Dr. Klaus-Peter Brenner

About Me

1. Was hat Sie dazu gebracht, Musikwissenschaft zu studieren?
Die biografisch früh und vielfältig in mir angelegte und ausgeprägte Neigung zu beidem: Musik und Wissenschaft.

2. Was bedeutet für Sie, Musik zu erforschen?
Musik zu erforschen, bedeutet für mich, (a) kulturspezifische Grammatiken des Denkens in Musik analytisch zu ergründen, zu visualisieren und zur Sprache zu bringen und diese zum jeweiligen Denken über Musik in Beziehung zu setzen; (b) den historischen Faktoren und Prozessen nachzuspüren, denen solche – häufig impliziten – Systeme musikalischer Erzeugungsregeln ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung verdanken; (c) diese Systembildungen kulturübergreifend im Hinblick auf Arten und Grade typologischer und genetischer Verwandtschaft zu reflektieren und dabei (d) auch die Frage nach den anthropologischen Universalien nicht aus dem Blick zu verlieren.

3. Was können Studierende im Musikwissenschaftsstudium in Göttingen bei Ihnen lernen?
Eben dies. Und nicht zuletzt, was das alles mit Musikinstrumenten zu tun hat.


Born 1958 in Heidenheim an der Brenz. After his “Abitur” (A-level examination) and compulsory community service: between 1979 and 1991 studies in musicology (focus on ethnomusicology/systematic musicology with Prof. Josef Kuckertz and Prof. Rudolf Brandl, historical musicology with Prof. Martin Staehelin), ethnology (with Prof. Peter Fuchs and Prof. Erhard Schlesier) and folklore studies (with Prof. Rolf-Wilhelm Brednich) at the University of Göttingen. Simultaneously, he pursued studies in composition (counterpoint with AMD Hermann Fuchs, minimal music) and worked at the Collection of Musical Instruments of the Department of Musicology (exhibitions). He received his doctorate in 1991 with a dissertation on the folk music of south-west Turkey. Field research: south-west Turkey in 1984 and 1986 (peasant and nomadic pastoralist Turks, Roma); north-eastern Zimbabwe (Zezuru-Shona) 1993; south Uganda (Mbuti, Tooro, Konjo, Soga) 1997. Further study trips: Taiwan 1992, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2019 (Taiwanese, Yami, Tsou, Ke-Jia); Thailand 2000 and 2007 (Thai, Akha, Mien); Ireland 2008 and 2009. Since 1992 he has been curator of the Collection of Musical Instruments, working on the catalogue as well as conducting research on, and contributing monographs to, the ethnomusicology of sub-Saharan Africa and to European organology. Administrative functions: From 04/2004 to 04/2008 he was Deputy Head of Department of the Department of Musicology. From 03/2006 to 03/2010 he has been responsible for developing and introducing the new modular BA/MA syllabus (accredited by the ZEvA in May 2008).




  • Ethnomusicology with a focus on the musical cultures of Africa and Asia
  • Cognitive and evolutionary aspects of non-European musical styles: tone systems, modal systems, metrorhythmical systems, polyphony, improvisation
  • Interdisciplinary research approaches, connecting ethnomusicology to ethnomathematics, linguistics, and ethno-organology
  • General organology and the history of its theories and methods



  • Research on cognitive/structural aspects of the mbira music of Zimbabwe.
  • Catalogue of the Collection of Musical Instruments (for the online publication of a provisional version see below).





