His studies in Germany (on pre-Gregorian chant under mentor Erich von Hornbostel)[1] were interrupted by the rise of the Nazis in 1933, where he was also forbidden to marry his 'Aryan' fiancée Eva Buttenburg, a singer.
With help from the Church Missionary Society they then moved to Uganda in 1937, where Wachsmann compiled an extensive collection of field recordings between 1949 and 1952.
[3] He founded the International Folk Music Council, where he first met Charles Seeger, subsequently a lifelong friend.
[2] In order to present music as a living experience he employed professional musicians as museum attendants who gave performances every day.
[1] During the 1970s he continued teaching at various locations (Illinois, Texas, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cologne) and in 1975 established a home back in England, at a stone cottage in Tisbury, Wiltshire.