Margit McCorkle

McCorkle, Margit

Margit (Emily) McCorkle (b Lundstrom). Musicologist, pianist, harpsichordist, b Madison, Tenn, 28 Mar 1942, BA (Columbia Union College, Takoma Park, Md) 1964, M MUS (Maryland) 1965. McCorkle began piano studies at five; she later worked with Hans Hammer in Denmark (ca 1954), played concerts in Denmark and the USA, and also studied 1961-5 with Stewart Gordon at the University of Maryland. She was an instructor in piano and harpsichord 1965-8 at U of Maryland, did graduate work in performance practice, and appeared in a harpsichord recital at the National Gallery (Washington, DC) in 1967. In 1968 she married Donald McCorkle and became his associate in his work on Brahms. She resumed her harpsichord studies in 1969 with Igor Kipnis and (in Vienna) with Isolde Ahlgrimm. In 1972 the McCorkles emigrated to Canada, bringing with them the Brahms catalogue project, and Donald McCorkle became head of the music department at the University of British Columbia. After her husband's death in 1978, Margit McCorkle carried on the project with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and under the auspices of the University of British Columbia. The catalogue, published by Henle Verlag in 1984 (see Writings), is notable for its readable text and informed, broad view of an important period of German culture. McCorkle received the West German Order of Merit for her work on this book. A dedicated and meticulous scholar, McCorkle subsequently engaged in research on a Schumann bibliography. She is a member of the board of the American Brahms Society and of the group, based in Kiel, Germany, preparing the new collected edition of Brahms's works. In 2007, Germany's Robert Schumann Society awarded her its Schumann Prize.

Writings and Music Editions

- and McCorkle, Donald M. 'Five fundamental obstacles in Brahms source research,' Acta musicologica, vol 48, no. 2, 1976

'Die erhaltenen Quellen der Werke von Johannes Brahms. Autographe, Abschriften, Korrekturabzüge,' Musik-Edition-Interpretation: Gedenkschrift Günter Henle (Munich 1980)

- and McCorkle, Donald M. Johannes Brahms Thematisch-Bibliographisches Werkverzeichnis (Munich 1984)

- ed. Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Opus 68 (New York 1986)

- ed. Brahms Variationen über ein Thema von Schumann, Opus 9 (Munich 1987)

- ed. Brahms Variationen, Opus 21, Nr. 1 und Nr. 2 (Munich 1988)

'Die "Hanslick"-Walzer, Opus 39,' Brahms-Kongress Wien 1984, eds Susanne Antonicek, Otto Biba (Tutzing 1988)

'The role of trial performances for Brahms' orchestral and large choral works: sources and circumstances,' Brahms Studies I, ed George S. Bozarth (Oxford 1990)