a. Monographs

  • 2004a. Die kombinatorisch strukturierten Harfen- und Xylophonpattern der Nzakara (Zentralafrikanische Republik) als klingende Geometrie – eine Alternative zu Marc Chemilliers Kanonhypothese [The Combinatorically Structured Harp and Xylophone Patterns of the Nzakara (Central African Republic) as Sounding Geometry – an Alternative to Marc Chemillier's Canon-Hypothesis] (= EthnomusiCologne, ed. Rüdiger Schumacher, Vol. 4). ISBN 3-86097-433-5. Bonn: Holos-Verlag. [viii + 209 pages, with English summary, with 1 Audio-CD. – Review in: Musicae Scientiae 9/1, Belgium: ESCOM, pp. 346-348. – Chemillier’s replies in: Spektrum der Wissenschaft / Spezial 2/06 (2006): Ethnomathematik, ed. Christoph Pöppe, Heidelberg: Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft, p. 80 (78-82). Chemillier, Marc: Les Mathématiques Naturelles, Paris: Odile Jacob, 2007, pp. 149-158.]
  • 1998. Die Naderman-Harfe in der Musikinstrumentensammlung der Universität Göttingen. Ein französisches Instrument des 18. Jahrhunderts als Maschine, Skulptur, Möbel, Prestigefetisch, Ware und Klangwerkzeug [The Naderman Harp in the University of Göttingen's Collection of Musical Instruments. An 18th-century French Instrument as a Machine, Sculpture, Piece of Furniture, Prestige Fetish, Commodity and Sound Tool] (= Orbis musicarum, ed. Rudolf M. Brandl, Vol. 14, ed. Martin Staehelin). Commissioned by the editors and integrating the report on restoration and the photo documentation by Sabina Kerkhoff. ISBN 3-927636-55-X. Göttingen: Edition Re, 1998. [xi + 253 pages. – Review in: Harpa / Monthly Harp Newspaper 35 (7/2000, Dornach, Switzerland: Odilia Publishing Ltd.), pp. 1 and 5.]
  • 1997. Chipendani und Mbira. Musikinstrumente, nicht-begriffliche Mathematik und die Evolution der harmonischen Progressionen in der Musik der Shona in Zimbabwe [Chipendani and Mbira. Musical instruments, implicit mathematics and the evolution of harmonic progressions in the music of the Shona of Zimbabwe] (= Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse, third series, vol. 221). ISBN 3-525-82372-X. Göttingen: Verlagsbuchhandlung Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997. [xxi + 559 pages, with English summary, with 2 audio CDs. – Reviews in: The World of Music 40/3 (1998), pp. 200-202. Yearbook for Traditional Music 32 (2000), pp. 211-212.]
  • 1992. Dörfliche Musik aus dem Distrikt Bodrum, Südwest-Türkei. Stiluntersuchungen anhand der Sammlung Reinhard 1968 und eigener Feldaufnahmen 1984-86 [Village Music from the Bodrum District of South-West Turkey. Style analysis based on the Reinhard collection 1968 and the author’s field recordings 1984-86] (= Serial ›Musikethnologie‹, Vol. 2). Part 1: Text. Part 2: Transcriptions. ISBN 3-89473-442-6. Münster / Hamburg: Lit Verlag, 1992. [685 pages, with 1 audio cassette.] Abstract.

b. Catalogues

  • [Work in progress.] Musikinstrumentensammlung des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Bestandskatalog: Klassifikation, Objektbeschreibungen und -abbildungen, Bibliographie, Verzeichnisse. [The Collection of Musical Instruments of the Department of Musicology, Georg-August-University Göttingen. Catalogue: Classification, description and images of objects, bibliography, indices.] For a provisional version as PDF-download (5,48 MB) see: MusInstrSlg Uni Gö - Bestandskatalog (Stand 2022-05-26) [970 pages (without images).]
  • 1989. Erlesene Musikinstrumente aus der Sammlung des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen [Exquisite Musical Instruments from the Collection of the Department of Musicology, Georg-August-University of Göttingen]. Catalogue for the opening of the permanent exhibition in the Accouchierhaus. Ed. Martin Staehelin and Rudolf M. Brandl. ISBN 3-980-2002-0-5. Göttingen: Department of Musicology at the Georg-August-Universität, 1989. [130 pages.– Reviews in: Das Musikinstrument 38/12 (12/1989), p. 63. Göttinger Tageblatt (25./26.11.1989). Narodna umjetnost / Croatian Journal of Ethnology and Folklore Research 27 (1990), p. 324.]
  • 1987. Musikinstrumente Europas, Asiens und Afrikas aus den Beständen des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Ausstellungskatalog Deutsche Bank. Ed. Rudolf M. Brandl. Göttingen: Department of Musicology at the Georg-August-Universität, 1987. [58 pages.]
  • 1986. Musikinstrumente aus den Beständen des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Exhibition catalogue, Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft. Ed. Martin Staehelin. Göttingen: Department of Musiclogy at the Georg-August-Universität, 1986. [68 pages.]

c. Editorship

  • 2019. Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes. Papers Presented at the Symposium III.4 of the 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung at the University of Göttingen, 4th-8th September 2012, “Music | Musics. Structures and Processes”. Göttingen Studies in Musicology / Göttinger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, ed. Andreas Waczkat and Birgit Abels, vol. 9. Hildesheim: Olms. [367 pages, with extensive digital companion material available online. – For more details see: http://www.olms.de/search/Detail.aspx?&pr=2009809.]

