Paul Nettl

Paul Nettl (1889–1972) was a musicologist and author born in Hohenelbe, Bohemia. Nettl was a lecturer in musicology in Prague from 1919 until 1939, when he immigrated to the United States. He taught in Chicago and at Indiana University until 1960, and had lectureships at Roosevelt University in Chicago and at the Cincinnati Conservatory. His studies and numerous essays, as well as many books in German, won him a reputation as a specialist in every phase of Bohemian and Moravian music. Nettl’s works include The Beethoven Encyclopedia (1956), The Story of Dance Music (1947), The Book of Musical Documents (1948), Forgotten Musicians (1951), and Mozart and Masonry (1957). He even coined the term “utility music.”