author
Percy Goetschius
1853–1943
Remembered as one of America’s best-known early teachers of music theory, he helped generations of students make sense of harmony, counterpoint, and musical form. His clear, practical textbooks kept circulating long after his own lifetime.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1853, Percy Goetschius became an American composer, theorist, and teacher whose reputation rested above all on the teaching of composition and music theory. He studied in Stuttgart, taught there for a time, and later returned to the United States, where he taught at Syracuse University, the New England Conservatory, and the Institute of Musical Art in New York, the school that later became part of Juilliard.
Goetschius was especially known for turning difficult musical ideas into orderly lessons. His books on harmony, counterpoint, melody writing, and musical form were widely used, and titles such as Exercises in Melody-Writing, Lessons in Music Form, and The Larger Forms of Musical Composition became staples for serious students.
He died in 1943, but his influence lasted through the many composers and musicians trained with his methods. For listeners and readers today, he offers a window into an era when music theory was taught with great structure, patience, and faith in craft.