d. Articles / Smaller Contributions

  • 2021. ›Chipendani (Mouth Bow) – the Origin of the Shona Mbira Harmonic System and of Andrew Tracey’s ‘Basic Kalimba Core’. With an Appendix on the Venda Tshihwana.‹ In: Musical Bows of Southern Africa, ed. Sazi Dlamini, pp. 37-81. London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi, Sydney: Bloomsbury Academic. With digital media: 13 audios, 5 videos and 15 color photographs.
  • 2020. ›A Grammatical Merger of Heterogeneous Musical Structures: The Vocal Polyphony Ntano of the Sena of Southern Malaŵi.‹ In Understanding Musics: Festschrift on the Occasion of Gerd Grupe’s 65th Birthday, ed. Malik Sharif and Kendra Stepputat, pp. 125-151. With online-available 60-page extended version, 3 audio examples and a 23-page annotated database research protocol on the field recordings from the Sena language area archived in the International Library of African Music, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, used as comparative material. Düren: Shaker.
  • 2019. ›A Cognitive Firework of Model-Bound Two-Handed Improvisation: Mbira dzaVadzimu Master Ephat Mujuru's ›Deep‹ Kutsinhira Rendition of Bukatiende Diki.‹ In: Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes. Papers Presented at the Symposium III.4 of the 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung at the University of Göttingen, 4th-8th September 2012, “Music | Musics. Structures and Processes”, ed. Klaus-Peter Brenner. Göttingen Studies in Musicology / Göttinger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, ed. Andreas Waczkat and Birgit Abels, vol. 9, pp. 293-344. Hildesheim: Olms. [With 1 audio example and 276 pp. of graphic figures available in digital form.]
  • 2017. ›Chipendani (Mouth Bow) - the Origin of the Shona Mbira Harmonic System and of Andrew Tracey's 'Basic Kalimba Core'.‹ In First International Bow Music Conference Proceedings, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, 24-27 February 2016, ed. Sazi Dlamini. With companion DVD. Grahamstown, South Africa: International Library of African Music, Rhodes University. Pp. 111-142, with digital companion material: 9 audio, 5 video and 14 photo files.
  • 2015. ›Squaring the Circle: Venda/Shona Grammatical Ambiguity and the Amalgamation of Mutually Exclusive Systems of Harmonic Patterning in Baranganani Mudzanani's Mbila dzaMadeza Piece 'Bidera'.‹ In: Transgressions of a musical kind. Festschrift for Regine Allgayer-Kaufmann on the occasion of her 65th birthday. Ed. Anja Brunner, Cornelia Gruber and August Schmidhofer. Aachen: Shaker. pp. 25-50 [with 1 audio example].
  • 2015. ›Collection of Musical Instruments‹. In: President of Göttingen University (ed.) / Mike Reich and Katrin Pietzner (eds.): The Collections, Museums and Gardens of Göttingen University, ISBN 978-3-86395-196-2, Göttingen: Universitätsverlag, pp. 36-37. – As downloadable PDF (14,6 MB): here.
  • Together with Laurent Bartholdi and Radhika Gupta. 2013a. The ›12-step harmonic standard sequence‹ of the Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe: Animated visualization of its rotational symmetric structure on plane and torus, with synchronized music example. Audiovisual computer animation according to → Brenner 1997: 119-120, with explanatory notes. Göttingen: Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Mathematical Institute. Internet: http://www.uni-math.gwdg.de/laurent/torus and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds_I2q7C5Po.
  • 2013b. ›Vier Kontinente, sechs Jahrtausende. 2000 Exponate in der Musikinstrumentensammlung. Serie „Sammlungen der Universität“ (Folge 16)‹. In: Göttinger Tageblatt, Göttingen, Saturday, 16th March 2013, p. 29. Also online at: http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/Wissen/Themen/Sammlungen-der-Universitaet/Vier-Kontinente-sechs-Jahrtausende and http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nachrichten/Wissen/Themen/Sammlungen-der-Universitaet/Vier-Kontinente-sechs-Jahrtausende/Zur-Person-Klaus-Peter-Brenner.
  • 2013c. ›Musikinstrumentensammlung‹. In: President of Göttingen University (ed.) / Mike Reich and Katrin Pietzner (eds.): Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen, ISBN 978-3-86395-140-5, Göttingen: Universitätsverlag, pp. 36-37. – As downloadable PDF (15,4 MB): here.
  • 2013d. ›The Mbira/Chimurenga Transformation of »Dangurangu« – A Music-Analytical Case Study from Zimbabwe at the Intersection of Ethnomusicology and Popular Music Research.‹ With an appendix by Laina Gumboreshumba. In: Ethnomusicology and Popular Music Studies (= Grazer Beiträge zur Ethnomusikologie / Graz Studies in Ethnomusicology, ed. Gerd Grupe, vol. 25), Aachen: Shaker, pp. 53-146 (with 23 audio examples).
