Liliencron, Rochus, Freiherr von

1820-

Famous author on musical subjects; born at Plon in Holstein. He attended college in his native town and at Lübeck. He studied both theology and law at Kiel and Berlin, graduating as Doctor of Theology and Philosophy. After graduation he devoted much time to Germanistic studies, including Old Norse languages and literature, writing on them for various periodicals. He was in the government service from 1848 to 1850 as secretary in the bureau of foreign affairs during the war with Denmark. In 1850 he became professor of Old Norse languages and literature at Kiel, and two years later of German language and literature at Jena. He was Privy Cabinet Councillor to the Duke of Meiningen from 1855 to 1868. In 1855 he published Lieden und Sprüche aus der letzten Zeit des Minnesangs, a work which contains twenty melodies with texts from the Jena Minnesanger codex, written about 1320. In 1869 he setled in Munich. Since 1876 he has lived principally at Schleswig as Pralat des St. Johannisstiftes. In his later years he has been interested in churchmusic. He is also the president of the Royal Prussian Commission for the editing and publication of the Denkmaler Deutscher Tonkunst, twenty-two volumes of which have been printed. Among other works is his Deutsches Leben im Volkslied urn 1530, the finest German folk-songs of the Sixteenth Century, with melodies.