He is particularly known for his colossal work, Die Musik des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (1931), which provided a new perspective on historical musicology by taking a history-of-ideas approach to music history.
Besseler studied philosophy (under Martin Heidegger), German language, mathematics and natural science in Freiburg im Breisgau.
Subsequently, he studied music (under Hans Gál) and musicology (under Wilibald Gurlitt, Guido Adler and Wilhelm Fischer) in Vienna and Freiburg.
After further studies at the University of Göttingen, he wrote a professorial thesis on medieval music, spanning the years between 1250 and 1350.
[2] While admittedly failing to distance himself from National Socialism, he did come into some conflicts with Herbert Gerigk, the most notorious antisemitic musicologist in Germany.