  • 2012a. ›Musikinstrumentensammlung des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars‹. In: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (ed.): Dinge des Wissens – Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen, ISBN 978-3-8353-1064-3 (http://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835310643.html), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, pp. 312-313.
  • 2012b. Contribution to: Graepler, Daniel (with contributions by Jörg Bölling, Klaus-Peter Brenner, Gundolf Krüger, Jörg Männer, Anne-Katrin Sors, Gert Tröster, Gabriele G. Weis). 2012. ›Was die Dinge lehren‹. In: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (ed.): Dinge des Wissens – Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen, ISBN 978-3-8353-1064-3 (http://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835310643.html), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, pp. 210-219.
  • 2012c. Contribution to: Viebahn, Christoph (with contributions by Wolfgang Böker, Klaus-Peter Brenner, Daniel Graepler, Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin, Jochen Heinrichs, Elvira Hörandl, Jörg Männer, Mike Reich, Michael Schwerdtfeger, Wolfgang Wangerin, Heiko Weber, Claudia Wiesemann). 2012. ›Forschen und Sammeln.‹ In: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Hrsg.): Dinge des Wissens – Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen, ISBN 978-3-8353-1064-3 (http://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835310643.html), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, pp. 220-234.
  • 2012d. ›Die Göttinger Tagore-Tambura und der Beginn des musikwissenschaftlichen Austauschs zwischen Indien und dem Westen im späteren 19. Jahrhundert.‹ In: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (ed.): Dinge des Wissens – Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen, ISBN 978-3-8353-1064-3 (http://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835310643.html), Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, pp. 162-164.
  • 2012e. ›Die Göttinger Tagore-Tambura und der Beginn des musikwissenschaftlichen Austauschs zwischen Indien und dem Westen im späteren 19. Jahrhundert.‹ Internet: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/instrumentensammlung/71170.html. [PDF, 12 pages.]
  • 2012f. ›Die Musikinstrumentensammlung der Universität Göttingen.‹ In: Forschung & Lehre, No. 4/12, Issue on ›Academic Collections‹, pp. 285-286. From May 2012 onwards also available in the online-archive under: http://www.forschung-und-lehre.de/wordpress/?page_id=7.
  • 2012g. English version of the exhibition texts of the Collection of Musical Instruments for the jubilee exhibition ›Dinge des Wissens – Die Sammlungen, Museen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen.‹ In: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen / Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (eds.): Objects of Knowledge – The Collections, Museums and Gardens of the University of Göttingen, Paulinerkirche Göttingen, 3rd June - 7th October 2012. Göttingen: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen / Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen.
  • (with abstracts by Michael Baird, Marcel van Dijk, Sheasby Matiure, Perminus Matiure, Tony Perman, Joel Laviolette, Laina Gumboreshumba, Paul Berliner and Cosmas Magaya, Claire Jones, Jennifer Kyker, Gerd Grupe, Klaus-Peter Brenner, Gerhard Kubik). 2012h. ›Symposium III.4: Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes.‹ In: Abels, Birgit / Morag Josephine Grant / Andreas Waczkat (eds.). 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung. Music | Musics. Structures and Processes. 4-8 September 2012. Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology. CIM 12: History. 4-5 September 2012. Programme | Abstracts. Göttingen: University of Göttingen, Department of Musicology; GfM (Gesellschaft für Musikforschung); 2012. Pp. 117-128.
  • 2007. ›Musical Instruments‹ [chapter on some Asian (Turkish, Chinese, Evenkish) and American (Alutiiq-Kodiakian) 18th century musical instruments]. In: Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin / Gundolf Krüger (ed.): Sibiria and Russian America: Culture and Art from the 1700s. Sibirien und Russisch-Amerika: Kultur und Kunst des 18. Jahrhunderts. The Asch Collection Goettingen. [Catalogue for the same-named exhibition from 16th September - 13th November 2007 in the Old Town Hall of Göttingen and 2009 in various museums in Russia.] Munich / Berlin / London / New York: Prestel Verlag. Pp. 279-285, 188-189 (Plate 5), 200 (Plate 20), 216 (Plate 37) and 286-296 (contribution of 94 titles for the bibliography).
