The discipline of musicology is traditionally divided into three areas: historical musicology, music ethnology, and systematic musicology. At the Frankfurt Institute, historical musicology is represented by two professorships, a co-opted professorship, and an academy professorship, which together cover the full breadth of music history. Current focus areas include research on interpretation, modern editorial philology, 20th-century music, opera history of the 18th and 19th centuries, and questions from the field of culture and civilization studies. Music ethnology, represented by one professorship, focuses on teaching both traditional and popular music from around the world. Additionally, courses on popular music, as well as music, media, and digitality, are offered from both musichistorical and music ethnological perspectives. Through a cooperation with the University of Music and Performing Arts Frankfurt (HfMDK), there are regular opportunities to integrate musical practice into musicology teaching.
The Frankfurt Institute of Musicology, currently home to approximately 600 students, is part of the Faculty of Language and Culture Studies (FB 09) at Goethe University. It provides students with a stimulating environment in many ways. The diverse expertise of its staff enables a wide range of thematic offerings in teaching, with a particular focus on musichistorical and music ethnological questions. In addition to an emphasis on European music from the 17th to the 21st centuries and global music cultures, popular music is also an integral part of the curriculum. Concepts such as cultural transfer shape the discourse alongside traditional, analysis-based methods of music research. Through a cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEÄ), courses in systematic musicology, music aesthetics, and music psychology are also offered on a regular basis. Students gain core knowledge specific to historical musicology and music ethnology, engage with a wide range of contemporary music culture topics, and develop methodological skills related to interpretation and performance, music and media, as well as music and digitality.