H. C. Robbins Landon

Astonishment, surprise at the unusual choice! Today, for the first time, the 19th Ernst von Siemens Musicology Prize is being awarded to a representative of the field of musicology – and to someone whose life’s work has not been devoted to the study of contemporary music… Anyone who wants to study Haydn today cannot ignore Landon’s fundamental works.
The music world owes him a complete and valid picture of the work and personality of this master, whose epochal significance has long been unrecognised. An essential task of musicology is to build bridges between the producing and the performing musician, and between the two and the listener, in order to promote understanding – a task that is not always easy. There are few representatives of his field who have been so successful in building such multiple bridges, whose name has achieved such worldwide recognition far beyond the discipline itself, as is the case with Howard Chandler Robbins Landon. His expertise as a musicologist is universally appreciated and acknowledged.