Book review: Ina Lohr (1903–1983): transcending the boundaries of early music

Smith Anne, Ina Lohr (1903–1983): transcending the boundaries of early music, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Scripta 9 (Basel: Schwabe-Verlag, 2020), Edward Breen

Early Music, caab012, https://doi.org/10.1093/em/caab012
Published: 15 April 2021

Described by the composer Sven-Erik Bäck as ‘much more glamorous than her French counterpart, Nadia Boulanger’ (p.297), Ina Lohr is little remembered today. Yet she was vital to the musical life of Basel, in her roles as ‘co-founder and pedagogical inspiration for the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and musical assistant to Paul Sacher, a major patron of contemporary music in the 20th century and conductor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra’ (to quote from the book under review, p.xvii). Anne Smith’s new biography is a rich and engaging study which does much to secure Lohr’s legacy.

Smith places Lohr’s musical activities within the context of other aspects of her family and spiritual life. As is often the case in...

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