  • 2004b. ›Das akustische Prinzip des 1-dimensionalen Saitenteilers und seine musikalische Nutzung beim chipendani (Mundbogen) der Shona.‹ [›The acoustic principle of the one-dimensional string-divider and its musical utilization in the case of the chipendani (mouth bow) of the Shona.‹] In: Studia instrumentorum musicae popularis, Vol. 12, edited by Erich Stockmann, Eszter Fontana and Andreas Michel. ISBN 3-929330-73-3. Leipzig: Verlag Janos Stekovics, 2004. Pp. 27-44.
  • 2004c. ›Das Tonbank-Prinzip – eine musikalische Gestaltungstechnik und ihre lokalspezifischen Ausprägungen in Süd-, Ost- und Zentralafrika.‹ [›The Tone Bank Principle – a Concept of Musical Pattern Composition and its Local Phenotypes in Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa.‹] In: Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology, ed. Maciej Jabłoński and Jan Stęszewski, Vol. 4. ISSN 1230-0187. Poznań: The Department of Musicology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań / Verlag Rhythmos. Pp. 107-141, with audio CD. [Available via:http://www.arspolona.com.pl/.]
  • 2001a [together with Martin Staehelin]. ›Die Musikinstrumentensammlung des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars.‹ [›The Collection of Musical Instruments of the Department of Musicology.‹] In: »Ganz für das Studium angelegt«: Die Museen, Sammlungen und Gärten der Universität Göttingen. Ed. Dietrich Hoffmann and Kathrin Maak-Rheinländer, commissioned by the Universitätsbund. ISBN 3-8924 4-452-8. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2001. Pp. 110-118 and 139-140 (plates 23-24).
  • 2001b [together with Martin Staehelin]. ›Die Musikinstrumentensammlung des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen – Bestand, Geschichte, Bedeutung‹. [›The Collection of Musical Instruments of the Department of Musicology – Holdings, History, Significance‹]. [PDF, 52 pages, 16 plates.]
  • 1999. Transcription and analysis of the polyrhythmic Laz dance song ›Dirvana‹. In: Susanne Schedtler: Das Eigene in der Fremde. Einwanderer-Musikkulturen in Hamburg (= Populäre Musik und Jazz in der Forschung – Interdisziplinäre Studien, ed. Rainer Dollase a.o., Vol. 6). Münster / Hamburg / London: Lit Verlag, 1999. [With Audio-CD.] Pp. 133-134.
  • 1995. Record of the Kirckman-Harpsichord, Inv. No. 948, of the Collection of Musical Instruments of the University of Göttingen. In: Boalch, Donald H. Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840; Third Edition. Ed. Charles Mould. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. P. 423.
  • 1993. ›Bemerkungen zum Entwicklungsgedanken in der Musikinstrumentenkunde.‹ [›Remarks on the Concept of Evolution in Organology.‹] In: Georgia-Augusta, Nachrichten aus der Universität Göttingen, No. 58, Göttingen: Universitätsbund, 1993. Pp. 9-24.
  • 1989. Transcriptions of the eastern Turkish Âşık-songs ›Sabah erken‹, ›Feleği sahi tanırım‹, ›Ay gelin‹, ›Dağlar yeşillenmiş‹ and ›Bir efendi geldi geçti‹ (examples 75 and 86-89). In: Ursula Reinhard / Tiago de Oliveira Pinto. Sänger und Poeten mit der Laute. Türkische Âşık und Ozan (= Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Völkerkunde Berlin, Neue Folge 47, Abteilung Musikethnologie VI). Berlin: Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Museum für Völkerkunde, and Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1989. [With 2 audio cassettes.] Pp. 148-149, 219-228.
  • 1987a. ›Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar. Sammlung von Musikinstrumenten.‹ [›Department of Musicology. Collection of Musical Instruments.‹] In: 250 Jahre Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Katalog zur Jubiläums-Ausstellung im Auditorium. Ed. Gustav Beuermann a.o. Göttingen: Georg-August-Universität, 1987. Pp. 186-189.
  • 1987b. Transkription des südwesttürkischen Zeybek-Tanzliedes ›Demirciler.‹ [Transcription of the south-western Turkish Zeybek dancesong ›Demirciler.‹] In: Ursula Reinhard: ›Türkische Musik, ihre Interpreten in West-Berlin und in der Heimat. Ein Vergleich‹. In: Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung, 32nd year's issue, Berlin, 1987. Pp. 85 (81-92).
  • 1987c. Transcription of a song of the Yagaria, Yagaria Census Division, Lufa District, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. In: G. L. Renck: ›A Yagaria Fairytale‹. In: G. L. Renck: ›A Yagaria Fairytale‹. In: A World of Language: Papers Presented to Professor S. A. Wurm on His 65th Birthday (= Pacific Linguistics, Series C; Vol. 100). Ed. Donald C. Laycock and Werner Winter. Canberra: Australian National University, Research School of Pacific Studies, Department of Linguistics. Pp. 560 (553-563).
  • 1985. Chapters on, among other subjects, the music of Turkish immigrants. In: Emden (= Dokumentation des Musiklebens in Niedersachsen, Bd. 1), ed. by students of the Department of Musicology and Rudolf M. Brandl. Göttingen: edition herodot. [With audio cassette.] Pp. 88-138.

