In 1927 Ficker accepted a position, as co-chair with R. Lach, in the Department of Music in Vienna, and in 1927 he organized the performances of "Musik der Gotik" on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of the death of Beethoven.

From 1928 to 1938 he was a member of the executive board of the Monuments of Fine Austrian Music (DTÖ, Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, cf.

He was the successor to Adolf Sandberger as professor and head of the Music Department at the University of Munich beginning in 1931.

With Adler, Ficker was co-author of the 83 volume work "Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich" (cf.

Ficker achieved international recognition with his researches on the Trent Codices, whose seventh volume (TrentM 93) he discovered.