Zur Bezeichnung „Musikologie“ bei Guido Adler

Guido Adler’s choice of the term “Musikologie” (“musicology”) as the preferred synonym of “Vergleichende Musikwissenschaft” (literally “comparative science of music”), a sub-section of the overall discipline of “Musikwissenschaft” (“science of music”), in his 1885 article “Umfang, Methode und Ziel der Musikwissenschaft” (“The scope, method and aim of musicology”) is puzzling and confusing. Situating Adler’s usage in terminological history of “Musikologie” in several European languages, this article discusses four hypotheses that seek to explain his choice of “Musikologie”: (1.) as a terminological lapse, (2.) as signifying the subdiscipline’s scientific nature, (3.) as caused by outside influence, and (4.) as inspired by hearsay and half-knowledge of Franjo Kuhač’s simultaneous terminological choice. The hypotheses have different degrees of plausibility and consistency, but no explanation emerges clearly as the single most obvious one.