e. Reviews

  • 2007a. Review of: Andreas Meyer: Überlieferung, Individualität und musikalische Interaktion. Neuere Formen der Ensemblemusik in Asante/Ghana [Tradition, Individuality and Musical Interaction. New Forms of Ensemble Music in Asante/Ghana] (Frankfurt on the Main etc., Peter Lang, 2005). In: Die Musikforschung, ed. the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (editorship Jürgen Heidrich and Wolfgang Hirschmann), 60th year's issue 2007 / Vol. 4, Pp. 423-425.
  • 2007b. Review [German, unabridged version] of: Gerd Grupe: Die Kunst des Mbira-Spiels. The Art of Mbira Playing. Harmonische Struktur und Patternbildung in der Lamellophonmusik der Shona in Zimbabwe [. . . Harmonical Structure and Pattern Generation in the Lamellophone Music of the Shona in Zimbabwe] (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2004). In: Die Musikforschung, ed. the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (editorship Jürgen Heidrich and Wolfgang Hirschmann), 60th year 2007 / Vol. 3, Pp. 308-311.
  • 2006. Review [English, abridged version] of: Gerd Grupe: Die Kunst des Mbira-Spiels. The Art of Mbira Playing. Harmonische Struktur und Patternbildung in der Lamellophonmusik der Shona in Zimbabwe [. . . Harmonical Structure and Pattern Generation in the Lamellophone Music of the Shona in Zimbabwe] (Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 2004). In: The World of Music, Journal of the Department of Ethnomusicology Otto-Friedrich University of Bamberg, ed. Max-Peter Baumann,Vol. 48/3, ISBN 978-3-86135-749-0, pp. 88-91.



