Abstract
As a result of the discovery I made in 2019 of over one hundred hitherto unknown solo Lieder by the Austrian-American composer Karl Weigl (1881–1949) at the Library of Congress, this dissertation is intended to present a record of those songs, in addition to a revised catalog that encompasses for the first time all of the 254 distinct solo Lieder he is now known to have composed. The catalog is, however, more than just an inventory, as I have included information on how the solo Lieder relate to each other, to the numerous examples of sketch material, and to many of the non–solo Lied works as well. I have also expanded and augmented the information found in the preexisting catalogs and provided new insights into the titles, first lines, poets, text sources, keys, time signatures, instrumentation, dates, autograph manuscript sources, publication details, inscriptions, dedications, etc. in order to foster and realize a more comprehensive understanding of Weigl’s extensive contributions to the solo Lied genre. Furthermore, I have included discussions relating to the history of the archives, with a special focus on attempting to uncover why I found so many unknown solo Lieder to be present at the Library of Congress, the catalysts that presumably led Weigl to compose solo Lieder as well as a reassessment of the quantity and main years of production, and the approach and methodology I utilized regarding the documentation of all the material I listed in the catalog. In conclusion, this dissertation undeniably constitutes the first attempt to present the entirety of Weigl’s work in the genre and it is my hope that such revelations will enable a better understanding of how significant the solo Lied was within his own oeuvre, in addition to more fully illuminating his prominence as a composer of Lieder in general: thus encouraging and enabling further scholarly inquiries into these remarkable works that will ultimately be more accurate and precise as a result of the firmer foundation I have endeavored to lay in this study.