ITG is sad to learn that Swedish musicologist Reine Dahlqvist has died.
From Edward Tarr:
The Swedish
musicologist Reine Dahlqvist, who was born in Gothenburg on September 2, 1945, died
there on October 17, 2014. His research was mainly concerned with the trumpet
and its history. As a trumpeter, he was self-taught and played only the piccolo
trumpet. He could produce high notes on it, but as far as I know was never a
member of any orchestra or ensemble. I have known him ever since my first trip
to Sweden in the early 1970s.
Reine’s dissertation –
Bidrag till trumpeten och trumpetspelets
historia från
1500-talet till mitten av 1800-talet med särskild hänsyn till perioden
1740-1830, two vols. (Gothenborg University 1988) – was a
gold mine of information. It fortunately contained a long summary in English so
that non-Swedish speakers could also profit from it.
Among his articles,
there was an important one on Anton Weidinger: The Keyed Trumpet and Its Greatest Virtuoso, Anton Weidinger
(Nashville: The Brass Press 1975) (Brass Research Series No. 1, ISBN 0 914282
13 1). His greatest concern, however, was a re-working of his dissertation. He
wanted to publish a new edition in English that would present information new
to him since 1988. For decades he was constantly doing research for this
project. Since the undersigned was the one who helped put every sentence of his
into presentable English, we were constantly in contact. About two years ago,
his transmissions of texts ceased, although we were only about one-fifth into
the final text.
Reine, who never had a
position in any musical institution, subsisted through scholarships. He lived
alone in a house that had belonged to his deceased parents. During the last ten
or twelve years he worked half-days as a postman. He spent his afternoons in
the Gothenborg University library, continuing his research. Several years ago
he developed prostate cancer. The treatments seemed to be successful and he was
optimistic. Nevertheless, his illness must have got the better of him and he
died a lonely death. Two days later, neighbors found him in his house.
The trumpet world is
much the poorer without Reine Dahlqvist. We can only hope that somehow the
results of his research can be made available to the trumpet world.
Edward H. Tarr, Rheinfelden, Germany