Peter Petersen

Peter Petersen (born 17 July 1940) is a German musicologist, professor emeritus of the University of Hamburg. He focus on 20th-century music, rhythm, and was instrumental in the university's Exile Music Working Group and the online Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit. Life Born in Hamburg, Petersen first studied music pedagogy, then historical musicology and German literature at the University of Hamburg. In 1971 he received his doctorate with a dissertation on tonality in instrumental music by Béla Bartók. After his habilitation in 1981 with a paper on Alban Berg's Wozzeck, he taught as professor at the University of Hamburg from 1985. In 2001 the university honoured him with the Fischer-Appelt-Prize for outstanding achievements in academic teaching. He retired in 2005. Petersen is married to the violin teacher Marianne Petersen. They live in Hamburg and have two daughters. Research One focus of Petersen's research is in the field of 20th century music (among others Bartók, Berg, Hölszky, Lutosławski). Several monographs and numerous essays deal with the work of Hans Werner Henze.