide acceptance. He addressed diverse subjects, such as harmony, counterpoint, form, melodic construction, modulation and orchestration. That five of his works were published in Russian in the mid-1880s testifies to his recognition. S. I. Taneyev personally translated Der Strenge Satz and collaborated on the translation of the Formenlehre. Arnold Schoenberg used the Musikalische Formenlehre in his teaching and owned the Partiturstudium in his library.

Bussler's legacy endures above all through his manuals, which combined theoretical rigour with pedagogical usefulness in late nineteenth-century music teaching.