William's Research and Language-Study in Germany

Enjoy learning about what SMR member William van Geest was up to this past summer while away researching and studying in Germany.

This summer, I spent two months in Germany studying German and researching. For the latter, I completed a four-week course at the Goethe Institute in Berlin (see photo). My participation in this course was funded by a Rackham Language Training Award, a new award from the Rackham Graduate School. After this course, I remained in Berlin for two weeks to work at the at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz (see photo), examining pedagogical materials, compositions, compositional exercises, and other archival materials relating to my dissertation research. This research was funded by a Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant, which supports a variety of research activities for doctoral candidates. After my time in Berlin, I spent one week divided between Stuttgart, where I spent some time at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart and the Württembergische Landesbibliothek (see photos), and Leipzig, where I visited the archives of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig and the Stadtbibliothek Leipzig (see photos). The aim of my research was above all reconnaissance—that is, to learn what materials were available to me—and to begin examining them systematically. When not in archives, I also researched the local fare (see photos), and indeed made substantial headway in this realm.

Photos: Click to enlarge and view captions…