Bernshtein Natan Davidovich (1876-1938)

Bernshtein (Bernstein) Natan (Nikolai) Davidovich (25.07.1876, Mitava – 12.1938, Leningrad) – Musicologist, music writer, critic, lecturer, and public figure.

Natan Bernshtein studied at Berlin University under L. Scharwenko and M. Bruch (music theory), G. Bellermann, O. Fleischer, and M. Friedland (music theoretical subjects). He taught music history and aesthetics at the Berlin Conservatory and the Apel Higher School (Berlin).

Since 1904, he worked in Saint Petersburg as a critic for the newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti and a contributor to the music section of the Jewish Encyclopedia and Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.

In 1907, Natan Bernshtein founded the Society of Music Writers. In 1908, he became one of the founders of the People’s Conservatory. In 1921, he established the State Institute of Music Education, serving as its rector in 1922, and chaired the Society for the Study of Music Professions. From 1922 to 1924, he was the editor of the weekly journal Music and Theater. He was actively engaged in issues of music education for schoolchildren.

In 1937, Natan Bernshtein was repressed and died in imprisonment in 1938.

Publications:

Russlands Theater und Musik zur Zeit Peters des Grossen (Riga; Leipzig, 1904)

История русской оперы в 18―20 вв. С.-Пб., 1905;

Древнееврейская музыка. С.-Пб., 1905;

Музыка и театр у японцев. 1905;

История национальных гимнов. С.-Пб., 1914;

К вопросу о конституции музыкально одаренной личности. Л.; М., 1928. (co-authored with D. Rokhlin and others)