  • 2016. ›Chipendani (mouth bow) - the origin of the Shona mbira harmonic system and of Andrew Tracey's 'basic kalimba core'.‹ Paper presented at the »The 1st Bow Music Conference«, 24-27 February 2016, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
  • 2015. ›A testimony of the holocaust in Goettingen University's Collection of Musical Instruments.‹ Public presentation of the Göttingen Auschwitz cello in the presence of the "Cellist of Auschwitz" Anita Lasker-Wallfisch on 12 June 2015 in Hamburg. More details here.
  • 2012a. ›A cognitive fireworks of model-bound two-handed improvisation – mbira dzavadzimu master Ephat Mujuru’s ›deep‹ kutsinhira rendition of »Bukatiende diki«‹. Presented at the symposium III.4: »Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes« within the 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung, »Music | Musics. Structures and Processes«, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 4th - 8th September 2012. [Publication in the printed symposium proceedings forthcoming.] – Program and abstracts [PDF, 12 pages]: here.
  • 2012b. ›Die mbira/chimurenga-Transformation von »Dangurangu« – Eine musikanalytische Fallstudie aus Zimbabwe an der Schnittstelle zwischen Ethnomusikologie und Popularmusikforschung‹. [›The mbira/chimurenga transformation of »Dangurangu« – a music-analytical case study from Zimbabwe at the intersection of ethnomusicology and popular music research‹.] Presented at the symposium »Ethnomusicology & Popular Music Studies«, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, Institut für Ethnomusikologie, 7th - 9th December 2012. [Publication in English in the printed proceedings forthcoming.] – Program and abstracts: here.
  • 2007. ›Audio Recordings – another Case Study: Restudying and Re-restudying Historical Recordings of Nzakara Harp Songs‹. Paper, presented at the 39th World Conference of the ICTM in Vienna from the 04th - 11th of July 2007 in the context of the Session 1.2 A: Panel ›Sound Recordings – A Neglected Source or a Challenge for Ethnomusicology?‹.Audio Example 1Audio Example 2Audio Example 3Audio Example 4Audio Example 5Audio Example 6Audio Example 7
  • 2003. ›Das Tonbank-Prinzip – eine musikalische Gestaltungstechnik und ihre lokalspezifischen Ausprägungen in Süd-, Ost- und Zentralafrika‹. [›The Tone Bank Principle – a Concept of Musical Pattern Composition and its Local Phenotypes in Southern, Eastern, and Central Africa‹.] Guest lecture at the Department of Musicology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań on 12th May 2003.
  • 2002. ›Eine instrumental-vokale Mehrstimmigkeitsform vom oberen Ubangi als Schnittstelle musikalischer und mathematischer Kognition‹. [›An Instrumental and Vocal Type of Polyphony from the Upper Ubangi as an Interface of Musical and Mathematical Cognition‹.] Paper presented at the annual conference of the expert group on ethnomusicology of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung from the 11th - 12th of July 2002 in Cologne.
  • 1997. ›Das akustische Prinzip des 1-dimensionalen Saitenteilers und seine musikalische Nutzung beim chipendani (Mundbogen) der Shona‹. Guest Lecture at the Institute of Musicology, Humboldt University Berlin, 6th February 1997.
  • 1996. ›Chipendani und Mbira. Die Evolution harmonischer Progressionen in der Musik der Shona in Zimbabwe‹. [›Chipendani and Mbira. The evolution of harmonic progressions in the music of the Shona of Zimbabwe‹.] Paper, presented at the plenary session of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, 12th January 1996, introduced by Martin Staehelin.
  • 1995. ›Das akustische Prinzip des 1-dimensionalen Saitenteilers und seine musikalische Nutzung beim chipendani (Mundbogen) der Shona‹. [›The acoustic principle of the one-dimensional string-divider and its musical utilization in case of the chipendani (mouth bow) of the Shona‹.] Paper, presented at the 12th International Conference of the Study Group on Folk Musical Instruments of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) on the North Sea island of Terschelling, Netherlands, 10th - 16th May 1995.
  • 1985. ›Die Stellung des türkischen Evergreens ›Mevlâna‹ im Spannungsfeld zwischen volks- und kunstmusikalischer Grammatik‹. [›The place of the Turkish evergreen ›Mevlâna‹ between the poles of folk versus art musical grammars‹.] Paper, presented at the joint conference of the National Committee of the Federal Republic of Germany in the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) and the German section of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) in Braunschweig.



  • 2012. Symposium III.4: »Mbira Music | Musics. Structures and Processes« at the 15th International Conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung, »Music | Musics. Structures and Processes«, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, 4th - 8th September 2012. [Printed proceedings forthcoming.] – Program: here. – Program and abstracts [PDF, 12 pages]: here.



  • 2003. Nachdokumentation afrikanischer (und einiger außerafrikanischer) Instrumente im Musikinstrumentenmuseum des polnischen Nationalmuseums Poznań. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Vergleichsstücken der Musikinstrumentensammlung der Universität Göttingen. [Research on African (and some non-African) instruments in the Museum of Musical Instruments of the Polish National Museum Poznań. With special reference to comparable objects in the Collection of Musical Instruments of the University of Göttingen.] 54 page manuscript, Poznań / Göttingen, 2003. Deposited in the archive of the Museum of Musical Instruments of the Polish National Museum of Poznań and in the archive of the Collection of Musical Instruments of the University of Göttingen.



