Professor of musicology Dr. E. Douglas Bomberger recently received the 2018-2019 Ranck Prize for Research Excellence.

The Professional Development Committee chose him from nominations submitted by faculty peers. In addition to receiving a monetary award and a supplement to his professional development fund to support ongoing scholarly activity, Bomberger will be recognized in the 2019 Commencement program and honored at the 2019 Convocation.

Bomberger grew up in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Like many Elizabethtown College music students, he devoted most of his free time to music. He enjoyed playing Beethoven and Chopin as a child and listened to Elton John and Al Green as a teenager.

Bomberger knew he wanted study some aspect of music upon enrollment in Goshen College. His principle instrument, piano, became the focus of his B.A. and M.M.

After receiving his Master of Music, Bomberger first taught piano at Ithaca College.

“When I finished up my studies, there was a real job shortage in the college ranks,” Bomberger said. “I was lucky to get several positions fairly soon after graduating, but it was a source of anxiety for a lot of us during that time because there were so few jobs and so many graduates.”

After teaching music history, Bomberger decided to make the subject his doctoral focus.

He earned a Ph.D. in historical musicology from the University of Maryland and later taught at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. He then came to Etown, where he has taught for 14 years.

At Etown, Bomberger enjoys teaching courses in his research specialty, the 19th century.

“19th century art music, or concert music, is very emotional,” he said. “It’s all about expressing emotion, oftentimes with some sort of story attached to the music.”

Bomberger also writes extensively. He has written four books and more than 100 articles.

“As a college and high school student, I enjoyed writing term papers, so the idea that I could spend my whole career writing term papers was almost too good to be true,” Bomberger said.

“The most enjoyable projects are the ones where I have an idea that I’ve never read about before, and I’m just curious about whether or not it could be pursued.”

Bomberger first conducts a preliminary literature review. He then gathers primary source materials at archives and libraries.

“One of the great pleasures of my profession is that I get to travel to different libraries and archives,” Bomberger said.

“My favorite library is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It’s a real privilege to live as close as we do.”

After sifting through the material, Bomberger presents his analysis in conference papers. Other scholars’ feedback enables him to further refine and polish his work for publication.

In its entirety, Bomberger argues that the research process is time-consuming. It can take as many as five years to progress from idea to publication.

Adding to the difficulty of locating certain sources, Bomberger’s research often involves French and German sources. Luckily, he has studied both languages.

Writing about music requires a similar translative skill: the ability to communicate sentiments as written word.

Etown’s Senior Seminar in Musicology aims to teach students how to tangibly discuss inherently intangible subjects.

Bomberger will discuss his work at the Ranck Lecture, “Listening to History,” Wednesday, April 3 at 11 a.m. in Zug Recital Hall.

Regarding his future research, Bomberger voiced plans to return to the 19th century after having studied the early 20th century for his latest book.

“What I’m interested in is cosmopolitan music in America: the idea of American composers who wrote music that was not necessarily ‘American’ in intention or content but was simply universal,” he said. “I’m curious about why they did that and how it was perceived.”

In an increasingly digital world, Bomberger lastly offers the following insights.

“My own hope is that we will not forget entirely about archival research, even in an era when so much of your work can be done at your own desk,” he said.

“I think libraries have riches that cannot be found on the Internet, and I hope people don’t forget about that.”