  • 2020. Contribution to the basic exhibition in the Forum Wissen, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
  • 2013. Contribution to the exhibition ›Arrangierte Liebe‹, a cooperation of the Ethnographic Collection of the University of Göttingen, the Gallery Alte Feuerwache, and the Göttingen Municipal Museum, Gallery Alte Feuerwache, from 7th April – 2nd May 2013.
  • 2012. Contribution to the exhibition ›Objects of Knowledge – The Collections, Museums and Gardens of the University of Göttingen‹ in celebration of the 275th anniversary of the Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Pauliner Church Göttingen, 3rd June – 7th October 2012. – Homepage: here.
  • 2011. Contribution to the exhibition ›Die Hummel – Geschichte eines Volksmusik-Instrumentes‹ at the Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, 10th April – 10th July 2011.
  • 2009. Contribution to the Saxony-Anhaltian Provincial Exhibition ›Aufbruch in die Gotik – Der Magdeburger Dom und die späte Stauferzeit‹, shown at the Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the Cathedral of Magdeburg, 31st August – 6th December 2009.
  • 2007. Contribution to the exhibition of the Ethnographic Collection of the University of Göttingen ›Sibiria and Russian America: Culture and Art from the 1700s. The Asch Collection Goettingen‹, 16th September - 13th November 2007 in the Old City Hall of Göttingen and 2009 in various museums in Russia.
  • 2004. Contribution to the exhibition ›Wahlverwandtschaften – zwei Jahrhunderte musikalischer Wechselwirkungen zwischen Dänemark und Deutschland‹, arranged by the Department of Music and Theater of the Royal Library Copenhagen and the Pedagogical National Library of Denmark at the Lower-Saxonian State and University Library Göttingen (Pauliner Church), 9th May – 4th July 2004.
  • 2002. Contribution to the special exhibition ›Ehrgeiz, Luxus und Fortune – Hannovers Weg zu Englands Krone‹ at the Historical Museum Hannover, 14th August 2001 – 13th Januar 2002.
  • 2000. Contribution to the First Thuringian Provincial Exhibition ›Der junge Bach – 'Weil er nicht auffzuhalten ...'‹ at the Predigerkirche in Erfurt, 23rd June – 3rd October 2000.
  • 1998. Contribution to the special exhibition ›Begegnung mit Arabien – 250 Jahre Arabistik in Göttingen‹ at the Lower-Saxonian State and University Library Göttingen (Pauliner Church), curated by Prof. Tilman Nagel, summer semester 1998.
  • 1995-1996. Contribution to the special exhibition ›Von denen instrumentis pneumaticis – Holz- und Blechblasinstrumente‹ on occasion of the ›20. Tage Alter Musik‹ on Strünkede Castle in Herne, 17th November 1995 – 7th January 1996.
  • 1989. Reconception and installation of the permanent exhibition of the Collection of Musical Instruments of the University of Göttingen in the historical Accouchierhaus.
  • 1987a. ›Musikinstrumente Europas, Asiens und Afrikas aus den Beständen des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen‹. Exhibition in the Deutsche Bank AG, Branch Göttingen, 4th May - 30th June 1987.
  • 1987b. Contribution to the exhibition ›250 Jahre Georg-August-Universität Göttingen – Jubiläums-Ausstellung im Auditorium‹ with exhibits from the Collection of Musical Instruments.
  • 1986. ›Musikinstrumente aus den Beständen des Musikwissenschaftlichen Seminars der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen‹. Exhibition in the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft AG, Branch Göttingen, 28th October - 27th November 1986.



As supervisor / first examiner:

  • 1 Magister thesis
  • 3 Master theses
  • 5 Bachelor theses

As second examiner:

  • 3 Magister theses
  • 1 Master thesis
  • 6 Bachelor theses

As external examiner:

  • 1 PhD thesis



  • 1981. Mirror Fugue in d-minor for Strings and Reed Instruments [after the model of Bach’s mirror fugue BWV 1080/12]. Premiere on 16th February 1986, conducted by Academic Music Director Hermann Fuchs, at the 65th Sunday Concert of the Akademische Orchestervereinigung (AOV) [Academic Orchestral Association] at the Aula [assembly and concert hall] of the University of Göttingen.
  • 1980. Fugue in g-minor for Strings and Reed Instruments. Premiere on 15th November 1980, conducted by Academic Music Director Hermann Fuchs, at the 46th Sunday Concert of the Akademische Orchestervereinigung (AOV) [Academic Orchestral Association] at the Aula [assembly and concert hall] of the University of Göttingen.